I sat down to create a thread I have been thinking of an lo and behold, someone beat me to it. My wife and I are in Paris right now. We are in a suite at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome. On Sunday, we train to Belgium for two nights at Le Meridien Brussels. Flew here on Lufthansa First Class and flying home non-stop on United First Class.

It all started about 7 years ago. We had purchased a couple of timeshares - first a Marriott and then a Westin. That got us into getting their credit cards. Both purchases came with a slew of points (don’t flame me - I was young and stupid and didn’t know better!) so we had a bit of a head start. Then I discovered FT! I’m also fortunate in that as a dentist, I get to charge quite a bit each year for supplies and lab costs.

First big thing was learning about alliances. Thanks to FT, we flew First Class to Paris on BA but my Starwood points were transferred to Cathay Pacific’s AsiaMiles. That got us First Class for (at the time) 90,000 miles each rather than the150,000 BA wanted. Not one of my friends (or even my wife) could fit that into their heads. Seemed daunting until I did it. Thanks to the Starwood transfer bonus, those 180,000 miles only cost me 145,000 Starpoints. Stayed at the Prince de Galles on Starwood points where we were upgraded to a magnificent one bedroom, two bathroom suite with a small balcony right on the Avenue George V.

From there it just went on and on. First Class Air France NY - CDG- Malaga and return MAD-CDG (layover)-NYC. BA First to Italy. Last May BA First to Israel. This summer BA First to Moscow and home from Copenhagen. The list is too long to list them all and it goes on and on.

As many of you have alluded - very, very little of this would have happened but for me finding FT. Just look at your friends who have no idea what you are talking about and you will realize that we do not represent the masses! As I wrote once before, the game gets harder but the rewards are still there. Let’s keep sharing!