How was the value for the money paid in 2009
Taking into account flying, money-can't-buy-experiences, food, drink, more drink, EQMs and finding a whole bunch of new friends - yes, I'd say it was good VFM, (Flew C).
How many days can you be away to participate in a DO
Six full days total, four working days. Even with ridiculously generous European vacation allowances, taking more than 4 days out for self-indulgent flying (are you hearing my family here?) is probably pushing the limit.
How much money will you be willing to spend
Around €1,000 / £1,000 (well, they're about the same at the moment). But I'd probably want C-style experience for that. Any connecting flights to/from a start point I'd probably burn miles on.
I think GoldCircle had some very relevant things to say a few threads back.....
Originally Posted by
GoldCircle
(snip)
The great strength of the *A Mega Do was that it was inclusive, affordable and offered interesting events - for many participants it was their first view behind the scenes. To try and top the 2009 Do is a fools errand. To provide a solid sequel should be the aim - there's no end to the number of airplane hangars, catering facilities, baggage areas, aprons, bars, beers that I can participate in.
However, what makes the Do great is the people. Eliminate the people, you eliminate the Do.
I think SMD1 left people wanting more. I was genuinely disappointed to have to head home on Saturday morning. Realistically though, if I'd ploughed on through Saturday, I'd have been exhausted to the point of not having much fun any more, and come back Sunday feeling grumpy, not elated.
I guess some of us will party hard on a DO, and some us have a hard limit on our hard partying (mine's about 4 days). Some of us won't go so hard, and will have more stamina. Getting the balance right seems important.
On the specifics:
* Would love to do Asia if there's enough things there to see.
* Airplane graveyard - now *that's* a money-can't-buy opportunity. Did
KiwiFlyer suggest that? I salute you, sir.
* Enough ground time to mingle, socialise. I was very lucky on the charter to be sat next to some great people - I can imagine other people had other experiences.
* Miles are important to me. If I'm going to lay out €1,000 on flying, I'm potentially missing out on 26k EQMs I could be putting in one of the programmes.
Very best of luck putting it together, and I hope you get a better interest->booking rate than last time, where it looked like it was getting a bit scary at one point.