Hey THANK YOU so much for the warm welcomes! I frequent some other forums and so I *know* just how frustrating it can be to hear the same questions all the time, trust me I KNOW that can get so old!

I have taken a break and watched the debate then right back onto the board lol. I need to learn soooo much it isn't even funny.

I agree about traveling for recreation but if I can do just that but tweak some things here and there plus throw in a few runs then my goal will be reached.

I have a cruise coming up in 19 days and am going via Delta out of Columbus. Then the four of us are going to Fla (either Tampa or Orlando) but this isn't booked yet. Plus we have Vegas spring plans in the works. If I add in some seasonal type of run (or runs) then perhaps by next summer we could pack our suits for Hawaii or Tahiti (OMG dream trip). Who knows? I'm very willing to give it a shot, even if that takes me 2 years of running then it would be very much worth it.

Here's a question: can I get miles for booking my kids' trips with me? Probably not. Hubby has his own miles card.

Also is it kosher or not to offer a reg a type of compensation (gift cards) to research something? I only ask not because I actually plan to but I read in the rules about the way to offer and it caused me to wonder if anyone actually ever does anything like that.

Not a flight topic, but OMG the sweetest thing happened to us Friday night. Carnival called us and offered a Penthouse upgrade for only 200/ea more. We were booked in an oceanview - the next level up for us at the time we booked would have been a mini-suite in order to get a balcony (Fascination) and it would have been an additional 550 total to get that.

We decided to stick with the deal we got which was the 279 ea. for the 5 nights oceanview. But to have this happen was an incredible stoke of luck (which I'm not prone to have happen to me for sure!)....the guy told me it was for past guests only on his list and that since he had started calling that I was the 11th person he called and the first one who actually answered their phone!!

I am totally in disbelief that we will have all that room with a two person jacuzzi in the bathroom, big balcony, walk in closet, priority boarding, you name it! So, I am starting to be a believer in 'upgrading' if you know what I mean.

Again, thanks so much for all the 'hellos' and I will check back laters.