Yeah, but for those of us who travel on business with colleagues and clients, it was a bit embarrassing. Which is why I eventually took my FT tags off my bags all together.
I tuck my tag into a pocket in the carry on if travelling with colleagues/clients. Doesn't help for random encounters (which happens quite often - it is a small world) but at least deals with planned shared travel.
Nope... I'm thinking black, platinum, or something equally subtle. Then again, I don't if the issue was the color as much as it was people walking up to me while I was a colleague or client and asking what kind of mileage run I was on or wanting to start some conversation about board politics and such. That was usually what threw me off. And the last three people with the bag tags that I ran into in airports ignored me when I complimented their tag so I've given up even commenting when I see one.
As long as something glints and sparkles in the right light. Unlike you, I've never seen another FT tag in an airport (and LHR is my local).
I've seen them fairly regularly - probably at least once a month - around the US as well as in international lounges on five different continents.
I used to see alot of FT tags when I traveled alot in 2002-2004. I saw one last year but I was rushing to get on the plane. I believe there will be a MilePoint store in the future. Look for great things to come out of MilePoint. I already like the site and it is in Beta.
Having random people walk up and start talking about mileage runs (which not all of us do) and board politics is a little bit embarrassing, especially when they can't pick up on the social clue that maybe all of us don't want to talk about that kind of stuff outside of this realm. But hey... that's why I took the bag tags off. But if it were something subtle, I might put one on.
To some degree that is the purpose of the tag. Not wanting to talk is one thing, being embarrassed a completely different thing.
I agree! There is a time & place for everything. I don't talk about runs much, etc unless I'm asked about it. I may initiate the conversation at a meetup or event where points are the main focus. (like a DO)
Different strokes for different folks. Some of us travel because of our work and don't want to have intensive conversations about unusual routings or costs-per-mile or free buffets. Its the people who want to walk up to me while I'm fairly obviously on a business trip and gab about that stuff unprovoked that embarrass me. If I see someone with a bag tag, I'll generally say something very benign like "hey, that's a nice tag" or "I love that website". If they open up conversation with me, then I'll introduce myself. This also goes along with my other rule... I don't answer to my handle in public, not even at DOs. I have a given name and I answer to that once I've been introduced to people. Having people walk up to me in the airport and address me as "techgirl" is just weird.
I don't go to DOs to talk about about points either. I go to meet other people who like to travel. All the talk about things that could be discussed on forums creeps me out just a bit. These are probably reasons why I've pretty much stopped going to DOs. I remember when they used to just be fun gatherings of cool people who liked to travel and just happened to have met on a frequent flyer website. The travel geek thing is not "my thing".
I believe that I would recognize that you were on a business trip, I would note it and act appropriately. Of course not everyone does. Same thing with the tags. As for the names in public, I have noticed that I switch between real name an handle. A couple of years ago I was in TPA. We were following another vehicle driven by another person from TOB who liked to drive fast. In a phone exchange I head him tell the front seat passenger "Tell ths to step on the f$$ing gas." PS: looking forward to hummus
Then I guess I will have to somehow convince my friend to stick around for dinner. As such, I got her to commit to a couple of drinks by promising her champagne. Although its MY birthday weekend... so maybe I get a bit of flexibility. Hummus Bros is fantastic... I think we've ended up there on Friday night for the last three years!
I am more likely to "jump" in a conversation have already started and I'm invited to join in. I may ask someone a quick question if I need to know something but I usually just go with the flow with the conversations at the DO's. For my next event (London DO), I plan to see the sights & pop in to say hello to some people I hadn't seen in a long time. I don't go to DO's as much anymore due to time constraints. (married, rental properties, work, etc)
Any particular reason why you are traveling with clients rather than to/from your clients? Just curious. When I was doing consulting work, I traveled to/from my clients a lot, but I seldom traveled with them. I could definitely see how having business clients with you could make an inadvertent FT conversation a bit weird.
Several reasons, sometimes planned, sometimes by coincidence. Conferences, for one. We end up on the same plane or in the airport together going to the same conference, particularly if they are presenting with me a case study at said conference. Also I work with a lot of regional satellites and often I'm flying into a meeting at the corporate office and site clients of mine are as well so we end up on the same flights. But sometimes it's also planned travel - we might be flying together to go out to a site from corporate (especially if they are trying to get me to several sites in one week) or we might be going to visit another client of mine so they can see how a program they have piloted might be implemented by them. And sometimes its just a matter of being in a local airport in one of my small locations where I run into people I've worked with in the gate area as I'm leaving site.
If that is the issue then even a discreet tag will be a problem. I just don't have my tag showing if I'm not prepared to have others discuss FF/travel stuff (& introduce themselves if not already known to me).
I disagree... mainly because I'm not thinking of it as being a way for people to spot me across a crowded terminal, but rather a "is that her? I think it might be..." identifier for people who I may have already met. Different strokes for different folks.
I like a lot of the ideas that has been tossed around so far ... my favorites: 1) Quality bag tags that are simple yet classy. Personally, I prefer something understated over bright colors. 2) Frequent flyer card holder 3) Reusable earth-friendly tote bags Some additional items I'd be interested might include ... 4) MilePoint pin. Something to put onto your back pack ... or shirt when traveling to a 'DO'? 5) Mouse pad 6) A cool compact travel alarm clock 7) MilePoint t-shirt w/ designs by airline alliance (i.e. SkyTeam MilePoint t-shirt)
