You know you're a FT'er when ...
 

I thought my moment was when I did my first 7 segment coast-to-coast MR some years ago - all in UA Y, no less. And right on its heels, followed up with a coast-to-coast, non-MR trip on US, again in Y.

But I think I have a new moment now ... Two years ago I burnt miles on a business class ticket for the first time. The choice was between 80k miles in Y or 120k miles in J from the US to India. Difference of 40k miles, hmm.. To J or not to J, that was the question. After a lot of soul-searching, I decided to do it. It's not like I would pay for such a ticket anyway, I said. So might as well enjoy the joys of J on long-haul. Good trip, it was.

Now to the moment I was referring to. Two weeks ago I was planning a trip home over the holidays, ALB to BLR. This time I didn't even consider burning miles for a Y ticket. The order in which I searched:
- Get an award ticket in the business cabin
- If that doesn't work out, chop off an arm, a leg and three fingers from the other hand -- all for a seat in Y. (Prices were ridiculous for the dates I wanted).


I am happy to say that all my limbs are intact (knock on wood!) and that I board the flight next week!

Frantically pounding away on keyboard, to get a glitch fare OSL-PEK, when a colleague (who knew what I was doing) asked how long I was going for.

'One day' I responded...

Her reaction :eek:... 'you should go for longer'

Brief pause while I considered. 'You're right' I said and carried on pounding.

'So how long are you going for?'

'Two days!'

Ok, I ended up going for a week, as the ticket was fully flex C for £220.

And my other 'you know when you're a FTer..:
When you are arguing with check-in staff about the configuration of the aircraft you are about to fly (I was right, although they thought they were being helpful)
When something goes wrong mid trip, and you have about 15 people in your phone you can call and go 'I need you to check what's happening to VS025 out of TAB as it's showing delayed and I don't trust the info. I'll text you my log-in details for BA as you may need to change my connection for me - it's a split PNR..' and they know what you are talking about and get right on it! :D The FT network is great in adversity...

There are no truer words Jenbel!

and to add, by the time you get to speak with an agent at the airport, you have either been rebooked cuz you called while waiting or you have all your options already laid out for the agent

and

by the time you are all said and done and relaxing in the lounge (member or as a sponsored guest ;)) or at your airline provided hotel room, "others" ;) from your very same flight are pulling a dykwia hissy fit at whatever airline employee they can find

When you have the following discussion with the AMS officer
"Where did you arrive from"
"USA"
"How long are you staying?"
"about 3hrs"
"Then where are you off to?"
"USA"
and a confused look :)

Or a multiday back to back MRs where the ground staff know you by name and lets you board with the crew.

or a flight cancellation while waiting in line you got your netbook in one hand with EF open and KVS looking at options, talking to the UA agent in the other over the phone and you get to the front (mind the line is only a few people deep) and you just tell the agent to unload you, print the new BPs, change the bag tags and off you go

... when....
 

.. after a significant (and at times not so significant) political event (mainly in the US but at times courtesy is extended to Canada, Europe, Asia and at times, Australia), you jump on FT and head to OMNI/PR to read what the FT community in general and the OMNICons / OMNILibs (one or the other, depending on the nature of the event) have to say about the said event.

^

More for people who are new or not as frequent fliers as many here, but when you start using the 3 letter airport codes, not only in regular posts (without having to look them up) but when you start using them in e-mails and other communications with others

Trips? Segments? MR? What???

This is OMNI!!! :mad:

;)

you say to yourself, "so this is what the outside of an airport looks like" ;)

The first Do I ever attended was at AMS. I was already a RoyalWing KLM elite, and had held status with them for a few years before that - from economy flying...

At the Do, I had to own up that it was the first time I'd ever been landside at AMS :D

My bad :D
Woods, Palin, Clooney .. There, I threw in some OMNI terms :)

You FTers are funny...I can't wait til be doing some of this HAHA

Moving this thread to the CommunityBuzz! forum.

Please follow at its new home.

Thanks.

_________________

Cholula
OMNI Co-Moderator

You know you're an FT'er when ...
 

You read an online article from a newspaper across the Atlantic about something that is happening almost halfway around the world and you think, "Oh, is that 3TimesALady that they are talking about at the end of paragraph 3?"

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle6945283.ece

Agree.

I've had to call the FT helpline when stuck onboard a plane and forseeing a horrible misconnection for my next flight. The great thing is even if only have a minute to make a call or txt before phone needs to be switched off can still get a message out and understood, and the answer is there when you later switch phone back on.

So true...I'm relatively new to FF and FT however I have noticed that I am starting to name airport codes in every type of situation. I was talking to my VP the other day and he asked what my travel schedule looked like...I responded, "Mon-Tues in ABQ, then DEN and SFO later in the week..." he knew what SFO was...I apologized and named the others.:D

You know you're a Flyertalker when: You're sitting on the plane and it's delayed a tiny bit, but then the announcement comes over the PA that it's cancelled..And you've already called the 1K line (or appropriate line) and are confirmed rebooked (in C/F) on a different flight/routing (cause you know the pairings by heart) by the time you exit the broken plane. Then you head to the Red Carpet Club (or appropriate club) to relax and get your new BPs printed.

You know you're a FT-er when you walk through the security line half asleep with only your BP, wallet (with id), cellphone and car key to do a quick short-segment turnaround and fall asleep the moment you get to your seat. Backpack, book, newspapers, or magazine are not needed.

you know you're an FT'er when someone asks you about your upcoming trip itinerary

Me: I'm flying out of JFK tomorrow. Landing at SFO and from there heading to LAX.
Friend: Cool! saving money by doing a connection. very smart
Me: Actually, it costs the same to do non-stop as well as the connection.
Friend: So why are you flying to SFO?
Me: So I can get more miles.
Friend: Miles?? Why do you want miles?
Me: For future upgrades, so I can fly in Business or First Class.
Friend: Bro, why do you care so much about that? It's a PLANE! It was INVENTED to make you miserable
Me : sigh

You know you're a FT'er when you know about all the little details that make flying fun again. Such as where other FT'ers have hidden the drink chits in the Admirals Club. And where to get a shower at LHR when the Admiral's Club is being renovated and you know you have a choice of 3 other lounges. And the sight of a big yellow luggage tag makes you feel like you're not alone in the flying rat race.

...you you're admiring Cholula's nametag at a SEADo and thinking "I gotta get me one of those". :D

...you chuckle and roll your eyes when UA OLCI offers to sell you an old C seat for $600 KIX-SFO because thanks to FT you know your bulkhead seat 17A in Economy Plus on a 777 is almost as good. And you only paid $600 RT right from YEG! A recent true story.

...you pray for promo's like a child prays for goodies at Christmas and pout :( or get :mad: when you miss out.

...you not only know the Pudding Guy story you can retell it like you were there

...have marked the release date in your city for George Clooney's Up In The Air

Whenever someone (friend/colleague/family member) is mentioned as going on/having been on a trip...you are far more interested in how they got there than what they did there.

Whenever someone suggests going to a restaurant/taking a trip/purchasing something...your only thought is "how can I earn?"

When you get asked at a weekly meeting each Thursday what city I'm going to that weekend and if I'll actually be staying the night.

And if I say I'm staying home that weekend, it's met with disbelief.

The weekend after I did two mileage runs to GEG on the UA mistake fare on back-to-back days was a fun one to explain...

When they write an article in the WSJ and mention you by your FT'r name: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1260...DDLETopStories

winner! ^

You know you're a Flyertalker when...
 

instead of using the airline name on a study guide/sheet of notes for a final, you use the two-letter code.

You're on a mileage run, agent asks "what's your final destination?" and you truthfully answer "I don't remember."

When the quality of your non-traveling days is related to the number of coins UPS delivers.

You know you're a FT'er when
 

based on last week SEA mini-trip/MR
1. When the FA notices your flight tally sheet, ask what do you and sorta flirts with you
2. when you send your roommate an email 7 days prior to vacation with hints to how to go through security efficiently(only to have him forgot his water bottle on one occasion)
3. when your roommate learns how trained you are in dealing with security when both of you breeze through security following the business guy line while the kettles in front of us at the ID line hasn't even taken their shoes off yet at another security line.
Getting more respect out of your roommate, priceless!

wsucougarchick05, how did you use airline codes for study notes? I'm a tourism major and I haven't even gotten to that point ever.

-When you turn a 3 segment round trip to a job interview into an 8 segment MR and save the company $150 off what the travel agent wanted to put you on. In the meantime you get to try out 2 new airports and a quick stop in a favourite lounge on the opposite coast wit ha great set of windows for spotting.

-When you your friends and family let you do all their travel booking, and you don't mind because of the looks of awe.

-When you give your ill-informed FF elite seatmate an FT brain dump on how to maximize their benefits and the look they give says "now I know how to enjoy flying"

-when your jealous, instead of afraid, of Kiwi Flyer

LOL

One of our organizational culture examples in my Organizational Behavior class was Southwest and so in my notes, I abbreviated it to WN. I also used AS and DL/NW in my notes...AS and DL/NW were just my own way of relating the concepts to real life, though.

When you spend $7,000 at Track it back in the latest US Airways promotion.




Halothane

... when you are Kiwi Flyer :D

The only reason you go to the airport is to take a shower at the CO President's Club ;)

You know you are a FlyerTalk member when a thread such as this one interests you.

When you describe how you get your miles and people roll their eyes.

Yep I did ..
 

I clicked the link :p ... haha! Silly Silly me ... Yep well and truly caught out! and admitting it!! :D

ROFLMAO!!! I was reading that article the other day and tis post just made me laugh hysterically!! Congratulations on the miles!!

....when an MR for you is UA Y SYD LAX SFO return (yeah I missed out on the cheap connector to HNL or that would have been included) :D

....when your tween daughter convinces you to fly UA Y SYD-LAX-LAS-SFO-SYD for 5 days so "we can get more miles, mum" :D.

And if that wasnt enough, you know she is a flyertalker in the making, when she says, "you cant get into see Annie in the (NZ) lounge if you are flying economy". Correct my dear, that is why we have 1P and 1K cards :p.

When said itin above with daughter turns into a fully op-upped C long haul itin both ways ^.....priceless!

When you thinking about taking a MR over three days coast to coast and say to yourself the duration is not a problem and two nights without a hotel are not a problem as you have an almost 3 hour connection at IAH were you can take a shower at the lounge there!!


You find that you have caused both your best friend and your aunt (not the same people) to become elite in the same year and your aunt is considering getting a PC membership!!