“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. My step-father who had a successful career in business said this to me when I was 10 or 11, and I couldn’t agree more. As much as I’ve learned on my own, those tips or ideas picked up from a friend, someone on FlyerTalk, or a fellow travel fanatic at DO are really where we learn.

In 2010 I met Mr. Pickles; we all did, and we heard of his stories on how much he loved the US Mint. Since then we’ve kept in touch via twitter, and through the blog here periodically passing tips, tricks , and ideas privately using direct messages.

Last week @TheMrPickles tweeted that he was in the LAX Unted Club Lounge. Because he already has the Chase United Club card he hadn’t paid attention to any club offers and did not really care about the current promotion where you could get the United Club Card fee-free first the first year ($395 savings).

While it doesn’t really matter to me much at all as I don’t fly United often, there are plenty of folks that could make good use of the card. I noticed Mr. Pickles was in the lounge and asked for some codes. In his travels around the country that day he gathered codes from the different clubs and made a personal game of it.

The power of networking, on a small scale … but you can’t be a participant unless you “meet” the game players. One way to meet them and exchange contact information is to attend an event like the Chicago Seminars. Great information is handed out during the sessions, but more valuable is the one to one contact with the professionals who will feel more comfortable “sharing” information directly if they know or remember meeting you.

Throughout the period that the US Mint was selling money, Mr. Pickles guided many people through direct contact on the ins and outs of bank deposits and US Mint purchasing rules. Hundreds of thousands of miles were earned by many. Sometimes the easiest way to earn miles is right in front of you and you don’t even realize it. Having a like minded friend who you can bounce ideas off of can be invaluable. The Power of Networking. Learn it at the Chicago Seminars. If you haven’t signed up yet, you can register for the 2012 Chicago Seminars.

Oh, and about those codes to get the United Club Card with the $395 annual fee waived for the first year. I’ve got 41 of them … who wants em? Leave a comment making sure an email address is included so I can send it over if you want one.

Thanks Mr. Pickles; see you in October.

UPDATE 11:24am EDT on 5/10/2012: We’ve given out all of Mr. Pickles’ codes.  If anyone has any codes they’re not going to use please email them to howie@frugaltravelguy.com and I’ll get them out to those that have commented.