<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fallinasleep:
Never forget that the journey is about meeting people, seeing new things, experiencing culture shock, getting lost in a foreign place, depending on strangers for help, realizing that your Amex Centurion, AA Ex Plat, or complete lack of status means nothing to 99.999% of the world, having a bad stomach virus, looking forward to the journey home ... I'm not sure if it really matters in the end if you sat/slept in a First Suite or in a Third-Class Carriage
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Quite true.
I can't speak for others, but I do mileage runs so that I can later get to a destination either for less money than it would otherwise cost or better yet get there in style, once again for less than it would actually cost. Once there, I can then experience all the aforementioned benefits (or detriments) of being in a different country and culture. Last year, $1200.00 worth of mileage runs financed my First Class trip between Alaska and New Zealand. Were I to have bought even an economy class ticket without benefit of a mileage run, it would have cost me close to $1500.00.
Oddly enough however, once I reach the destination, I'm definitely relegated to the Third Class Carriage (or hitch-hiking) and staying in hostels or camping. Go figure. Still, I meet some great people and have some great times of a type that would be far less likely to happen were I ensconced in some swank resort.