You can get ALL the Who we all are up until today (just updated in Excel format) at

http://members.shaw.ca/deercroft/download.html

Some of you know me from the UA and DL forums already, but I guess this is the *official* intro yourself forum, so here I go.

My name is Eric. I am 23 years old. My day job is working as an editor and reporter for Horizon Publications of Ohio. On the side, I consult for companies and organizations in MSP and Chicago, as well as various Internet ventures. Prior to joining Horizon, I worked retail for years.

I live in a town just west of Wapakoneta, Ohio, named St. Marys. It's where US 33 turns north to head to Fort Wayne after hitting I-75. I was born in Pontiac, MI. I've lived in Sterling Heights, MI, Indianapolis, Columbus, OH, and Marion, OH before moving to St. Marys. I've flown in to or out of DTW, ORD, IAH, IND, CMH, DAY, ATL, MSP, STL.

I'm a SkyMiles and Mileage Plus member. Don't fly enough to have actual status on either, but I earn the miles and hope to get there one day. I've been reading a lot of posts on here with people's status listed and I'm impressed:)

Anywho - I'm off to sleep and read the excel spreadsheet in the morning!

-Eric (aka MBG:cool:)

Hi there --

After a bit of time here (mostly in the UA and Mileage Run forums), I thought that I'd introduce myself as well.

My name is Joshua, and I live just a bit south of San Francisco. (About three freeway exits from SFO, as a matter of fact.) I hadn't really flown all that much up until three or four years ago, but my dad was smart enough to tell me to open a frequent flier account way back when I was in college. Then in grad school, I met fellow FTer "jumpgate", who introduced me to the forums. And right after I graduated, I took a job that (surprisingly to me) entailed a fair amount of flying. (I work for a software company as a product manager, and so I tend to take trips to visit important customers, our other worldwide offices, etc.) So thanks to FT, I now know enough to appreciate status, actively plan how to acquire it, and take advantage of its benefits. Not to mention reserving a pair of Air New Zealand business class award tickets for my upcoming honeymoon. :D

Favorite places to visit -- TLV (I have relatives there), the low countries in europe (BRU and AMS), and pretty much anywhere I haven't been before. I fly out of SFO, OAK, or SJC, and I've been bitten by the mileage run bug, so you may find me in any random airport.

Oh, and my nickname, turing, comes from my undergrad background in artificial intelligence -- a turing test, named for computer scientist Alan Turing, is (roughly speaking) a way to differentiate AIs from humans. No travel connection, I've just always thought it was a neat concept. :)

Hello,

My name is Anthony and you can usually find me posting in the UA and Mileage Run forums, and since I want to meet more Flyertalk people I thought I would introduce myself here also.

I currently live in North Hollywood but I grew up in New York City. My first experience with UA was when I ran away (flew) at the age of 13 to Stockton, CA where my favorite aunt lived. It was a wonderful experience, even though I was grounded for the rest of the summer. After that trip, I caught the flying bug with UA, and I try to fly only UA whenever possible. I even worked for UA for 9 months at LGA/CS during the Hell known as ‘UA Summer of 2000!’ I graduated from RIC (Rhode Island College) with a B.A. in Film Studies and I now work as a Concierge at a Doll Store in LA and part time as a Personal Assistant.

Here is some other info about me:

My Ultimate Goal in Life: Is to travel to each continent at least once. So far I have been on 3. (Europe, Africa, and North America) Planning on visiting Australia for the '08 Australian Open.

I love music, especially Film Music... But if you want to see my taste in music, visit my site here: http://www.last.fm/user/anthonypizarro

My Favorite Airports: JFK, SFO, and LHR.

Airports I try to Avoid: IAD, LGA, LGA, did I mention LGA?

My Favorite Aircraft: 777 (any version)

As to my screen name 'nickname', HSXAGENT, comes from the game Hollywood Stock Exchange http://www.hsx.com

It's a game that is based on the stock market but commodities are Films and Movie Stars. When I first started playing the game I thought I would be a cool Film Agent and hence the name HSXAGENT was born.

I think that's all about me for right now. :D :cool:

I work for one of the delivery companies that delivers delayed baggage. I joined the forum to answer any questions and be sort of an ambassador for the abused couriers.

Introductions.
 

Hello All,

I'm a new member to the community and I would like to introduce myself to everyone. My name is David C. and I am a travelholic...:p

I live in Northern NJ and work in New York as a Consultant. I'm in my mid-30's and I've traveled extensively for clients, whom are predominately in the entertainment and media fields. I've found myself in major cities throughout western Europe, down to Eivissa (Ibiza) and through to Ayia Napa (Cyprus).

I'm currently one of the moderators at Executive Travel's new site at http://www.executivetravelmagazine.com which deals with everything related to business travel.

I'd like encourage you to share your tips, experiences and thoughts, plus tap into the insights and learnings fellow frequent business travelers contribute.

You will catch me here and there so don't be shy and say hello!

All the best,

David C.
http://www.executivetravelmagazine.com/account/David_C.

Courier, David C - welcome to FlyerTalk. :)

We are looking forward to your participation in our forums - don't hesitate to contact any of the moderators if you need assistance.

Hello,
My name Mac. I'm 13 years old. I live in Bangkok, Thailand. I love Thai Airways. My favorite airport is Suvarnabhumi Airport. My favorite aircrafts is Airbus A380, Boeing 747, Boeing 777. My favorite website is HFlight.net, ThaiCabinCrew.com, SkyScraperCity.com, and FlyerTalk.com.

Hello Mac_A380,

welcome to FlyerTalk :) we're looking forward to your contribution to FlyerTalk

Madam I'm Adam
 

I hope my palindromic intro is perceived as more amusing than sexist ;).

I feel a bit funny posting here for a couple of reasons, actually.

• When travel personally OR on business, I always grab whatever happens to be the lowest fare (and reasonably convenient)... which means my miles are split over a zillion airlines. I think I'll have "extra special loved" status or whatever the different names are sometime in 2018 because of this. At best.
• I almost never stay in hotels for leisure travel (always stay with family or friends or at hostels, etc.), but on business I stay wherever the conference is, whatever happens to be cheapest (within reason, of course), and so on. So while I have silver status with Hilton now, I can't imagine getting gold status with 'em or any other hotels anytime soon.

So I kinda feel like a bit of a travel-nonelitist-loser compared to the rest of you. But at the same time, I'm fortunate in that -- despite being a late bloomer travelwise (never left the country 'til I hit 26) -- I've had the pleasure of traveling quite a few interesting places and have enjoyed some fun adventures in the last few years. Some of my favorite cities so far include Stockholm (beautiful!), Barcelona (quirky, colorful), Boston (rich in American history, walkable), and Melbourne (amazingly friendly!). If you're bored, you can see (a different selection) of my travel photos on Flickr, PicasaWeb, and Fotki :-) (I'll consolidate one of these days!)

I currently work for Google as their international Search Evangelist; this year I'll be visiting Sydney, Wellington (personal side trip), Las Vegas, Munich, Toronto, Seattle and then also doing some personal travel to see family and friends (Caracas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Frankfurt)... and that's gonna be a record for me, I think! But, as I noted before, it'll be on disparate airlines and always in coach :|.

Oh, and I forgot the basics: I'm 35, and I live in San Francisco (may soon move to Mountain View, though). No kids, pets, ex-wives, etc... at least that I know about or remember! And like any self-respecting geek I have a blog and the obligatory main Web site.

Anyway, I'm gonna try to go to the soirée this evening in Burlingame, but if I miss it, I'll look forward to catching y'all on occasion on the forum here, where I lurk a lot and post occasionally. Take care ;)

Intruduction to Flier Talk... hip hip hoooray!!!
 

Hello Everyone :)

My name is Dixy and I'm a new member to the community. I would like to say I'm really happy that I found out about flier talk!! I Love Traveling, Architecture, cultures and making friends. I would like to say special thanks to my cousin's roommate Jason and his friend Ralph S., from Munich. They informed me about Flier talk.

I recently move to Dallas, TX from San Diego. I know it sounds crazy but I did it because of work. Ironically I'm responsible for the west Cost so I spend a lot of time in Southern California, where I still owe a small condo in San Diego.

I work for a Swedish Company as a Program Manager. I'm in my mid-30's, single, no kids. I hold a Bachelor in Architecture from Kent State University and I've traveled extensively since I was a kid.

I’m originally from the Dominican Republic, move to New York City when I was a teenager with my parents (they still live in Manhattan), then Kent, Ohio, Florence, Italy and Vico Morcote, Switzerland for college. I lived in Vienna Austria for a short period of time. While I was in Europe for a year, I traveled to every western European large city and few cities in Eastern Europe, however, I still feel like I haven’t seen enough. Next trip hopefully will be to Australia and Asia. Can wait!!!

I, myself, am a mileage & travel addict. For work I mainly travel AA (no my fav airline) but for personal travel, mainly Europe I’ve been traveling on buddy passes in UA and DL. Now that I got a taste of First and business class, I don’t want to let it go so I’ve been building my mileage and hopefully all of you can help me too!!!!

Don’t want to bore you anymore, so if you are in the Dallas area or SD and don’t mind sleeping in an Aero bed feel free to contact me.

Hope to meet you all in the future.

Ciao
Dixy (dmdesign22):)

hey dixy
 

i've known dmdesign for years! there was the time we were in highschool and he crashed the car and was afraid to go home. i had to walk all the way to his house (about half a mile) to tell his family what happened. when i broke the news to his mom, she was got hysterical. she ran out of the house so fast, and the whole time she was screaming "My Dixy Wrecked! My Dixy Wrecked! My Dixy Wrecked!" finally a neighbor yelled out "Then why dont you take a cold shower!" that shut her up.

Age: 23
Sex: M
Interests: Investing, Reading, Kentucky basketball, Minnesota Twins, Distance running, Trance music
Airlines Flown: NWA, Singapore, KLM, CO, Sun Country
Residence: SDF
Former Residences: MSP, GFK
Countries visited: Canada, Guatemala, Russia, Vietnam, Japan, Holland, Singapore
Future Travel Includes: Brazil, England, Thailand
Occupation: Full-time HUM, Part-time MAR
Have Never: Traveled by train or been to the ocean, although I have flown over the Pacific and the Atlantic

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster. My name is Jacky, a 21 year old guy, and I believe I'm addicted to flyertalk. I've been reading flyertalk for the past 6 months or so (mostly the UA and MR forums) and finally decided to join today.

I'm a student studying computer science in Champaign, IL right now where we just had a foot of snow, but I grew up in HKG and Chicago. I look forward to meeting many of the interesting people I see on here, possibly in one of the DOs.

Here's some more about me:

Goals in Life: Reach the million mile status (following in my father's footsteps), travel to each continent, which I'm only at 2 (I don't think I'll be travelling to Anarctica anytime soon), and listen to channel 9 as much as possible. :p

Interests: Computers, Cell phones (hence the nick), LEDs (ooo... shiny...:D), actually, almost all things electronic. I'm also interested in chemistry, and, of course, flying.

My Favorite Aircraft: The Lockheed Tristar. I'm sad that they're slowly disappearing one by one, since it was so advanced when they were built. The all flying tail and the galley elevator within the plane are both nifty. Anyways, for modern and current aircraft, I'll choose the 747, the design just can't be beat.

My Favorite Airports: Some on here may think I'm insane, but ORD is a great airport IMO. Also, HKG (both the old and the new), but I'm biased there. For a third choice, NRT.

Airlines: I've flown on Dragonair, Lufthansa, AA, United, and Korean Air. I'm pretty much loyal to UA, since the ORD<->HKG route can't be beat for getting me back home. Economy Plus doesn't hurt on that long flight either. :)

Hi, all. I've been here for a few months but just now got around to posting a bio.

I'm Liz, 27/F/single, live in San Francisco, and work as a journalist. I do very little business travel; what little career-related travel I do is rarely reimbursed. I found FT through an LA Times article in fall 2006, and when I first visited, it occurred to me to check my UA EQMs for the year -- turned out I was just 5K or so short of 2P. Within a week I had scheduled my first MR, and it's been downhill from there!

I've flown many different airlines, but UA has always been my first choice, largely because 1) I grew up in Denver; 2) my dad has always favored UA, so I grew up thinking UA was the way to go (weird, I know); and 3) I'm 5'10", much of that in my legs, and I really, really, really appreciate E+. It was largely for E+ that I decided to take the MR in order to get 2P. (Yes, I know I can buy E+ access for $300, but I like the other perks of 2P, too!)

Beyond that... I've always loved to fly. Sure, it can be hellish sometimes, but I still get that excited feeling in the pit of my stomach when I get to the airport. I'm going somewhere! For all my seatmates know, I might be doing something important! I'm not, of course, but I cherish the time that mileage runs give me to read or work on my novel or just sleep. Even if I admit to my seatmate that I'm just flying in order to earn miles, I perversely enjoy the distinction of being a bit crazy.

For me, a plane trip, whether for a "legitimate" purpose or merely an MR, represents a break from my routine. Going to the airport signals to my brain that we're not going to worry about everyday things for a little while. And the break does me good, no matter where I'm going. I'm never quite sure how a mileage run will end up; my most recent one ended up suddenly (due to weather) depositing me in Denver overnight, giving me an unexpected (but welcome!) visit with my family -- at half the cost of a regular flight to Denver! And since I work afternoons and evenings, and my days off are usually midweek, I have a degree of flexibility many 9-to-5ers don't.

To wrap up, as a longtime travel aficionado with limited means, I'm thrilled to be in company with dedicated bargain-hunters and company-sponsored road warriors alike. I have a lot to learn from all of you, and your comments are endlessly fascinating. Thanks for all your help so far, and I hope to meet many of you in the future!

Liz in SFO

howdy... was browsing around and saw erdehoff's post and figured I'd do the same since it seems like the same story :)

I'm 27/M/single, living in seattle and hit MVP on alaska for the first time late last year, with no MR's to do it (well, maybe not- I went to Maui last year when I didn't need to just to visit friends and because I knew if I didn't I'd end up 123 miles short of MVP- whole trip cost me 500 for 5 days including food and drinks - great deal!) Will likely retain it this year, but with a MR or two now that I know about them and can use the great tools and community here. FT is also a great place for me to procrastinate. I learned about the site when reading about the Kip Hawley(?) is an idiot story in the news.

I'm finishing up a PhD in materials science but am also taking MBA classes for fun and planning to enter the world of startups. Right now it's nice to be in school and not be paying for it. I travel mostly for fun with a little here and there for school/research work. I fly to ski/board all over the place (slc, den, bze, eagle, montrose, reno), and visit friends in the CA (san, LA, bay area, sbp) fairly often, weddings wherever they may be, as well as family in norcal and FL. When I'm not flying to the snow, I drive to whistler or places around WA/OR.

I primarily fly AS but will take what I'm given when it's for work - last year was a bit on southwest but had the bonus of bumping myself for a credit of 220 which I'm using to do bay to breakers this year in SF. UA also gets me to CEC, the smallest airport I've ever been to, 2.3 miles from the folks.

Upcoming big trips are to manchester to visit a friend, and hamburg to watch mom compete in the WORLDS for triathlon (female 60+ group) which is going to be pretty surreal - to think that I got her into that community.

righto, back to work - presentation tomorrow followed by the 5 hour drive to whistler for the weekend (and then get back to turn around and get to LAX for the next week/weekend)

About me: Work in Laboratory management, 2 grown kids (one a math teacher, one a physician), married 30+ years to the same guy.

Travel history: as a teenager, flew regularly between Seattle and Ephrata in E. Washington while in boarding high school, deplaned a DC3 in 1963 when my mom told me about JFK/Dallas. First int'l trip in 1998 was to Tanzania with medical supplies for a remote hospital taking up our checked luggage allowance. Survived 3 weeks on the road with one carry on bag - thanks to websites and packing lists. Now am hooked and get out of town as often as possible - Russia, Poland, Prague, Spain, UK, Germany. Some trips with hubby, some with a girlfriend, some alone when I can get by with it. Anything to get away from my pager, although I travel with an unlocked cell phone. Going to FRA soon to hook up with a great-niece and her parents.
Favorite airport: Hmmm. LHR's only redeeming feature is the Bendicks Bittermints in the chocolate shops.
Favorite airlines: AS, AA, sometimes UA

Travel some for business - conferences, peer review inspections, training.

When at home, I like to watch the fruit trees in our yard, sing choral music, mess with computers.

I learn a lot on this forum, everyone is so helpful (and sometimes humorous, too!). Thanks for being here.

Hey folks!

Even though I joined FT almost a year ago, I'm just digging around on it recently. AMAZING info here. So I thought I'd officially "de-lurk" in the appropriate thread:

about me: I'm 34/M/single -- but not for long on that last count. I'm an engineering professional and work with a small (>10) consulting group that just started up last year in the Tidewater (SE) area of Virginia. Prior to that I worked for a corrosion engineering firm for 8 years -- if it rusts, we know how to stop it from happening.

Most of my travel has been in the form of highway miles; I've been in a field engineering profession that required me to carry a certain amount of tooling and equipment, so that coupled with the nature of the projects I worked on (smallish & regional) dictated that I drive, not fly. So while I racked up the hotel points, FF miles have been rare. It's only last year that my responsibilities changed somewhat and I began to log more airmiles that I decided to dig into FT.

Man am I sorry I waited so long.

As an Atlanta resident until just this past year, DL is my carrier of choice -- even though I'm only Silver, I fight tooth and nail for the upgrades and like the extra lbs for baggage. And even though I don't live there any more, ATL is still my favorite airport. The travel I do now isn't as often - maybe one week out of the month -- but it's usually by air. It's a nice change.^

For fun, I like to read, hike, and of course I love to travel when I can. Greetings to you all, and I hope one day I can be as helpful as some of the people who have helped me!

Hey there, been a member for a little while, but just found this thread.

Who - Marj
Where - NY, born and raised. Never lived anywhere else but would consider!
Occupation - SVP in the Banking world
Travel - love both leisure and business travel. For business, its domestic (with rare to Canada), but leisure is all over.

Found FT about a year ago and I'm addicted. My business travel is spikey based on when we've got a potential acquisition in the works or new client coming on board so there have been years where I'm on the road every other week, and other years where months will go by. I prefer the busy ones, and now that I have found FT I'm realizing all my missed opportunities for miles!

I used to cater my travel to most direct routes and no loyalty thinking I'd never get enough miles to go anywhere, but boy have I changed that tune!! Having only reach a lowly Silver status on Delta, and a few leisure trips in First Class to Maui and Barcelona, I now realize the value of loyalty and I'm working hard on reestabishing some status! My company is great in that I book all my own travel and keep all miles and points. I also use my own cc to so I get the Amex rewards as well to keep. Pretty nice deal.

Love the group on FT and gain so much knowledge. My friends and family always looked at me as the experienced traveler, but you all put me to shame! The upside is that I now have even more knowledge than before from this site!

Although I've been on FT for a couple of years, I never got around to posting a bio.

Who I am the_traveler

I grew up and lived in upstate NY (exactly 1/2 way between NYC and Montreal :D), then moved to NV and AZ, until I moved back east to RI. I'm growing tired of the cold weather, so soon I'll be moving from one "island" (Rhode Island) to another (the Hawaiian islands)! :D

During my time out west, most of my family was back east, so I did alot of cross country flying for many years. So much so, that now, including miles and points from things like credit cards, shopping, hotels, etc..., I have so many miles and points that I have not purchased a plane ticket since early 2002! (I have flown many trips during this time, and even sent my family on trips - including to Asia! :D ) And I still have many more to go!

I have worked for the Internal Revenue Service :eek: for many years, but I am now retired from that job. During those many years, I was "based" in Las Vegas, but my "office" was 125 miles south, so when I went to "the home office" for monthly (or more) meetings, a hotel room was provided! :D

Because of my free travels for the past many years, I am not elite with any airlines. But thanks to FT (and the promo listed a couple of years ago), I am elite with Hilton! :D

I also enjoy travel by train, both by Amtrak (and others) and any tourist railroads - especially steam! I'll travel anywhere to get to a train! Or even just to see one! :D

Hi Everyone... I too am from the beautiful area of Seattle 32 Male... I have a little insight into the travel business, since I work for this great Seattle based airline... ASA... fly early and mid-week..mechman..flowers for missy

Welcome to FlyerTalk, mechman!

However, I must correct you on one point, if you do not mind...

...I believe you meant to post that you work for AS, which is Alaska Airlines.

ASA is Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which is one of the airlines that operates as the Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines.

Hi All, I am new to the Board!
 

Hi, I just joined the board. I was born abroad, and now live in Washington DC area. Currently I am juggling a full time job in Marketing and part time Grad school Mastering in Sociology. I have travelled all over and can't wait to read about everyone's experiences and share some of my own. :) Happy Travels!!!

Welcome to FlyerTalk :) You'll find we have many members in the D.C. area.

Welcome to Flyertalk, world_citizen

Welcome to Flyertalk!:) ^

Welcome to FlyerTalk :)

I merge this thread with the existing Who we all are thread

regards

chrissxb
co-moderator
communitybuzz!

Greetings,

I am a lawyer for an international energy company, based in Houston. I work live and in Houston during the week, but return to the Boston area on weekends. I pick up the costs of this commute myself, hence frequently have the lowest possible fares and am always surprised when I get upgraded on CO. Otherwise, I am in seat 14A or 14F.

I like wine, golf, tennis and running. I frequently do my best work cranking through long, turgid documents on long-haul flights, with just the right amount of wine or scotch in my system to keep me interested but sharp.

I enjoy meeting and corresponding with other frequent flyers. Even though I accumulate about 250k to 300K BIS miles a year, I don't consider myself a real road warrior, but do enjoy the travel. Used to fly AA to Europe and Brazil a lot. Now fly CO domestically and SQ to Asia.

Happy trails to all FT'ers, and I look forward to connecting with you at a DO or in transit!

Hi all! I obviously live near the Long Beach Airport but I usually fly out of LAX because there are hardly any flights from here. Sometimes I fly out of John Wayne Airport too since it's close. I found this site through a friend, and hopefully I'll learn a lot even though I don't fly that much at least not as much and everyone seems too!

Hi!
 

Hi everyone,

I too joined awhile ago but hadn't posted a mini-bio. I'm originally from San Francisco, and recently attended college at USC (Go Trojans!). Now, I work at a major company in Silicon Valley, CA. Unfortunately, I don't get to travel anywhere as much as I like now, but travel is always on my mind! If I'm not watching my set of favorite shows or ESPN, the Travel Channel is on in the background.

In my spare time I love watching sports, relaxing, shopping, and spending time w/ family and friends. When I travel, I usually stay in Starwood and try to fly Southwest domestically whenever possible.

Thanks to all who've made FT such a helpful place for travelers!

Fight On!!!!

Can't ever get too many Trojans on here ^

Wow. TrojanHorse responded about 3 hours after I would have expected him to respond. :D

Welcome USCGirlie. TrojanHorse isn't as bad as he seems. ;)

Hello from Internet Brands
 

Hello everyone!
I’ve been reading up on several threads here on Flyer Talk to familiarize myself with the community, and I thought it was about time I introduced myself to you all. My name is Ryan, and I’m with Internet Brands. I’ll be here, participating on the forums as well as communicating with the moderators, so that all of you will have a voice to express your thoughts and concerns to the people at IB.

As it has been stressed already, I want to reassure you that we are not here to start changing things around and futzing with the formula that has worked beautifully here for so long. The community here at FT, as it is now, is what attracted IB, and that being the case, we’ve adopted a philosophy that more closely resembles the “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?” mentality. I will admit that I myself am not directly privy to the intimate thoughts of our fearless leaders, but I assure you that any ideas for change that might come through the pipeline will be thoroughly hashed and rehashed, taking into consideration the wants and needs of the community and the expressed opinions of all the moderators, including Randy and Mikel.

We here at IB recognize that the core value of Flyer Talk lies within its community, and were we to try and pull anything over on this community, thereby driving away its members and creating disillusionment, dissatisfaction, and internal strife, that we would have effectively destroyed the worth of Flyer Talk itself. This, obviously, is something we would like to avoid at all costs!

As for myself, I am a bit of a dreamer who is able to travel much less than he would like. In my limited travels over the past several years, I have found time to become a member of the AAdvantage program, though I admit that I haven’t had much opportunity to take advantage (no pun intended) of the program as of late. However, I recognize Flyer Talk as an invaluable resource for travelers everywhere, and I look forward to engaging you all on the boards! Thanks for taking the time to read this, and feel free to shoot me an email or a PM anytime.

Ryan

Welcome on FlyerTalk, Stir Crazy :)

if you need any help, don't hesitate to contact the moderators. We're looking forward to your valuable contributions to our community

chrissxb
co-moderator
communitybuzz!

I'm a 46 year old (male) IT manager in public service in Leeds, England, who travels totally for leisure. Thank heavens for credit cards and flexitime! I was introduced to FT a couple of years ago by BDLord - I mainly just read the AF/KL Flying Blue forum occasionally, and am more of a lurker than regular poster.

My travel history goes back to 1973 when, as a 12 year old, I accompanied my parents to Zambia where my Dad was starting a 6 year teaching contract. To keep me quiet on the plane they bought me a "Travel Log", and the Martinair plane (on loan to Zambia Airways) gave out a useful info sheet, detailing sights en route, staff on board, even the aircraft registration. And hence to this day, I can (sadly?) list the registration of every plane I've ever flown! Returned back to England in 75 for education reasons, but had 3 free (contractual) trips to visit my parents every year and so got that travel bug and became adept in my teens at requesting flights with different airlines and via different places, as well as travelling independently. Most of my flights during that time were with Alitalia or Zambia Airways via Nairobi, but I flew several other carriers, most "interestingly" Aeroflot from Zambia to Moscow to London in 79. Oddly enough, the flight from Africa was far more basic than the one to London!

I pretty much stopped flying in 79, got into employment and real life, and didn't pick up travelling again until 95 following divorce. I now travel mostly to North America to go to gigs as a fan - I follow one particular American rock band (Cheap Trick). I run an unofficial fan website, and as a result of this and my frequent travels I have lots of friends all over the States (and further afield) that it's nice to see occasionally. I also have a girlfriend in Chicago, so some travels are purely to visit her. My travels have gradually built up since 98, and I'm now averaging 9-10 transatlantics a year (now not too far from 100 round trips across the Atlantic - hope to celebrate the 100th in Business!) Have also travelled to Europe, and 4 times to Japan since 1999 to see the band. Most of my travels are with KLM/NW, and I've been Royal Wing/Platinum with KL since 2000. Sometimes fly DL as they're often cheaper in the summer months. I also had a couple of years where I flew occasionally with *A (BMI, Lufthansa) but it proved impossible to retain high status in two programmes, so I choose Skyteam as my first choice now (aiming for Lifetime Platinum with KL). And seeing as my travels are all personal, I pay for them myself on a modest salary and hence fly economy on the lowest fare that earns 100%. Have been lucky with a few upgrades with KL and NW plus bought a few flights in Business using award points, so I do very much appreciate the rare treat of sitting in the front cabin!

My favourite airport is Amsterdam, and also very familiar with Manchester UK and T5 at Chicago O'Hare. Liked HKG too last year. Strongly dislike Heathrow and Paris CDG. Favourite runway approaches include descending across water into both Boston and San Francisco, flying past the Manhatten skyline into Newark, and barely missing that parking garage at one end of the runway at San Diego!

Whilst it can be tiring and frustrating at times (increasingly so as I get older and the security hassles increase), I still think travelling to new (and favourite) places is one of the most wonderful things to do in life, and my next goal is to get to Australia & New Zealand. And thanks for this great site, I've received helpful advice from many of the nice folk on the KL forum in particular.

There, that's my tuppence worth!
KG

time to step up..
i´m a 37 year old male working in the fashion-streetwear industry. somehow managed my way in there after finishing my business education, and have been in the same industry ever since. recently switched companies after almost 9 years with the same employer. my travel include 8-10 trips a year to the LA headoffice, plus another 15 or so within europe visiting the various offices. in my early twenties took advantage of all the free time as a part time student, part time store employee and traveled to interesting places such as nicaragua, yemen and bhutan. these days i´m lucky enough to be traveling in business, and I will never forget my first ever upgrade in the mid nineties. spoiled for life. despite a heavy workload, I manage to check FT daily, so that propably means I´m addicted..

Hey all --

I've had a FT account for a while now, but never really used it until recently, as I've been travelling a bit more, and most of my life isn't being consumed with work anymore for the time being... =) Now, I've been logging on daily and hoping to integrate myself into this community.

I've been based in Shanghai, China for the last two years, working for a multinational developer of video games doing some R&D work here -- with the occasional stint or two in Europe from time to time. No, we do not just sit around and play video games all day and it does have its share of 90+ hour weeks!

Before, I spent 28 years of my life (born, bred, educated there) in the Silicon Valley area. Indeed, pre-Shanghai I never really lived further than 10 miles from my childhood home for more than two months at a time.

As a Chinese-American, I've had a keen personal interest in the East Asia region, particularly China, Japan, and the DPRK (North Korea), and actually coming out here has confirmed it. To this end, I'd like to stay in East Asia for several more years, getting more experience in the gaming world under my belt as well as improving my language, business, and cultural understanding... and just seeing what might happen next in this crazy, dynamic place called China.

If there are any PVG or greater China based FTers or FT events, definitely let me know... would love to meet you all in person!

-- Mark

Hey all ! Just found this thread while doing a random lookaround... So a few details of mine:

FT-ID: SkywalkerLAX
Name: Sebastian
Location: LAX/!DTW!/US-Eastcoast + Germany
Random: 26 y/o, single, too busy to enjoy the perks of mileage redeeming :rolleyes:
Occupation: Travel Industry @:-)
Favourite airline: AA (AC addict) ^
Longest MR: AONE5
Last flight: DTW-LGA
Plans for this year re. FT: Attending a (few) DO

Have a good week all !

Seb. :-:

Hi all...my twopence worth...been a lurker for some years but only recently started posting. Some background FWIW.......
Born in Liverpool,UK 1964,ardent LFC fan-see the big flag outside my house for the game tonight? Suspect I'm lowering the tone of my genteel Sussex village ! First job ? Air Traffic Control at Speke airport ( now known as John Lennon International ), after a few years I followed the man of my dreams into the Airline biz and joined British Caledonian . Several very happy years until the BCAL/BA merger, and then several more working on the ground at LGW for BA. 2 kids followed so left BA, husband now a B744 skipper with BA.Spent a short time freelancing for Maersk at LGW but don't work now. Travel with the other half quite a bit-but not as much as I'd like! Last trip ? LHR-BKK in Feb with husband-next trip-same again ! Keep a 40ft Catamaran in Mallorca and spend most hols there, as the last thing M wants to do on leave is get on a 'plane and fly long haul.....too much like a busmans' holiday.

Hello All!!
My name is Eli and I am M-21 living in New York City. I work as an Administrator of a Continuing Legal Education non-profit organization. I also own an online business. I fly for leisure only. I somehow fell upon FT in December of 2006. I am proud to say that I have accumulated more than 1/2 million miles!!

My travel history goes back to 1999 when, as a 13 year old, I traveled for the subsequent 3 years to many places including France, England, Israel, Canada and Germany. In 2004 and 2005 I traveled to Moscow as well as local flights in Russia. In 2006 I traveled to Kiev, Ukraine via Frankfurt Germany.
In the past few years I traveled to Florida,California, and Toronto numerous times all for vacation.

Most of my travels at this time are with CO, and I've been Platinum for the past year or so. I have had my share of other airline travel including: 7 flights with FL, 4-5 flights with AA, 8 Flights with LH, 15-20 Flights with BA (no miles were accrued), I also have flown some other airlines as well AC, DL, SU and more. I paid once for a full Y fare from EWR-LAX-EWR, Otherwise I buy the cheapest flight available.

In general I really love traveling and especially flying! I am looking forward to using my miles for First Class travels around the world in the near future.
Thank you FTer's for all the insights!

EG