Paid AFF

[clazman]

Now a paid member

 

[stoneman]

Now a paid member

And me. Have saved and learnt so much already, so happy I found this forum!

 

[Major]

Also the best 50 bucks I ever spent.
The flights shown in My Travels are all since I retired and all long haul flights have been at the point end courtesy of the input of this forum.
The other benefits offered to gold are a great bonus

 

[SamR]

Absolutely worth the price of admission and then some. Initially I got it for the discount to QP but I've kept it up because I like to support AFF for what I've learned here. And the bag tags and discounted membership to other flying sites have also made it worth it.

 

[JohnK]

And I don't like ads.

I hate ads....

 

[JessicaTam]

I hate ads....

I was being polite.

 

[BAM1748]

Well worth the $50. Less than a round of drinks in Sydney.

 

[JohnK]

I was being polite.

And I wasn't?

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I note a lot of these posts have been along the lines of wanting to give something back to AFF as repayment for the info learnt here. That's fine, but slightly misguided IMHO. The person(s) who started this site (admin?) certainly needs congratulations and I have no issue about them achieving a return on their efforts but my understanding is that the advertising pays dependant upon the site traffic. A busy site, more return. My concept is that I interact with the forum and both use information given by others and give information which may help others. With heaps of members doing that, means the site is busy and beneficial. I don't feel I should have to buy a membership (and there is no requirement for that) as well.

So apart from the "giving back" ideology, what's the benefit? Discount QF membership and no adds? I can live with adds and I have a discounted QF membership through other sources. By all means, convince me of the benefit, but I just can't see it.

 

[hossein_au]

I note a lot of these posts have been along the lines of wanting to give something back to AFF as repayment for the info learnt here. That's fine, but slightly misguided IMHO. The person(s) who started this site (admin?) certainly needs congratulations and I have no issue about them achieving a return on their efforts but my understanding is that the advertising pays dependant upon the site traffic. A busy site, more return. My concept is that I interact with the forum and both use information given by others and give information which may help others. With heaps of members doing that, means the site is busy and beneficial. I don't feel I should have to buy a membership (and there is no requirement for that) as well.

So apart from the "giving back" ideology, what's the benefit? Discount QF membership and no adds? I can live with adds and I have a discounted QF membership through other sources. By all means, convince me of the benefit, but I just can't see it.

Your points are valid and logical. I certainly can understand and relate to that. But one of the things I learnt while I was living in the US was the concept of philanthropy (well, not in its literal sense, but the American interpretation of that). In such a culture, one supports their local businesses as a community, even if it means paying a little extra. Of course this has been diluted in recent times, but there are still a lot of Americans who support their community, albeit after making their own millions first. I have not seen that culture anywhere else to the extent you see it in the US (and I have lived and worked in the US, Europe, Asia, and here in this great land of ours). It is subscription to this mentality that made me pay for gold membership here. Of course like any other red-blooded Aussie I don't say no to cheap flights in the pointy end of the plane even if it means my money goes to a part of the world I do not hold in the highest regard ;-)

 

[Deleted member 29185]

But one of the things I learnt while I was living in the US was the concept of philanthropy (well, not in its literal sense, but the American interpretation of that). In such a culture, one supports their local businesses as a community, even if it means paying a little extra.

I don't think paying extra to a forum is philanthropic. It's a co-op really as admin provide the means for sharing information but certainly not the vast body of work held within. Anyone who contributes (in which ever way, cash help, post counts, added information etc) is contributing to the AFF co-op!

As I said, I have no problems with management making a return for their work (as it takes a LOT of work to keep a forum like this going, happy and helpful), but general run of the mill posters should not be made to feel like they're letting the team down by not buying a membership which may not be useful to them. That's all I'm trying to say.

 

[hossein_au]

I don't think paying extra to a forum is philanthropic. It's a co-op really as admin provide the means for sharing information but certainly not the vast body of work held within. Anyone who contributes (in which ever way, cash help, post counts, added information etc) is contributing to the AFF co-op!

As I said, I have no problems with management making a return for their work (as it takes a LOT of work to keep a forum like this going, happy and helpful), but general run of the mill posters should not be made to feel like they're letting the team down by not buying a membership which may not be useful to them. That's all I'm trying to say.

Agree, and that is why I said I was referring to the American interpretation of the word. I certainly hope non-gold members do not feel any peer pressure what so ever. The idea is that those few who can, pay, and the community as a whole benefits.

I was a member for a while before making any payment and I did not feel I was letting anyone down. The idea of this community is to join, absorb, learn, seek, discover, share. I think many members (paid or otherwise) follow this and it's all good. I have no problem, however, if those few who only take without giving back to the community feel bad (and I am not speaking about you, swanning_it).

 

[samh004]

As I said, I have no problems with management making a return for their work (as it takes a LOT of work to keep a forum like this going, happy and helpful), but general run of the mill posters should not be made to feel like they're letting the team down by not buying a membership which may not be useful to them. That's all I'm trying to say.

I don't think of you or anyone else like that

Your continued posts here make you a very big part of the team

 

[BAM1748]

I think the way to do is try it for a year then pay to remove the ads, the ads on web sites really annoy me and effect what I do online. I tried AFF for a year or so then paid up to remove them. if you come here often it's worth that alone.

Maybe it's just me being a grumpy old man!

Matt

 

[QF WP]

A suitable thread in which to post my 10,000th post then

Been a long time Gold member for all the reasons already discussed here. Keeping the framework going and supporting admin's business is my small contribution. To the wider community, I suppose it's sharing my knowledge and forever trying to be a fair Moderator. Not easy as I'm getting older...

 

[jxv]

I have been reading this forum for about a year now, but after only a few weeks I decided that the information was priceless and that I wanted to support it! So I paid for a Gold subscription. Just like I donate to Wikipedia. The people who bring us 'free' quality information deserve support! And it is nice to get rid of distracting advertising too.

 

[Buzzard]

A suitable thread in which to post my 10,000th post then

Been a long time Gold member for all the reasons already discussed here. Keeping the framework going and supporting admin's business is my small contribution. To the wider community, I suppose it's sharing my knowledge and forever trying to be a fair Moderator. Not easy as I'm getting older...

Congratulations QF WP. Sorry but I don't know how to do the JohnK "I think this is........" I am not even sure if there is a 10,000 posts thread.
I now owe 2 AFFers a celebratory drink - you and JT.

Cheers mate, well done!

 

[amaroo]

Paid gold membership, posting TR's and answering as many Q's as I can are the ways I show my appreciation for AFF.

 

[Buzzard]

I don't judge AFFers I meet depending upon whether or not they have a paid membership. None of my business.

I choose to pay each year (at the reduced rate :mrgreen: ) and enjoy the benefits. To me it's like wanting to belong to a club, I am happy to pay the annual "membership fee".

What I have learnt not only here but from the AFFers I have met and the friendships I have formed is simply not measurable in terms of paying a few dollars.

 

[medhead]

The one off expert flyer discount is a good benefit. Wish it was every year. But then expert flyer pays me back in full every year any way. There are some other benefits that look good but I've never used.

Oh and as per my comment above, it's all about the individual deriving the value they perceive. Someone else valuing gold AFF (or EF) membership is not going to create value for the individual.