so, i just emailed a friend of mine who frequently travels on AC and introduced her to FT. it made me think: how did i stumble on to FT and what was it like the first time? (and i've only been here TWO months!)

i can't remember how i got here, but i do remember how amazed i was with how friendly and helpful the people were!

how did other people come across FT and what was your first time like?

Good question- I can't remember either! I had been a "lurker" for some time before actually posting not long ago myself. I look forward to checking in every am, every pm, and sometimes several times during the day! Everyone is friendly and certainly helpful! I'm almost to the point of needing a twelve-step program to deal with this addiction!

Just be sure to 'go thru your program' in a distant city. Seems to help, a lot!

it's all dhammer's fault - he found a bunch of us on the old AOL travel boards....

when i stumbled upon the saga of my hero [bowing down on one knee]...Pudding Guy

I found webflyer.com while looking for a place to easily calculate air miles between cities. I saw a small link for FlyerTalk! I followed it and the rest is history . . .

You can blame the Pudding Guy for me being here too...

I found FlyerTalk from PlaneBusiness.com, which used to have a free message board.

I was looking for some freeware to keep track of miles and points..

I am a newby for all of one day! I got the link yesterday from MP CS because I was so frustraded at the 1K program. I think the gentlemen thought this would do a better job for me than he could. He was dead on!

squeakr,

DENY. DENY. DENY.

dh

I was reading an article and Flyertalk was mentioned. Since it was an easy name to remember I thought I would go look.

Now I'm PLAT on AA and just finished a rt to LHR from DFW in BIZ. All thanks to the stuff I learned on FT> thankyouverymuch.

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TANSTAAFL - but if you work it right, FF miles comes pretty close.

It all started when...

...I was looking up something via a major search engine...& the search results were presented...the magical link wasn't represented by the first hit, but it was near the top...

...& when I followed the link...& subsequently began checking out the site...I soon realized that I had just been introduced to a kind of travel-related "Holy Grail".

It was one of those moments in one's Internet search activities in which one happens upon a gem of a site which one would honor w/ a "Golden" bookmark, if possible (wait--make that Platinum!)...

In my search results "highlight reel", the moment I chanced upon this site would indeed be one of the most interesting...& emotional...

It was a moment I wished it were possible to "hug" a URL...

Instead, I just stared in mesmerized disbelief, seemed to hold my breath, & eagerly explored...until the moment when I sat back in my chair, w/ a perpetual smile on my face, & silently thanked several people:

* Randy

* whoever it was who posted the comment which ultimately led to my encountering the site

* everyone whose generous & helpful words were to be found @ the site


I know I'm not alone in saying that this IS my favorite stop on the Internet...it's a personalized "newspaper", "coffee shop", & "library", all in one... traversing various posts @ times takes on the feel of being a passerby in a friendly corner of a "large community, w/ a small town feel", mentally "saying"/thinking a kind of silent & subconscious "hello" (& to whom one would issue a friendly smile & wave if in person), when "passing by" various others (& it can feel like a "Norm from Cheers"-like moment when entering Chat, which is also special)... when encountering a handle associated w/ someone one hasn't "seen" in a while, but whose thoughts one appreciates & whose presence & thoughts were missed--those are the people for whom a kind of "man, I'm glad they're still around" moment is experienced...& there have been many...


You people have saved my ..., saved me money, helped me optimize numerous realities, made me laugh, shared in my happiness when reaching a milestone (pun! ), & can make commiseration--not to mention celebration--a truly social event...

This place & the people are fantastic.

I can't express how much I appreciate the generosity of this community.

Everyone, grab your Sister Sledge songsheet, if you will...

please don't title the topic so vague as "your first time..." that topic title is worthless. pls. be descriptive.

I bet I wasn't the only one who looked at this thread just because the topic piqued my interest! The first time....?!