petz

Hi there,

I always liked flying, since I was a kid, but because of several issues, never was able to get deeper into everything. So now, I want to change this, want to fly as often as my money allows it.

Now starting with some of my questions, some of them will sound quite stupid

How to figure out what an abbreviation means. I know RTW for Round the world, and some of the airport I have been to and also some airlines. Is there a "rule" to figure out what it could be, apart from looking things up in wikipedia?
Is there a way, to get to know, what type of plane I flew with, just knowing the flight number if it was between 1980 and 1990?
What's the easiest way to memorize, just by looking at a plane, which type it has to be? Well A380 and 747 are quite obvious, apart from the number that follows behind.
Are there any things, I have to think of, when collecting miles? Currently I am with bmi, and looking if I can get all my future flights with a Star Alliance Member, is this a good idea if I don't want to spend to much money?
What's the best getting to gold with bmi, starting from VIE? Oversea flights or EU intern.

Well, I hope I posted in the right sub forum

Cholula

Hi petz and welcome to FlyerTalk! I'm sure you'll find this to be a friendly, knowledgeable place to get your travel questions answered.

I can help you out with your first question. Please read this FlyerTalk Glossary for the answer to most every travel abbreviation you're likely to run across.

For the answer to the rest of your questions, I'm going to transfer this thread to our TravelBuzz! Forum.

Welcome aboard once again.

_______________________________________________

Cholula
CommunityBuzz! Co-Moderator

PSUhorty

Also, under the 'help' menu item at the top, there is an airport code lookup link. Type in either the city name or code.

petz

ok thx I will look at those ^^

Ocn Vw 1K

petz, another welcome to FlyerTalk. Because our community has many travel interests, our site is large. It's best to look in-depth at a different part of the site each time so that you see what's posted where. For example, if your questions are about types of aircraft generally, that would be discussed here in TravelBuzz. There are also specific forums for each major (and not so big) airline, one for each airline alliance (like the Star Alliance) and a MilesBuzz forum to answer all your general questions about getting and using points and miles generally. When you are ready to plan a cheap trip to get miles or status, check out the Mileage Run Discussion forum.

xinerevelle

Welcome!

First, search through the forums and find the ones that pertain to the programs you are interested in... and then start reading! You will learn alot from doing so. Pay particular attention to the posts at the very top, called "stickies" that contain alot of FAQ-type info.

Second, go to airliners.net to read up on different types of aircraft, see pictures of them, etc.

You'll eventually start to talk like the rest of us, in codes, without giving it a second thought. Happy flying!

Pooch

Hi Petz- and welcome to FT! I'm still a relative newbie and very much a FF wannabee This has to be one of the best places to land for answers to everything travel related - things to do in places you visit, cheap (quality) hotel deals, restaurants - you name it, someone will know the answer! It still amazes me the depth of knowledge and also the friendliness and helpfulness of friends on FT!

chornedsnorkack

Then you need to know the list of similar planes.

A380 - the only number that follows behind is -8. There is no A380-9 yet, and no A380-7. That is, A380-841...

B747 - there is no B747-8 yet, so the choices are B747-1, -2, -3 and -4. How do you tell apart B747-100 and B747-200?

But others?

Trijet with 2 underwing engines and S-duct in tail is Tristar. What is the sign of Tristar 500?

Trijet with 2 underwing engines and tail engine up in the fin is either DC-10 or MD-11. How are those distinguished?

Quadjet, 4 underwing engines, no hump, widebody? Then it is either A340 or Il-86/Il-96 family. How do you tell apart A340 from Il-96?

Quadjet with high wing underwing engines - if it is a passenger plane then it is Bring Another Engine 146 or Avro RJ.

Quadjet with paired engines in tail and T-tail - either Vickers VC-10 or Il-62. How do you tell apart Il-62 from VC-10?

cordelli

Welcome to FlyerTalk

No rules, sometimes it's fairly easy, NYC for New York for example, other times it doesn't make any sense at all. There have even been threads here about silly abbreviations and where they came from. When in doubt, dont' hesistate to ask, people will usually let you know or at least point you in the right direction.


I'm horrible at that, and always look at the emergency procedure card in the seat back if I'm not sure. You can get books, and the airliners.net website and others can help too

To me, and everybody is different, the most important thing about collecting miles and points is the purpose of collecting them.

If you are collecting miles on an airline you never fly or never plan to fly often, are you collecting just for the ability to collect? Would it make sense to book on another line where you may actually use them? I'm not saying never do that, I collect airline miles on an airline I never fly for grocery shopping, when that program ends I'll either donate them or may have enough for a free trip, but I don't go out of my way to do it, don't shop that store over others, etc.

If your goal is to go someplace specific for free, then collect on an alliance that goes to that place, things like that.

Also, look into all the other ways besides sitting on a plane to earn miles. Over time they will add up, and it will keep accounts active. Dining out, grocery shopping, credit cards, etc. If you are going ot carry one anyways, may as well earn some miles.

xeguy

I haven't spent much time memorizing the detailed characteristics and as such twin-engined aircraft always mix me up (aside from the 737 and 777). Here are some resources,

http://www.ehow.com/how_7116_identify-boeing-767.html

(...more there too.)

http://www.airliners.net/discussions...in/200541/1/#1

dstan

Welcome to FT! Mrs. dstan thinks I'm crazy, but I enjoyed figuring this out. First, there are good photos of Boeing, Airbus, McDonnell-Douglas, Canadair, and Embraer series to study at Wikipedia.

Here's how I tell apart the planes I see most commonly. First, decide which aircraft family - all Airbuses have winglets; most Boeing do not, although there are exceptions; regional jets are much smaller. Next, look at the number of wheels (obviously easier on the ground!) - especially useful for the Boeing family. Finally, look at the rest of the plane - engines, winglets, nose, tail. So, here are the distinguishing features I usually catch:

Boeing 717 / MD-80 / MD-90 / DC-9
- Two engines near T-tail

Boeing 737
- One row of wheels (2x2) underwing
- Look for the ridge at the base of the tail (737-300 and up)
- Look for long winglets (usually 737-700, -800, -900)
- Sometimes the bottoms of the engines are flattened

Boeing 757
- Two rows of wheels (2x4) underwing
- Large tail
- Narrowbody with sloping nose
- Usually no winglets

Boeing 767
- Two rows of wheels (2x4) underwing
- Large tail
- Widebody with round nose
- Usually no winglets

Boeing 777
- Three rows of wheels (2x6) underwing

Airbus A320 series
- Small winglets
- One row of wheels (2x2) underwing
- Subtypes by length

Airbus A300
- 2-engine widebody with small winglets
- Two rows of wheels (2x4) underwing

Airbus A330
- 2-engine widebody with long winglets
- Two rows of wheels (2x4) underwing

Airbus A340
- 4-engine widebody with long winglets
- Two rows of wheels (2x4) underwing PLUS an extra 2-wheel gear at center
- (no hump, unlike the 747)

Canadair CRJ
- 2-engine regional jet with T-tail
- top of tail has a rounded bump toward the front
- evenly sloping nose

Embraer 135 / 140 / 145
- 2-engine regional jet with T-tail
- top of tail slopes downward
- sharper angle at the nose

Embraer 170 / 175 / 190 / 195
- 2-engine regional jet with engines under wings

Trijets
I don't see many of these, but the 727 and MD-11 / DC-10 are pretty easy to tell apart based on the shape of the 3rd engine in the tail. The latter sticks way out.

Now, why is this actually useful? Well, for one, if you're sitting at a window and see the 'wrong' aircraft pull up to your gate, you know there's either a gate change or an equipment change, in which case, you may need to spring into action (to move to the correct gate or snag the right exit row seat).

Practice, practice, practice! And enjoy!

chornedsnorkack

Bad order of things. Identifying the manufacturer at a glimpse is harder than looking round the features like engines and tail.

So, if you have 2 tail engines, T-tail, you have a fair number of possibilities:

BAC 1-11

DC-9/MD-80/MD-90/B-717/ARJ21 family

Tu-134

Fokker 28/100/70 family

CRJ

ERJ

Tu-334

countless business jets as well.

Romelle

The glossary a previous poster mentioned is very helpful, but I've come to learn the language here is sort of evolving continually. New abbreviations crop up often, and people use slightly different ones for the same meaning.

One that wasn't in the glossary and puzzled me for a while was OP. And then in one of those forehead-smacking moments I realized it meant Original Poster. When I run across a new one and keep seeing it, sometimes I shoot a message to the glossary address supplying it's context and at least my best guess as to what it means. Hope you do the same? It helps a site and the next newbie.

Romelle

Cholula

I agree.

Plus there are several forum specific glossaries such as the Delta Forum Glossary. If a forum has a glossary, it is usually located in the sticky at the top of the first page of the forum.

Specific forums sometimes develop their own language and abbreviations so these forum specific glossaries are helpful for new members of the forum.

IsleOfMan

The easiest way I've found to distinguish the CRJ and ERJ is by looking at the engines. The CRJ's GE CF34 engines have a cone protruding that seperates the core and bypass flow. The RR Allison engines on the ERJ premixes the core and bypass air before it exits the engine.

Knowing an airline's fleet can usually sort these instances out pretty quickly. If said t-tail 2 engine plane is Delta mainline then it's an MD80 or MD90. If it's Airtran it's a B717. If it's Midwest it's a B717 or MD80. If it's NWA then it's a DC9. If it's AAL it's an MD80 or MD90. If it's xxxx Connection then it's an ERJ or CRJ so look at the engine. If you're in the Eastern Block it may be a TU-134 or TU-334.