Point Hacks' purchase of AFF

[MEL_Traveller]

I have a very rough idea how much AFF was worth so good on Clifford! ..but I'm not a big fan of the current Point Hacks set up...it is a business (getting bigger and bigger) to make money out of our frequent flyer hobby - look how they promote credit cards)...and I really don't like the term "hacks" as it implies (to me) l am doing something dodgy. I personally will switch off AFF (member since 2003) if there's a significant change in direction and purpose of AFF.

I can see a gap in PH in terms of their forums… not much maturity or traffic. Could see how AFF could complement that, and that could generate revenue for PH in terms of credit card referrals and advertising.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I and many others think there has been a massive change in direction of AFF anyway, completely unrelated and prior to the PH acquisition.

We’ve lost so many ‘real’ frequent flyers, air warriors, the executive/senior business premium high flyers over the years as the forum became more about getting 50 points for buying a donut, the endless whine threads and a growth in members who very clearly don’t fly anywhere near as much as the members who used to contribute.

I think it’s just a reflection of changing times really, nothing you can really do I suppose - it is what it is, but though I do wonder where all those high flying members went, some still exist but rarely post, we have a group of us who still catch up outside of AFF and we often consider starting a ‘new’ private ‘AFF’ with a different membership base… but everyone who likes the idea is too busy with corporate life to start it

Anyway I’m sure the PH era will see this forum become ever more wide and even less about actually flying frequently (as has been happening anyway) and everyone can make their minds up whether to stick around or not!

Those ‘road warriors’ and ‘senior executives’ have a place, but that’s entirely not what forums like AFF and FT are about. Flying QF F of J on paid company fares and platinum status that just comes as a perk of your job is not what this is about.

People want solutions to call centre problems, or how to maximise their OWA, or DONE4. Or how to fit in an Oman Air $500 business class flight to europe into an itinerary.

The ‘senior executive premium high flyers’ aren’t really the target, nor would most of them be able to contribute back, even if they wanted to!

 

[SYD]

Those ‘road warriors’ and ‘senior executives’ have a place, but that’s entirely not what forums like AFF and FT are about. Flying QF F of J on paid company fares and platinum status that just comes as a perk of your job is not what this is about.

People want solutions to call centre problems, or how to maximise their OWA, or DONE4. Or how to fit in an Oman Air $500 business class flight to europe into an itinerary.

The ‘senior executive premium high flyers’ aren’t really the target, nor would most of them be able to contribute back, even if they wanted to!

Yes and no. Current and former snr execs, regular corp travellers - myself included have experienced the good, the bad and the ugly (through work and private travel). Some of us with the time and inclination to share and contribute.

I suspect there’s no shortage of AFF’rs who are road warriors looking to make their weekly commutes and hotel stays less painful plus the aspirational traveller looking forward to their 1st, 2nd and 3rd F/J international flight and/or the joy of status / lounge access!

 

[moa999]

Interesting.
I assume the original domain wasn't included.

Home - Frequent Flyer Solutions

frequentflyer.com.au

 

[Big John]

I was wondering why Matt appeared on a PH podcast ! Now I know !

 

[Princess Fiona]

What about the information that is held about us? Will it result in push advertising from PH
What is the privacy policy/transfer of information process?

The Privacy policy is here
It hasn’t changed.

 

[Gold Member]

I was wondering why Matt appeared on a PH podcast ! Now I know !

Same. I thought maybe it was a celebrity guest appearance

I hope we don’t see Matt pushing credit cards…

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

I personally enjoy the trip reports and live vicariously through the writings of others. Seeing the photos of luxury hotels or far away locations is my main attraction.
Learning tips and tricks for J / F points travel is also a nice bonus. I do hope this forum continues to flourish and grow.

 

[theoracle30]

I wasn't aware PH had been sold. I've been annoyed recently by their article headlines such as 'fly from Australia to Europe on SG in business for $500' which is clearly misleading given you need the points which 'cost' a lot more than that.

I figured it was the influence of a 'senior' writer but it sounds like it might be a by product of increased commercialisation.

FWIW, most of their 'big trip' flight reviews which they book with points do mention "experience this flight for $xx_ with points", which I feel is fair enough for a short headline - as long as they explain it properly in the article (which I think they usually do). From what I can see on their homepage, only one recent report (the Singapore one) doesn't mention 'with points' along with the cost, which is hopefully just a blip as all the others do.

Overall, I do like their recent trip reports though. The photos and writing are generally quite good. And it's not like their homepage is flooded with credit card offers. There's a mix of news and other content there.

I agree that the PH forum is lacking and maybe AFF can help in that regard. I'm cautiously optimistic about the change as long as they 'enhance' AFF properly, not the airline way.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yes and no. Current and former snr execs, regular corp travellers - myself included have experienced the good, the bad and the ugly (through work and private travel). Some of us with the time and inclination to share and contribute.

I suspect there’s no shortage of AFF’rs who are road warriors looking to make their weekly commutes and hotel stays less painful plus the aspirational traveller looking forward to their 1st, 2nd and 3rd F/J international flight and/or the joy of status / lounge access!

Acknowledged!

But the reality is that points are easy to come by, status is easy to come by. If you have the money.

But perhaps the fun - the hobby - is in extracting the value that the airline never intended you to have, and to make the various programs work to your advantage, not theirs. The latter is probably the key.

I think the intersection between any occupation or income and the ‘hobby’ element is reasonably small, at least for those actively participating, rather than simply taking advantage of information that is presented on various fora. I don’t see ‘high flying premium passengers’ having any particular advantage over and above others.

 

[luxury-lizard]

gee this news comes as a surprise to me as well - I really like AFF the way it is - which a bit unlike others comments - it's the Australian-centric focus I like most. I joined many years ago and while not a prolific poster like some of the other AFF "heroes" I have gained a lot of information and try to contribute where it makes sense (to me). Since joining I have transitioned from corporate traveller to retired leisure traveller - I think there's something for all types. As part of PH I hope AFF retains a seperate identity.

 

[support]

Interesting.
I assume the original domain wasn't included.

Home - Frequent Flyer Solutions

frequentflyer.com.au

Frequent Flyer Solutions is a sister site (that has been around for a while on that domain) and part of the sale.

As noted in the announcement.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I wasn't aware PH had been sold. I've been annoyed recently by their article headlines such as 'fly from Australia to Europe on SG in business for $500' which is clearly misleading given you need the points which 'cost' a lot more than that.

I figured it was the influence of a 'senior' writer but it sounds like it might be a by product of increased commercialisation.

Also slightly misleading when it happens - and it’s a fault of many of the ‘influencer blogs’ - is that price comparisons are often done by one way or sector fares… which people rarely pay. Most international travel is based on round-trip pricing… so piecing together a OWA and saying you will get $50000 value for 455k points in F because SYD-SIN would have cost $8000, and SIN-LHR would have cost $12000, and the TATAL $8000, etc doesn’t reflect how people buy tickets.

 

[BAM1748]

I think we all know and accept nothing stays the same.

I enjoy the way AFF is/was, having worked and witnessed several times in my career business owners move on and new owners walk in change can happen slowly over time and sometimes using an axe, only the new owners know where it is heading and the flight that needs taking to get there.

 

[RooFlyer]

Acknowledged!

But the reality is that points are easy to come by, status is easy to come by. If you have the money.

But perhaps the fun - the hobby - is in extracting the value that the airline never intended you to have, and to make the various programs work to your advantage, not theirs. The latter is probably the key.

I think the intersection between any occupation or income and the ‘hobby’ element is reasonably small, at least for those actively participating, rather than simply taking advantage of information that is presented on various fora. I don’t see ‘high flying premium passengers’ having any particular advantage over and above others.

When I joined AFF I was in both camps - flying many miles, mainly international on corporate expense - but lacked many of the tips and insights that I have now gained from this site. Such as Life Miles, status matches, searching for award availability in unconventional ways, etc which helped my leisure flying immensely. Never acquired those tips purely from grinding out the miles where the corporate TA fixed up everything.

When I retired, I kept up the mileage for not much more $ than I spent personally before. Covid aside, I reckon I chalk up as many leisure miles as the so called ‘road warriors’ who tend to sneer at those who bump along at a lesser pace.

Now, I hope to contribute s as much as I can, with with tips or cautions or ‘how to fix it’, the later unfortunately becoming more and more a part of flying. The number of newbies we have seen coming to AFF for help over the past 6 months is sometimes depressing

 

[MEL_Traveller]

When I joined AFF I was in both camps - flying many miles, mainly international on corporate expense - but lacked many of the tips and insights that I have now gained from this site. Such as Life Miles, status matches, searching for award availability in unconventional ways, etc which helped my leisure flying immensely. Never acquired those tips purely from grinding out the miles where the corporate TA fixed up everything.

When I retired, I kept up the mileage for not much more $ than I spent personally before. Covid aside, I reckon I chalk up as many leisure miles as the so called ‘road warriors’ who tend to sneer at those who bump along at a lesser pace.

Now, I hope to contribute s as much as I can, with with tips or cautions or ‘how to fix it’, the later unfortunately becoming more and more a part of flying. The number of newbies we have seen coming to AFF for help over the past 6 months is sometimes depressing

I think if (m)any of the FF issues *truly* impacted on the senior high flying premium passengers we’d actually get some of the issues fixed!

 

[andye]

I've not been in AFF as long as some but have had my travelling life transformed by the tips I've gained. My wine experience is also better.

There are ebbs and flows in the focus in my time. Sometimes a particular tip is in the ascendant l, eg JASAs, ATO payments, and I guess Covid took over for a while.Trip reports are one of my favourites and remain constant.

I've sometimes felt a bit guilty referencing PH as I saw it as a bit of a competitor but the sites clearly fulfil different roles for largely different audiences.

Have found AFF a great community of reasonably like-minded individuals who are mostly pretty nice and helpful.
Would be disappointed if new management downgraded the referral link threads for business reasons but I doubt that will happen.

Have also found PH has changed a bit since the early Keith days-he seemed like an excited fellow traveller keen to share his tips to a wider audience. I agree some of the recent "fly F for a few hundred dollars" articles grate a bit but I think this is just a new business finding its feet as they try to professionalise the site

Hope both Keth and Cliff did well out of their sales

 

[jakeseven7]

I suspect there’s no shortage of AFF’rs who are road warriors looking to make their weekly commutes and hotel stays less painful plus the aspirational traveller looking forward to their 1st, 2nd and 3rd F/J international flight and/or the joy of status / lounge access!

I think the change as many people have posted and commented on has been a lot of the people actually flying frequently (mostly for work) have declined in number on here in terms of their contribution on AFF, but not in real life necessarily - and these people are finding the content less relevant these days.

Conversely of course the 'point collectors/redeemers' have increased in number significantly. Which is absolutely fine, its just less relevant content and conversations for those of us who fly more frequently, and not necessarily just the 'premium flyer's - I slog around Australia mostly in Y, I'm defintely one of the most frequent flyers you will get on here but domestically I would not call myself a premium FF at all despite holding high loyalty tiers in several airlines!

I think this is probably why the PH acquistion makes so much sense for them, this site is far less about Australians who Frequently Fly these days, much more about points collecting and utilisation on the ground these days.

 

[RooFlyer]

@andye how could I forget about the wine!! Buzz’s wine excursions rank up there with the FF tips!

Then of course there are the friends I have gained - visiting, staying, lunching, travelling together. Much more to AFF than frequent flying on the golden triangle .

 

[JohnM]

I liken AFF to a dispersed social club - without having to go to an AGM.