Parallel threads in Credit Card forum & program-specific forum
 

The creation of the CC forum made sense in many ways, but IMO there are still some loose ends flapping around in terms of duplicative threads.

Case in point: there are two essentially interchangeable threads on the Chase Marriott Rewards card,

• http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...00-points.html (Marriott forum)
• http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...mier-visa.html (CC forum)

It strikes me that the discussion really should be consolidated in one place, and I've flagged this overlap for the mods in the past, to no avail. Am I missing something here?

[Mods: I'm not sure TBT is the right place for this gripe. I'm sure you'll set me straight if it isn't.]

Credit Card Programs is not a new forum, it has existed the entire time that I have been a FlyerTalk member, but was underutilized. Previously, the same credit card offer was often discussed in three places:

• The sponsoring airline or hotel program's forum
• A credit card forum
• MilesBuzz!

Moving most discussion of this topic out of MilesBuzz! is an improvement, but as you note there is still duplication. In principle I would like to see discussion of co-branded affinity cards hosted in the sponsoring programs' forums, but often the content of the parallel threads is quite different.

Posters in the airline or hotel forums tend to see the credit card as an extension of the loyalty program. They write about how the card can enhance their flights or stays.

Posters in the credit card forums tend to see the credit card as a freestanding opportunity to accumulate miles or points in a program about which they may have little knowledge. These threads are often more about the credit card issuer than the airline or hotel program.

As I recall, discussions of this issue in the past proposed a very good solution: for new/short-term offers, allow a "hot news" thread in MB, but then lock that thread after a short period (say, 30 days) and post a pointer to the ongoing thread in the program forum.

Perhaps, although it doesn't seem to me this is happening in the Marriott threads. They both appear to consist largely of "is this offer dead or still alive?" and "what's the magic sequence of URLs/logins for getting the best offer to appear?"

I have general interest in travel-related credit card opportunities. It would be nice to have one place (e.g. one forum) where the best new (often limited time) CC deals can be found. This is not the case today when new deals can be posted on the general CC forum or the program's own forum. Because there are many programs each with its own forum, it's impractical to check all the forums on a daily basis (at least I don't know an efficient way). And daily is necessary to catch the limited-time lucrative deals (some of the best). Right now I get the latest scoop from 2 blogs because it's easier than checking countless forums. Some deals are probably posted first on FT, but the fact they are spread across many forums means it won't be the place I first find out about them.

Just my 2c.

p.s. I know there is a "special credit card offers master thread", but it seems to post deals not as quickly as the blogs.

This was, as I recall, one of nsx's ideas for the revamped MilesBuzz (to be renamed "Hot Deals" or something like that) forum, but his vision never got passed during the last TalkBoard session.

Something for the new TalkBoard to consider.

I'd be happy to suggest it for a vote, I think it's a good idea actually.

I hope that if added, it gets more traction than this thread started by nsx that was meant to be community maintained. It got no traction.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...aluations.html

Before you do, you might want to read the thread in the private TB forum to see the discussion that occurred previously. IIRC there were some logistical issues, including what the vB software could do. It's certainly worth revisiting, but it would be good to know pros/cons, what can be done/what can't be done, any other issues before a motion is fleshed out & proposed.

Cheers.

Thanks for pointing that out - quite disappointing.

Ringing in as a member who has spent some time maintaining the FlyerGuide AA Wiki (here), and has started many wikis, I ha d high hopes, but I've been disappointed in how little community interest has been shown in maintaining these; in most instances, they sit there and do not get updated by the community, even if the topic is of high interest. :confused:

At that, I have included the following at the top of most of my wikiposts, so people will make no mistake as to their purpose:

Wikipost instructions: signed in members can minimize or maximize Wikipost by clicking on [-] or [+] box upper right of post and can edit this Wikipost.

Seems to me, it's pretty unambiguous.

Just more grist for the mill, friends.

OT, but IMO part of the problem is the existence of wikis set up by mods and closed for anyone else to add or edit the information, even though these wikis seem to have the same boilerplate about being maintained by/for the community. When I noticed this feature on FT, it certainly destroyed my enthusiasm for participating in wikis. This policy seems to contradict the message that participation is welcome.

I've not seen that. I actually created a # of wikis the other day (although not in the MilesBuzz forum) with no problem. However, a locked-down wiki is a bit of an oxymoron.

Cheers.

I found that odd as well, and I recall the first few I came across were like that. I ignored Wikis after that as I thought they were just another form of moderated "sticky".

Now that I see they're not all locked, though I frankly just don't notice them unless they automatically open when clicking on the thread. This may just be my own mental oddities and occasional vision problems, but the thick blue Wiki bar tends to escape my notice as it sits so close to the very similar blue bar above. And the small grey-font "Wiki" text and very small "+" sign don't catch my eye or stand out at all. Thus, I often don't see the fact that a Wiki exists for a thread.

Again, I may just be the one oddball out of thousands who see it fine and just don't use it!

When you notice this, you might wish to "AMP" or otherwise notify the moderators. Most wikiposts I've come across are member-editable.

In the American AAdvantage (Pre-Merger) Forum, we have two different messages that we use to provide some clarity.

vs.

We might go to another color for full differentiation.

We're a bit off the original topic, but out of curiosity why would a wiki be locked/only a mod can edit? I know that was the case several months ago when they were first being tested, but once testing was over/they went live I don't see a reason to have a wiki locked. That seems to defeat the purpose of a wiki. On a dif note - learned something today. Never noticed the + or - before on the wikis.

Cheers.