Hi, I'm new to these forums and I'm looking for a good place to start - I'm a techie by trade but I'm completely baffled when people start talking about all the different fare classes ("TA booked me in I instead of J" is almost completely meaningless) or "clearing" upgrades and stuff. What is "the list"? How does upgrading work - esp for people who don't have 1K/EXP (or even GLD) status?

I only fly about once a month but I'm trying to gain a better understanding of how it all works. Is there a sticky or anything akin to "flying for dummies"?

Welcome...I suggest you kick off by looking at the airline forum of your choice that you intend to use and start from there....you will soon get totally confused which will raise numerous questions, but anyway, good luck. !

You may want to start with the Help or Glossary menu on FT. FTers' jargons are quite different from techie's. A different kind of techie if you will.

Our savvy FTers and volunteer moderators help put together sticky threads at the top of each forum. I would say reading sticky threads are always a good starting point because tons of info/tips/links/goodie are embedded in stickies. You didn't specify which airline/s you fly most. Try our Airline Programs Section and dive into the particular airlines of your choice for fun read.

I think the mod will move your thread to a better fitting forum since Suggestions Forum is about suggestions for the site admin (i.e. FT), not FTers.

I have to warn you though. FT is very addictive. It will be a hard habit to break once you get the handle of it. Welcome to FT!

ETA:
If you feel like it, chime in our newbie's self intro thread in CommunityBuzz! Forum so fellow FTers get to know you better.

FT is no different from the real world. Joining FT is no different than starting a new job.

FYI, googling "booked in J" returns 92 hits.
Rather than ask us and act overwhelmed, why don't you read some of them?

I'm not sure about your job/company, but at my company we don't just stick a new hire in an office by themselves and cut them loose - we try to take a somewhat proactive approach. Yes, we give them a pile of paperwork and company policies to read, but we assign them mentors and stick them in training classes, because learning from another person is a much better and more efficient way to process the important bits.

Please note that I did look around several of the forums looking for a beginner's guide, but didn't find anything that fit my expectations of a thread essentially for people who have never flown before (Maybe that's not the type FT caters to or wants). I could have spent 4 hours googling and winnowing down the results until I came upon something I could actually understand, or I could take 5 minutes to post a question and wait until someone volunteers to answer it.

To the rest of you - thank you. Part of the problem is I don't yet have a 'preferred' airline/FFP, so I was looking for a generic "start here" thread. Per the advice above, I looked into the United/MP thread; I think I have a decent grasp on the different fare classes now, although I'm still trying to crack the whole upgrade thing (which isn't super important as I fear it will be a long time before I'm eligible for any).

I think part of the problem is that while there are many similarities between airlines, there are very few set conventions that a single "start here" page or thread could correctly address.

For example, some airlines hand out upgrades to anyone with status, whereas other airlines will fly with a first-class (or business-class, if applicable) seat empty if not enough people pay for the upgrade with some sort of instrument (voucher, certificate, mileage, money, etc.). Heck, the world can't even standardize whether to label business class "C" or "J," and some airlines stop at business and don't even offer a first-class product!

It takes lots of careful analysis of the various airline programs to figure out which one will work best for you. I've chosen AS by default due to my location, but if I were to move elsewhere, I still have yet to settle on which program to put my business into, despite having been thinking about and [casually] researching that subject for well over a year now. And there's tons about UA/CO/US/DL/AA that I don't know, despite being members of all of those programs and being on FT for, what, six years now. And there is no single "best program," since the program that gives you the best reward for your type of activity will be dictated by your home base, where you fly, fares, routings, frequency, and the like. AS works best for me here because AS has ~25 out-of-state flights a day out of ANC (versus a total of 5-10 or so for the other carriers), so they're the only real option. Fortunately, it so happens they're a pretty decent (if expensive) option. BWI and the whole WAS area (not sure how close to other airports you are) offer more opportunities for choice, but each carrier has its regional strengths, and so you may find yourself flying one carrier more than another simply because it has the best (and cheapest) options for where you want to go.

Another thing is that this website is mostly run by volunteers. A small staff (headed by our gracious Host, Randy Petersen) manages the administrative functions, but the content is all user-generated. As indicated above, most forums have some sort of FAQ thread which tries to help newer users understand the dynamics of that particular airline's program, but again, these are written and edited by the users themselves in their spare time.

But in any case, welcome to FlyerTalk!

And then of course, you have the three major 'Alliances' which is worth considering....particularly as an airlines' own rules can bare no resemblance to another partner carrier..and if it is seamless travelling you're looking for, then do your homework before leaving home , whether that be luggage allowance.....is it the same on the next leg of my journey with a partner airline ?, are all the lounges available. ?, and if so, under what circumstances ?...and so it goes on, and on.