FM to Go is back! Or, more accurately, we are planning to bring it back and you can help. The idea behind FM to Go originated years ago when various readers invited us to visit their home towns. We love meeting people interested in points, miles, and travel and so we said “sure, let’s do it!” If memory serves, in 2019 we visited San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, and Minneapolis. And in February 2020 we visited Philadelphia. Then…, well, you know. A pandemic took the “Go” out of our plans. Let’s get it back.
We held our first FM To Go in February 2019 in San Diego. We met at a local library that had free meeting space which was available from 1pm to 5pm. We presented various topics and answered lots of questions. Afterwards many of us went to dinner at a nearby pizza place. Other than the fact that everyone had to pay for their own dinner, there were no charges for this event. Each FM to Go afterwards followed a similar pattern, but sometimes there was also an optional lunch before the event.
Past FM to Go events included just me and Nick, but going forwards we’re thinking that the entire FM team should be invited: Me, Nick, Tim, Stephen, and Carrie. Most likely we won’t all be able to go to each event, but as long as at least two of us can go it’s probably worth doing.
What it means to host an FM to Go
If you invite us to visit your town, we would expect you to do the following:
- Find a venue that can seat at least 50 people and can accommodate a projector for presentations. Ideally it would be free or very cheap. Most of the past FM to Go meetups were in libraries where meeting rooms could be booked for free. Usually the library included free use of microphones and a projector as well. You will be responsible for booking the venue and ensuring that the necessary tech is available.
- Work with the FM team to identify a date where some of us are free and where the venue is available. All past events were held on Saturdays. That seems to work well in general.
- Plan for lunch before the event. This could be as simple as telling participants that they are welcome to meet up at a nearby restaurant beforehand and pay their own way. Or, as was done in the Bay Area meetup, pre-order food and figure out how to collect payment from attendees.
- Plan for dinner after the event. This could mean simply finding a nearby restaurant that can accommodate a very large group and have each guest pay for their own dinner. Or it may mean collecting payment from attendees. That’s up to you.
We do not expect the host to take care of our food, travel or lodging.
How to invite us to visit
Let’s try this. If you’re interested in hosting us in your town, add a comment to the bottom of this post with details. Here’s an example of the format I’d like to see:
Town Name:
Why:
When:
Who:
Here’s a made-up example:
Town Name: Schitt’s Creek
Why: We have an awesome motel named Rosebud that I know you’ll love. The Café Tropical will be a great place for both lunch and dinner.
When: Anytime but winter when it’s bitter cold
Who: My friends Johnny, Moira, David, and Alexis used to meet up weekly to talk miles and points. I’m sure I can get them to return. We’ll all attend and I’m sure we can get more townsfolk to join!
Then others who would like us to visit the same town can reply to that comment with their own ideas or simply to support it. For example, you might reply “Yes, come to Schitt’s Creek! I know at least 12 people that would love to attend!” Or, you might offer to help organize the event. Etc.
How we decide where to go
We don’t have a formal process for deciding where to go. Factors we’ll consider are how many people seem interested in us coming, how interested we are in visiting that town, how easy it is to get there, and… serendipity (e.g. if one or more of us have plans to go there anyway, we can try to make an event out of it).
We’re not looking for anyone to pay our way. We have our own miles for flights and points for hotels. We’re doing this because we love meeting others interested in points, miles and travel. This is a way for us to connect with you. Hopefully we’ll see you soon!
Other upcoming events
FTU Signature Washington, DC May 6, 2023: Nick presents “It Goes Without Saying: Tips You Were Supposed to Read Between the Lines.”
Chicago Seminars October 14-15 2023: Some FM team members will likely present in Chicago at this annual event, which I believe will be held October 14-15, 2023. Once details are released (typically around mid to late summer), we’ll update our event schedule page with a link. I highly recommend this one.
We always add events like these to our Frequent Miler Event Schedule page, so bookmark that page if you are interested in keeping track of future events.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
[…] the semblance of a roundtrip flight. There’s a lot of hidden value here. (play around with it, or talk to us about it at an FM to Go […]
[…] the semblance of a roundtrip flight. There’s a lot of hidden value here. (play around with it, or talk to us about it at an FM to Go […]
Town Name: Miami, FL
Why: I only hear about vacations to Miami or layovers in Miami since it’s a hub to South America and the caribbean, there might be an untapped market here. People I speak to about the miles and points games know nothing of this. You guys have great content and insight, the information you post is so great.
When: Well, maybe not during September which I think it’s the month with potential hurricanes.
Who: I might be able to recruit a few people I know and maybe there are others interested.
Town Name: Atlanta, GA
Why: Cause Atlanta is Delta Country and Greg is a huge Delta fan! I had emailed you guys last year about possibly doing a FM to Go in The A as they call it, but my schedule was pretty busy last year.
When: July 22nd
Who: Myself and a handful others Delta flyers
Where: We should do it at the Delta Flight Museum, its not free and im not sure if we can use a projector there but it would be pretty cool. It is $100 for groups of 10 for a private tour or $15 per person normal admission price.
I would attend an Atlanta meet up
Town Name: Univeristy of California, Berkeley, CA (The event would be held at the university)
Why: I am a UC Berkeley graduate and the school has a ton of large capacity lecture halls that we could use completely for free. I actually taught a real unit-earning course on Credit Cards and Award Travel last year there. It was a legitimate UC Berkeley sponsored course where we had AskSebby and Emmanuel Crouvisier (The CardPointers Founder) as guest speakers. There is already an interest for this topic around campus and I can easily secure a venue as large as we need. Additionally, there are a ton of great restaurants right near campus so food is no problem. There are a good amount hotel options nearby at different price points (top end would be the Fairmont). Points bookable options include a Residence Inn, Hyatt House/Place, and DoubleTree.
When: Ideally during the school season so between September-December or Feburary-April
Who: There is a big interest in this field around the Bay Area so I think we would be able to get a good sized audience. I have easily been able to get 30+ people to attend my speaking events as no-name college student talking about Credit Cards so I am confident you all could get quite a crowd if you wanted. I have a good amount of connections there who would absolutely love an event like this.
I think this would be a great place to hold an event! Send me an email if you are interested and I’d love to chat!
PS Fun Fact: One of my computer science professors is United 1K and even used my CSP referral link for the 100k offer
I’ll send all my relatives who are Bears!
Happy to help you out with this, Shaun! Last time we did SFO to Go, I picked up boxed lunches from Rick & Ann’s for the group since I’m based in Berkeley. We’d love for Nick, Greg and co. to come back!
Town Name: Foster City, CA (bay area). We can rent this amazing big room in the FC library!
Why: because the bay area people are awesome!
When: summer or fall!
Who: anyone and their mama are invited!
Happy to help @Rosie plan SFO to Go one more time! One benefit of the Foster City area is that it is really close to SFO for those who want to fly in and make a weekend of it.
We’d love to get something on the books for September or October.
I am with Coleen and Rosie on this one! Would love to have you return to the Bay Area at Foster City. Come back! I recommend late summer/early fall as the best time of year for ideal weather.
“Town” Name: San Francisco
Why: We have a large travel hacker community, and I’m sure you have a big fanbase out here
When: Our meeting location is pretty flexible, so if you give us a month of notice, we can get our standard (100+ person) meeting room. If you don’t give us that much notice, we can scramble but figure it out.
Who: Man I dunno. Before COVID we had 100 people coming out to our meetups. Then it went dormant. If we get Greg the Frequent Miler (or…be still my beating heart…Nick of the Frequent Miler) we could make it A Thing!
SF?? I would think sane people would’ve jumped ship by now. I was there 6 yrs ago and it was bad, I hear horror stories nowadays.
Los Angeles! How could you just skip the middle and go only to SD and SF? 🙂
Town Name: Denver, Colorado (near DEN airport a.k.a. DIA)
Why: We have tons of airport hotels at Tower Rd and Pena Blvd plus some good food options in that area like Danico Brewing Company
When: Anytime including winter when it’s bitter cold because the mountains are gorgeous then! (Do any of the FM team ski or snowboard?)
Who: TBD but I’m guessing we can find 40-60 in this area who would be interested
Orlando or somewhere in Central Florida!
Town Name: Charleston, SC
Why: Because you either love it, or you will after you visit.
When: June July, Nov – March
Who: Everyone…. CHS is consistently on all the “best of” lists.
Town Name: St. Louis, Missouri
Why: I host a monthly points & miles meet-up in St. Louis. Would love to have the FM-team in St. Louis!
When: Saturdays/Sundays (preferred – and can possibly get higher attendance). Thursdays & Friday are okay as well.
Who: host of the St. Louis Points & Miles meet-up.
I would try to make it down from Iowa!!!
Nashville, TN….pretty please!! I am so excited about the prospect of THIS!! I don’t have a venue in mind, but I can be looking!
CHIGAGO!! And summer is the best time to be here! With summer around the corner, make Chicago one of your first stops!
See my post below offering a space to do it!
Town Name: Forest Hills, NY
Why: It is quaint and beautiful and easily accessible via subway from the city
When: Thursday or Saturday afternoons, barring winter snowy months
Who: I’ve been spreading the gospel of this game to friends/coworkers so hopefully there are a lot more of us who will show up but just have been lurking under the surface in outer boroughs.
I did see another poster suggested BK, which will be great too if more people pick that! But come to NYC 🙂
Come to Salt Lake City.
Houston?
Town Name: Spokane WA
Why: Its beautiful here, we have an airport, and it is the 2nd largest city in Washington. It takes less than 15 minutes to get to down town from the airport in rush hour (bit of a lie, we don’t really have a rush hour)
When: Anytime but winter when it’s bitter cold
Who: I would attend, I am sure there are others that would be interested in attending too.
Town Name: Melbourne, FL
Why: We are a very popular destination (space launches, cruises from Port Canaveral, world-class surfing, & THE aerospace/defense hub of Florida). Nick has already been here…SEVERAL times. LOL There’s ample options for hotels, including two Hyatt Place locations in Melbourne, one nearing completion at MLB. Hiltons and Marriotts aplenty as well. We’re serviced by Delta, American, Sun Country, TUI, and recently Avelo, with nonstops from ATL, CLT, & DCA with DL/AA. There’s a sizable community of engineers & post-grad international students whom would be interested in gaining insight from seasoned experts. We have a few libraries which can host 50+ people easily, with amenities such as a kitchenette, refrigerator, projector screen, & lectern.
When: Anytime outside peak hurricane season, meaning Dec-July (avoiding Aug – Oct)
Who: I have been cultivating a small community of points hackers, as most of my friends/family are naturalized citizens and/or have family/friends overseas, and points/miles are a necessity, not a luxury. I just hosted my own workshop this weekend (successfully), and there’s at least 7 people guaranteed to be interested. My wife is a committed P2, my brothers and I are seasoned travelers, and there’s others who travel a lot for work but we’re all students in the hobby. I follow the FM blog and podcast regularly. Orlando, Tampa, and Ft. Lauderdale are a relatively short drive (or high speed train!) away, so I’m sure that there’s a fair number of FM fans nearby who would also come.
Just FYI, my grandparents used to live near there: first in Satellite Beach and then Cocoa Beach. Old timers in the area may remember a small chain of women’s clothing stores called “Stuff to Wear”. That was my grandmother’s business. She had stores at malls in Melbourne and Merritt Island, and a strip-mail in Cocoa Beach. I know there were more stores, but those are the ones I remember.
Well, that’s quite interesting, and makes us a shoe-in! I stand corrected…Greg and Nick have been through here more than once.
Oooh…I’m in Mel Beach so a yes vote here!
Town Name: Chicago, IL
Why: We have so many Cat 1 Hyatts in the burbs that everyone can pre and post mattress run. Not to mention Hyatt and United are HQ here. My highrise condo building that overlooks the lake by the Museums and Soldier Field has a great community room we could use. There’s a casual restaurant in the building (where you can use UberEats credits for pickup orders!) for lunch and plenty of dining miles program restaurants for dinner within a block or two.
When: Anytime but winter when it’s bitter cold, but flights are cheap
Who: Maybe combo before or after the Chicago Seminars to have a smaller group spin off? Or bookend and come in the spring. I know there are lots of enthusiasts here and easy access from both coasts and cities in MI, MO and WI.
I’d be in for this for sure. I have been to FTU once and really don’t intend to go again. I’m a bit too advanced for it now but I’d definitely be down to meet the FM team and some local enthusiasts.
I’m in Lakeview and would have no problem heading down to the South Loop where you’re at Susan. Another option might be the Bucktown/Wicker Park library. I’ve never been there so can’t speak to it but it says it has a 50 person room with a screen. The library is a 5 minute walk from the Damen blue line stop and that kind of L access might be really desirable, especially if anybody is flying into O’Hare for this.
There’s a billion restaurants in that part of town. Might be cool to go to the Lou Malnati’s there for dinner to show the FM team some good Chicago deep dish.
https://chipl.libcal.com/reserve/bucktown_meeting/?_ga=2.262388940.1119251588.1683427811-361002146.1683427811
i’m in. but lets do a sunday meet-up.
I’m down for Chicago, I’m from the NW suburbs but willing to meet in the city.
I live in Chicago and would definitely attend
I’m in Chicago and will definitely attend. I will be traveling during the Chicago Seminars, so I would prefer an alternate time.
Yes!
I’d try to come from Eastern Iowa if the date works. I enjoy the podcasts!
Ditto, could come over from Iowa
Town: Raleigh, Durham & Chapel Hill, North Carolina (The Triangle)
Why: 3 Cities make up The Triangle, each with a unique spicy southern character. There is overflowing college spirit, abundant farmers markets, vibrant downtowns and Main Street downtowns (your choice), fried chicken, greenways and parks, and bbq sauce debates. We have libraries and community centers available for use.
When: Anytime you want, just remember summer in the south is humid
Who: I have a few friends and colleagues who would be interested. Happy to post on local platforms to get the word out.
I live in the triangle and this was the top/most recent post when I first scrolled down, so I felt compelled to reply.
Also “why”: we are pretty evenly served by the top 4 US carriers, and we also have nonstops to Paris, London, and Iceland, which makes local enthusiasts flexible to use lots of programs via our non-hub but multiple-secondary-hub airport.
Will travel from charlotte for this!
Another vote for Raleigh!
Another Yes vote for Raleigh. PS – I think a certain FM’er is a UNC grad….
Go Heels!
Another +1 for the triangle. Biased to Durham over Raleigh. 😉 Either way, the FM team will eat and drink well, RDU is close and very easy to get to/from, and you’ll definitely have a good turnout!
Town Name: Bend, Oregon
Why: Cascade Mountain views, Outdoors paradise. Best unkept secret in Central Oregon. Great for a podcast on deals from small, regional airports (Redmond municipal – Roberts field, near Bend)
When:May – August
Who: An open call / notices on local platforms. If it’s a bust (which it won’t be), plan B will be a river float through the center of town and have great food and beverages afterwards.
The downtown library has capacity and a projector! Can reserve up to 90 days in advance.
That sounds awesome
Yes to Bend! I’ll travel over from Portland
I’d love to get back and visit Bend!
While I can’t make promises, given a way too hectic schedule, I’d certainly give it my best effort to make it to Bend from Portland (Beaverton, actually).
Town name: Pittsburgh, PA!
Why: It’s a great city (with a dissapointing airport), plus a certain former president once dubbed it “the Paris of Appalachia,” so that’s exciting.
When: Fall is beautiful – but anytime!
Who: We’re having our first Pgh travel hacker meet up this month and started a little facebook group for the area… I’m sure we could drum up a crowd.
Count me in
I’d be in. Melissa, do you have details on this month’s meetup?
Hi Alex! We are meeting at East End Brewery on May 18 at 6:30pm. Feel free to join! We have a fledgling facebook group of mostly newbies if you want to join (search Pittsburgh Travel Hackers). We’re just trying to get some networking among like-minded people who’s eyes won’t glaze over when we start talking about cards and such Join no matter what, but if you have a little experience to share, that would be amazing!
I’m looking forward to joining your group- I haven’t met any other travel hackers since I moved to Pittsburgh a couple years ago. I put in a request to join your facebook group.
I’d love to see you come to pittsburgh. It’s such a wonderful city that people often forget about. Fun restaurants, and I’m hoping the new airport will be awesome when it’s finished. @melissa, I’d be totally into a PGH travel hacker meetup. Do you have a link for your local FB group?
I think you may have joined?
I found your description of the group after I posted. I put in a request
I’m just south of Cleveland and I could easily drive to PIttsburgh. So, count me in for here!
Count me in, too! And I’m off to join the FB group!
Not a proposal, but since you all are going to SFO for the challenge trip, sure seems like a good opportunity for a session nearby.
Great idea! Gets my vote too 🙂
I second that emotion!
+1 to this! I think Greg mentioned in the last AMA live that SF wouldn’t be high on the list since the Bay Area was one of the original 4 cities, but if this is an option I’d be happy to volunteer to look into venues, etc
The event can happen the day/night before you guys fly out
I had to miss the last Bay Area FM To Go so I’d love this!
Town Name: Santa Barbara, CA
Why: Um, it’s Santa Barbara… Also, I run a school that could host the room.
When: Summer would be great but any time of the year is perfect here
Who: I honestly have no idea how many people locally are in the points and mile game here but would love to find out 🙂
We are willing to drive from Huntington Beach, CA to attend.
So am I! Santa Barbara has lots of great points options and is close to Los Angeles and four hours north of San Diego.
I am from HB too!
Are you coming if they have the meet to in Santa Barbara?
Same here! We are willing to drive there and meet!
I’d drive down from the Bay Area for this!
How about August 5 or 6? I already have reservations at the Kimpton Canary hotel for Aug 5 thanks to an IHG price mistake a while back
I’d be in!
Had a great stay at that hotel. Used the Ambassador free night coupon and got an upgrade to a huge suite. Nice breakfast at finch & fork.
If you’re in the area a few nights and will have a car, I’d recommend making a reservation at Bells Los Alamos. Great restaurant in a super cute small town. Stay overnight at the Skyview! Or if you’re just passing through Bells is fun for lunch, too.
Shoot, sorry Greg, I am in LA that weekend for the Taylor Swift concert (teenage daughter,lol). If you want any downtown dining or drinking tips etc, let me know and I will gladly share my insights. Spent a few years as a concierge in SB 🙂
Will you be back on Sunday?
Yes, but not usually until late afternoon
I vote for Aug 6. I really want to go. I hope we can make it work for San Barbara.
I’d be happy to drive down from the Bay Area for this! @Brian, also happy to share some lessons learned from our Bay Area meet up a few years ago if this pans out.
Brooklyn, NY. We could rent an Alamo Drafthouse theater in Downtown Brooklyn on a Saturday afternoon ($150 + $150 in food, full AV hookup) which takes care of lunch and presentation, then we could meet for sunset at the Strong Rope Brewery in Red Hook with the Statue of Liberty visible across the harbor. Great for summer evenings.
I second this!
I third (if that’s a thing) this!
Might be worth doing it on a Sunday in Brooklyn
Brooklyn would be great.
Another vote for Brooklyn!
FLORIDA: MCO, FLL, MIA
Winter weather is phenomenal along with TONS of hotel and restaurant options. I live in St. Augustine to the NE, but would travel anywhere to attend. Lived in SFL for 33 years and would love to make suggestions. A trip to the Florida Keys is also a brilliant option to round out the visit!
I second this as MCO plus catch a launch!
Town Name: Aventura, FL
Why: Would the team be interested in coming to a 374 Unit condo community in Aventura, FL. It is a mixture of young families, professionals, and baby boomers. We have a theatre room, with about 40 seats. a decent size clubhouse and a projector. Due to the modest size of the room, a microphone would probably not be necessary. I am resident and there is no cost. I would have to obtain approval from the property manager. Many residents here want to know how I travel so much and don’t quite understand the concept of outsized value of points and miles.
When: Summer, Early fall, late fall.
Who: 40 or so residents
Town Name: Seattle, WA
Why: It can sometimes feel like all the good deals are from the East Coast (hello, zero Hyatt Cat 1 hotels on the West Coast) so how about giving the Pacific Northwest some love? Also, the Cascades line of Amtrak has reopened, making it easier to reposition to PDX and YVR so that could be an interesting topic to cover. There are heaps of good places to eat, lots of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, and you can take the light rail directly from SEA (which has that nice new Centurion Lounge) to downtown!
When: Anytime, best in late spring and early autumn
Who: I know 10 people who have already signed up for a points+miles meetup at a social club I belong to in Seattle, and I know there are more of us here
Seconded. Might good opportunity for Greg to talk about Delta status/perks redemptions since we’re hubbed, most here collect AS miles & (to/from SEA) can be a phenomenal value for Delta redemptions. Doesn’t Tim live up here as well?
Thirded! We have lots of lovely libraries here and I’d be shocked if we had any trouble arranging a meeting space in central Seattle. Summer is beautiful here! (Oops, I meant to say it rains here, all the time.)
I’d be interested to attend SEA “FM To Go”. Live in SFO region but fly AS a lot, so would love to know more strategies flying from SEA as an alternative. Plus PNW is always a great place to visit 🙂
Me too!
Me too!
Given that Tim lives in the area, we definitely need to make this happen!
I’d go!
I support this fully and can do the legwork to find a location/meal options.
I’m down.
You guys need to visit Seattle. SEA has traditionally been the west coast city that had the least luck in terms of Award Travel deals with most flights in west coast either positioning from LAX or SFO (either eastward or westward, inc Hawaii) so hope you could share some Seattle-specific hacks. Tim being here is one more reason to visit! I know a few folks active in r/churning are based out of this city and hopefully would be interested too.
Town Name: Charlotte
Why: Lots to do, great breweries and restaurants, has a centurion lounge!
When: early fall Sept or October, or spring April/May
Who: I know several people into this hobby who would love to attend!
This Raleigh-ite would drive to Charlotte in a heartbeat!
Charlotte gets my vote
Town Name: Phoenix
Why: great weather in winter and great availability at amazing resorts in summer. Busy airport but not a lot of international non stops so discussion on best way to use miles/points to optimize trips
When: June (honestly my fav month) or between Nov and March
Who: I know quite a few points/miles enthusiasts so def can get a crowd
I second that!
I’d be interested if sometime during the last week of November.
I’d go as well!
In the cooler months I’m partial to Oct – Dec, not quite as crowded as Feb – Mar when all the big sports events and spring break crowds are in town (though you might draw more out of town visitors then…). Another plus we’re close to Ritz Dove Mountain and Miraval if Greg wants to hit them up again
Yes! Nov-Dec is an excellent time
I would come up from Tucson for this.
Lots of interest in Phoenix Greg. I can take care of the needed logistics
I’m always happy to visit Arizona in the winter time. Let’s do this.
I need to find my FM to Go groupie shirt so I can visit the meetings. Looking forward to seeing which cities are selected 🙂
Detroit or Ann Arbor. Spring, Summer or Fall. I think Greg lives in Ann Arbor. I might know a couple of people that would be interested.
I would drive up from Ohio for this, as long as it isn’t a UM football Saturday in Ann Arbor.
I live in Chicago, but am in the Southeast MI area quite often and would definitely make a trip for this.
see Chicago proposal above from @Susan
Definitely interested in a Michigan event!
There used to be semi-frequent meetups in Ann Arbor before COVID, outside of the annual art fair meetup that also brought in people. I’d also be down for getting back or having an event in AA or Detroit as well.
This would be easy for me! If someone can handle organizing it, we’ll do it.
I would come in from Ohio for Ann Arbor or Detroit.
Think Asheville NC should be on your list 🙂 Happy to organize it, pull in from Greenville SC and Hendersonville as well. Who wouldn’t want to be here for a weekend in the city with the #1 restaurant in America (Chai Pani). The Blue Ridge Parkway, white water tubing, zip lining, waterfalls, and of course more than 50 breweries and distilleries!
I would go to Asheville for this!
When are these coming back? Asking for Portland!
If you’re willing to organize it, we’ll come!
[…] travel times, attending conferences like Frequent Traveler University, the Chicago Seminars, or our FM to Go sessions can help to make connections within the community and learn of opportunities before they are gone. […]
[…] Frequent Miler in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Greg (the founder of Frequent Miler) is hosting the FM to Go event on Sunday, February 16, 2020, and I cannot wait to learn more about making the best use of […]
Please come to Dallas!
Genuinely curious what you both are doing in Philly that weekend.
I’m too busy [re: too lazy] to organize an event in Houston, but maybe someone else will take charge. I lived in Philly and would love to go back for a short visit but can’t make it happen due to other travel plans.
HOUSTON Is an under-the-radar awesome city, with incredible food bring the main selling point.
Come to Htown!
We were invited by a university group to do a presentation, so we were going to be in Philadelphia for that and figured we’d see if there was interest in a Frequent Miler event for readers since we were already going to be there.
Thanks for the tips on Houston. I’ve actually been there a few times, so I know you’re right that it’s a cool place to visit! That said, thus far, we haven’t been choosing FM to Go events based on our desire to visit one city or another though. There are tons of great places to visit, but if there are only five readers in a great place, it doesn’t necessarily make for a good FM to Go event. Besides, Greg and I are typically flying in for these events the day before and flying out the day afterward — the draw for us isn’t so much in which place would be a cool place to visit but rather where is there a group of readers interested in having a miles-and-points event (and with a person or two willing to do the legwork in terms of finding a venue and dinner options for afterwards). So if you find that you know a number of people in Houston interested in having an event, keep an eye out for the next time we post looking for proposals.
Seattle area! Eastside – Bellevue
2nd this
No one ever comes to south florida…sigh.
Now that’s not true – everyone around me wants to be in South Florida this time of year! :). It’s just a matter of getting a group of people together to propose it.
Philadelphia came to be because Greg and I needed to be in Philadelphia for something else and thought we’d see if there was interest among Philadelphians in doing an FM to Go since we’re going to be there, and there was/is.
But generally speaking, I love the idea of South Florida at this time of year!
I second South Florida!
I’m living in Tampa now, but I’d likely make the drive to either Orlando or South Florida, assuming we’re not out of town.
+1 for South Florida
Come back to SF! Are these events free to attend?
FM to Go events are free unless there is a fee for the facility or food (in the Bay Area, there was lunch that could be ordered ahead for whatever the cost was per person for sandwiches). So far we’ve done these at spaces like libraries since they tend to have free or very inexpensive meeting spaces. Greg and I don’t charge anything for our travel or time.
FTU and the Chicago Seminars both have registration fees. I think the Chicago Seminars were $125 last year. FTUs are usually something like $230 I believe, but this time around it is less because it is one day (though your ticket includes admission to the Travel & Adventure Show both days).
I believe the Ann Arbor Art Fair DO is free.
I’ll see you in D.C. Looking forward to it.
Is there even one person in that room that is under the age of 40?
I mean, I was in that room.
Not sure what that has to do with anything though?
[…] before the weekend. But I felt confident Uf === that this was correct that I talked about it at our FM to Go Minneapolis event that weekend, telling people that I was reasonably confident that Hawaii could be booked this […]
[…] for sunnier skies when the arctic freeze sets in at home (hence why I was in Hawaii in January, San Diego in February, and Japan in early April for cherry blossom season. Ok, so I did hit up some snow on that last […]
Link to the Bay Area Sept 7 meetup is broken. Anyone have a good link to RSVP?
[…] all of the Citi Transfer Partners. I recently stumbled on a gem that I shared over the weekend at FM to Go Minneapolis: you can fly from the mainland US to/from Hawaii for 7.5K each way in economy class. If […]
[…] of my friends and family because of just how true this piece is. Maybe that’s why events like FM to Go are so much fun: surrounding yourself with others who enjoy this stuff can be just the breath of […]
[…] the coming months, we have FM to Go events scheduled in Minneapolis and the Bay Area. While I had assumed I would fly award tickets to those […]
[…] the tune of exactly 16%. One of the things I enjoy most about going to meet ups and now doing our Frequent Miler to Go series is learning about the ways in which people with the kind of mind attracted to miles and […]
I must have missed the announcement about the SAN meetup. Would have definitely tried to come out and meet you guys in person.
Same here….I missed the event 🙁
Me too!!! I’m disappointed I missed the event!
Yayy Bay Area…but I guess I have to re-activate my facebook account…
Why do use facebook? Facebook is evil.
I guess my choice to not use FB because of their terms and data breaches means I’m not ‘in the club’. I’ll still use comments even though it’s just for us paranoids or data privacy conscious folks. And yes, I realize there’s data privacy I give up everyday even in this comment, but FB is a whole other animal/beast.
^ This
I actually joined the group, but deleted Facebook early last year and haven’t logged in since. If running a forum is too much work, Slack can be a decent compromise.
Hmm, does this mean I have to start using Facebook?
Cool! You guys and Doc are the only bloggers I’ve any real interest in meeting!
PDX Please
I’ve got a spare room you guys can share
See you in San Francisco!
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