Setting the record straight, part II
 

Since discovering FT and now earning more points/miles a year than what I accrued in a lifetime Before FT (B.F.T.), and having met some wonderful folks and made some great trips in the process, if anything I’m only bitter that I didn’t discover Randy’s collegial gravy train earlier. That why I try to keep my PPO/PME ratio (People I Piss Off divided by Points and Miles Earned) down to a dull roar.

^

I would never have met so many great people, and that probably outweighs all of the other benefits on its own.

However, my travel life is far better and my points accrual has shot up dramatically from my participation in Flyertalk.

B.F.T. (Before FlyerTalk) I upgraded domestically on United most of the time, using 500 mile upgrade certificates -- purchased them frequently, in fact. I didn't even know it was possible to confirm upgrades at booking, let alone upgrade internationally!

B.F.T. (Because of Flyertalk) I attended the Freddie Awards last year, where I won a door prize of a trip to Puerto Rico, where I had a phenomenal suite on the ocean.

B.F.T. I picked up $150 business class tickets to Puerta Vallarta, as well as other incredible fare deals.

B.F.T. I earned 40,000 BA miles from the BA-Jaguar promotion last year.

B.F.T. I received 60k Starwood points for naming the new Sheraton Checkin Kiosk.

B.F.T. I launder Continental miles through Amtrak to United where they become useful.

B.F.T. I'm an Airtran elite

B.F.T. I take advantage of promos that net me, easily, an extra 250,000 miles a year (probably much more).... that I wouldn't have known about otherwise... Fly Free Faster, Faster Free Nights, BankDirect for AAdvantage miles, eBay Anything Points, miles for online shopping through various portals...

I'm hooked. I've learned so much, travel so much better, and the kinds of trips that others only dream about I can take with ease. And I have friendly faces to visit no matter where I go.

Why even bother getting involved in squabbles when there's so much out there to enjoy (and not enough time in the day to absorb all of the things here that could possibly make me better off!)?

I could not be more thrilled to see that FT has contributed positively to your travel habits as well as your social ring of friends. But my real measure of the two of you that have posted here - you both have given back to FlyerTalk. I sense you believe as I do - life is better when you both give AND receive. Thanks.

Flyertalk is great!

Thanks to Flyertalk, travel has become much more fun for myself and even family and friends - highest status in three hotel chains with the corresponding benefits, great vacations, flying much more comfortably - a trip around the world planned with the help of kind Flyertalkers...thanks to all of them and to Randy! :) ^

Moreover, having conversations with intelligent people with a passion for travel from all over the world is a continuing and enjoyable learning experience for me.

I hope to meet some more of these people sometime in real life, too :).

I've learned a ton on AA and collected a lot more miles and free trips/upgrades as a result. And my traveling companions have made out pretty well, too :)

Miles, schmiles. Those are good, I admit, and I certainly have benefited in getting more by being on FT. The real benefit, however, are the people whom I have met in the course of my travels and the various Do's I have attended. Where else could you meet such characters except in a Fellini movie? My life is much better for it, so for that I thank Randy from the bottom of my heart.

Wow! Over the past 6 years I have met literally hundreds of Flyer Talkers in over a dozen countries, most of which I never would have dreamed of visiting without the encouragement of my whacky FT friends.

I have been to more parties, celebrations and events than I can recall and have met many FlyerTalkers who have become really good friends--one even became my brother and two became my kids. You just never, never know. :p

We have also suffered losses in our community. I can remember years ago, when I first started loving some of these folks, wondering what would happen when someone died. How would we know? Well in at least three cases of well-loved FlyerTalkers who have passed on to a greater reward, we did know. I miss them all the time but am really glad that I had a chance to meet them in this wonderland for world travelers.

I have learned more about travel, miles and points, than I could ever have imagined possible and we are now realistically looking at building up enough miles and points to fly/stay for the rest of our lives in first class, for free, after we retire. How good is that! We can't predict the future or know what the market will bear, but it's looking like, before it is over, FT will have netted me a six figure reward of a lifetime. :D :D

And, it is all tax free, so maybe it is even better than the lottery. :)

Yep! (That's an acronym for "You're Exceptionally Perceptive".)

I certainly have learned a lot about earning miles (the KLM match comes to mind, as well as lots of other offers I learned about on FT) and managing them after I've earned them (e.g., using them for upgrades so that I get the miles for the "economy" flight rather than using them for free flights where you get no miles for the flight). But the greatest gain has been meeting and enjoying the company and wisdom of so many fine folks. The PiP was only the beginning, and I hope it continues to just keep getting better.

Thanks, Randy for creating the opportunity for this community, and for contributing so much to it.

A few months ago, I was given a 1 month timeout from Flyertalk for participating in an ugly discussion that turned personal. This timeout changed something - it changed the way I post on Flyertalk, it changed the way I write in general and it might have even made me a better person :)

Although I wrote you a not-so-friendly email at that time, Thanks Randy for showing me the way!

Wow. ^ random text so my message is long enough to be posted

You are awesome! I am impressed!

If I may echo gleff...Wow, indeed.

This is something you don't read or experience very often here.

apirchik...you sound like exactly the kind of person I enjoy meeting and would be honored to meet!

Life is all about observing, learning, self-analyzing and changing (hopefully for the better).

I feel very sorry for those that often write, "I'm the way that I am and I'm not going to change and can say anything that I want and if you don't like it, tough." It's been my experience that when meeting such people in person, they often tend to be boorish, self-centered people. And sometimes worse. Life's too short to waste talking to a brick wall.

Certainly nobody asked you to change who you are, even when you were timed out. And I really have no idea where and when and why your timeout occurred. But what I think is commendable is that you yourself seemed to have recognized that slight modifications to one's own social behavior in certain circumstances and social settings, can be a very good thing. That you don't need to change who you are or what you're saying or your opinion. But that a simple and easy change in delivery alone, perhaps can accomplish so much more.

This, IMHO, is a sign of wisdom and just plain being considerate of others.

A tip 'o the hat to you! And Thanks for making the effort. Hope to meet you someday. :)

You're just saying that because she/he has chik in their name :p ;)

If I'm not mistaking you to someone else, I believe we met in the MJM football bet payoff evening after dhammer53's brooklin reality tout in March 2003.

To set the record straight, I'm a he, not a she. My real name is Offir. "Chik" is a nickname type addition to the name from the Russian language that one girl once gave me and the outcome was my name in heavy russian accent + "Chik" = Apirchik. That was before I knew the "real" meaning of Chic in American ...