707Flyer

While the VX forum idea is dead for now, what about splitting other NA and SA into two?

For LCC fliers using VX, I think there is value in learning more about Sun Country, Skybus, Allegiant, Spirit, etc. But it's a nuisance to have to wade through all the Aerolineas Argentinas and TAM posts just to see what's happening with VX F Class service. At the same time, I'm sure the Latin American fliers would like to discuss their airlines without having to go through a bunch of threads about U.S regional airlines and discussions about Sir Richard Branson.

I believe both sets of fliers would be better served by two forums.

Thoughts?

J-M

Sorry... can't be done... might create clutter...

cblaisd

I think this is an idea well worth considering.

Cholula

I tend to agree as well.

As FlyerTalk continues to grow and attract worldwide members, splitting this catchall category into two makes organizational sense.

Someone who is interested in South American airline options shouldn't have to wade through threads on Sun Country and Skybus IMO.

If we're not going to offer a specific forum for each and every airline, we might at least organize the Miscellaneous or "Other" Forums a bit better

lucky9876coins

I also agree with this in genral, although would have to do some research in regards to the breakdown of NA vs. SA posts in the forum. Regardless of the outcome of a VX forum in the future, this is definitely an idea worth considering, IMO.

NickB

Apologies to the OP for hi-jacking the thread somewhat, but the consolidate Airtran, etc... thread also raises the issue of how to organise "the others" and I wondered whether it would be a good time for TB to initiate some reflection of this broader issue before addressing them one by one.
Geographical groupings make sense in some circumstances but are not necessarily the best way to group smaller airlines in all cases.
A particular issue I have in mind is whether alliance-based airline fora would make sense, at least in some circumstances.
All 3 alliances have a series of big airlines which have their own forum with a lot of traffic, but also a number of others with less traffic. Some of these "others" (AZ, OZ) have their own forum and others not (JK, MA, SAA).
I wondered whether there would be some mileage in creating new fora regrouping those others that belong to the same alliance. The name of the forum could include at least those airlines which are likely to attract more traffic. For instance, something like "Alitalia, Czech Airlines, Kenya Airways, Copa and other skyteam frequent flyer programmes", a bit like the M&M forum, that refers to LH but also LX and OS.
This would have the advantage of having the names of the airlines visible, with the traffic-generating impact that this involves, yet ensure a sufficient level of traffic that boards for individual airlines may not be able to sustain. It is worth noting that it is not unusual for the same posters to be active on several boards of smaller airlines within the same alliance. For instance, names of posters who post on OK in the "Other European" board also often appear on the Alitalia board.
To make myself clear, these would remain distinct boards from the existing alliance boards, which are concerned with alliance-wide issues and therefore fulfill a different function (alliance extension, RTW issues, alliance-wide benefits, etc...).

Going back more squarely on-topic, I do think that the proposal makes a lot of sense.

linsj

This makes a lot of sense and will make it more user friendly.

MarkXS

I like the idea of splitting NA and SA. I don't believe that any of the airlines commonly discussed in those forums have enough forum traffic to deserve individual airline forums yet. But there's certainly enough separate buzz on NA and SA airlines to make the split along that line.

itsaboutthejourney

excellent point!

I hope the TalkBoard will consider that more and more users are accessing FlyerTalk via mobile devices, where the drop down list items are the primary way to navigate the forums... catch-all forums like ONASA are all the more harder to sort through via mobile devices.

FlyerTalkers helping these emerging airlines deserve better.

Cholula

This suggestion just simply makes common sense to me.

I'll start a discussion thread in our Talkboard forum which is a precursor to making a motion should this idea attract any support.

itsaboutthejourney

Thank you for your leadership Cholula!

kokonutz

Here is what I posted on the private TB forum thread about this today:

For better organization I'd prefer to see more airlines get their own forums but since seems to be the next best thing (pending further poster input), sure, I second the motion. ^

NickB

Just for the sake of clarifying where the line is drawn: there would be an ONAFFP forum for US and Canada-based airlines, and one OLACFFP (Other Latin America and Carribean FFPs) for the rest?

Cholula

Here's my take:

Other North America FF Programs would encompass US, Canada and Mexico- based airlines.

Other South America FF Programs would encompass South America-based airlines. I'd like to see Caribbean and Central American-based airlines discussed in the South America forum just to balance the thread load a bit.

But where these actually or geographically fit is subject to discussion IMO.

NickB

Yes, I guess the issue is where to place Mexico: the NAFTA approach of placing it in North America, or the Latin approach of placing it with other Latin American airlines in Central and South America. I can see arguments on both sides.
FWIW, there seems to be a little over 300 threads mentioning either Aeromexico or Mexicana by name out of 1950 odd threads all in all, so a substantial part (over 1/6th) of the forum. I cannot think of an effective way of counting threads related to US+Canada airlines versus threads related to South & Central (excluding Mexico) American and Caribbean airlines.