Seems that some folks in the PHX and in the ATL have embraced using their airport code. I like using these codes to refer to their cities. For anyone trying to do spent any significant time in this field, for work or for pleasure, airport codes are just part of the deal.

Chastising flyertalk members for using proper airport codes is a little like telling a truck driver that their CB lingo is elitist.

I agree that it's good practice to make it easier for readers and identify the more obscure airport codes, but obscurity tends to be in the eye of the beholder. It's pretty easy to click on the airport code lookup words at the bottom of every FT page. In fact, the two symbol airline codes can be harder to check and again IMO the more obscure ones should be identified.

What I find annoying is when people assume that everyone has memorized an airline's schedule and flight numbers. Posts like "upgrade chances on DL 2883?" are annoying this way in that checking would require going to the airline's website and checking flight status (to find city pair and aircraft type), assuming that schedules and flight numbers will be the same today as when the person is traveling. I know very few flight numbers, and they're generally the ones with unusual numbers rather than the flights I take most often: DL1001 (KE operated codeshare JFK-ICN) and DL 101/110 (ATL-EZE and vv service, but don't ask me which number goes north and which one south).

I am also going to Miami.

FT has plenty of elitist but typing the code vs typing the whole airport name just makes more sense.

Yes, but preferably working.

LAX is a bit of a special case - in fact it can be used to refer to an area of Los Angeles. In fact I would say I am going ot LAX if I was plannig on staying around that general area (within, say, 5-10 miles or so). when I think Los Angeles, I think of a much wider area. Likewise, I am going to JFK means the airport area. New York could very well be accessed by a few airports, or even by train. LHR and London would be another.

Personally, I try (though often fail) to identify the city (if that is what I am talking about) the first time I mention it, but then use the airport code later if there is only one city airport.

I think you will very quickly come to know which codes mean which airports. most make a lot of sense, and the others are pretty rarely used.

I did not know that - that is a good thing, I would have probably assumed they all began with K. Or, K west of the Mississippi, W east. : )

I agree, I don't see anything elitist in the use of airport codes. It's mostly just faster to do so.

I agree with most of the others - elitist would be using ICAO codes

I'm with the OP on this one. While I don't necessarily view it as "elitism" it is annoying. I know a few of the most common airports I fly to on a regular basis but beyond that. And not all airport codes are intuitive to their actual location.

On the BMW forums, I refer to my E39. On the DPR forum, I discuss DSLR vs MILC. On FT, I fly out of PIT.

Deal with it.

I live in RDU (and yes, I mean the general area, not the airport). Lots of people down here refer to the whole area as Raleigh-Durham. It's an easy way to refer to the area without naming the specific town that someone from outside the area has likely never heard of.

I'm one of the many on FT who use airport codes to refer to entire geographies. Sorry, but I can't be bothered to get upset about little things and it saves a ton of typing, especially on the phone!

As a nod to the OP and his ilk, I did program shortcuts into iOS to turn WN into Southwest and B6 into Jetblue and pax into passenger.

OK but if you say LA do you mean Los Angeles or Latin America?

Some airports have hotels on or directly connected to airport properties (dfw, zrh for example.) A company may be holding a meeting central for all its branch offices and picks such an airport. So the person was staying at ZRH, say...LAX is easily pronounced, how do you pronouce DFW or ZRH?

If I say that I'm staying at LAX tonight, I mean an airport hotel, not in the airport itself, either inside a terminal, on the curb, or in their parking garage. I don't have access to the tarmac, so that's not an option. Is In-n-Out open all night?

To me, Los Angeles refers primarily to the downtown area and not Santa Monica, Pasadena, or even Westwood or Hollywood. Otherwise if I mean LA more generally, I would say something like the LA area. To me southern California starts around Santa Barbara and extends beyond San Diego to the border, as well as inland to Palm Springs up to the (state) border.

Their certificates are probably already loose.

Now, if they were to lose them, it might be a big deal.

Pardon me - this is my pet peeve.