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Flightsim Association


neilh1983

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I note with trepidation that the "something big is coming" post turns out to be a new subscription website.

https://flightsimassociation.com/

This is a subscription site with the following description:

 

WHY YOU SHOULD JOIN

For new simmers or real-world pilots, FSA provides guides, learning resources, and webinars to help you get started in simulation.
And for experienced simmers, joining gets you exclusive discounts, in-depth, unique access to developers, and the ability to locate nearby simmers.

 

What worries me here is that we have a subscription website offering "exclusive discounts" and "unique developer access" for the big players barring MSFS, UK2000 and PMDG. I would like to know from Aerosoft what they plan to achieve here. Do you think that, in the middle of a global pandemic, when finances are awful, it is fair/wise/clever to suggest people sign up to a subscription service to get deals no-one else will be able to? Is it fair on the long term Aerosoft customers to prevent them of getting offers without paying more?

I fear you may push customers away through this endeavour.

Thoughts please?

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And there it is, the first exclusive discount - 25% off the A330. What a kick in the teeth to those that faithfully supported you through the years.

For shame.

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  • Deputy Sheriffs

IMHO too many reasons why you should NOT join this site:

- paying for that others can see my personal details

- paying for getting somewhen in the future a discount on products I wont buy as I already own them

....

IMHO only a lot of hot air. Enough to keep an overloaded A380 at FL500, as one colleague mentioned.

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There's indeeed something big that just came out... the Working Title CJ4 now supports Navigraph Charts! Go and get it, you don't want to miss out!

Ohhhhh yes, and then there's that new subscription website. Time to forget about it again.

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17 minutes ago, Emi said:

There's indeeed something big that just came out... the Working Title CJ4 now supports Navigraph Charts! Go and get it, you don't want to miss out!

Ohhhhh yes, and then there's that new subscription website. Time to forget about it again.

WT are ones to look out for, I hear great things.

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  • Aerosoft
1 hour ago, neilh1983 said:

And there it is, the first exclusive discount - 25% off the A330. What a kick in the teeth to those that faithfully supported you through the years.

For shame.

 

I am not sure why you feel this way, we have done sales actions like that before for certain partners.  Certainly for newly started websites and shops have we done so. This is no different. 

 

Our point of view on this is very simple, everybody can make up his own mind and decide if they want to join something like this or not.  I do not know if there is a place for this in our community, time will tell. I do not feel however that our support can be construed as negative in any way.

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3 minutes ago, Mathijs Kok said:

 

I am not sure why you feel this way, we have done sales actions like that before for certain partners.  Certainly for newly started websites and shops have we done so. This is no different. 

 

Our point of view on this is very simple, everybody can make up his own mind and decide if they want to join something like this or not.  I do not know if there is a place for this in our community, time will tell. I do not feel however that our support can be construed as negative in any way.

To me, it is very simple. This site is offering "exclusive" deals. That means deals that are not going to be available elsewhere by definition. If you offer the same deal on your own site, it means the website is falsely advertising and breaking the law. That means, to access these exclusive deals, that Aerosoft take part in, we are being expected to pay for it. Surely it is a negative if deals for your products are only available through a subscription service? I highly doubt that your 25% off deal will be the only Aerosoft deal offered through that site.

 

If this is not the case, what is your plan for those that cant/wont subscribe?

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  • Aerosoft
23 minutes ago, neilh1983 said:

If this is not the case, what is your plan for those that cant/wont subscribe?

 

Well in that very strict sense it could be seen as incorrect advertisement as we certainly do not promise never to discount the A330 by 25% and we have certainly the right to offer the same deal to other sites. In fact we have done so in the past.  I am not sure however why we should have a 'plan'. Our product will never be only available through a payware site.  We have also given 25% discounts to members of Virtual Airlines and to some organised user groups. The only difference is here is that FSA wants to sell their services. 

 

  • As a member of my local flying club I get 5% discount on petrol.
  • As a member of the MGB Owners Club I get 10% discount on spares.
  • For my own car club I have negotiated discounts up to 30% on some items for associated shops.
  • As a Member of Amazon Prime I get discount on my shipping.

 

Would you say all that is unfair and all the clubs need to make the same discounts available to the rest of the world? I do not see the big issue to be honest.

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  • Deputy Sheriffs
2 hours ago, neilh1983 said:

What a kick in the teeth to those that faithfully supported you through the years.

 

And to add to Mathijs' comment: have you ever clicked the "Sale %" link on the Aerosoft page?

 

Please login to display this image.

 

There you will always find a list of currently discounted products, even highly discounted ones. And this list constantly changes, so there are always new and interesting discounts.

This list not not new, but is there already for ages.

So what exactly do you think Aerosoft "keeps away" from its customers through the years?

 

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9 hours ago, Tom A320 said:

 

And to add to Mathijs' comment: have you ever clicked the "Sale %" link on the Aerosoft page?

 

Please login to display this image.

 

There you will always find a list of currently discounted products, even highly discounted ones. And this list constantly changes, so there are always new and interesting discounts.

This list not not new, but is there already for ages.

So what exactly do you think Aerosoft "keeps away" from its customers through the years?

 

I am guessing you either skimmed or didnt comprehend my post. I am asking Aerosoft whether it is wise or not to support a Flight Sim subscription site that offers exclusive developer deals. By definition, this means they are offering deals that cant or wont be found anywhere else. It worries me that so many of the big developers have agreed to support this venture.

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9 hours ago, Mathijs Kok said:

 

Well in that very strict sense it could be seen as incorrect advertisement as we certainly do not promise never to discount the A330 by 25% and we have certainly the right to offer the same deal to other sites. In fact we have done so in the past.  I am not sure however why we should have a 'plan'. Our product will never be only available through a payware site.  We have also given 25% discounts to members of Virtual Airlines and to some organised user groups. The only difference is here is that FSA wants to sell their services. 

 

  • As a member of my local flying club I get 5% discount on petrol.
  • As a member of the MGB Owners Club I get 10% discount on spares.
  • For my own car club I have negotiated discounts up to 30% on some items for associated shops.
  • As a Member of Amazon Prime I get discount on my shipping.

 

Would you say all that is unfair and all the clubs need to make the same discounts available to the rest of the world? I do not see the big issue to be honest.

VA's I see as a poor example simply because they are free to join and do not claim that they are getting/giving exclusive deals. Again, not know who you are with and the offers, I will hazard a guess that the deals are not exclusive and thus available to other clubs. This, again, boils down to the fact that a subscription site is offering exclusive offers from a number of the biggest developers which means they are only available to those who are willing to pay more for them. I appreciate what you said that it isnt exclusive to you and it make you wonder what the point is then when this is one of their USP's.

Maybe its just me but I always saw the flight sim community as supportive and inclusive which is why subscription services generally dont work. Similar comments are being stated on various forums today.

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  • Deputy Sheriffs
16 hours ago, neilh1983 said:

It worries me that so many of the big developers have agreed to support this venture.

 

As clearly stated on the FSA page, the people behind it are the same that also organize the FlightSimExpo in the US every year, where all big developers exhibit their products already. So it is not too far fetched that they also join this new venture, isn't it?

 

If it is getting accepted by the community, the community will decide. Time will tell.

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