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Re-organise of Airline Forums
Hi all, this question or suggestion have been in my mind for a while. I hope someone can agree with me partially if not as a whole.
What I am thinking is: 1>, Cancel the Airline and Global Alliance from the main menu, add: Star Alliance, OneWorld, SkyTeam as well as non-allianced airlines four main menu. 2>, Move all Star Alliance related sub-forum under the Star Alliance menu, do the same for oneworld and SkyTeam. 3>, Move all non-allianced airline under the Non-allianced Airlines forum. 4>, Move other airlines under the geography catagory into Non-allianced Airlines forum 5>, Within Star Alliance, oneworld and SkyTeam main menu, add a sub-froum for smaller airline programme which is not big enough for an individual sub-froum So when visitors come to the Flyertalk forums, they will see Star Alliance oneworld SkyTeam Non-Alliance Airline four main menus insted of: Airline porgrams Global Airline Alliances If they click on oneworld, they will have sub-forums includes: oneworld (for general discussion about Alliance and other oneworld member not listed) American British Cathay Iberia Finnair Qantas Some sub-forums like Airlines of India, Frontier, Qatar, jetBlue, Emirates can be moved to Non-Alliance Airline I hope I have put my suggestion in a clear manner...Should you have any questions or better ideas please let the moderator know. |
You might want to make this suggestion in the Talkboard Topics Forum... since the Talkboard would need to take this decision.
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I've moved this along to the Talkboard forum for their consideration.
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As sub-forums, it would not be ideal. But as a reorganisation of headings along alliance lines, this is something worth considering. I made such a proposal a couple of years ago (see this thread) but nothing came of it.
Given the dynamism and forward-looking nature of TB, I think that we will get there as long as one is a little patient. I am hopeful that this could happen sometimes around the year 2045 or 2046. ;) |
Not everyone knows every airline's alliance affiliation (or lack of it). It is a lot easier to find, say, "Czech Airways" by using the alphabet than it is by first finding out that the company belongs to SkyTeam.
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Originally Posted by Dovster
(Post 16705755)
Not everyone knows every airline's alliance affiliation (or lack of it). It is a lot easier to find, say, "Czech Airways" by using the alphabet than it is by first finding out that the company belongs to SkyTeam.
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Until that time, people will post in whichever forum takes their fancy - a lot of our moderator effort in Community is spent redirecting random threads to the correct forum (e.g. the most recent was moving a thread about Hawaiian airlines to the Hawaiian airlines forum), and I don't see this as making the structure of FT anymore transparent to new or occasional visitors. I do appreciate the logic - but I can't see the point of making FT even more new-member unfriendly.
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Originally Posted by Jenbel
(Post 16706687)
I can't see the point of making FT even more new-member unfriendly.
I know a fair amount about the miles and points games, and know which alliance the major airlines fall into. But when it comes to the smaller, more obscure ones (at least to me), I frequently have to look them up to refresh my memory. I would advocate leaving the airlines in alphabetical order. BUT what I would love to see is a small alliance icon next to each name in the list. I think that would be very useful, and serve the best of both worlds. |
One thing that confused me as a new member was the naming of the airline forums (eg American AAdvantage), which led me to think that the only topic would be the FF program instead of the everything about the airline. It might be beneficial to rename the forum into the name of the airline (eg American Airlines) instead of the FF program.
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Picking up NickB's suggestion from 2009, a interesting discussion, series of suggestions and ideas had developed prior to the proposal going dormant.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkb...-headings.html I appreciate the points made that the forums should be organised in a way that is intuitive to the user and I have been pondering over some ideas on how the forum descriptions/sub titles might be developed in a way that removes any ambiguity. Here's a initial draft for no purpose other than to take NickB's concept and paint a picture of what might be possible. Please excuse any errors/omissions I might have made relating to airline subsidiaries. oneworld Alliance AAdvantage American Airlines | American Eagle Asia Miles and Marco Polo Club Cathay Pacific | Dragonair Executive Club British Airways Finnair Plus Finnair Frequent Flyer Qantas Iberia Plus Iberia | Air Nostrum Mileage Bank Japan Airlines Other oneworld Alliance Frequent Flyer Programs LAN | Malev | Royal Jordanian | S7 Airlines oneworld Systemwide Issues Discussion of lounge networks, Round The World programs, integration issues etc SkyTeam Alliance Flying Blue Air France | CityJet | KLM | Kenya Airways | Air Europa MilleMiglia Alitalia SkyMiles Delta Air Lines Skypass Korean Air Other SkyTeam Frequent Flyer Programs Aeroflot | AeroMexico | China Eastern | China Southern | Czech Airlines | Tarom | Vietnam Airlines SkyTeam Systemwide Issues Discussion of lounge networks, Round The World programs, integration issues etc Star Alliance Aeroplan Air Canada Air Points Air New Zealand ANA Mileage Club All Nippon Airways Dividend Miles US Airways EuroBonus SAS Scandinavian Airlines | Blue1 Asiana Club Asiana Airlines Diamond Club British Midland International KrisFlyer Singapore Airlines Mileage Plus United Airlines Miles & More Lufthansa | Adria | Air Dolomiti | Austrian Airlines | Brussels Airlines | Croatia Airlines | LOT Polish Airlines | Luxair | Swiss International Air Lines Miles&Smiles Turkish Airlines Royal Orchid Plus Thai Airways Other Star Alliance Frequent Flyer Programs Aegean | Air China | Egyptair | South African Airlines | Spanair | TAM | TAP Portugal Star Alliance Systemwide issues Discussion of lounge networks, Round The World programs, integration issues etc Other Airline Frequent Flyer Programs A+ Rewards AirTran Airways EarlyReturns Frontier Airlines eleVAte Virgin America Flying Club Virgin Atlantic Frequent Guest WestJet Matmid El Al Mileage Plan Alaska Airlines | Horizon Airlines Privilege Club Qatar Airways Rapid Rewards Southwest Airlines Skywards Emirates Airlines TrueBlue JetBlue Velocity Virgin Australia Airlines of India Air India | Jet Airways | Kingfisher Airlines | Other Indian-based airlines Hawaii-based Airlines Hawaiian Airlines | Other airlines based in Hawai`i Other Asian, Australian and South Pacific Frequent Flyer Programs Other airlines based in Asian, Australian and the South Pacific Other European Frequent Flyer Programs Other airlines based in Europe Other Middle East and Africa Frequent Flyer Programs Other airlines based in Middle East and Africa Other North and South America Frequent Flyer Programs Other airlines based in North and South America |
Originally Posted by Prospero
(Post 16709303)
I appreciate the points made that the forums should be organised in a way that is intuitive to the user and I have been pondering over some ideas on how the forum descriptions/sub titles might be developed in a way that removes any ambiguity.
While I think clearer and more consistent forum titles would, indeed, help, I can't see how this organization really helps the average user find what they're looking for. (Which I believe should be the underlying goal.) It seems to me, more often than not, people will be looking for information based upon the name of the airline -- not the alliance or the name of the FF program. For example, I'm going to Turkey. I've heard of Turkish Airlines. This organization plan makes it pretty difficult to pick Turkish Airlines out of the list. I likely wouldn't know it is in the Star Alliance. And I'm even less likely to know that the name of the program is "Miles & Smiles." Yet, that's the order of the navigation required to get me to Turkish Airlines. Who is really served by approaching the structure in this way? |
Originally Posted by AZ Travels the World
(Post 16709444)
Who is really served by approaching the structure in this way?
So on reflection, flipping the hierarchy from FFP to airline headlines works equally well, if not better. I do accept your example which leads to prioritising the airline name as the title header as this is what draws the member to the golden info about airlines they are less familiar with. What I like about the grouping airlines into their respective alliances is that it reinforces FT's raison d'etre and perhaps better reflects its usage or at least my usage. :) |
This situation illustrates the desirability of board software that could present the forums in whichever way the user prefers.
However we do have My FlyerTalk, which can accomplish most of what is needed for users. I don't see creating a major project for a minor benefit. As we all know, the people who are displeased by a change are always much louder than those who are pleased by it. |
Originally Posted by Prospero
(Post 16709659)
This is a very good question - pretty fundamental too. Returning to first principles and I can only describe my own usage which happens to fall into two primary but overlapping purposes:
So on reflection, flipping the hierarchy from FFP to airline headlines works equally well, if not better. I do accept your example which leads to prioritising the airline name as the title header as this is what draws the member to the golden info about airlines they are less familiar with. What I like about the grouping airlines into their respective alliances is that it reinforces FT's raison d'etre and perhaps better reflects its usage or at least my usage. :) The alphabetical organisation works ideally for a general 'airline travel' board. If, however, you have an FFP-oriented board, then the alliance-based system is, IMO, preferable. It means, for instance, that BA fliers may see in the headlines just below something of interest in another OW airlines, such as CX or IB that may catch their eyes, which they are highly unlikely to notice if we stick to the alphabetical list.
Originally Posted by nsx
(Post 16710642)
This situation illustrates the desirability of board software that could present the forums in whichever way the user prefers.
However we do have My FlyerTalk, which can accomplish most of what is needed for users. I don't see creating a major project for a minor benefit. As we all know, the people who are displeased by a change are always much louder than those who are pleased by it. |
Originally Posted by chongcao
(Post 16706659)
Once you are here once or twice you know it aotumatically being a FT.
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