<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by JohnG:
Assuming its true, why on earth would anyone do this ? All major exec. recruitment companies have global offices, nobody in their right mind would fly across the globe every week, I am aware of "commuting" btween NYC and LHR, but Oz to Europe is a completley different story....no matter how comfortable F is, the jetlag will still destroy you after a while. </font>
Just because a major firm has offices in SYD and LHR, and just because there's technology that allows more effective conferencing than before doesn't mean regular travel is out between the two places.
My uncle is SYD-based and for awhile was flying every few weeks to ZRH. He reached a place in his career and with his firm that he was able to say "if someone wants to see me, they can come to me." But that cut down on his travel... and two years ago was making regular runs in paid F to LHR and staying in LHR for only 20 hours or so.
When you're putting together details on a deal valued in the ten figures, and the deal is between companies based in those two cities, sometimes the key players have to get together. Regularly. Why doesn't the person in SYD just stay in LHR for awhile? Because they also have to get together with the folks in SYD. Sorry, but it happens.
And yes, the jetlag is a killer even in F. But you do what you have to do. And you make enough to take nice vacations, and you just have to have the discipline to actually take those vacations.
This isn't how MOST OF US live and work, and that's perhaps why it's so hard to imagine. But that's also why 20 million flight miles in an account is so rare and worth writing/speculating about!
Alas, my mileage balance is only in the seven figures and that includes affinity miles.
[This message has been edited by gleff (edited 07-30-2003).]