Hello members of FlyerTalk: Here's more of who I am

[hfly]

Hmmm, a difficult one as it has always been my policy not to divulge too much identifying info about myself on the internet, especially as I have had one or two bad experiences in the past. At least thre of the people posting above know me and what I do and at least one has met me in person. I am originally from the US, but have been on the road for most of the past 22 years. I am married and have two children. I have averaged 118 flights a year every year for the last seventeen years, and over that time have averaged about 300k miles per year. I maintain top status in four carriers at any one time and have done this for many years, it gives me a unique persepective built up over time as to what the plusses and minuses of each airline and their alliances mean in the real world. I live in Turkey, my office is in London, and my work regularly takes me throughout Europe, and generally to Asia about once every six weeks as well as to the US about once a month (not to mention the occasional jaunts to South America and S. Africa).

[CMK10]

Finally a question I don't have to think about.

My name is Charles and I go by that. I was born in New York City and grew up in Rye, New York. I always tell people my enjoyment of travel stems from when I was a child and my Mother would pester my Father to spend time with me. He would drive me to nearby Westchester County Airport (HPN) and sit me on the hood of his car (a 1984 Volvo DL ) and talk to me about the airplanes. He wanted me to go to the Air Force Academy and then become a comercial airline pilot, but sadly as anyone has met me can attest to, I wear glasses.

In 2002 I began what I call the frequent flyer era. I'm not really sure what sparked it but I became very interested in anything that involved mileage earning. I also got very interested in contests and promotions or anything where you got a little extra for free. I think it's part of my competetative streak. Any time you earn, you win a victory. In August 2002 I had to go to Washington and I actually chose USAirways over Delta because USAirways was offering an obscene number of bonus miles for flying them. Thus began my brand of insanity.

In 2003 I set a Flyertalk record by becoming the youngest solo international mileage runner when I flew LGA-DCA-DFW-STL-LGW-RDU-LGA at barely 17. That was what I wanted for Christmas that year. Also in 2003 I moved to Arizona to attend Arizona State University. I became the first person in my dorm to wallpaper my closet door with boarding pass stubs. This trend continued in my first apartment until it became apparent that 600+ boarding passes were too much for one wall...they're in binders now.

I graduated in 2006 with a degree in US History and English Literature and wandered aimlessly for a couple of years unsure of what to do with my life. Being away from ridigity of schooling scared me and it wasn't until 2008 that I got a job I was proud of. For the last eighteen months I've been in a Management Training program with CED (Consolidated Electrical Distributors). I'm currently an Inside Salesman and Quotes Supervisor of one of the Phoenix CEDs. There I set a record by being the only person in the 98 person training department to:
- Request specific flights for work travel due to mileage opportunities
- Take a VDB
- Convince an agent to take them off a nonstop and onto a connection for extra miles (twice).

So that's me. I've also been to 27 Major League Baseball parks, slept at an airport after a VDB, had a jacket thrown at me in First Class by a NW flight attendent and won a poker tournament with a 3/5 offsuit.