tcook052

I would hope your examples would still be placed in the destination forums.

JDiver

SFO Helicopter Airlines was by far the fastest and most convenient transport between SFO and OAK, serving Berkeley, Emeryville, Lafayette, Oakland (OAK and downtown), Palo Alto (PAO), San Francisco SFO and downtown), San José (SJC), Sausalito. It ceased operations in 1986. (I still miss it, though my SFO-OAK transport need isn't there for me anymore.)

New York Helicopter connected the East 34th Street heliport to EWR, JFK, LGA. It ceased operations in 1988.

There may be a few scheduled helicopter services out there - just definitely not those two. (I'm guessing scheduled helicopter services might be in the putative forum, but sightseeing operations such as Victoria Falls Flight of Angels, Cataratas do Iguaçu, the various Hawaiian charters, might remain in their respective destination fora - I believe that's where most would search for them.)

MSPeconomist

Good point, especially if they're run as independent operations and don't have any sort of unifying FF program. I wonder where there are any charter companies that operate in different areas, sort of like you can call Carey to book car service in a huge number of cities.

However, it could be good to have a master list of all such services in an appropriate forum so that someone who wants the experience can easily consider destinations where helicopters are available either as airport transportation or for a sightseeing excursion. In addition, there might be some common issues such as perhaps ear pain, noise levels and where to sit, common baggage limitations and security rules/procedures, age limits and child fares (which could also go in Travel with Children), etc.

Canarsie

Having that master list of such services — along with links to the appropriate forums of where discussions of those certain services are located — would be a good idea worth considering if an Alternate Air Travel forum exists on FlyerTalk, in my opinion.

Kagehitokiri

there have been small threads for years (since beginning of FT?) and there are a number of people who fly / have flown paid/owned general aviation

perhaps start with master thread / wiki in travelbuzz?

satman40

AOPA, Forum, I can see it now,

Business try to keep it private.

mia

Private jets are apparently sufficiently commoditized to be proposed as a mass merchandising perq:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/...its-cache.html

Kagehitokiri

airlines / scheduled charters / shuttles >

about to launch >

https://x.jetsuite.com/
"private terminals"

existing airline >

https://capeair.com/flying_with_us/n..._airports.html
"Westchester County Airport. Cape Air is located in Hangar A."

another existing operator >

http://www.flytradewind.com/tradewin...tle/northeast/
"Shuttle flights depart from private charter FBO terminals"

there are a lot of these kinds of existing operators
USDOT has a list of "Commuter Air Carriers"
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...terminals.html

Sykes

That is changing these days as well. Delta and Lufthansa offer miles and points for their private jet programs, and JetSuiteX (with seats from SFO to LAS for less than $200 each) now credits to JetBlue (although the rate is atrocious).

I'd add that there is also some overlap with credit card program as wells--Amex Platinum, Citi Prestige, etc. now tend to have private jet programs.

tcook052

And where those relationships exist the discussion can go in the appropriate existing FT forum as you've outlined making a dedicated private jet forum quite unnecessary.

mia

Not if my interest is primarily in learning about private jet service options rather than using private jet as another way to increase my Skymiles balance.

The notion that Flyertalk shouldn't have a forum unless there is a need is a disservice to our members and a flawed business strategy for Internet Brands. There is ZERO risk to establishing a new forum to host a topic that even a few people want to discuss. Flyertalk isn't a library with finite shelf space. We have unlimited capacity to open as many speciality forums as we can imagine. Flyertalk should be on the leading edge creating dedicated discussion space for every emerging discussion topic, instead of assuming that members will be content to have their exchanges buried in Travel Buzz.

Kagehitokiri

TB can recommend a new forum
whereas would have to be moderators deciding to have a master thread

i imagine many/most/all in TSS forum will be very interested in things like jetsuitex

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...iscussion.html

tcook052

What's flawed is the notion that the current arrangement isn't working as IB is quite capable of pursuing ANY business strategy it deems necessary including the creation of an infinite number of forums whenever it wanted without TB input. That they have chosen not to do so leaving forum creation decisions to the CD and TB suggests they don't look upon the current model as flawed. It's not unreasonable to expect any new forum to fulfil an unmet need and the real disservice to members would be creating an infinite number of forums that 99% of them won't use or can't find.

cblaisd

No, it's primarily a library with infinite shelf space.

I tend to agree except for those cases where the cataloging system and would have logical holes (primarily more a concern for making sure the destination forums have a logical and complete taxonomy)

oenophilist

I disagree vehemently. There were a couple of issues raised about whether or not to create a private jet forum.

1. Are private jets mainstream enough to fit with the Flyertalk community?
2. Is there a linkage between private jets and miles/points?
3. Is there enough momentum and content to sustain a private jet forum?
4. What would be the appropriate category fit?

The fact that points/miles are now being credited for private jet flights demonstrates #1 and #2 are being met, or at least close to being met. However, hiding that information exclusively within those miles programs doesn't serve to address flyers who are looking for more information about the private jet companies themselves. For example, putting all information about JetSuiteX in the JetBlue forum makes it difficult to find information about the company and the service. What happens if JetSuiteX credits to another company as well?

I believe that an Alternate Air Travel forum meets the need. The only real question is whether or not the content generated is enough to sustain it yet. That is a judgement call which TalkBoard needs to consider. I'm unfamiliar with past forum decisions and what volume of content is usually required. But I fundamentally disagree that putting information about the miles relationships in the appropriate existing Miles & Points forums satisfies the need for a private jet forum.