Five Years Reading... 5,000th Post... £5,000 saved ??
 

Firstly, a big thanks to all those out there who help everyone daily with top tips as well as money saving ideas :)

Just a bit of fun; as I hit my 5,000th post - I have just worked out my two trips currently booked (AMS-BKK & GVA-MIA) have saved for two travellers circa £5,000 if I didn't know the magical exEU routings.... so my question...

Do you think you spend more or less since you discovered with the world of Flyertalk ?! Do you seize good deals that you would never normally have booked? Does this mean you actually save money - or you spend far more than you would have ?

Thank God It's Friday !

I definitely spend more but I also have a lot more fun doing it. If it weren't for FT I'd probably just be flying LCC to see my family abroad and for vacations. But I since discovered the joys of status and now fly a bit more frequently around Europe. No regrets!

I think i spend a little more, but travel in a LOT more comfort, I had never flown in J or F before finding flyertalk

Thanks for the post, you make an important point. Now my post count is a little higher than yours so maybe I haven't been shy about sharing my knowledge, but even so I too have learned an enormous amount from the collective experience of the very many regular posters here. Every day is a school day here.

So: keep up the good work everyone!

In common with others (I suspect) I have saved some cash, travel a little bit more and work hard to find J and very occasional F avois seats.

Agree with the above posters, saved a lot on business flights using knowledge learned here but ultimately pay more now to travel now, albeit in beds rather than cramped seats.

Definitely saved a lot - I got in the AZ YYZ-LCA J class deal for 3 people, JAL ICN-JFK F class deal, HX SFO-BKK J class deal.
As all these trips would have gone anyway, those alone are savings of some $13,000.

And this is where i learned about SQ's FEZSQ and CEZSQ - I don't know how many of those I did over the years, but again
savings in the 5 figure range.

So, alongside, say, £2 per TP & 0.9p per Avios, where does £1 per post rank in the value stakes ?

Nine years here, over which time I have posted far too often!

However, FT has undoubtedly saved us many thousands of pounds, which have probably been re-invested into more frequent travel, new and distant destinations, and better hotels. In the last 10 years FT has helped us go from 1-2 trips a year to [typically] 5, whilst at the same time ensuring we always fly CW/CE affordably. Now the annual figures are typically 40+k miles for around £8k. What's not to like?

Do we now spend more? Probably, but we get to do more as well!

Thank you all VERY much. ^

....is that a typo..did you mean POSTED far too often!!!

Both ... ;).

About 5 years on FT and feel that I have learned a lot that has saved me a decent amount money, but also caused me to spend more money (in a good sense) and made me a much more informed and efficient traveler. We started traveling more frequently in the early 2000's and many of our best trips have been pre FT, but I feel that reading the posts on FT has allowed me to be more confident in making travel decisions than earlier in my planning. We recently had our first major potential IROPS challenge and I was able to figure out a Plan B quite quickly at a minimal cost and I know that my FT experience played into the positive out come there. I've also learned more about British culture and slang than I will ever need, but so much of what is posted on here is transferable to other travel providers. Thanks to all and Cheers!

There is absolutely no doubt that I have saved thousands thanks to FT but the saving has also been reinvested in to more frequent travelling. As a result, I would say I now spend more on travelling than ever before.

Then again, I'm the kind of person who will now fly from LHR to Asia for 5 days because flying in J & F is part of the holiday and is so enjoyable.

For all of those who have helped me, including @mikeyfly - Thank you :)

I learned a lot, saved a lot... and increased a lot mine & family travels :D
My first long haul has been in 2013. I joined FT in 2014 (same year of joining BAEC), and now I do 3 to 5 long haul trips per year. So, yes I spend more in total, but surely less for each trip!
I also wouldn't have dreamed of flying F before Flyertalk, and yet I recently had my 4th F trip (out to SIN on 77W, back from HKG on A380).

I can't but thanks everyone here :)

Like many others above I have ended up spending more money on travel by air because of reading FT, but had a much increased quality of travel.
Some of this may be due to advancing age and an increased tendency to say I'm in J+ or I'm not going.
But without the knowledge on this forum that would probably have meant a lot more 'not going' outcomes.
I can also say that 'points' is like a contagion. Several folks at work have caught the disease after listening to my tales recounting the sage advice from this forum :)