Perth and environs are very pretty. One thing to be mindful of is that SYD-PER is a USA transcon type distance and fares are priced accordingly, although for non-locals QF has a not terribly cheap airpass deal. Virgin now flies it, but no points of any kind accrue or awards are possible to redeem.

Award tickets on the Pacific leg are traditionally tough to confirm, especially up front. And Ansett Mark II is still teetering pretty much precariously, and is still in the hands of administrators and I do not believe they will initially accept Star (UA etc) miles for award tickets. Later on this may change of course.

However with TWO oz dollars to one $US Australia is an incredibly inexpensive destination once you are here, with drink food, hotels cabs etc usually being HALF what you'd pay in the USA.

Another possible option to consider is somewhere South American - RIO being a pretty obvious choice as far as great cheapness when there, and wonderful things to do/see. A lot of carriers fly to GIG, and there are often good specials, and heaps of point redemption options as well.

I suggest the following places.

1. Domestic USA where nearby airports are served by Southwest. Cost of air travel is cheaper. (lower cost/mile )

2. Europe in the spring/fall. Fares are not too bad & weather not too bad. Winter in Europe is even cheaper but weather not as good. (southern Europe may be better in winter). Could get lots of miles.

3. If UA brings back the cheap SIN fares, maybe SIN would be suitable for a PIP. I miss the $500 fares!

4. Of course, I would like PER for PIP. I will start my award trip to OZ in PER in Nov. Award tix may be hard to come by & the fares to OZ are on the high side.

5. I would like to go to PIP. I had other plans when I found out about the PIP. I would have planned my Nice trip for Sept. instead of Oct of last year.

Thank you for reading this long post. Anywhere PIP ends up would be worthy of attending.

I was at the Catmans party in NYC in March of 2001. It was fabulous . Please count me in . I will be reading theses boards with interest.!!!

Although Perth is fine with me,
'P'raque in spring is very nice too, I heard...


edited to ask: how does one bold an alphabet?

[This message has been edited by belle3388 (edited 02-24-2002).]

Do you mean a Capital letter?

For me it doesn't really matter where the events are because if it is inexpensive than I will buy the ticket and if it is expensive than I will turn in miles.
For example there is going to be an event in dus-summer of 2003 (see my profile) and as soon as 365 days before event rolls around magic111 will be looking for a chance to redeem miles as I do not expect cheapo tix to Germany in the summer. Of course if inepensive tix do show up then I will turn the award back in and purchase tix.

So the trick is a destination that's easy to get reward seats to, cheap to buy tickets to, and has plentiful non-stop access from many points. Of course also has to be a fun place.

My suggestions:

Miami
San Francisco

Either in the fall.

I hereby nominate nominate the city of Atlanta for the next PIP.

Atlanta is a beautiful city during the fall, with temps in the mid-70s to low-80s. Hotel accomodations and restaurants are plentiful and affordable (of course, if you wanna dine on a shoestring, we have the world-famous Krispy Kreme donuts .) Also, access by air is literally second to none, with Hartsfield being the world's #1 airport in terms of commercial air traffic.

A successful FT weekend event requires committed organizers. And committed organizers do a lot of work. I know. Captain Mike and I organized the SAN FT weekend last July, that attracted about 60 FTers.

My personal philosophy is that whoever is willing to raise his or her hand in the air gets to propose whatever location and dates suit the organizer (of course, avoiding FT events on the calendar). If mjm wants to organize an event in Perth, that's great. And some will come. I didn't attend mjm's Party in Provence last November, but it was obvious that he put enormous effort into planning a delightful party.

Will a US based party attract more? Yes, because so many of us live in the US and are able to fit in weekend travel into our work week. So far, it looks as though Chicago might be the best attended FT weekend event 2002. But the London dinner in January pulled in 20-plus people, the DUS weekend in Feb pulled in 40? or so; there will be a Paris weekend in late September that will attract many from Europe and the US, and even a Santiago weekend in November that has a dozen or so of us indicating we will fly south.

While it's all well and good for each of us to say where we would like to go, a party requires an organizer. I salute the people willing to do the work of planning, and will always argue that those of us who volunteer get to chose destination and timing.

mjm, if Australia sounds like a party place to you - go for it! There'll always be some FTers willing to take the flights and join you.

If it is in the US, could it be somewhere in NewMexico or Mississippi, b/c I need a reason to visit those states.

This post is about a mile long so have patience�������

Wow! After reading this bunch of responses, I am very enthused to get this show on the road again. PiP IV will happen and I will be more than pleased to look after the arrangements. The input has been great and I may call upon some of you for advice or assistance going forward. It looks to be an event that is wanted and one that we all look to as one of the events we might target to attend using some of our vacation time, money and/or miles.

It will take some doing to have it live up to the standards being set and reset with each event that happens. Somehow it must seek to achieve the spirit of all the parties including the 1999 and 2001 PiPs, the DUS Do's, the various Stateside Do's including CatManDo, SEA, SAN, New Orleans, and Anna, Wendy, and Nick's ORD fling this summer, the upcoming first ever South America bash, and all the other terrific events we have been able to enjoy.

People are, as Randy says, the main reason we go. That being the case I am going to do as I did with the PiP 2001, and list a few of the main cities seeming to be the popular frontrunners and let the gang here decide. I can get to Perth anytime and I bet that a few people will be keen to do that trip as well. So much more fun with other travel fanatics to hang out with anyway. I am getting the impression that someplace in the U.S. will be easiest in terms of achieving the numbers needed to make it a PiP worthy of the title and heritage of the event. The two coasts appear to be the ones to which people can most easily get within time available and on the greatest variety of airlines.

I am partial to California as I am a native of Berkeley and would be very pleased to welcome people to my home state for such a party. The San Francisco FT contingent is huge and will have plenty of good resources for partying. The East Coast is also a great option however. Hmmmmm���

a) Northern California
b) East Coast
c) ?????

geo1004 said:

"The FT Do-Down Under!!!"

Will happen at some point I believe but maybe as a separate party. Will follow up on this one in a separate thread.

Kempis said:

"I missed Party in Provence but I am not going to miss this one. Looks like a great chance to finally use some KLM points."

We will look forward to seeing you there this time. I will keep an eye on the Futbol schedule. :

Spiff said:

"Perth! Perth! Perth!!! (if only I really did get three votes...)"

Keep an eye out for another thread on a Do Downunder. The Margaret River beckons�..

Studley said:

"Oops, you mean Techgirl this time, right?"

She's the one. We had a brief discussion about it in Chat some months back and it sounds like terrific way to use a bit of vacation time.

Randy Petersen said:

"I think that we really try to do something domestic in the US�"

It is shaping up that way at the moment and as it would be most accessible by the greatest number of people given time, budgets, and award ticket availability, I am leaning in this direction myself.

"I think we've found over time that the destination is always cool but we tend to still spend most if not all our time in each others company."

That is one of the great things about this board. Far flung people getting together over great distances because we want to hang out together. Exotic destination parties abound as it is so we could schedule this one for more of a middle ground and people could attend the other Do's as time etc. allows.

"�.seeing over a 100 FTers at one of the next events would truly be way cool."

Anna, Wendy, and Nick's Do in the Windy City is headed in that direction. I too hope for that kind of turnout at this one also.

"How about a PIN - party in Napa which would allow some great times, and great side attractions?"

Excellent! Wine as a mini-theme for any of the party is one I can absolutely get into.

"I'd suggest here at the House of Miles����."

Bet there are more than a few that would make that pilgrimage. : )

Ling said:


"What exactly is the PIP?"

Fun, fun, fun.

"I just think something more feasible for the majority of FTers would be nice."

Linda, I think this makes a world of sense for this event, and I will be following this advice for a party for everybody. I promise a trip report if a mini-Do happens in Australia. : )

Mudgal said:

"While I have not attended any FTer DO's, it has not been for lack of interest . . . I certainly would love to put faces to names of some chat buddies."

That is one of the more interesting activities. Reminds me of trying to imagine the faces of DJ's as a kid. With VJs now it is a different world, but faces with names at FT Do's is a blast. Chat and posting is never the same again, in a very cool kind of way.

Jongar said:

"SYD or MEL if Oz���.."

As above, keep an eye out for that to happen, but in a different thread. Barossa could be a good alternative or addition to Margaret River.

Joh said:

"���.with TWO oz dollars to one $US Australia is an incredibly inexpensive destination once you are here�.. "

Absolutely. I use that one with my wife when rationalizing the expenses. : )

"Another possible option to consider is somewhere South American��"

Santiago is on the cards for November this year. The first one in South America I believe. I would encourage everybody looking into a trip down that way to check the thread in Community.

chemist661 said:

"�.I will start my award trip to OZ in PER in Nov."

If I head down there, I will e-mail you because it would be around then if I could swing it.

RTW4 said:

"I was at the Catman's party in NYC in March of 2001. It was fabulous . Please count me in . I will be reading theses boards with interest.!!!"

I will keep track of all people expressing interest and set up a mailing list for those that miss the new posts to the thread or who want to attend but have not checked FT in a while.

belle3388 said:

"'P'raque in spring is very nice too, I heard..."

Me too Belle. Maybe on a European run one of these days we can get a few people together there. Would love to visit it some day myself.

magic111 said:

"�.there is going to be an event in dus-summer of 2003 (see my profile)��"

I have got to get to that one. The pictures of the last one tell me the fun is way to much to miss again.

Echelon

avek00 said:

"I hereby nominate the city of Atlanta for the next PIP."

I actually talked about that with Loco Miler and Belle3388. The working title was "Party in Peachtown" so we could work the acronym properly. Still tossing it around in the back of my mind.

SanDiego1K said:

"A successful FT weekend event requires committed organizers."

Ain't that the truth. One thing I have to say though is that the PiP 2001 was the most easily coordinated event I have ever worked on. I think that the frequency with which this gang travels made it so painless. I walked away having broken exactly even and with a tremendous sense of encouragement to do further events.

Finally, if you have read this far, let me say that I hope everybody makes a big effort to attend one of the fantastic events that are already set to happen this year. As SD1K has so correctly said the effort is huge, and those organizers would be very gratified to see a good turnout sat the events they are organizing. I will periodically post more on the PiP IV over the coming months and will set up a mailing list to ensure all are made aware of developments.

Thanks for all the feed back and I look forward to seeing you all at an event soon.

Mike

MJM,

You cut out my quote.

Echelon,

Can I blame this one on coffee deprivation? I typed that first thing this morning here in Japan.

I like the San Francisco idea and totally agree with the idea on choice of places being easy to et to. Miami would be new for me, but the East Coast is a big place and I will leave it to the populus to decide.

My apologies for the oversight,it is a good idea and I think we are headed in that direction.

Best,

Mike

I can tell you the saddest part of these get togethers...
LEAVING!

Doesn't matter if you're mileage running, or DOing, parting is such sweet sorrow. (Somewhat borrowed from Wm. Shakespr.)


Dan (a member of both clubs)

Echelon's Miami idea seems good to me. South Florida in the off-season is one of the greatest places to visit. Almost all of the world-class facilities that are geared to seasonal crowds are running full blast but are easy to get into and frequently heavily discounted. Just avoid an event weekend, such as the tennis tournament on Key Biscayne or a golf event anywhere.
And getting there in off-season is no more than $250 a head from anywhere in the country.
However, some of us who were forced to miss the Party in Provence for uncontrollable reasons are ready for the next party anwhere in the world and, never having visited Oz, would also certainly be interested in going there.

Ling, don't forget that there are a lot of us who don't live in the U.S., and they are affected by travel cutbacks too. Since we already have so many events in the US, and several in Europe, it is only fair to have some in Asia-Pac. So I hope mjm sticks with OZ or Japan, but as someone else said, whomever raises the flag gets to choose the location.

As for OZ being a tough award ticket, we're all professional FF'ers here. Getting a tough award ticket should be easy for us, right?

P.S., I just had a thought. If we can find a Flyertalker who resides in Beijing or Shanghai, it would be awesome to have a PIP or DO there. They could arrange it as a business conference and we could all get business visas!