Nov 17, 2014, 8:07 pm
Last edit by: IBobi
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Currently, there is no paid Premium subscription to eliminate advertising from the FlyerTalk viewing experience, and at this moment (18 Nov 2014) there is no plan for a Premium subscription in the works.
HISTORY: A few years ago, Randy Petersen, owned a number of travel-related products and websites under Frequent Flyer Services (est. 1986), including FlyerTalk, WebFlyer, FlyerGuide (wiki) and Inside Flyer magazine (more recently, MilePoint and Boarding Area).
When the FlyerTalk Premium subscription was instituted, one could subscribe to Inside Flyer magazine and through it, to an advert-free version of FlyerTalk that also included an expanded message box for Private Messaging.
Randy Petersen sold FlyerTalk to Internet Brands March 2007 and Randy Petersen and FlyerTalk went their separate ways in November of 2010.
When Premium subscriptions came up for renewal, for a period of time the Premium subscription could appear to be renewed by paying once again via the Inside Flyer webform. Unfortunately, due to the separation of ownership, this did not extend the Premium FlyerTalk subscription, and previous Premium members were presented with advertising and saw a sudden diminution of their PM message box.
CURRENT STATUS: Admin has been working on a Premium, ad-free membership solution for over two years, but at this moment there is no Premium membership, nor is there any intent for such a product in the near future.
On a case-by-case basis, Administration has extended an ads-free experience with expanded PM message box to those (relatively few) members with a recent Premium subscription due date gratis. If you feel you have cause to request that interim free service because your Premium service expired recently, please post your request here. These should not be expected to be renewed in perpetuity.
Other posts relating to the future of Premium subscriptions and related issues may be posted here as well.
When (and if) the Tech and Admin departments have a Premium subscription solution at hand, it will undoubtedly be advertised or broadcast to all FT members. For now, there's no comprehensive solution.
Thank you for your understanding.
(lower right wiki corner)Currently, there is no paid Premium subscription to eliminate advertising from the FlyerTalk viewing experience, and at this moment (18 Nov 2014) there is no plan for a Premium subscription in the works.
Hi everyone,
As of now, we do not have a solution regarding Premium. What this means is that there is currently no plan for a Premium, ads-free product. It doesn't mean there won't ever be one, but the fact that it's not on the radar means it probably won't be happening any time soon.
Regarding ads, please *do not promote ad-blocking software on FlyerTalk*. I don't know that anyone particularly enjoys seeing advertising. But the fact remains that FlyerTalk is *free* to use, and that's because of advertising revenue. In addition, the use of adblockers causes us (me) no end of headaches, because it interferes with site functionality in such a way as to make it very difficult to determine if there is an issue with flyertalk.com, or with a single user's computer. The complaint comes in and must be researched either way.
Thank you all for your help,
Paul
As of now, we do not have a solution regarding Premium. What this means is that there is currently no plan for a Premium, ads-free product. It doesn't mean there won't ever be one, but the fact that it's not on the radar means it probably won't be happening any time soon.
Regarding ads, please *do not promote ad-blocking software on FlyerTalk*. I don't know that anyone particularly enjoys seeing advertising. But the fact remains that FlyerTalk is *free* to use, and that's because of advertising revenue. In addition, the use of adblockers causes us (me) no end of headaches, because it interferes with site functionality in such a way as to make it very difficult to determine if there is an issue with flyertalk.com, or with a single user's computer. The complaint comes in and must be researched either way.
Thank you all for your help,
Paul
When the FlyerTalk Premium subscription was instituted, one could subscribe to Inside Flyer magazine and through it, to an advert-free version of FlyerTalk that also included an expanded message box for Private Messaging.
Randy Petersen sold FlyerTalk to Internet Brands March 2007 and Randy Petersen and FlyerTalk went their separate ways in November of 2010.
When Premium subscriptions came up for renewal, for a period of time the Premium subscription could appear to be renewed by paying once again via the Inside Flyer webform. Unfortunately, due to the separation of ownership, this did not extend the Premium FlyerTalk subscription, and previous Premium members were presented with advertising and saw a sudden diminution of their PM message box.
CURRENT STATUS: Admin has been working on a Premium, ad-free membership solution for over two years, but at this moment there is no Premium membership, nor is there any intent for such a product in the near future.
On a case-by-case basis, Administration has extended an ads-free experience with expanded PM message box to those (relatively few) members with a recent Premium subscription due date gratis. If you feel you have cause to request that interim free service because your Premium service expired recently, please post your request here. These should not be expected to be renewed in perpetuity.
Other posts relating to the future of Premium subscriptions and related issues may be posted here as well.
When (and if) the Tech and Admin departments have a Premium subscription solution at hand, it will undoubtedly be advertised or broadcast to all FT members. For now, there's no comprehensive solution.
Thank you for your understanding.
No ad / Ads - Premium subscription (master thread)
Nov 18, 2014, 5:26 pm
#121
No longer with Internet Brands
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Programs: DL DM 1.6MM, Marriott LT Plat
Posts: 5,343
Thanks, Paul, for the update.
It might not be what some of us wanted to hear, but at least it brings some closure to this issue and quells any anxiety over when the Premium service might become available and how we'd hear about it.
As a moderator, I waived Premium subscription possibility because I wanted to see the ads (to report inappropriate content, ultra-pesky or malfunctioning ads.
I never thought about ad blocking software causing problems at the back end! That's good to know, because I don't want to jam a stick in the spokes of FT.
It might not be what some of us wanted to hear, but at least it brings some closure to this issue and quells any anxiety over when the Premium service might become available and how we'd hear about it.
As a moderator, I waived Premium subscription possibility because I wanted to see the ads (to report inappropriate content, ultra-pesky or malfunctioning ads.
I never thought about ad blocking software causing problems at the back end! That's good to know, because I don't want to jam a stick in the spokes of FT.
A big issue is that they can often not tell the difference between a button (or anything graphics-based) and a small ad. So you may see pages with functionality missing. It's bad.
Nov 24, 2014, 6:00 am
#122
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SEA (the REAL Washington); occasionally in the other Washington (DCA area)
Programs: DL PM 1.57MM; AS MVPG 100K
Posts: 21,356
another instance of technology doing what programmers TELL it to do, not necessarily what users WANT it to do
Nov 26, 2014, 4:14 pm
#123
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Technology jas its limitations. vBulletin has a lot of added layers and iirc FlyerTalk is the largest forum on vB.
Dec 1, 2014, 1:54 pm
#124
No longer with Internet Brands
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Programs: DL DM 1.6MM, Marriott LT Plat
Posts: 5,343
