In the oneworld forum there has been a lot of discussion regarding the 25k - 100k bonus offered by AA, CX & QF. Most of it has been centered on how this can be achieved in Asia. Several contributors have suggested that this could be an ideal excuse for a Party in Paradise (Asia). Don't know where this will lead but it should be lot's of fun trying to put it together.

Here is the link to the oneworld thread: http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/Foru...ML/000032.html

So, start posting ideas, suggested dates, venues, etc.

I'll be in:
[*]SIN: 1999: aug-29 to 30; nov-9 to 12 (with Gisela)[*]BKK: 1999: aug-30 to sep-1; oct-14 to 17 (with Gisela); 2000: nov-14 to 17 (with daughter Maria and her boyfriend Dani)[*]HKK: 1999: nov-12 to 14 (with Gisela); 2000: apr-14 to 16 (with daughter Maria and her boyfriend Dani)

copyright PiP (for the Party in Paradise in Honolulu, starting nov-4-99): I am sure that our local friends in Asia can propose a unique name with an "asian-touch/smile" for such a get-together. I am looking forward to it.

I'd like to see the concept of PiP applied to any FT special event (i.e. requiring a certain degree of effort) taking place in some kind of exotic venue. Maybe we could label them based on the city/airport code it takes place in - like PiP-HNL or PiP-BKK (paradise? to some definitely ). Or, something to indicate the event, like the oneworld promotion, e.g. PiP 1W1K Challenge.

Speaking only for myself I don't want to take away from the original PiP and don't mind what it is called in the end.

Our initial idea was to have one "major" FT get together each year with lots of smaller regional get togethers throughout the year. The yearly major event would be announced far in advance to give everyone the opportunity to plan ahead (securing vacation time, budget funds, etc.) and to attempt to get the most attendees at one location for maximum enjoyment and group meetings of FlyerTalkers.

There have been many folks who have offered to host the next major one (Orlando, Australia, to name a few) and we have suggested that it wait until after the first major one (this November's PIP) when we place all the options on the board for a vote.

Who knows, maybe even Randy might want to organize an "Official" FlyerTalk event next year?

The name Party In Paradise refers specifically to this Hawaii gathering. To avoid confusion, it would be great if each major event had it's own unique name to identify it. A "Party In Paradise" in say New York City would, I'm sure, seem a bit funny for most folks ("paradise" not being exactly what the Visitors Bureau would probably call it. ) Be creative!

The Asia OneWorld thing sounds great, but due to it's timing (especially with so many attending the PIP) would be difficult to organize and get a large participation on such short notice, in order to make it one of the annual major get togethers.

But I for one would be interested if it were one of the mini regional gatherings (dependent on the dates and my work schedule, of course). But first I think someone has to come forward from a particular country and volunteer to act as the organizer and host to pick a date and put things together. Any volunteers?

The smaller regionial get togethers are fairly easy to organise, and we've had lots of 'em and lots of fun! But hosting a major one is different. I can tell you it's lots of work behind the scenes and in addition to that quite a responsablity. I mean a lot of folks are spending hard earned money and precious vacation time to attend and will be expecting and deserve a great time. And believe me the PIP Committee is well aware of that and is putting in a lot of work (with Randy's help too) to insure that it will be worth the time and effort of the participants. They have committed themselves to that end and to not letting anyone down. Whoever is organizing the next major one should be well aware of the responsiblities before taking on the challenge, IMHO.


[This message has been edited by PremEx (edited 08-13-1999).]

ok, there is very little time to plan and arrange this. How many are interested in making this a regional meeting? I would suggest we consider a base of operations to be bangkok, singapore or Hongkong in order to get the cheapest flights and most choices for those filling up on oneworld flights. Any other choices? Dates anyone? Living in bangkok I would be willing to help in this effort, anyone else?

And we need a name!

sMiles is taken... asiansmiles... OW SIN challenge? AA Bangkok bash? BKK AY Sin hmm, someone quick take this task away from me!

MEOW! Miles for Everyone from One World??????
maybe catman will come?

Seems we can get Rudy in attendance if any of those dates above might work for others?

FYI, anyone thinking of coming and paying, NW has package deals pretty cheap for oct/nov/dec, they arent OW, but you can get the OW flights easy enough once you're here. http://www.nwa.com/vacpkg/wvspec/asia2.shtml



[This message has been edited by tummyg (edited 08-13-1999).]

SIN- Singapore Fling comes to mind

How about "asianSmilers" Asian S-milers? No? Anyone have a better name? I'm hopeless at this.

For people wanting to do this 100K within Asia, ok, it wouldn't be the official PiP in Asia but more of an excuse for us based in the Asia-Pacific region to find an excuse to finally get together and show our faces. I suggest Bangkok. Because most of the Oneworld airlines fly to BKK (CP, BA, CX, AY, QF) , and it is reasonably cheap to hold a gettogether there. Weather wise, it's warm but not humid like Singapore. It is easier to get to as opposed to somewhere like Bali.
And you have a choice of venues - Bangkok, Pattaya, HuaHim, ChiangMai etc.

All we need is a time....

The promo starts 1st Oct to 31st Dec. I think we can rule out Christmas and the Millienium bash - though I might be in BKK later this year.

tummyg - how about Loy Kratong time?

[This message has been edited by Celestar340 (edited 08-13-1999).]

I'll be trying to make it on a simple R/T to wherever the location is.

Me too PremEx, but I don't know about this year for Asia. Something like this will require planning, maybe next year.

And NYC is NOT paradise??? It is for me, just use your imagination (and maybe a LOT of alcohol!)

Remember there is a get together in March of 2000 in NYC hosted by me! I hope you all can come

BKK get's my vote (see, I'm one of those weird people that think it is paradise). As for a name? What about making it goal specific, like The oneworld oneK Home Coming. Oh, I don't know. Anybody else???

Okay guys - to some , HNL is near but to some of us based in Asia, it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to get to with no direct flights etc.

To clear things up - this is NOT PiP in Asia but a suggestion only that since so many of us are geared towards getting this 100K thing that it might be fun to meet somewhere along the way. The promo period runs for 3 months , but surely we won't be able to all meet at the same time together.

As tummyg suggested too, we could even compare notes as to who took the most exhaustive routing, the least expensive, the most creative etc.

This is something for the 'asian-based' FTyers and others interested in dropping by! But I am sure that we could even attract Mr Randy Petersen himself seeing that this is what we are all doing it for - MILES!

So let's see first in a show of hands , or typos, who is based in Asia (or thereabouts).

Me - SIN/BKK/HKG/MEL (pick one)

[This message has been edited by Celestar340 (edited 08-14-1999).]

In my haste to reply I missed the point of celestar's question. I am based in NRT but also spend (or will be) a lot of time in SIN. I can get to anywhere in Asia or Australia relatively easily. Of course I would prefer the event to be held where I do most of my business (SIN/BKK/NRT).

As the one who started this thread and having had some time to digest the responses I want to clarify a couple of things.

I'm not suggesting that this is in anyway an alternative to the PiP or an additional PiP. Perhaps in haste we appropriated the label without realizing how this would be interpreted. However, this is a bit more than a regional get together. It is about rising to a very specific challenge and as a community (albeit a very small subset of the whole) coming together for a brief moment to celebrate the creativity, ingenuity, down right street smarts and determination of several individuals who are going to go through hoops to get the one thing we have in common - miles (and lot's of 'em). At the same time I'm not suggesting that this be exclusive to oneworld bonus chasers. It would be great to see anyone from FT.

Are we going to put on something as extensive as the PiP? Clearly not, we don't have the time to bring together the necessary resources, nor do I think we really want to. Should we have prizes? I don't know. I did suggest we should in the original oneworld thread but did'nt imagine anything out of the ordinary. I am more than happy to donate some of my bottles of Krug courtesy of BA & QF (provided I don't drink them all before then ).

Back to the venue and date. BKK? Date is wide open for me.



[This message has been edited by mgm (edited 08-14-1999).]

Yes, you'll be able to attract me, at least twice a year i start in Tokyo with JAL and others and work my way down to Singapore to talk miles withh everyone. And I'm due for my second of the year anytime.

As for a name, domestically we refer to regional meetings as "Board Meetings" to play off the bulletin board tie-in and also to make it sound like we've got business, which we do. Internationally, i don't know, we've got some very bright people who visit this area. Is it OneTalk? I don't know, but where ever it will be, I'll probably be there also. There was a commnet about me taking it on to "officially" sponsor. That I have no problem with and can and will assign people to the task. I do agree with the wise wisdom of PremEx and think we might wait til after the PIP to start on the next annual "convention" (I guess I could actually start an 'convention bureau' for these efforts). I know i could probably work some airfare deals in the future for these larger meetings if you all think that would be appropriate and there's so much we can all do to make this more fun than sitting in seat 22-F most of the time. I'll continue to monitor the comments, but I'm just one voice and really, really do enjoy getting together with any and all of you to actually hear ofyour thoughts, comments and criticisms of all these frequent traveler programs.

I'm due to head to Melbourne in [probably] October. Considering the weirdness of the fares I'll probably do a RTW in First for about the same fare as biz class LAX/MEL/LAX. Been looking at doing a oneworld RTW only because of the 100k bonus. (Thanks MGM for the spreadsheet and comments -- much appreciate your kind assistance!)

If you can plan this event for sometime in the 2nd or 3rd week of October, I'd love to meet all of our far flung (to me!) FT "relatives".

Of course, I'm cheating. Pretty easy to get the 100k bonus on a RTW... Can I still come?

onefreeman -- of course you can come!! I hope you come up with a dazzling oneworld Explorer itinerary! Where will you ticket it??