rkkwan

Less than 2 weeks till 2006. What are your "firsts" for 2005? Here are mine:

- First visits to airports:
BRS - Bristol, UK
YEG - Edmonton, AB, Canada
BOI - Boise, ID

[My tally is now 86.]

- First time on these planes:
ERJ-145
MD-90
B777-300ER (will happen 12/24)
A320 (will happen 12/25)

-Misc:
First crossing of the Atlantic in a narrowbody (CO's 757-200)
First sighting of polar lights (flying to YEG)

What about yours?

mrwunrfl

First visits to airports: CNX, ICN, TOY, ZRH, NGO, NGS, YGJ, CMH, DTW, BUF, SNA

First time on Independence, AirTran, and America West.

First op-ups on international flights SFO-NGO (gate) and NGO-SFO (advance op-up) on UA.

Worktowander

First airports: Rome, Venice

Misc:
First time stuck in a middle seat trans-Atlantic. (NWA DC-10)

ms_go

I'm procrastinating on my work this morning, so I'll play...

First visits to airports:
NAP-Naples, IT
WAW-Warsaw
SVO-Moscow

Misc. firsts:
-First time in a flat-bed business class seat, Lufthansa New Business ... ahhhh
-First time ever buying myself (as opposed to work buying me) a business class ticket; yes, it was one of the highly discounted ones; unlikely to happen again for a long while

Lynn_Gibson

Made AA Exec Platinum in August! I've been Exec Plat for several years, but usually don't make it until Dec.

First time to airports in Rome and Charlotte, NC.

P_M

Great question, rkkwan. I had so many firsts in 2005, but I'll stick to the travel-related ones. Is it OK to post travel-related firsts that aren't just about flying? I hope so, here are mine:

First time to visit York, Wales, and the Lake District.

First time to visit England w/o going into London.

First time to watch another person pass away. This happened in York.

First time to watch a baby lamb being born. This happened in Wales.

When I started this posting, I didn't think I had any airplane/airport related firsts, but I just thought of one. Back in June I went to my first sneak preview of a new airport terminal. I visited DFW's new international terminal before it was open to the public. It was really quite interesting, and of course, I have a Fodorite to thank for posting the notice. I would have never heard if it without that.

P_M

Let me re-state my last sentence. I would have never heard about it if not for the notice on this board.

Geez, what was I thinking?

otto

heres mine...

*first time in vermont with my boyfriend.

*first time in saint sulpice, jardin du luxemburg, and euro disney in paris.

*first brother of mine got engaged this year. (second, than my sister got engaged)

*first time having easter dinner without my family.

*first time moving to an apartment (not dorm) in nyc.

*first time to barcelona, spain.

*first time being upgraded to business class, on a leisure trip. (see barcelona)

*first time using on line bill pay.

*first time having christmas eve not with my family.

fun thread!

AnnMarie_C

First time to Alaska.

First time to Aspen, CO and flying in a British made plane that has wings above the cabin--very cool!

First time to Naples, FL and flying in a jet that had just one set of seats on the right side, two on the left--very cool!

First time I spent Thanksgiving in Maryland with family in about 10 years.

First time I'll be going to Maryland for part of the Christmas holiday to see my family since we moved to Texas 16+ years ago.

First time we cancelled a trip to Italy because of our sick cat.

First time we realized we have just 3+ years left in Texas and have options to consider.

P_M

AnnMarie just reminded me of another first this year. I flew on a private plane for the first time, owned by my former employer. It was a tiny plane which seated only 8 people. Before the trip I was afraid of flying such a little plane. But I liked it so much I have decided I must have my own little plane. All I have to do now is win the lotto, then I will go plane-shopping.

FainaAgain

Oh, I don't remember those 3-letter abbreviations!

First time to/from Newark airport on the way to Europe, nice compact clean airport, will layover there again next year!

First time on Continental, good service, flights on-time.

First time to Zurich, parts of the airport building were under construction, loved the country, didn't care for the airport itself except the "Wilhelm Tell bears" statue - the picture is over my desk now.

First time on Alaska Airlines - love their on-time performance!

First time at the Palm Springs airport - baking hot outside, nice and cool inside, beautiful decor, very limited food choice (yes, arrived early, so what? shoot me? )

sunshine007

First time at Cairo International Airport, first decision to change careers from Trial Attorney to Teacher of English to Students of Other Languages, first decision to move to Cairo.

Life's good.

Gavin

New to me airports:
Addis Ababa, Lutton, Krakow, Rome FCO, Naples, Budapest, Prague.
New airlines:
Ethiopian, Easyjet, Skyeurope, BA

lynnejoel1015

Pretty small firsts for me, but:

first time in New York City (well, that's a BIG first, isn't it?!)

and first time in Washington, D.C.

both were great! can't wait to return!

AnselmAdorne

1) I retired. That's a first!!

2) Spent a week in Hong Kong, my first visit to Asia. (And special thanks to rkkwan, whose many, many posts on HK guided me like a beacon.)

3) Visited the Auvergne region of France. It seems to be somewhat off the beaten path, at least for North Americans. We loved it and hope to return.

Anselm

mrwunrfl

Also, first time on Bangkok Air and Asiana Airlines.
Also, first time to REP- Siem Reap, Cambodia

Translation of other first visit airports:
CNX - Chiang Mai, Thailand
ICN - Seoul (Inchon), Korea
TOY - Toyama, Japan
ZRH - Zurich, Switzerland
NGO - Nagoya, Japan
NGS - Nagasaki, Japan
YGJ - Yonago, Japan (serving Matsue)
CMH - Columbus, Ohio
DTW - Detroit, Michigan
BUF - Buffalo, New York
SNA - Orange County, California

First trip taken purely to collect FF status miles: Washington Dulles to Pittsburgh to Chicago Midway to Atlanta to Wash. Dulles. Only went through security once. Same day, three airlines.

rkkwan

The "MR" in your screen name now means "Mileage Run"!

karameli

I know this technically doesn't count, but this was ALMOST my first year without a vacation! (Summer trip to N.O. was cancelled, and I lost my v-days when I switched jobs.) Luckily I'm taking off for San Francisco in a week, so I'll make it just under the wire!

smithva

As a forty-something female, first trip to Europe (London), AND by myself, AND during the second wave of bombings in July! I'm dreaming of my next trip...

AAFrequentFlyer

HNL - Honolulu - (AA F/J few times from/to ORD)
SYD - Sydney (QF F from LAX)
AKL - Auckland (QF J from/to SYD)
CHC - Christchurch (QF Y from AKL)
MFN - Milford Sound (tiny prop from/to UEE)
UEE - Queenstown (QF Y to ROT)
ROT - Rotorua - (QF Y from CHC)
EZE - Buenos Aires - (AA F/J from JFK)