IMPORTANT! Travel Board Future. Pls try the new boards

M4RKM

me, being a board guide.... nooo.. seriously, that'd never happen!

would it?

M4RKM

While i'm being organised and sensible, here is the current list of stickies on the main board

1) Sticky: IMPORTANT! Travel Board Future. Pls try the new boards
2) Sticky: Poll: Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009
3) Sticky: Beat My Quote! Travel Agents Thread
4) Sticky: Euro (€) Currency Thread
5) Sticky: US ($) Currency Thread
6) Sticky: Orlando Florida/Disneyworld
7) Sticky: Anything & Everything New York **PART 2** - [please search thread before posting]
8) Sticky: Question of the Week: When should I buy my foreign currency?
9) Sticky: Feedback needed on Bureau de Change providers
10) Sticky: Travel Board Regulars Please Read
11) Sticky: ● Welcome to the Travel Board (updated 9 May 2009)
12) Sticky: Travel Agent Code Of Conduct

With the current TRIAL structure of the boards, surely threads 2,6,7 should move straight away to the planning board.

so out of 12, 3 threads would move.

however, with my nice proposal, threads, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 would move to new boards, giving the main board more room to breathe.

also, surely the QOTW should be updated weekly?
and isn't it about time that the number 10 is deleted, since it has been there for over 6 months?!

M

MSE_Martin

OK interesting suggestions..

Insurance I dont want to split out as we already have an insurance board.

I would prefer three boards at most (two is better)

Do we need to split budget airlines and main airlines out. Woudl it be better to split by flights & holidays - and leave spending in the main boards.

Also the maiin board as overseasl travel & holiday planning works better for me

Thoughts please

M4RKM

oooh...3 boards as a limit... now we have a bit of a challenge.

OK...

Main - Overseas Travel & Holiday Planning
Sub - Deals & Special Offers
Sub - Airlines, Flights & Holiday Money

The beauty about the main board, it can encompass package holidays, and DIY holidays.

People don't book a hotel without a flight, however, they can book a flight without a hotel, stay with family, etc etc. This makes sense to move flights to it's own board, as it can be part of a DIY thing, or just a flight.. with the budget airlines these days, a lot of people don't worry about the hotel, as it's all gone smoothly there, and the airline is the issue, what with problems with checking in etc etc... and the reason for the ongoing suggestion for budget airlines, which now i've transformed into Airlines, Flights & Holiday Money, is the ongoing repetitive threads complaining about budget airlines,

The reason I suggested moving currency out of the main board is that we also have the ongoing threads about - when do i get my currency.

These are the real threads that are clogging up the board, and people wanting help / posting deals seem to get lost in a myriad of complaints and education on how to make the budget airlines work well, spelling errors, baggage allowances etc etc.

If airlines had it's own board, (and i think it will still work merging it with all flights, and spending money) is then you can have a number of stickies dedicated to hints and tips (baggage allowance being a great sticky idea) about how to get the best bargain flights, and hopefully educate people on how to get the bargains.. thus sticking to the general rule of this whole website.. money saving. and the same goes for currency... the currency threads get used, but again, a few hints and tips wouldn't go a miss... point to the direction of all your articles.

It's amazing how many people probably come onto the site, see forums, and just ask a question, rather than reading what is going on..

If you had 2, you'd still have a lot of threads clogging up that would benefit from in what i'd like to call de-cluttering, and it really wouldn't benefit, the deals are there, but that would probably be the quietest out of the three. 3 is doable, and if other people agree, we could be onto a winner here...

Mark

P.S is it wrong to dump travel insurance onto the insurance boards? do people really think of it as an insurance, or a holiday thing??

Incapuppy

Sounds good Mr Moo; I would keep the Travel Ins side here - IIRC threads about this subject have been transferred here rather than elsewhere.

I vote Markymoo for an extra board guide! :T

M4RKM

you're probably right on the Travel Insurance thing, i think yesterday there were about 4 threads on the first 2 pages, today none

however, baggage allowance, ryan air checkin etc etc have just cropped up, and bumped 2 other posts onto page 2... etc etc..

and me as a board guide... really? am i not a little too sarcastic at times?

dmg24

markymoo wrote: »

and me as a board guide... really? am i not a little too sarcastic at times?

You are just to the point in your answers mm, but you don't take things too far (unlike moi when in manic phase ). I think you would be a great asset to the board, but then it is not our decision ...

With regard to the board. If they have to be split at all I would go for the following:

1 - Main Board - Planning Overseas Travel & Holidays
2 - Sub Board - Overseas Holiday Deals & Special Offers
3 - Sub Board - Budget Airlines

I still don't think we should have an 'All Airlines' board. The need for a 'Budget Airlines' board is because of the constant repetition of the same questions, newer posters need one point of reference to find the information they are looking for. The same does not apply to full service airlines, and I think that posts about the latter on a separate board are likely to be missed by those who are more knowledgeable on the subject.

M4RKM

but, if airlines has it's own board, then the FAQ's about full service airlines can be made sticky.

I know i like the idea of budget airlines, and it would work on it's own, but if you think about the bigger picture, about what takes up repetitiveness on the main board, and charter airlines, budget airlines, and currency questions crop up again and again.

take them away from the board, and then you truly have a Planning board as people won't be asking about luggage on any airline etc, the Deals board, so people can spot the deals they need, and then the airlines/currency q's.

the thing with stickies, however useful, is there are 12 (this will go, so that leaves 11, and 1 needs to be unstickied as it is out of date) on the main board. IMO the travel agent sticky would move to the deals board, so that now leaves 9. then if you moved the 4 currency ones away, you're down to 5, then people might be more inclined to read them, rather than just make a quick post.

from a end user pov, it is rather cluttered, and this might be why, people just ask questions without reading..

as for me answering questions to the point... yeah, maybe i could be a little calmer, and less abrupt, but, i don't change..

dmg24

markymoo wrote: »

but, if airlines has it's own board, then the FAQ's about full service airlines can be made sticky.

I know i like the idea of budget airlines, and it would work on it's own, but if you think about the bigger picture, about what takes up repetitiveness on the main board, and charter airlines, budget airlines, and currency questions crop up again and again.

take them away from the board, and then you truly have a Planning board as people won't be asking about luggage on any airline etc, the Deals board, so people can spot the deals they need, and then the airlines/currency q's.

the thing with stickies, however useful, is there are 12 (this will go, so that leaves 11, and 1 needs to be unstickied as it is out of date) on the main board. IMO the travel agent sticky would move to the deals board, so that now leaves 9. then if you moved the 4 currency ones away, you're down to 5, then people might be more inclined to read them, rather than just make a quick post.

from a end user pov, it is rather cluttered, and this might be why, people just ask questions without reading..

as for me answering questions to the point... yeah, maybe i could be a little calmer, and less abrupt, but, i don't change..

I see your point about charter airline questions also being quite prevalent, I hadn't considered them (they don't exist in the world of dmg24 ). I suppose I just want things to change as little as possible!*

Agreed about the stickies. There are too many, and some do not really serve a purpose anymore.

* That does not mean I dislike all change, just change with a negative result!

pcg2001

I just want to second the "suggested nomination" of markymoo as a board guide. He has done an amazing job at the New York thread and he is always around, I see him often in individual posts. Yes, he is often in New York individual posts directing people to the sticky thread with his usual sarcasm, but as a board guide, he would simply "move" the question to the sticky!! So, sarcasm problem solved! I think he is a great asset, and has helped loads of people, so if he is willing to help even more, why not take this generosity?

In terms of board structure, we should not forget that most of us come here looking for deals and when we are around and see a question we can answer we help. But helping with itineraries, etc is secondary, so it wouldn't really be advisable to move the itinerary help to a subthread, which in my opinion would only reduce the help given, since not everyone is willing/ has the time to go past the main travel thread on a regular basis.

I totally agree with the airlines subthread, not that it makes sense per se, but once you hang around for a few days you see the same questions over and over again (name changes, cancellations, luggage fees, ripoffs).

It's nice to see Martin taking an interest on holidays in a time of crisis!! Does it mean the crisis is over? :cool: one can only wish...