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. It turned out that none of us were able to go this year.
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.
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Town Name: Washington, DC Metro Area (Arlington, Virginia)
Who: We are a Telegram group of 64 members called “DMV Miles and Points”.
When: We meet in person quarterly on a Sunday and can schedule a meetup date that works for you.
Why: We are a group of miles and points enthusiasts of all levels, which enjoy reading your content and would love to meet the FM team in person.
Town: Los Angeles
Why: LA is a town of connection. I feel strongly that there are a core of people here who are as interested in this as I am, but they haven’t heard your message yet.
When: You can come anytime. The weather is always good. But if you want to avoid the hottest months, then skip August & September.
Who: Yes, in a city this size it won’t be hard to get 50 people besides me and my friends.
You all might want to update this page since no one from FM will be at Chicago Seminars this year.
Thanks, you’re right! Fixed.
[…] 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.
Love this idea! I would come!
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!!!