9 Tips for Making Friends at FTU or other Travel Conferences
This is my fourth FTU event, so at this point, I’m a regular. People ask me why I keep coming and here is what I tell them:
- Where else can you go where you have a few hundred other miles and points geeks who don’t think you are crazy for having 20+ credit cards, hop from hotel to hotel, and get in Uber/Lyft vehicles with strangers? If you know of such a wonderful place, please tell me.
Here is my list of tips (off the top of my head) in no particular order:
- Be 2X to 10X as outgoing as you normally are, when do you get a chance to talk to hundreds of other miles/points geeks at the same time…?
- Talk about your travel experiences, not just the flat bed in first class or five-star hotel room with your own private butler. Talk about the sights, the smells, the people, and your experiences – whether that are good, bad, or ugly.
- Don’t be afraid to disagree with other people, we all have our own thoughts , feelings and experiences – just try not to change the other person’s opinion.
- Get in a free UberX taxi if you can, nothing is as good as 2 free rides.
- 50% or more of the attendees are locals (2-3 hours away from the host city), you would be surprised by how many local people play this game in your area. Sidenote: always go to local events, you might just meet your new best friend.
- Travel friends are the best friends to have, you never know what kind of adventures you will go on.
- Try to get to the show early and stay through the end on Sunday, you don’t want to miss anything. The secrets you find out during the small private conversations you have with other attendees.
- Good opening sentence: is this your first time to FTU? Where did you fly from? What are your thoughts on blank and blank?
- Try to stay in touch with the people you meet at the shows, they might be your next travel buddy or offer you a place to stay if you are in their home town. Who knows?
I’ve met people at FTU events and later booked a vacation with them. I’ve helped people meet minimum spend requirements and hotel hopped for other people. It truly is a crazy world out there!
With that said, I hope to see some of you at the next FTU event or Chicago Seminars. Have a great weekend everyone!
Thanks for all your help Grant, and I really enjoyed meeting you and talking with you at FTU Seattle!
Likewise Gaston, it was awesome to speak with you during the weekend. I hope to see you at the Chicago Seminars Oct 17-19. I won’t be at any of the advanced FTU events.
Hi Grant,
This is Darren from Australia – met you at FTU over the last 2 days (I think we stayed at the same Hilton Seattle Airport Hotel). Nice blog! I’ll be sure to follow your exciting updates from the other end of the world!
Great tips for FTU participation! Totally agree with every one of those points!
Darren
Thanks Darren, yes, we both were at the Hilton. I saw you for breakfast on Sunday morning. Did you use cash and points for your stay? Only $50 plus 12,000 HH points. Are you staying in SEA for a few days before heading back to Australia?
Hi Grant.,
For the Hilton in Seattle Airport – I just paid upfront – I think it was only $110 dollars per night.
Trying to qualify for Gold Status with Hilton for next year – nearly there – only need about 1000 base points left!
I pretty much left the next day (Monday) after the conference was finished. Had a 5 day trek back home. So itinery was the following going back to Sydney:
Seattle -> San Francisco -> Tokyo -> Seoul -> Hong Kong -> Bangkok -> Sydney.
So 6 flights in 5 days! But I wouldn’t have it any other way! Using my US Dividend Miles and flying all on First and Business class! In Total 9 flights in 11 days – all just so I could learn about Miles and Points in Seattle!
The flights gave me the opportunity to fly the different airlines and their products which I hope proves useful for me.
Love your blog – very nicely presented and easy to read!
Good evening Darren, I used Hilton Points and Cash since it was a really good deal. I have Hilton Gold for having the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card (also go gold for having the AMEX Hilton HHonors Surpass Card and the AMEX Mercedes Benz Platinum Card). What a journey you had getting to/from FTU SEA. Which flight was your favorite? Are you going to any future travel conferences?
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free UberX rides?
Maybe?
wont apply to this weekend since the hotel is in the airport but for the Chicago seminars how does this work ? :-D
There is a hotel shuttle that goes from ORD to HIE Elk Grove. You can use Lyft there.