Travel Planners Forum
#16
Ambassador: LATAM
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: PNA
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Posts: 4,648
I´m a partner in a travel agency, Mundo LAN user, Avianca Grupos user, we just booked a big chunk of a LH flight and we often charter our own planes too.
Count me in for participation in a new Travel Planners' forum.
Count me in for participation in a new Travel Planners' forum.
#17
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It might be a bit of a leap of faith that if we build it they will come, but this is a forum that I think would get input & not be a dead forum.
Cheers.
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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This forum sounds intriguing to me for that reason.
*No, our Alaska FT dos are not just "meet at this restaurant for dinner"--they're full-on excursions involving planes, trains, and automobiles and overnight stays in faraway places. Check them out:
#19
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador: World of Hyatt
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: NJ
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Fairmont Lifetime Plat, UA Silver, dirt elsewhere
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The only issue/concern I would have with a Travel Planning forum is that it becomes a fishing ground for travel agents looking to drum up some business.
Helping each other plan group events/travel is one thing, making it a business resource for travel agents is entirely different.
Helping each other plan group events/travel is one thing, making it a business resource for travel agents is entirely different.
#20
Ambassador: LATAM
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: PNA
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 4,648
The only issue/concern I would have with a Travel Planning forum is that it becomes a fishing ground for travel agents looking to drum up some business.
Helping each other plan group events/travel is one thing, making it a business resource for travel agents is entirely different.
Helping each other plan group events/travel is one thing, making it a business resource for travel agents is entirely different.
Are you saying that flyertalker123 says "I am booking for 15 people to Vienna" and RandomAgent says "I can book that for you"
Is that not already adequately covered by this
Commercial and Charitable Messages
a. Commercial posts. Posts containing promotional messages for commercial products or services - including but not limited to Internet sites, business advertisements and solicitations to donate miles or points – are prohibited and will be removed. FlyerTalk is not a marketplace and nothing is to be offered for sale or conditioned on an exchange of money or barter. Nothing in this rule is intended to prohibit exchange of travel coupons as allowed by the rules of Coupon Connection. If you spot a commercial post, please report it.
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador: World of Hyatt
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Yes, It may be, but it's just more work for the mods to clean it up. It also would cover PMs and emails. No solicitation should be clear right up front. But like I said, that would be my only concern.
#22
Ambassador: LATAM
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: PNA
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Posts: 4,648
But the same could be said for other forums on FT
Travel Photography
Q What's the best DSLR for nature photography?
A Nikon blah blah blah, my shop has an offer on at the moment PM me.
UK & Ireland
Q Where can I stay in Devon?
A My B&B in Brixham is lovely
Hawaii
Q What to do on the Big Island?
A My surf school might be of interest to you
Car Rentals
Q Wow Avis Anchorage is quoting me $10,000 for a Chevy Aveo for a week
A I will rent you a jalopy for 50 bucks.
Spamming by commercial suppliers doesn't seem to be a major problem on FT. Compare it to Lonely Planet where there is an abundance of spam and fake reviews of commercial entities.
#23
Moderator: Smoking Lounge; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
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The only issue/concern I would have with a Travel Planning forum is that it becomes a fishing ground for travel agents looking to drum up some business.
Helping each other plan group events/travel is one thing, making it a business resource for travel agents is entirely different.
Helping each other plan group events/travel is one thing, making it a business resource for travel agents is entirely different.
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador: World of Hyatt
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: NJ
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I hear ya, and isn't it always the case that if you say "no solicitation" up front in a "read me" thread, the people that ought to read it normally don't.
But the same could be said for other forums on FT
Travel Photography
Q What's the best DSLR for nature photography?
A Nikon blah blah blah, my shop has an offer on at the moment PM me.
UK & Ireland
Q Where can I stay in Devon?
A My B&B in Brixham is lovely
Hawaii
Q What to do on the Big Island?
A My surf school might be of interest to you
Car Rentals
Q Wow Avis Anchorage is quoting me $10,000 for a Chevy Aveo for a week
A I will rent you a jalopy for 50 bucks.
Spamming by commercial suppliers doesn't seem to be a major problem on FT. Compare it to Lonely Planet where there is an abundance of spam and fake reviews of commercial entities.
But the same could be said for other forums on FT
Travel Photography
Q What's the best DSLR for nature photography?
A Nikon blah blah blah, my shop has an offer on at the moment PM me.
UK & Ireland
Q Where can I stay in Devon?
A My B&B in Brixham is lovely
Hawaii
Q What to do on the Big Island?
A My surf school might be of interest to you
Car Rentals
Q Wow Avis Anchorage is quoting me $10,000 for a Chevy Aveo for a week
A I will rent you a jalopy for 50 bucks.
Spamming by commercial suppliers doesn't seem to be a major problem on FT. Compare it to Lonely Planet where there is an abundance of spam and fake reviews of commercial entities.
#25
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Greener Pastures
Posts: 10,515
Clarifying what you mean by that
Are you saying that flyertalker123 says "I am booking for 15 people to Vienna" and RandomAgent says "I can book that for you"
Is that not already adequately covered by this
Commercial and Charitable Messages
a. Commercial posts. Posts containing promotional messages for commercial products or services - including but not limited to Internet sites, business advertisements and solicitations to donate miles or points – are prohibited and will be removed. FlyerTalk is not a marketplace and nothing is to be offered for sale or conditioned on an exchange of money or barter. Nothing in this rule is intended to prohibit exchange of travel coupons as allowed by the rules of Coupon Connection. If you spot a commercial post, please report it.
Are you saying that flyertalker123 says "I am booking for 15 people to Vienna" and RandomAgent says "I can book that for you"
Is that not already adequately covered by this
Commercial and Charitable Messages
a. Commercial posts. Posts containing promotional messages for commercial products or services - including but not limited to Internet sites, business advertisements and solicitations to donate miles or points – are prohibited and will be removed. FlyerTalk is not a marketplace and nothing is to be offered for sale or conditioned on an exchange of money or barter. Nothing in this rule is intended to prohibit exchange of travel coupons as allowed by the rules of Coupon Connection. If you spot a commercial post, please report it.
I when FlyerTalk decided to allow commercial posts in user's signature lines, that line is pretty much non-existant these days.
I agree with Mary2e's point.
Also, if this were to happen, it should be called an Event Planner's forum, not a Travel Planners forum. Travel Planning is a little too generic, IMHO.
Event planning forums already exist (limited, but they are there). I'm assuming that most people that want to plan an event would probably have at least a chain/brand in mind (especially here on FlyerTalk) and I think the discussion for that would me most applicable in that chain/brand's forum.
Although I can be convinced, I just don't see the need here on FlyerTalk.
#26
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If the Talk Board established some rules about trial runs for forums, this would not be a problem. Give it a few months and if the activity is not there you can close it, much like the Senior Forum was closed for inactivity.
#27
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Thanks for the Memories !!!
Posts: 10,657
I don't see this as any different than the people who are selling other travel products on here, like KVS, and who have become company reps. Is KVS even a company? At the end of the day, this will drive traffic to the site or it won't and that is what IB is looking for....we can pretty much forget about the altruism as it for the most part went out the window years ago! Don't see any problem with this at all, and as Tom 911 said if the board proves to be inactive it will be closed.
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: IAD/DCA
Posts: 31,797
has there been discussion in the past about a group travel or 'employer-side' forum?
#29
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Greener Pastures
Posts: 10,515
yes, but there might be other things that could be included in the new forum, for example - groups, meetings, events, negotiating, contracts and 'employer-side' things like corporate travel policies, incentive travel
has there been discussion in the past about a group travel or 'employer-side' forum?
has there been discussion in the past about a group travel or 'employer-side' forum?
I don't think that it's a bad idea for a forum, FWIW....I just don't see any demand for it.
I know several of my fellow TB members are open and supportive of building almsot any new forum you can think of - and this one is specifically travel related, which is good...however, I believe that for a forum to be "successful" there needs to be questions/answers/discussion...there has been little to no group or travel or event planning questions here on FlyerTalk with the exception of the occasssional - "I'm doing a wedding, what can I get out of it?" type threads...which, again, I believe would belong in the specific brand fora - which is where you can currently find them.
And as for closing forums, doubt we'll see too much of that...the Religious Travelers forum, probably the most under-utilized forum on FlyerTalk - has had ~350 threads since it's inception in 2005 - just over 6 years old & around 60 posts a year & a good majority of them are about Kosher meals on certain carriers or in certain cities - questions which could just as easily have been answered in the airline or regional fora, most likely...but hey, it serves a need, I guess...and as this is my last year on TB, I'm sure I won't be around to recommend the closing of it...
I guess before I'd be supportive of this, I'd like to see examples of true demand for it...
#30
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: IAD/DCA
Posts: 31,797
there are definitely execs, owners, corp travel dept people on FT
my point was that a potential forum could cover a whole range of topics, but a question for some is whether people would want to publicize things like negotiating results or corporate travel policies (in a more public way when its an actual forum vs other thread)
one problem with hotel forums is when youre comparing hotel programs
mileagebuzz is the only option
could also be a place for DO technical discussion, might encourage more discussion?
my point was that a potential forum could cover a whole range of topics, but a question for some is whether people would want to publicize things like negotiating results or corporate travel policies (in a more public way when its an actual forum vs other thread)
one problem with hotel forums is when youre comparing hotel programs
mileagebuzz is the only option
could also be a place for DO technical discussion, might encourage more discussion?
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Jan 21, 2012 at 8:38 pm