First, since this is only my 2nd post on Flyertalk, let me say hello. Glad I found you.

My journey to acquire (then spend) miles began a few weeks ago and over the course of the past 3 weeks I've been reading most of the sites mentioned in this thread, Chris's AONC site and others (like credit card review sites). It was an immersive process and I just feel like I'm finally coming up to speed.

I joined the Cartel because I want to get as much knowledge (and miles!) as I can in:

• The most basic "layperson" terms
• With the least amount of effort
• In the shortest period of time

to help meet my travel goals.

The information is well organized and presented in small digestible videos and articles. Do I recommend it for people who already have 500K miles, elite status, etc? No, you guys have already conquered this game - and I'm thankful you share your learnings here. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute my knowledge to the conversation at some point in the very near future.

As a person who consults for a living, I can appreciate that Chris created a business model that capitalizes on the knowledge he's acquired through all his traveling and miles accruals. The Cartel will just have to prove to be a value for me as I start gaining more knowledge.