On my first upgrade at 19 years old, I sat next to a middle-aged executive. His advice has stuck with me for the past 23 years:

"If you have the option to spend time with your family or fly somewhere, stay with your family, or if you can, take them with you. I have worked with too many men that miss out on quality family time just because they wanted to take that optional trip. On their deathbed they aren't going to say 'I wish I had taken another flight.'"