Who travels a lot? (two to three long hauls a month)
Discussion
2Btoo said:
Simply put - no. Couple the hatefulness of being on a plane (First Class is indeed legions better than Cattle but still utterly hateful) with the huge amounts of time it wastes and it beggars belief why anyone would want to do it at all. Tie that in with the time away from family and kids and it looks less favourable still.
I pity the poor sap who talked about having a Gold Card at 23 - he really really needs to get a different perspective on things. I cannot think of a more dismal way of spending my 20's.
Being present at a work meeting still trumps any form of videoconferencing - I can certainly vouch for the advantages of it. However that applies identically with family; there is no substitute for presence. Seeing family on Facetime and work colleagues in person feels like the priorities are the wrong way 'round.
I get your sentiments but a BA gold card is hardly a huge amount of travelling, a business class return every other month. My wife got one this year on leisure travel only. I pity the poor sap who talked about having a Gold Card at 23 - he really really needs to get a different perspective on things. I cannot think of a more dismal way of spending my 20's.
Being present at a work meeting still trumps any form of videoconferencing - I can certainly vouch for the advantages of it. However that applies identically with family; there is no substitute for presence. Seeing family on Facetime and work colleagues in person feels like the priorities are the wrong way 'round.
2Btoo said:
I pity the poor sap who talked about having a Gold Card at 23 - he really really needs to get a different perspective on things. I cannot think of a more dismal way of spending my 20's.
Actually I think that is the best time to do it. Work travel when I was young, free and single was a lot more fun. Being "stuck" in San Francisco for a weekend and on company expenses was not a chore.These days I would rather be home and spending time with my kids.
Vaud said:
2Btoo said:
I pity the poor sap who talked about having a Gold Card at 23 - he really really needs to get a different perspective on things. I cannot think of a more dismal way of spending my 20's.
Actually I think that is the best time to do it. Work travel when I was young, free and single was a lot more fun. Being "stuck" in San Francisco for a weekend and on company expenses was not a chore.These days I would rather be home and spending time with my kids.
That's me.
To be fair I did enjoy a lot of it - touring the world in Club/First, 5* hotels, and with generous expense rules - really not bad when you're young and single.
After a few years non stop though it's a bit wearing. It's this stuff in this thread which led me to really cut down my flying. Maybe there will come a time when I go back to it, but right now I'm quite happy handing the Gold Card back.
Edited by brickwall on Tuesday 20th November 11:46
brickwall said:
:Byebye:
That's me.
To be fair I did enjoy a lot of it - touring the world in Club/First, 5* hotels, and with generous expense rules - really not bad when you're young and single.
After a few years non stop though it's a bit wearing. It's this stuff in this thread which led me to really cut down my flying. Maybe there will come a time when I go back to it, but right now I'm quite happy handing the Gold Card back.
Thats what I used to think when I was younger. But looking back, I didn't tour anything except airports and hotels, which frankly, could have been anywhere because I hardly got to see anything apart from the view from the cab/hire car on the way to the hotel/airport. That's me.
To be fair I did enjoy a lot of it - touring the world in Club/First, 5* hotels, and with generous expense rules - really not bad when you're young and single.
After a few years non stop though it's a bit wearing. It's this stuff in this thread which led me to really cut down my flying. Maybe there will come a time when I go back to it, but right now I'm quite happy handing the Gold Card back.
Being tied to airlines and becoming anal about various privilege programs just added to the whole merry go round. It's only decades later that I realised I've never really been to all those countries and had no idea what they were really like.
Nowadays I travel only for leisure, where and when I want, with whatever airline I please without worrying I might loose my status if I don't take a particular flight. I developed a real hate for flying from those years and only travel in business when I do fly long haul. The only strange thing I have noticed is that I get upgraded much more now than I ever used to when travelling for work, despite flying much, much less frequently. It was explained recently, that the reason for that is because I'm the person who decides who my next flight will be with, not some company policy.
cashmax said:
Thats what I used to think when I was younger. But looking back, I didn't tour anything except airports and hotels, which frankly, could have been anywhere because I hardly got to see anything apart from the view from the cab/hire car on the way to the hotel/airport.
Being tied to airlines and becoming anal about various privilege programs just added to the whole merry go round. It's only decades later that I realised I've never really been to all those countries and had no idea what they were really like.
Maybe I was old before my time but it didn't take me many First Class flights to realise that being stuck in a aluminium tube breathing stale air without enough space to be comfortable was made no less crap by the prettiness of the stewardess or the quality of the champagne on the tray. Being tied to airlines and becoming anal about various privilege programs just added to the whole merry go round. It's only decades later that I realised I've never really been to all those countries and had no idea what they were really like.
Spot on with the comment about hire cars and hotels all looking the same. It's what the word 'Generic' was coined for.
Vaud said:
Actually I think that is the best time to do it. Work travel when I was young, free and single was a lot more fun. Being "stuck" in San Francisco for a weekend and on company expenses was not a chore.
I'm sure it wasn't. But I am equally sure that for every weekend spent somewhere with someone else's money to spend there were four or five weekends spent in a departure lounge somewhere en route to a Monday morning meeting, knowing that this is your weekend but you are expected to give it up for travelling with no more payment than a weaselly 'Thanks' from the boss. Your mates meanwhile are out having a storming time and enjoying life as they should at weekends.
F*** that for a game of soldiers. It gets old very quickly indeed.
2Btoo said:
I'm sure it wasn't. But I am equally sure that for every weekend spent somewhere with someone else's money to spend there were four or five weekends spent in a departure lounge somewhere en route to a Monday morning meeting, knowing that this is your weekend but you are expected to give it up for travelling with no more payment than a weaselly 'Thanks' from the boss. Your mates meanwhile are out having a storming time and enjoying life as they should at weekends.
F*** that for a game of soldiers. It gets old very quickly indeed.
It does. Which is why I don't do it anymore.F*** that for a game of soldiers. It gets old very quickly indeed.
Vaud said:
2Btoo said:
I'm sure it wasn't. But I am equally sure that for every weekend spent somewhere with someone else's money to spend there were four or five weekends spent in a departure lounge somewhere en route to a Monday morning meeting, knowing that this is your weekend but you are expected to give it up for travelling with no more payment than a weaselly 'Thanks' from the boss. Your mates meanwhile are out having a storming time and enjoying life as they should at weekends.
F*** that for a game of soldiers. It gets old very quickly indeed.
It does. Which is why I don't do it anymore.F*** that for a game of soldiers. It gets old very quickly indeed.
I'm tempted to offer to buy you a pint as we are both of such a similar mindset. Although I fear the journey to the pub may take more than a nanosecond for one or other of us so I'd better not, eh?
cashmax said:
Being tied to airlines and becoming anal about various privilege programs
Ever seen the film "Up In The Air?"My first mid-haul, multi trip project was Baku back in 2010. BMi used to fly the route and - with the assistance of a BMi credit card I attained Silver Status which, from memory, allowed priority check and priority boarding. But I racked a fair amount of points and got close to gold. In bid to get this, I started to become exactly that - anal about the flights I booked, even opting for stopovers so I could get some points, even if another airline flew direct. Madness.
When BA took over BMi - everything was transferred to Avios and the tens changed and within 12 months I was back to 'Blue'. Never bothered since.
StevieBee said:
cashmax said:
Being tied to airlines and becoming anal about various privilege programs
Ever seen the film "Up In The Air?"My first mid-haul, multi trip project was Baku back in 2010. BMi used to fly the route and - with the assistance of a BMi credit card I attained Silver Status which, from memory, allowed priority check and priority boarding. But I racked a fair amount of points and got close to gold. In bid to get this, I started to become exactly that - anal about the flights I booked, even opting for stopovers so I could get some points, even if another airline flew direct. Madness.
When BA took over BMi - everything was transferred to Avios and the tens changed and within 12 months I was back to 'Blue'. Never bothered since.
I fly Emirates when going East and do enough on BA to keep Silver (I can’t see the point of gold with them as I’d rather not fly them). Silver give Club checkin, security fast track and the all important lounge access across the OW fleet. I think, this year, I’ve got 1200 points and the required 4 sectors.
Emirates Gold is pretty easy to hit - 50k points does it (2 business class returns to Aus will achieve it). Platinum is a fair bit harder as the requirement jumps from 50k to 150k points.
I tend to split my hotels between Marriott in the Americas and Shangri-La in Asia.
My wife travels a fair bit as well, time can get a bit tight at home. When we are away, we have a policy of “being away”. Typically, no long calls home, no FaceTime, no skype. Just a text a day to say we’re still alive and where we’re moving on to next.
The only time it differs is if I’m in a country of concern and have to check in with a safe phrase a couple of times a day to keep the corporate insurers happy.
Yep. One of the more “interesting” situations was being taken to a lap dancing club in the basement of a hotel outside the green zone in central Baghdad (as it was one of the only places in town that had cold beer). Once we had arrived and gone through the checks, we were told that we had to leave the CP in the Landcruiser. That was a rather nerve-wracking hour or so!
halfpenny43 said:
paulguitar said:
halfpenny43 said:
Silver with Luftwaffe
.
Crikey!.
What does that get you?
Silver with Luftwaffe does get you entrance to Business Class lounges in the German Airports they use as hubs (FRA, MUC), but also other lounges in different countries too.
I've Senator with "Luftwaffe". When I got this I also got 2 e-vouchers for upgrades, so I upgraded a long haul from FRA - MEX earlier this year from business to first with LH. Being collected at FRA from my Luxembourg hop by a chauffeur driven Panamera Turbo was rather nice. Chauffeur also took my colleague who was travelling in business. The First Class lounge is a VERY different prospect to Business or Senator, IME.
You can keep Luftwaffe's Senator status by having 4 or so long haul trips / year, but not being on restricted / low price business class seats. The fact you're already a Senator bumps up your miles with bonuses too. (I'm saving my miles towards 4 x business class flights to Tokyo in 2020.)
As to my job: I buy banking services for our organisation and travel to the Americas, CEE, CIS, Russia & Turkey.
My last trip this year will be Buenos Aires & Montevideo, leaving in 10 days. I'll be gone for almost a week. Bit of southern hemisphere sunshine, great steaks, and even better wine.
Edited by RC1807 on Wednesday 21st November 08:25
RC1807 said:
halfpenny43 said:
paulguitar said:
halfpenny43 said:
Silver with Luftwaffe
.
Crikey!.
What does that get you?
Silver with Luftwaffe does get you entrance to Business Class lounges in the German Airports they use as hubs (FRA, MUC), but also other lounges in different countries too.
I've Senator with "Luftwaffe". When I got this I also got 2 e-vouchers for upgrades, so I upgraded a long haul from FRA - MEX earlier this year from business to first with LH. Being collected at FRA from my Luxembourg hop by a chauffeur driven Panamera Turbo was rather nice. Chauffeur also took my colleague who was travelling in business. The First Class lounge is a VERY different prospect to Business or Senator, IME.
You can keep Luftwaffe's Senator status by having 4 or so long haul trips / year, but not being on restricted / low price business class seats. The fact you're already a Senator bumps up your miles with bonuses too. (I'm saving my miles towards 4 x business class flights to Tokyo in 2020.)
As to my job: I buy banking services for our organisation and travel to the Americas, CEE, CIS, Russia & Turkey.
My last trip this year will be Buenos Aires & Montevideo, leaving in 10 days. I'll be gone for almost a week. Bit of southern hemisphere sunshine, great steaks, and even better wine.
Edited by RC1807 on Wednesday 21st November 08:25
Either I have lost my mind or there are several parrots due.
Vaud said:
paulguitar said:
The reason I asked was that it was my understanding that “Luftwaffe’ is the German air force.
Either I have lost my mind or there are several parrots due.
Lufthansa = Luftwaffe.Either I have lost my mind or there are several parrots due.
It's a derogatory nickname for them IIRC.
Have a free papagei.
It gets very dull and shallow very quickly. I did 4 weeks away earlier this year, where I went to Dubai, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Wellington, Auckland, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Not spending more than 3 nights in a row in a hotel gets really tiring, really quickly.
Just the practical things like getting your laundry done / replenishing shaving sticks / buying new razor blades / getting a haircut become a mighty pain in the ass even in English speaking countries.
Fortunately, I’m a pretty outgoing person and have never sat in the room and had room service so I am out pretty much every night. I always take a club room in whatever hotel I’m staying in so there’s a chance to talk to other people over drinks and canapés during happy hour (you normally get a continental breakfast as well so it works out cheaper than a regular room plus breakfast).
Just the practical things like getting your laundry done / replenishing shaving sticks / buying new razor blades / getting a haircut become a mighty pain in the ass even in English speaking countries.
Fortunately, I’m a pretty outgoing person and have never sat in the room and had room service so I am out pretty much every night. I always take a club room in whatever hotel I’m staying in so there’s a chance to talk to other people over drinks and canapés during happy hour (you normally get a continental breakfast as well so it works out cheaper than a regular room plus breakfast).
schmalex said:
It gets very dull and shallow very quickly. I did 4 weeks away earlier this year, where I went to Dubai, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Wellington, Auckland, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Not spending more than 3 nights in a row in a hotel gets really tiring, really quickly.
I had a job doing a 'poor mans' version of this. Instead of exotic locations, think up and down the country in Travel lodges 4 days a week. Basingstoke -> Northampton -> Slough -> Solihull was the type of places i'd be heading!Moved on quickly from that job.
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