I know I started the thread, but I have to say that I agree with a part of your post, which i didn't mention...

Sometimes it seems that people have gotten a little too caught up in who's NEW and who's BEEN AROUND. We are, clearly, all people that CARE about STATUS. However, I think that sometimes this comes across as a little bit snobby. (BY NO MEANS READ THIS TO SAY THAT EVERYONE DOES THIS...IT'S NOT UNIVERSAL.)

Sometimes the posts to people who ask a simple question are quite SNIPPY...read it this way: "It's been talked about before you newbie. If you had been AROUND here long enough, like ME and the REST OF US, you'd know. You'll learn, but for now don't take up our bandwidth with your simplicity. Go to the old thread and get out of our hair."

I know I'm probably being somewhat overly critical. I LOVE flyertalk. MOST people here are VERY helpful and VERY kind...in fact, if you've seen another of my posts recently, you know that I see many of the OLDEST of the OLD-TIMERS as the KINDEST and most POLITE of them all...

I'm just thinking that we can make that extra step as a community to make newcomers feel even more welcome.