In 1988, I heard about frequent flyer miles with the airlines and signed up with AA. Didn't fly much though. When the kids were young (1990's), I realized that I could pick up free nights with choice hotels after seeing a sign in a comfort inn. It was attending a conference at a Marriott Hotel that a friend of mine was checking in at the same time as me. He is recognized as a Gold and upgraded to the top floor, reminded of the points he will receive, etc. I ask, so what's going on? He tells me about status, how he used his points, and I was hooked.

From there, I began to look for every way I could to earn and build points. Although I've never had a heavy travel schedule, I've leveraged every bit of travel that I could to help earn and burn points/miles. Lots of great trips. I signed up for Inside Flyer a while back and finally discovered this site. Now, I try and share with whomever I can...Most want the miles, but don't want the pain. I have one friend right now who is very excited about the prospects and he does have significant travel with his work.