nsx

Moved by bhatnasx and seconded by jackal:

Talkboard recommends the creation of an Etihad Airways Etihad Guest forum.

This vote will close on Nov 20, 11 at 8:23 PM Pacific Time or after all TalkBoard members have registered their vote, whichever comes first.

Per the TalkBoard Guidelines:

A motion shall pass if the ratio of 'yes' votes of TalkBoard members to 'no' votes is at least 2 to 1 and the 'yes' vote count is a majority of the entire TalkBoard. (Since the TalkBoard has 9 members, this means 6 'yes' votes in most cases, 5 'yes' votes if 2 or more members fail to vote 'yes' or 'no'.)

The purpose of posting voting topics in the public TalkBoard Topics forum is to solicit member feedback on any motions that are up for a vote and to allow for comments after a vote is made. It is at the sole discretion of the individual TalkBoard members whether they choose to post in the public discussion thread, there being no requirement to do so.

Members should feel free to discuss the pros and cons in this thread or in the other thread containing pre-vote discussion.

Edited to add:

On 16 November 2011, the TalkBoard passed this motion 9-0.

Voting yes: bhatnasx, Cholula, jackal, lucky9876coins, Markie, nsx, SkiAdcock, Spiff, UA_Flyer

chanp

I think it's a great idea, esp w some of us being able to use AA miles. I would one would like feedback on seats, menus, ground service, esp car service, lounges, FA's, connections, etc.

TheGreatestX

delete

SkiAdcock

Actually TB members are the ones who vote, but it would be great if you would articulate why you think this should be approved (if you haven't already posted in the other thread) for TB members to consider before voting.

Cheers.

jackal

And here is the link to said other thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkb...es-forums.html

SighMN

I think having an Etihad forum would have a lot of benefits for Flyertalk. Already Etihad takes up the majority of threads in the "Other Middle East and Africa Frequent Flyer Programs" forum, and having a forum dedicated solely to Etihad the amount of threads would only increase.

Etihad as an airline has a really good case to be considered a major international airline worthy of its own forum. It serves about 68 destinations, and it announces more and more destinations almost every month. It has one of the airline industry's most ambitious expansion plans in terms of purchasing aircraft and new destinations and code shares.

Etihad's product is highly rated for the most part, and its first class and business class product are industry leading. As controversial as some of those travel awards are, it has gained quite a few in the last few years. Most users of Flyertalk seem to want to fly Etihad and are curious to learn more.

Etihad's frequent flyer program is actually quite robust, and growing. It has many partnerships with other airlines and it seeks to further gain more partnerships and maybe even one of the 3 big airline alliances. Its new partnership with American Airlines has really increased interest in Etihad, and the Etihad thread on American airlines is currently at 20 pages, and there are still posts almost daily in it.

A new forum for Etihad would help others who are new to Flyertalk find their home forum easier. Right now its quite often the case new posters don't seem to be able to find where topics about Etihad should be posted. There was one such post yesterday. It may also attract Etihad to have an Etihad Guest representative in the forum to answer our questions. Etihad seems to be actively using social media (like twitter) to engage its customers, and they seem to be driven to improve their frequent flyer program.

I don't know all of the politics for why one would vote against a measure like this, but I would assume it would be on the basis that the con of gained by adding another airline to the already large list in the forums would be greater than the actual benefit of having a separate forum. From my point of view I think an Etihad forum would be busier than some of the already active airline forums, and if there isn't a discussion to decommission them then I think it would be an obvious choice to vote for a new forum for Etihad.

InternationalLiving

Opening a forum for the airline would make sense considering its growth.

That being said, I find its new 2-year mileage expiry laughable, certainly one of the worst in the industry...

SighMN

All programs have their pluses and minuses and Etihad is no different. A forum for it would help discuss where you can get the benefits as well as discuss the negatives like the one you point out. There are a lot of pluses to Etihad's program, and its not hard to redeem flights with Etihad especially using their Miles + Cash option, as there are no restrictions other than the specific fare class and you earn miles based on the percentage of cash you paid for the ticket. The other thing is Etihad's frequent flyer program is meant for frequent flyers. It won't benefit someone that flys every other year. If you fly just two flights in a year in economy most likely you'll be a silver member. Its not a domestic airline and most of its routes are some of the longest routes in the world.

The other thing that I never knew about (found out on this forum) is that Etihad often allows cash upgrades, the forum has helped a lot of people figure out where this happens and have given loading advice for people on the likelyhood of an upgrade.

T8191

I'm unlikely to fly with Etihad as they don't go where I want! However, they are a frequent topic of conversation on the BA Forum by those who could/do use them as a carrier option.

YES ... they deserve their own forum.

screwedbyaa

I'm in favor for 3 reasons:

1. EY has been getting a lot of attention lately due to their recent tie-up with AA and plenty of people (myself included) would like accurate, specific information about the EY experience
2. Even before the AA deal, EY is one of the major players in the Mideast region and purports to be a "top" carrier, so it demands scrutiny to find out just how good (or bad) they are -- plus all the neutral data like schedules, configurations, etc.
3. More, specific, accurate information can only help and can't hurt!

SkiAdcock

Thanks for some of the articulate arguments for the creation of the forum, both in this thread & the other thread. It does help TB members when considering whether to create a new forum, and is very much appreciated.

Cheers.

nsx

Southwest used to have that policy (rolling expiration of credits), and originally each credit expired in 12 months! Yet at that time Rapid Rewards was considered extremely lucrative, because credits were so cheaply earned. It's a package deal.

InternationalLiving

I don't disagree with you at all there, and all good points.

Well, this is more debatable. I fly to Bangkok 2-3 times a year on Qatar, often on more expensive economy tickets, and am silver. No different there. I have, after 5 return flights and many hotel bookings, enough miles for a return ticket to Bangkok... but only just within the 2 years. Due to my schedule I couldn't really use them until next year... if I was with Etihad, that wouldn't be an option. While I don't fly very frequently like many busy business travellers, compared to most of the flying public, I am a frequent long-haul traveller, and usually on the same airline nonetheless. Clearly Etihad only want to appeal to incredibly frequent travellers, most people would never be able to save up for a "trip of a lifetime" when miles expire after 2 years...

Well, you just answered yourself. Easy to get the points, so (I'm presuming) a frequent business flyer could accumulate rewards quickly... again, generally not so useful for those on vacation. In some ways, SW could be compared to the likes of Easyjet (without all the charges); surely a 12-month FF programme is a way of grabbing some of the business crowd away from the more business-oriented airlines? (You are the SWA moderator, I won't argue with what you have to say on the matter!)

Anyways, just my opinion. I certainly do not debate that an Etihad forum would be useful, I'm all for there being one...

ung1

Don't really want to go off topic here, but the reason for that is Etihad recently made some major changes to their reward pricing, where Y redemptions became very uncompetitive, J redemptions remained the same or similar as before, and F redemptions got cheaper, for most routes. The idea of quick expiry then is obviously to force people to use up their miles for overpriced Y redemptions, and ensure that only very frequent flyers (who would have Gold status) are able to obtain better value J & F redemptions.

InternationalLiving

Thanks for the explanation, Ung 1. Can't say I like their reasoning, but this is for the consumer to decide if it's a wise idea...

/end thread hijack