Who we all are

Derp.

Heckuva first post!

Hi y'all, just thought I'd introduce myself even though I've been hanging out on FT for a few years now. I live part time in Los Angeles and part time in St John (USVI)... my boyfriend and I love to travel all over the world so of course, we learn all the tricks to do that effectively and economically here on Flyertalk :-)

If anyone has questions about LA or St John I can try to answer 'em... (and if you are working your Starwood points, I can vouch that the Westin here on St John is quite lovely and the pool is huuuuuge with a great hot tub! )

best--
E

Welcome to FlyerTalk! "Derp" right back atcha! ;-)

This was posted recently in the private TalkBoard forum and that's when I realized I've never posted to this thread. So, here goes (written on Christmas day):

I'm Rich, I'm 42, and I live in Columbus, WI -- a town of 5000 about 20 minutes north and east of Madison. Here I share my house with my wife of 15+ years Michele, my almost 7-year-old daughter Casey, my 76-year-old mother-in-law Sharon (she cooks, cleans, does laundry, raises my kid, and goes to the gym 5 days a week), and my puppy (Cody, 6 months old today) and two kittens (Shadow and Teddy).

I work for a UK software company and have done so since 2003. Prior to that I moved around the country seeking out the best employment back when it was easy to job hop every year or so and avoid the dreaded merit raise. We've lived in Knoxville, New Orleans, Seattle, Boston, and Madison from 1997-2002, but this has been home for almost 10 years now and will probably remain so.

I started flying for work in 1999 when I started work for a F500 software company. I spent time as a Delta PM and a Continental PLT (my company was in Houston) then as well as a Hilton Diamond and an SPG PLT.

After taking 18 months off the road, I joined my current company. I tried flying AA at first, but I couldn't deal with the ORD connections, so I moved my business to NW. Was PLT with NW until the merger and a PM with Delta until this year when my flying dropped dramatically. I don't miss it -- I like being home with my daughter and family and I like the work day ending in the afternoon and being able to do other things besides crashing in a hotel room.

My big hobby / avocation is sports officiating. I'm a HS football crew chief and I'm a HS/Juco basketball official and a HS/College baseball umpire.

I also love beer and watching sports, especially hockey. I grew up near Allentown, PA and I've been a Philadelphia Flyers fan since 1977 and a Phillies and Eagles fan since about the same time. One of the things that annoys my wife (not that much) is how I'll look for a sports bar so I can watch the Flyers even when we're on vacation. In MCO, that was easy. It was slightly harder on Maui (that's also when I learned Monday night football was shown on tape delay in Hawaii in 2005) and really, really difficult in SYD (although I have a SlingBox now so I can watch anywhere I can get wifi).

A picture speaks a million words?

That's me.

Hey guys. Been lurking for a while and just joined FT. Just wanted to say hello.

Have a great NYE and a great 2012!

Welcome aboard (as a contributor) :-) Happy new year to you too!

Hi all,

I'm Aled, originally from Wales and now based out of Brooklyn, NY. I've been travelling a lot with work the past 3 years but only in the past few months have i been able to commit to 1 carrier, and have just made UA 1P (with the help of FT!). I too have been lurking for a while, but am looking forward to contributing more in 2012!

Hello, and Happy New Year to all!

Hi all,

I am a casual traveler, went twice to Bali (with MH) and twice to Egypt (charter MP and HV) and once to La Palma (charter HV) the past 5 years.
Before that I traveled a lot to all continents and some South Pacific islands. To the latter I want to go again.
I like astronomy as well and even during long haul night flights i sometimes peer through the windows how the sky changes and the colors of twilight look more saturated than on sea level or low (<2000m) altitude. With most trips I take my telescope and Canon SLR + lenses with me.

how about a pic speaks tens of thousands of words? Welcome!:-:
Welcome Aled, I'm pretty sure any threads re: Wales could use some input^ (if you care to)

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to say a brief hello. I'm new to the group and am looking forward to any wise sagely advise that I can get my hands on. I'm based out of Houston, which gives me a good vantage point for a few destinations. Currently, I am getting ready to go to New Orleans and Dublin, Ireland in about 10 days. Any pointers that anyone has please let me know.

Thanks!

MHempen

I'll start with who jolie and soxie are: they are my german shepherds. They are both females, but I am male.

In retired a couple of years ago; I have the time to travel. The wife, still wants to work, so most of my trips are solo.

I am very flexible on hotels--I need my own toilet and shower, so not so flexible that I would stay in a hostel. But other than that I will stay in very humble places.

When a flight is longer than about 3 hours, though, I won't go unless I am in business/first class. So, for overseas and down to South America, the cost of business class is the deciding factor. And traveling overseas in business class using ff miles is almost impossible. I managed to get over to Europe this past year using ff miles and I have another trip booked this year. But I booked both of those trips about nine months in advance. Frankfurt seems to be the easiest place to get business class tickets to Europe for 100,000 miles.

Asia and South America are high on my list of places to go, but I have yet to find award tickets for less than 240,000 miles--ridiculous. That is equal to about $9600--I value the miles at about $.04 based on my Frankfurt experience.

I am primarily hoping to find strategies for finding discounted business class airfare.

Welcome, stick around, with your flexibility (being retired) and learning some information on FT (Flyertalk), you should be able to find those Biz class overseas award tickets !^

A tip for newbies or even those who can't remember all the lingo (like myself), try using the Flyertalk Glossary:

http://www.flyertalk.com/glossary/
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