We're the same! Somos iguais!

It's hard to do some self-introduction. So I'd better use this article which I think pretty sums up my interest in travel, geography, and aviation.

This is a thread started by user " Peanuts" of http://www.airliners.net.

Here is what "Peanuts" has to say...followed by my answers and comments:

Can anyone relate to my quirky timetable and route map obsession I had as a kid? (this obsession is more subdued now, it seems, but I still catch myself sometimes checking out websites in search for the perfect timetable and route map). Since about age 10, I've had a particular interest in checking out timetables and route maps of airliners from all over the world. Don't know why.

Me: In my case, not that early. My interest for timetables and route maps began when I was I think 21 years old though my interest in machines that fly began when I was still a kid. Besides I grew up in the province where there were no airline offices nor GSA's.

Before the internet (gee, I'm getting old), I was somewhat limited in my quest for information. I would take a trip by train from my parents' home in Rotterdam to Schiphol Airport (AMS) and snatch all the timetables I could get my hands on from the different airline counters spread throughout the departure hall. Sometimes, these airline employees would look at me in a funny way. Some of them even refused to give me one. I knew right then that my "hobby" may have been a little odd to some. I just couldn't help myself. I would go to AMS at least twice a year so I could get my hands on the Summer and Winter timetable editions. I would even go as far as comparing the two to see what changes were implemented by certain carriers.

Me: I would do this back when I was still a student in Madrid. Every week I'd go there to check out what was there "in store for me". If there was no new stuff, I'd just have some snack there and do some planespotting and go back to my flat. In Manila Airport, unfortunately, it's not possible. So now, what I do is send e-mails to airline companies and many of them would respond and send me stuff.

At night, I would page through those booklets for hours on end. Trying to figure out routings and connection possibilities. Some booklets were better than others. For some reason, I always liked the ones with route maps that had the actual lines drawn out on them from point A to point B. That always impressed me. Just showing a dot on a destination map without the "flight line" was just a turn off somehow.

Me: That's what I exactly do until now.

Nowadays, the "interactive" route maps on airline websites are mostly a disappointment. Often, the routings on there are inaccurate. They sometimes don't account for equipment changes on route. Sometimes, the maps are too fragmented so you don't see the full effect of a route map, if you know what I mean.

Me: That's true. But there are online interactive route maps that are worth mentioning such as that of Turkish Airlines, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Emirates, Qantas, Korean Air, etc. Nothing beats the route maps on in-flight magazines though.

Anyone out there find particularly interesting looking route maps online that are pretty accurate and inclusive? On another note, I always used to enjoy the old KLM timetables that showed the "Non Stop" and "Direct" only flights. As a personal preference, timetables with only non stop flights listed, seem more "real" to me. Anyone else concur with that or am I being too picky? Some airlines, I remember TWA and Pan Am in particular, would list flights to a lot of destinations from the smallest city for instance, all with a connection through their hub city. For some reason, these kind of timetables never made any sense to me. They were bulky and a waste of paper I thought. Up until about 2005 or so, NW still had a very thin paper timetable that only listed the non stop and direct flights. It was one of my favorite timetables as it seemed more real to me. It was a timetable that made a lot of sense. If you understood their "hub system", you could basically make your own routings and connections by paging through that thin little booklet. I think Northwest "understood" their frequent flyer, with their timetable.

Are there still airlines out there (including "hub and spoke" carriers) that only list their non stop flights in a timetable?

Am I an oddball for enjoying timetables (paper or pdf files) that only display non stop flights?

Am I an oddball for enjoying route maps that show the actual "lines" from point A to B?

Just wondering if I am alone...

Me: No, you're not alone! In any case, " we" are not alone!

Here is the link. We can see that after all, there are lots of "me" and " Peanuts" all over the world!

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/4655268/