gail

Who says it is not a business - I was under the impression that they got income from the Priceline links, ads, etc - just like every other commerical website. They may not be making much income, but it is not a charity.

gail

According to NY Times article 10/24/04 the owner of the site is Sheryl Mexic, "A Texan who turned her hobby into a full time job".

traveller69

I agree with Gail. You have to have patience. A lot of people are unfamiliar with the Internet let alone travel boards. Should be a friendly, helpful spot. Like this board. I must say the US board is the best. I left the Canadian board (live there but travel in the US) because it was taken over by a self proclaimed expert on everything with long long posts when a simple question was asked. It deters posters from giving their ideas when they have to read through the long epistles of one person. The person in question is now giving advice on areas that she doesn't know that much about.
Its just great to have so much input and friendly posts as you do here.

Andrew

Well, BFT is obviously Sheryl's website to do whatever she choose with it. She can be as nasty and abrupt as she likes, even if we don't like it. There are alternative websites if you don't like BFT, but because I have saved so much money on Priceline as a result of BFT, I will continue to support it.

However, as was obvious during her absence, Sheryl does keep BFT sharp and focused. I don't blame her for getting impatient with people unwilling to read the FAQs and just jump in with stupid questions that were easily answered in the FAQ. I do think she would have less of that if she structured the board differently, but for her own reasons she has chosen not to do that. Oh, well - again, it's her site, not mine.

As for the US Fodors board: some of us who have been around awhile remember when it was not quite so friendly as it is now. Before registration was required and people could post with random handles, there was a lot of nastiness here that has long since dissipated and that is definitely a good thing.

Andrew

mah1980

Sheryl IS running a business. That's like saying Google and DailyKos aren't businesses either. These are the new model for an internet business- being so popular and widely used that other companies pay top dollar to display web sites on your site. Even better is the commission that the "non-business" site receives each time someone books a trip via their links.

I've used BFT for a while. I think Sheryl, prior to her absence, started toning down her nastiness. I posted about a month ago asking for bidding assistance, and I did not receive any moderator response.

hilda

BFT was not user friendly, once I tried to register and couldnt figure it out. The volume of posts is way way down and its not the valuable resource it used to be. Without constant postings of winning bids, its of little value. I'm sorry this happened, I saved lots of $ using this site

mamadadapaige

for me, the value of BFT is knowing what other people paid... not getting help from the moderator.

I wish registration at BFT didn't require one to receive so much spam, as I use the site often to gain info, but never post my priceline "winnings" as I am put off with what is required to register.

Its a good site, but not without its flaws.

Andrew

How is registering at BFT (run by EZBoard, with whom you are really registering) harder than registering to post on any other web forum? I registered ages ago and don't remember it being harder than registering anywhere else. How is it harder than, say, registering to post on the forums here at Fodors.com?

mamadadapaige, what exactly do you mean that registering at BFT requires you to receive spam? I have never received spam from registering at BFT in the many years I've been using it.

I still use BFT all the time for Priceline bids, including several times in the last months. It has not diminished at all to me in helpfulness. And I do check out BetterBidding.com also by the way, and it still doesn't have nearly as many posts as BFT does. If at some point BetterBidding becomes more valuable to more than BFT, I'll switch. Hasn't happened yet.

Andrew

wliwl

OK -- Bidding For Travel is what can give internet communities bad reputations. The site is just ***awful and mean***.

Hopefully travelers will continue migrating to BetterBidding.com. More user friendly and a much nicer community too.

wliwl

Here is an amusing link about biddingfortravel
http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showtopic=3299&

mamadadapaige

Andrew,
As I remember (this is going back a couple of years) that after filling out a form you were required to check that four (I think??) advertisers were allowed to contact you in order to complete registration.

This is my recollection... perhaps my memory has failed me, but at the time, I thought that I would rather not register than be contacted by so many advertisers.

Maybe you registered before this requirement was put into place???

mamadadapaige

OOPS....
I retract my earlier comments about difficult registration... I just registered and it was actually quite simple. I don't remember that being the case when I tried before and I had REALLY wanted to register and remember it being unpalatable.

my apologies!!