Thank you Thank you Thank you
 

I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to Fodors and all the wonderful Fodorites who provide such fabulous travel tips and advice. I have been able to travel to so many more places through the years due to your advice on which web sites provide the best travel discounts or which hotel is the best value or which restaurants are the best. People are often amazed at the bargains I get and often wonder where I get the travel knowledge I possess. I always direct them to Fodors.com because it is a wonderful travel resource. I never travel to a new location without checking the advice of my fellow Fodorites. You have NEVER ONCE steered me wrong. Thank you so much for sharing your travel knowlege with others.

THANK YOU, RG. All week, nothing but carping! A Change to Gratitude is so pleasant. Many happy travels to you, and it has been a pleasure to assist you (where did you go so I will know how much credit to claim).

My husband and I have been very fortunate to live in a city with a Southwest Airlines Hub which has
enabled us to travel much more economically - therefore stretching our travel dollars. In the last five years, we have visited the Big Island, Maui, and Oahu, Hawaii, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Reno, Savannah, San Antonio, Chicago, Atlanta, Myrtle Beach, Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, Charleston, Chicago, Nashville, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Caribbean Islands, Washington, D.C., Grand Canyon, and Sonoma. However, there are so many more places that I want to visit. I want to go to Italy, and with Fodors help, am tempted to go unescorted. I've been waivering between a tour or winging it. However, I think we'll catch our breath before attempting Italy. Again, thanks for all of your help.

Southwest doesn't fly to most of those places....but they'll appreciate the plug.

What a nice post for a change! I to ask lots of questions and have always received great advice! It's nice to be able to "trust" people who have been there and done that!

Of course I love to give advice too!

RaleighGirl, this post is showing as your very first one EVER. Did you just "lurk" on the Fodors board without asking questions (perfectly acceptable) or is this a new screen name?

I'm also a little puzzled by the Southwest plug since, as stated, most of the destinations aren't even served by SWA.

Hmmm. Perhaps RaleighGirl's comment is not as innocuous as it may at first appear? On the other hand, SWAA doesn't fly to DC, but it does fly to BWI, not to the Smoky Mts., but it does to BNA (Nashville) and also RDU, it does fly to Chicago's Midway, not to LAS but to Ontario/Orange Co., and of course, SWAA doesn't fly anywhere near the Caribbean or Hawaii. It could be sincere, then again, there may be a purposeful SWAA plug in there as well!

You people are sharp. Actually my screen name was DianeK but I lost my password so I had to create a new screen name. No, I don't work for Southwest but they do fly to Buffalo (Niagara Falls/Toronto), Nashville, San Jose (San Francisco), San Antonio, Las Vegas, Reno, and Fort Lauderdale (cruise). We drove from NC to Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, Savannah, etc. We had an American Airlines Advantage miles card for frequent flyer miles to Hawaii (no I don't work for AA - I cancelled the AA credit card once I got enough miles for Hawaii - the annual fee was too steep). Someone on Fodors suggested the Idiots Guide to Hawaii guidebook (I think that's what the name of it was - it was six years ago). It was invaluable. Your tips about Priceline/Hotwire and Biddingfortravel.com helped me to get four star hotels at rates I could have never afforded without the deep discount. I've gotten great advice about the Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce and given some opinions myself. My trips wouldn't have been affordable or nearly as enjoyable without your advice. Thanks again. DianeK

Good one Dan! So Gameboy, how did you assist RaleighGirl if her screen name never existed until this post which was started this month?

BTW, DianeK only posted four threads. One did not even get a response. The questions were about Car rental no shows, Hilo, Carrot Top, and the Mayflower Hotel. Gameboy, you don't need to claim any credit because you did not post on any of them.

I thought Diane was a Raleigh area resident (Fuquay-Varina I believe) who raises/trains/shows horses and did comment on the correct pronunciaion of FV.

As someone who uses RDU (Raleigh-Durham International for those who don't know all airport codes) SouthWest has caused a drop in all ticket prices from all carriers. If SWA announces a sale of $99 one way based on round trip purchase, other airlines offering service to the same cities usually get the same fare. Woo-hoo.

By the way DianeK/RaleighGirl CitiBank has a bronze level AAdvantage credit card that is free, but you only earn one mile for every $2 spent.

Sorry, I'm not from Fuquay-Varina but I have also posted under other screen names because I changed Internet providers and my email address changed. I usually only look at Fodors when I'm planning a trip. Thanks for the tip about the Citibank card. However, frequent flier miles have become so difficult to use I probably won't attempt that again.