Abbreviations are driving me crazy
 

OK, I've got to believe I'm not the only one on here that doesn't know what all the abbreviations stand for. I've been a Gold Elite flyer for years, but just recently found this forum. I like it! Except I am frustrated by all the abbreviations. Bravo, it's a great way to save time and look brilliant in the process, but somewhere is there a list of the commonly used abbreviations? I tried "search" but didn't come up with anything except more of the same.

I've figured out EQMs and SWUs, but more of those little devils keep rolling at me in quick succession.......

Check out the Glossary
 

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

and Welcome to Flyertalk, YDJanet

The Glossary is somewhat basic albeit helpful. There are still some that aren't there.

Bobette

why don't y'all post some that aren't in the glossary?

Offhand, here's one - EEO (Elite Exclusive Offer from Marriott).

Bobette

IMHO - WTH?

Some, like these, are not specific to FlyerTalk and are used more or less universally across all matter of Internet communications media (chatrooms, IMing, other bulletin boards, etc.). I'd suspect that the good folks who have contributed to the FT Glossary were focusing more on the acronyms unique to FT and may have assumed folks were already familiar with typical Internet acronyms (e.g. BRB, AFAIK, TTFN, ROFL, FYI, etc.).

There are numerous sources online for such acronyms--here's one I just found on Google.

That said, it might not be a bad idea for the FT Glossary to put in some of the ones most commonly used here.

Many forums also have specific abbreviations - and a glossary thread defining them. Check the stickies at the top of the forum for a link to the glossary. If you still don't understand an abbreviation, feel free to ask - in the thread where it is used, here, or send a PM to the person who posted it. And airport codes can be found here: http://www.flyertalk.com/acl/ (Under "Help" at the top of the screen.)

Just to confuse what you already found, some programs (from those listed in your profile) use EQMs, but DL (Delta) uses MQMs (Medallian Qualifying Miles) and instead of SWU, AA (American) uses eVIPs.

In my humble opinion - What the heck?

(That's what those mean, not what I'm saying. ;)

If not for the abbreviations, how could the veterans constantly attack people for perfectly innocent posts? :eek:

Thanks for the link to the glossary! I spent some time trying to decipher some of them.. I searched for "glossary" and didn't find it before; maybe there should be a more accessible link somewhere? (I also thought it'd be cool to have the definition of an abbreviation hover on top of it when you put your mouse over it or something, but that may require some work with little rewards..

Anyway, what does A/I mean? It's not in the glossary. Often used in the form of "$234 a/i" I don't really need to understand what this means, but just curious.

Thanks!

A/I is all in. Usually used to show the difference between the price of the ticket and all the taxes/fees that are added. Can be important when you are deciding how many stops you might want to build into a trip.

All in. Meaning it includes taxes and fees.

Means "all inclusive" or we could simply say "total", but we like to keep NI's confused. Oh, NI means non-insider. :)

The link is under the "Help" menu at the top of every page, but it isn't included in the search since it isn't part of the forum content.

There is actually a FireFox GreaseMonkey plug-in that will do this for airport codes. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...de-lookup.html

Worst case scenario, just ask. You might get some obnoxious replies but just ignore the haters. Someone will come along and give you the answer you're looking for and point you in the right direction.

Just FYI there's a link to the glossary (and airport code lookup) right at the bottom of every page.

GIYF (Google is your friend).

ADSFAFASFASFSAFSAF
WQERWQRWQERWQERWQREWQ
ADFASFASFSAFSAF
QWERWQERQWERWQERWQRE

(I'm sure every random combination of letters corresponds to something, even if I don't know what it is)

One that took me a long time to figure out, but apparently is not limited to FT (flyertalk) is YMMV- Your Mileage May Vary.

I've managed to figure out a lot of the abbreviations, but it's true that some aren't obvious. Maybe we need a user-updated wiki type of glossary too. Or a thread dedicated to asking and answering abbreviation questions (without fear of ridicule). While reading the Penalty Box (a thread that's impossible to keep up with if you actually have a life), it took me forever to figure out what the "PWP" thread was. I still don't know what it's called that, either.

Feel free to start a glossary in the wiki if you would like to. :)

If you think The Box is bad, you obviously haven't tried to keep up with this thread.

PWP - formed after OMNI posts quit counting. For info on that "incident", see this thread.

..althought YMMV refers not to the actual mileage earned, but rather that the deal or technique may not work for everyone.

...or nay work differently for different people and situations, as in the sense of "Your gas mileage may vary."

http://www.all-acronyms.com/tag/aviation

The hard part with this site is remembering to refilter a search to just aviation.

A Wiki is a better idea than a thread. Us newbies need easy access otherwise it's impossible to read the threads.

The FT Wiki is here (under "Extras" above). You & quartermoon could take the lead on getting it started.

People who stumble onto CommunityBuzz are often mystified by "Do." They may think it's short for something. It's simply UK slang for a party. (Why some FTers, none of them AFAIK* from the British Isles, insist on spelling it "Doo" totally escapes me. Might be another attempt to confuse the above-mentioned NIs.)

________________
*As Far As I Know

SeaDoo is, I would believe, a play on the watercraft machine of the same name.

Are any other dos spelled "doo"?

And as I recall the story, the term "do" came into general FT usage as a result of Catman's clever play on Kathmandu--"Catman Do." (The second gathering was appropriately termed "Catman Do Deux"... ;))

Not truly the genesis of the Party, though the timing is close. The OpenSkies/AMS contest thread really began the fun. :-:

I had finally figured out that a "Do" was a get-together, but never had a clue why it was called that, or if there was any other specific information about it. Even tried searching for it, but "do" doesn't search very well.

I'm pretty sure I NEVER would have figured out what PWP stood for. It's all clear now.

IIRC it was from the first DO that was organized by Catman; the Catman-Do. :D

LUT???
 

Thank you, I'm sure this will come in useful. Although I'll agree that it is hard to find. How would I find it again without bookmarking it? (which I did)

Anyway the first time I consulted the glossary to try to decipher something, I struck out. LUT is not there. Nor was CW, CR WSD, or WT the next four I tried. Sigh.

So I guess I must remain with the outsiders. You have an abbreviation for us, don't U? haha

As eyeballer previously noted, there's a link to the Glossary at the bottom of every page.

I'm not certain, but my guess is that LUT refers to the lowest fares offered by Delta.

Without additional context, such as the Forum you saw the acronym, the other 4 are a mystery to me too!

just the generic newbie aka noobie ;)

Don't sweat it, just like any foreign language it takes awhile to get the hang of it.

And, once you catch on in one forum, you can venture to another and be totally lost once again. And that's not even counting British or Australian slang used in some forums!

Quite a few people spell it that way in various posts in CommunityBuzz. Several of the OzFest threads (I've been to three of them, so I read those threads) come to mind. I'm not talking about punny names for events, where the spelling "Doo" is part of the pun, but where someone hears the word, doesn't know where it comes from, and spells it phonetically - or sees it that way in other FT posts, again doesn't know where it comes from, and continues to spell it that way. The current "Boo Doo Six" thread is an example of both a punny event name and the spelling "doo" as a general term in the text of the thread. I'm not the spelling police, I'm not trying to reform the world, and if I was there are more important things to start with - but there it is.

I was at Catman Do Deux (or was it Trois?) in March 2001. Stayed at the Millennium Hilton. I remember the view across the plaza from MRKEY's room to the towers that, sadly, are no more ...

LUT (also known as sLUT or insULT) fares are the three cheapest fares that Delta (DL) sells. They have certain limitations on their upgradability and so they are referred to separately.

CW likely is Club World, assuming you're in the British Airways (BA) Executive Club (BAEC) forum. WT would be World Traveler in that forum.

CR-1 is an upgrade instrument that United (UA) issues to their Mileage Plus (MP) members. Not sure if that's the CR you're referencing or not.

Dunno about WSD. What forum is it in? That might give a clue.

I logged on to ask a similiar question! Fairly new to the mileage game myself so all of it's pretty.

Thanks for asking!!