EmailKid

I'll be a contrarian, and say that today's tone is LESS snarky than it used to be years ago, at least here in UA forum where I spend most of my time.

And sadly dry sense of humor is lost on many Americans who don't understand it and misinterpret it.

As to the devaluation of ALL airline programs, well, many of us still gripe about that ....

And yes, I'm one of those who during my 1K years would fly 4 longhaul trips to Asia every year only to have at least one leg delayed by a mechanical for a day or so

TomMM

The Parsnips thread was brilliant.

Oxnardjan

I must be one of those odd characters that enjoy reading the great stories written here about the DYKWIA's and seat poachers and Gate Attendants....etc. I am alway amazed at how some passengers behave on board a plane.

fumje

I had to search, and what a delight.

For the (other) uninitiated:
What be this foul thing before me?

EmailKid

Thanks ^

Hillarious

And lost on most Americans

s0ssos

I do not think what the market wants is what people want. People take what they can get.
I am sure everybody "wants" to have an easy stressful life, but almost nobody works towards that goal.

LondonElite

joe_miami

Well, people want first-class treatment at Spirit prices. But when push comes to shove, despite all of the complaining, the mass of airline customers choose lower prices almost every time. That's how we've gotten to this point.

Passenger: "Flying is awful! They pack us in there like sardines!"

United: "For an extra $15, you can sit in Economy Plus."

Passenger: "No, thanks."

ralfkrippner

Hi folks, there are travel forums out there that are much more snarky with "insider circles" that won't react friendly to a new visitor posting a question that has been asked months before but is not visible on the first page. But IMO we're going into that direction fast.

Why is the tone in an internet forum so different from when we're meeting up for a DO somewhere in person. Why do we lose good manners so fast in a discussion about some (increasingly worthless) bonus miles?

It would be great to stop this trend and once again become the friendly corner of the web.

Love you all... ;-)

mduell

IMO we're not going that direction fast enough. It is the height of laziness for someone to not put the bare minimum effort into searching before posting a question, and that behavior is coddled and encouraged here in the spirit of being welcoming.

Yea, that's the FT rules, no doubt. And as they enforce it we'll continue to see the loss of posters with a clue, in favor of noobs who aren't even trying. It's the greater number of uniques the owners want, for commercial reasons regardless of the quality of the forum.

NH_Clark

You are just seeing the mirror-image of society.
I blame the overall tone of snarkiness in the world on the general pessimism/malaise and growing polarization of all themes/thoughts/opinions in society. What we are seeing is the bleed-through here and in other internet forums. World ain't like what it used to be.

BearX220

I've been around about as long as zrs70 and can confirm. The notable tone shift on FT -- from generous and supportive to harsh and, dare I say it, selfish -- coincides with the dilution of FF programs. It's all about human reactions to scarcity. The scarcer and scrawnier the benefits, the more inclined one is to hoard them for oneself.

When Mileage Plus was devalued post-merger in a way that disadvantaged almost everyone, there was a good deal of ugly glee on this forum about United "firing customers." You only spend $10k / year with United? "United doesn't want you as a customer!" There was a good deal of sentiment for kicking lower-tier loyalists out of the lifeboat, in (misplaced) faith that life with UA would grow cushier for the few HVFs remaining. That kind of internecine warfare did not help the community.

When I joined in 1999 I recall a warm welcome, not immediate criticism for not having a full grasp of airline arcana, or snark because I was not at least 1K. And I do not recall so much vitriol aimed at "kettles," less versed travelers, etc.

I agree completely -- one of the great sadnesses of FT is that in 20 years it has never become an influential, concerted voice in the public square on behalf of the flying public. That may be because of snark and squabbling, or because the community has no sympathy for non-elites (which is most people), but it would be wonderful to see the tone change back.

MBS MillionMiler

I too have been here quite a while. I can't believe that it's been close to 18 years that I've been a member. My posts per year are significantly less than other members that have been here as long, but always gave my input when I could, all in the spirit of the community. I'd post quite often...But I was learning. Members were patient and clear to explain things. Surely, there was snark...But not like today!

I don't completely blame our members for where we are at today (however, there are definitely outliers)...United created these bad tastes in our mouths and we can't help but spill it over to the forum. Promises broken since before the merger was even discussed (then a ton of promises broken post-merger), a change in the overall FF landscape, and dwindling benefits in general do not make this nearly as fun as it used to be...And it used to be fun. It's not fun anymore.

I could count on one hand how many times I wouldn't get upgraded via 500-milers during any given year. I had my choice of routing/day/time to get to any international destination with a confirmed-at-booking upgrades either with a reasonable amount of miles or SWUs. I could actually use my miles for a premium-cabin seat to just about anywhere at any time, maybe had to leave on a Tuesday instead of a Monday--but the seats were there, the upgrades were there. Then to hear a year or two ago, "We're happily cutting back our 50-seat aircraft! We know they suck and you don't like them--more mainline and 70 seaters for everyone! You get an E175, you get an E175!" just to get a complete reversal with the addition of arguably the worst aircraft in the jet age history (CRJs) coming back in droves.

You take all of that away from people, dangle these impossible-to-attain benefits in front of us (I don't even try to use my GPUs anymore, I give them to a friend), have had 1 CPU in the last 9 months or so, and frequently die on the waitlist to use a RPU on a Wednesday afternoon ORD-LAS flight. It does make me grumpy. And I don't necessarily take that out on my fellow FTers, but I can see how the complaining about things like this it would irk some, they refute it with their own anecdotal evidence showing the opposite, ill will is created--it's a viscous cycle (I mean look at the "GPUs are Useless" thread where people have 6 or more expire a year, while others say they've used 37 of them"--I don't discredit either side of it, but same idea, completely different experiences). The experience isn't the same for all people here--back in the day, we almost used to mirror one another at the same status levels--now even 1Ks or GS or Silver or Golds in the same city have completely different experiences. Nobody is right or wrong--it's all about perspective. ..What's gone is the empathy, because some can't appreciate that others have different experiences than they do.

tarheelnj

My favorite (or is it favourite?) British witticism:

"Have a nice day!"
"Sorry, I've made other plans...."

EWR764

Thanks for the nice shout-out. I've been an active poster for about 13 years (since college) and lurked for several years before that, so I've witnessed a fair bit of the evolution of this place . I think the tone has changed as frequent flyer programs/credit card loyalty schemes and "travel hacking" have become mainstream, while at the same time the loopholes and outsize value opportunities have diminished. The marketplace has consolidated and information flows much more rapidly than in years past, through far more diverse channels. That's changed the mix of Flyertalkers to encompass a broader spectrum of travelers, not just the 'power users' who once comprised substantially all of the active posters. The point about program changes is well-taken, too. Now, it's almost as though we are beaten dogs, so conditioned to cutbacks and takeaways that we have a "BOHICA" moment at the mere suggestion of any measure of change. With that said, the tone here today is much more pleasant than the rather militant period of 2012-2015, just after the merger. It got ugly, often!

Without going too far into a social commentary, civility seems to be fading not just on FT, but elsewhere in the world, even (especially?) in physical interactions. So perhaps the long-term change in tone on FT is a symptom of a greater societal issue? With that, we are firmly approaching OMNI territory...