greg5

There was rec.travel.* for those in the know.

Infoseek, Altavista, Yahoo, Webcrawler.....

FlightDetective

Newsgroups! I'd forgotten about those.

Those old search engines... I remember Google was a revelation because it was the only one without ads plastered all over its main screen. Such a simple thing that really stood out back then.

Before FlyerTalk I'd just book my tickets at the rack rate via the airline's phone number (13 13 13 for Qantas - which it was in the 1990s and - looking it up there - still is today). I'd generally buy the cheapest flight on the day I wanted, but I was still paying more than I would today. I also remember I was quite particular about getting a window seat down the back. How things change...

PUCCI GALORE

I am uncertain whether it is senility or indifference in my instance. I couldn�t care less what I had for breakfast but I was not alone. He looked vaguely familiar however

davidcamp6

Bricks and mortar travel agents

muscat

Without flyertalk, c-w-s with 64000 posts (at 3 min per post, 3200hours) could have been a concert pianist, scratch handicap golfer, olympic athlete….

Heyden

Before coming here I had no idea how much people had to complain about. If whinging were a sport FT would be Premier League.

Ancient Observer

Before I started visiting FT, BA had great Customer Service on properly manned phone lines, and real people in their shops. (Yes, they had shops who were manned by people who knew what they were talking about).
When I lived in Belgium in the 90s, the Co I worked for used Amex travel agents, and they were very good.
Plus, the Gold line was answered in seconds.

ajamieson

KLMuk used to have a forum on its own website, moderated by staff. They once took the regulars out to dinner in London.

T8191

After a quick look at my cave paintings in the cellar, it would seemI joined BAEC in 2007, and FlyerTalk in 2010. Pre-2007 our aviation experiences were largely confined to numerous trips SOU-JER to see family with carriers such as KLM, Jersey European and Flybe (1984-2005). Nothing complicated there! As davidcamp6 notes, just go to local travel agent and buy tickets. After moving to JER in 2005, we started a bit of long-haul with the likes of Virgin and MaxJet, and then established ourselves with BA. I remember using the BA office in St Helier, although I may well have some something clever on-line with my Stone Age computer direct with BA at whatever price they wanted to charge!

2010 and FlyerTalk was the game-changer, of course. Fantastic advice and hot tips meant Silver in 2011, the mysteries of Creative Routing were unveiled, and we became HNL Gold in 2015! And have retained it ever since! All Praise to FlyerTalk!

Tim_T

On Sunday I will have been on FT for 26 years.

back then the BA executive club had a high minimum level to become a member and was much more focused on corporate travellers with basically no attention to leisure travel.

I remember getting my first status benefit tip, using my Air U.K. membership to gain Hilton Club membership (which was a U.K. scheme separate to the main Hilton scheme) that got me lounge access.

greg5

They were pretty useful in the day. And most of us there were academics.

I had a class on air transportation (and other on shipping), so I learned a few things from there. I was creative about flying SBA-SEA when I was in grad school. I'd add in PDX, or drive up and visit my aunt at SJC, or take a van down to LAX depending on the prices. I would only go to travel agents who would show me the screen, and then we'd tweak the flights until I got a good price.

Eventually, I found some consolidators who would sell surplus flights from tour agencies. I got some great deals via JetSet Travel going down to NZ on UA. The only bad thing was ending up on United Shuttle/Ted. They'd always set me up with good seats as well.

tmac100

There was a time in this Fair Land (with apologies to Gordon Lightfoot) when I used a 286 machine with DOS and a diaĺ-up modem. In those days - early 1990s - newsgroups were the way to get info. PINE was my text reader.

Times have moved on and I still fly to get from A to B. But I no longer have the joys of my life that I had then: wife, 2 sons, mortgage, a dog, etc.
Retired to Portugal and flying (strategically), and mostly in Business class with BA/OW and A3/*A. No longer in "cheapest is best" mode.

Reading about offerings of food/beverages is always a source of amusement when I reflect on my RCAF flights in Dakotas and Hirculese aircraft, eating box lunches.

gustavmahler

Flights and hotels booked on Expedia. When a CO flight back to LHR from EWR was over-sold and they were looking for volunteers to go the following morning in J came along and I didn't look back. I then started googling how to fly J on a 20-something music educator's budget and stumbled on FT. Within 6 months I was flying my first BA F.

HIDDY

Before the internet was around I'd just moan about my poor flying experiences to people I knew. They probably thought I was a right pain in the bum as many of them rarely flew so weren't at all interested.

T8191

Oh, don't knock the mighty Herk. A lovely trip from UK to Little Rock, Arkansas {via other places), with my string hammock slung over the beams above the ramp. A bit cold, but the swaying of the Dutch roll lulled me to sleep happily. The Lunch boxes were standard Mil Cr*p, though!