And I would disagree as IMHO it serves to change the meaning or words of a quote while still attributing it to the other member as it still says Originally Posted by and the other members FT handle.

Actually you haven't "heard" all 9 TBers speak up in this proposal thread yet. Maybe in the private TB Forum, some of them are considering making this proposal a motion. Maybe there is more than 1 secret TB supporter. You never know. But if you do think RyanAir is deserving but give up with a well-thought forum proposal now, you'll never get to see a RyanAir Forum on FT. That I am sure.

Well, I take that back. You'll know for sure if this proposal makes it to the table because there will be a public announcement/thread about a TB motion on this TB Topics Forum. We just don't know when. ;)

See if reading my post in another airline forum proposal thread would help you come up with a better strategy for advocating RyanAir forum. Good luck!

You are very welcome. :)

That's my point about mis-quote and misrepresentation. Even though I have no intention to drag this OT issue any further, I thank you for understanding where I was/am coming from.

I want to defend myself, apologize, and speak to the possible creation of this/these boards once more:

First: Brackets in a quote means the person didn't actually say those words. The fact the whole "quote" was in brackets should make it obvious that it wasn't really a quote but a paraphrase. I didn't think much about it, I just realized my post was really long, I was quoting someone for several paragraphs a post or 2 above me, and thought I'd just paraphrase the section I was responding to. I had no idea it would become a federal case.

That said, I apologize for the misunderstanding. I disagree that I changed the meaning of what the poster said, but my opinion truly doesn't matter in this case; I regret that the poster I was responding to was angered by what I did, I really do.

In the future, if a non-moderator thinks I broke a rule, I would ask to be PMed rather than to be embarrassed and chastised publicly.

Back on topic:

JOUY31 stated he/she would be for RyanAir/EasyJet forums as subforums of Budget Travel. I think that would be a spectacular idea. It's a compromise that, to me, actually makes more sense than either (a.) putting it under "Mileage Programs" or (b.) excluding them altogether.

I am not a frequent flyer of either airline, so my interest is the interest of FT. I like FT a lot, and want it to come up on the front page when someone Googles the #8 airline in the world. I want to be able to rely on FT for information from fellow pax when flying a large airline while in Europe. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

How does one present a proposal to TB?

That's what this thread is.

Actually I think it was me that suggested the subforum idea while JOUY31 suggested consolidating things within the Budget Travel forum:

As to the other thing, I'm not a big fan of paraphrasing but am glad you adressed the issue and rejoined the thread to offer your opinion on the thread topic. :)

judolphin highlighted this thread to me. Though I sense he/she might not like what follows.

Prospero has already explained our MO for EZY/FR threads. In terms of volume we might get 1 thread every 2-3 weeks on the subject on BA which would qualify for the proposed forum. On that basis, along with the absence of FFP and the perfectly acceptable budget travel forum I can't see any real need for the proposed new, seperate fora.

Whilst normally very in favour of new forums on the 'build it and they will come' theory, I am in two minds about this one, because it exposes the limitations of the FT category system.

If you have a question about EasyJet ex-UK, you could post it a) OT in the BA forum, b) UK and Ireland or c) budget travel. Possibly even d) Other European Airlines. You would get a response in any of those forums - ironically, the biggest response would be if you did a) even though that is the worst place for it. I'm not sure that creating a further option e) helps.

At the end of the day, with no FF programme to disect, the number of EZ / FR queries is relatively finite, relating to the intricacies of the fare structures and the in-flight experience. Once you've got that out of the way I'm not sure what is left.

What I WOULD like to see (and this is going off topic) is better linkage of related forums. There should be, for example, a quick link on the BA board to the 'UK and Ireland' forum, plus possible 'Budget Travel'. This would reduce the number of OT threads in all forums.

If a post gets moved, it still appears in the original forum with a Moved: tag in front of it... so if a U2 or FR post gets moved to Budget Travel, can't visitors of the BA forum (or whichever other forum it starts in) still be able to weigh in on it if they have insight on the topic at hand? I'm not sure why that's not sufficient if we stay status quo.

That said, I would be interested in seeing a forum for LCCs without FFPs either as a subforum under Budget Travel or standing on its own.

Having been a relatively frequent EZ flyer over the past year (in fact more so than any other airline - I'd have earned top tier status if they actually had a FFP) I'd be perfectly happy to have a dedicated forum for EZ.

I think my issue with EZ in the budget forum as stands is that most people asking about EZ are basically asking the same kind of question about them viz 'How do they work, are they like Southwest?'. There are several EZ regulars who answer these type of question, but not that many. I'm not sure if that's because the group of people who most often fly EZ (European - because of airline location and predominantly business people, to judge from the flights I've taken and my own experience as to why I was flying them) aren't the kind of people who frequent budget travel too much, or if it's because those of us who fly frequently on EZ also have our own frequent flyer boards to hang out on in addition to flying EZ so don't have time to do a general board as well, where many of the threads are just not of interest (I've done budget travel, I've done non-budget travel, I prefer the non-budget version thanks ;)). Be that as it may, I don't think using the Budget travel forum for EZ is a particularly good fit and while it kind of does for questions about EZ, I think there is a case to be made for giving EZ it's own board as it would allow better and more informed discussion of EZ, allowing those that fly EZ a focus and those that want to fly EZ and have questions someplace definitive to go ask them - or to go search for answers.

I can't speak for FR. I don't fly them. I've never flown them. I won't fly them as at all if I can possibly avoid it, and I disapprove so much of the company I wouldn't chose to give them the oxygen of their own board. But I also know that me disapproving of their business practices so not wanting to give them a board on principle isn't really a rational argument!

I'd also add that discussion of the moderating practices of BA is not within the remit of TB.

Ahem... post #40? ;)

jenbel, I know what you mean about FR. My resolve is not quite as strong as yours and there are some occasions where the alternative to FR is so complex or expensive that I end up on an FR flight but it always leave me feeling morally 'dirty'. But, yes, this cannot be an argument against a forum. In any event, your problem would be that one cannot reasonably allow an EZY forum while denying an FR one...

On the oxygen of publicity bit, well, to be honest, anybody in Europe who has not heard of Ryanair is probably not aware that we have had flying machines since the Wright Brothers, Santos-Dumont and Bleriot. As to our US friends, it is very helpful for them to know more about FR as they should know that FR is not really like B6 or FL, which some would tend to assume.

Your post, as well as that by Raffles, also point out to another problem re the multiplication of forums: the list of forums in my own 'My flyertalk' keeps growing and I find that my reading is being spread increasingly thinly. If the critical mass is there, then it makes sense to create another forum. If it is not, it is counter-productive as some of us who are happy to frequent a generic BT forum will simply give up with several additional fora. That's the fragmentation problem again.

Ha, to the underlined part: if those are the numbers, those are the numbers. Perhaps it's not needed after all if it's only 1-2 threads per month. With your insight the only rational argument left is," If you build it they [may very well] come."

There should have been a ;) at the end of my sentence, it was tongue in cheek.

touché, Nick. I'm not one who usually favors subforums but think it would make sense in this case, more sense than say trying to rename the forum something more generic that would indicate LCC inclusion. Just MHO.

Right. Somebody posts an idea here on TBT, and everyone discusses and debates it. If a large majority of posters are persuaded that the idea is good, the TB will typically make a motion and pass something. If the discussion here is inconclusive, the TB is not likely to have a 2/3 majority to act. Simple, really. Because TB members are no different than any other FTers.