"Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home"

Thought I might add to that song chain - it seems quite appropriate for this newb post. Hope to feel at home soon.

I posted some info about myself in
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum95/HTML/000236.html

before I realized that there was an area for the newbs.
Oh by the way I have no idea how to link to a certain area in this posting (I had to copy that from a post above) could someone clue me in. Thank you.

Hi. I, too, found the site after reading Time. Loved the Pudding Guy. I am a little lost as to how people accumulate all those miles. Now I have one credit card with US Airways and I'm going to (try to) use the site to learn how to accumulate more miles. Do people really fly places just to get miles?

carolene: I am not aware of FlyerTalk-friends taking flights only to get miles. It happens (often at the end of a 'qualification period') that you need some more miles to requalify (or attain) a certain status with your favorite(s) airlines - and those mileage runs can be worth the time and money you spend for them (they even can be fun meeting people and/or experiencing new places).

The higher status often provides (this varies from airline to airline: [*]better, faster treatment from the airline at booking, check-in, boarding time, service on board[*]better/higher luggage allowances[*]privileges in assigning better seats (e-plus with UA, emergency-seat-row, etc)[*]a seat guarantee even on overbooked flights when ordering 48/24 hours in advance[*]upgrades (complimentary ones and against miles)[*]mileag-bonus on every flight (25 to 100%)[*]black-out dates for mileage-award-tickets waived[*](free or rebated) access to airline-lounges[*]upgrades at hotels (by just presenting your airline-status-card)

carolene: welcome to FlyerTalk. I fly US Airways out of the DC area and remember thinking about 10 years ago, gee I'll never fly enough to accumulate a free ticket... my goodness, 25,000 miles is a lot! Wrong, you will be suprised at how quickly they can add up with just a little bit of monitoring on your part. Free trips to Australia, Europe and the west coast have proven this to me.

Credit cards (sign up for the bonus miles, wait for the miles to post and then cancel the card, find a new offer and repeat the process), fly promotions (US Airways is giving double miles on all paid flights between now and 5/15... and the miles count towards Preferred status as well), the possibilities are endless and this board is a great way to hear about them!!!

My recent favorite: Sign up for a Diners Club card, pay $80 annual fee, get 20,000 Diners Club points. Convert 17,000 of the Diners Club points for a $100 gift certificate to a favorite restaurant (Ruths Chris Staekhouse, in my case). Looks like I'm ahead by $20 right? Enjoy your dinner. Then convert the remaining Diners Club points to US Airways miles at the 2 for 1 ratio and add 1,500 miles to my Dividend Miles account. Get the picture...

Just don't attend any FlyerTalk gatherings or you'll be hooked

Well, I must admit that I anticipate topping out at about 85000 legitimate mi and am considering - for the express purpose of making 1K again - going BOS-ORD-IAD instead of direct a few times (unrestricted fares are not that different for the routings, and I can always work or sleep on the plane). I don't know if this is lunacy of a new sort or if it's just "preemptive" mileage-running.

I've gotten quite a few e-mails from people new to FlyerTalk, many of whom aren't familar with how frequent flyer programs work--or the many ways non-flyer get miles. They seem confused by FlyerTalk. As an example, one guy said "the discussion seemed to be aimed at some pretty savvy mileage veterans..."

After thinking about this, I'd have to say they're right. The chaos of FlyerTalk is what makes it so fun, but it takes a while to get oriented. It would be nice to have an permanent spot on FlyerTalk that provides some basic information for new people. Most of the FAQ and "Welcome to FlyerTalk" deal with the mechanics of the board, not the programs. Maybe I should put this in the suggestion box...

Comments?

DAF wrote: "I read a couple threads, and I find it kind of weird, all that 'get points by shopping online' congo lines, not really related to travelling or frequent flyer programs..."

Daf, that's the beauty of FlyerTalk. If you're short a few thousand miles until you reach a reward level, you're not limited to flying to earn the miles.

I wasn't involved in very many programs and didn't know how many of them worked when I first joined, but just read the threads and go back about 90 days or more and you'll get an education like no other. This is the best place to learn about all the programs and benefit from the experiences of others. The tips I've gotten on these boards have helped my account balances tremendously in several of the programs.

Hope you'll stick around for a long time.

[This message has been edited by Nanook (edited 04-04-2000).]

I fully agree with Nanook here on this one. In my very first post I stated that I had learned so much from this board. From those who did it right and even more from those who did not. Of course after that statement no one ever welcomed me to the boards until much much later. One of the neat things about the board is you can ask a question and lots of folks will star giving you answers but eventually some "historian" will point one to a prior thread where the subject was already discussed throughly (oh yeah there is a search feature)

ciao
Jim

Pudding Guy, that's a great idea! You should put it in 'the box'.

I used to think I was a real 'road warrior', until spending some time here. There are so many people here that have a better handle on the system than I ever did. It's a great learning experience.

I had been reading WebFlyer for quite a while, then I lurked here for about 3 months, just to learn & understand the community. The ideas, people (and their expertise), all made me feel more comfortable when I finally made my first post on 7/1/99.

Shadow, you are right. I am not a road warrior and only travel for pleasure. I have found FlyerTalk increadibly helpful in maximizing the "limited" amount of travel I do.

I too am new to this site, but I have already started learning! Most of the messages I've read seem to be very friendly. I look forward to absorbing all the information I can. (maybe I should have gone with "sponge" as a username!)

oh my! This is really interesting! My computer crushed awhile ago, and I just couldn't get hold onto anything computer related. Now I came back here and found 20 messages waiting. This is an awesome community! Myself, hmm..obviously I'm a junior member, as I have said, and I'm originally from Hong Kong, now studying in the States. Absolutely LOOOVVEE travelling, love it so much that I dun mind travelling by greyhound. Afterall, only one youth you've got, better get the most out of it. I really do wish greyhound would have milage, hee. I like greyhounds a lot, you can see the scenery, it's cheap, you get to pass-by places you'd never imagine going, you'd meet ppl. Aint this cool?

And of course, flying's great too, you get to meet ppl...well..acquaintances on the plane. One problem though, I'm right now in this tony school with 3000 ppl in a rural area in the middle of no where. Plus, I dun have a car. There's absolutely no way of getting all the milage info. SO Im glad Im here. =)

Just bringing this topic back to the top...

I agree with Pudding Guy's 4/4 post that it would be helpful to have helpful hints for newcomers to learn the basics before posting. Perhaps one of those "First time visitor? Click here" icons. (Submitting that first post is intimidating enough...then you find out your topic was discussed recently but you didn't know to check first! )

I have only been here a few months but the education I have received from all of you has been tremendous. This is a great community.

Oops, wrong thread


[This message has been edited by Lowjet (edited 06-11-2000).]