FenLandK

Exactly!

AlicorporateUK

The most annoying things to me are: having to fly down London and back 2/3 times a week; catching the 5.55am KL flight to AMS at least twice a month; not getting good sleeps at hotels (the latter really drives me insane)

Stez

I haven't been flying for a while, and haven't flown BA since about January and still manage to come here regularly.

I actually miss the flying and travelling, and now got a new job which involves monthly LHR-SYD-Australian Domestic flights coming up soon ^

northernvilla

This is very true! Also, the concept of staying in hotels is often described as fun and exciting (for those who dont stay away often) it is less so if you are doing it 2-3 nights a week!

HIDDY

Indeed...

It's an interesting post from rossmacd the consequences of which I have been observing over my years on here. From what I've observed most peoples attitudes change when they make the transition from being a frequent flyer for work purposes to a infrequent one for leisure only.

Some become rather bitter towards the airline as if it's the airlines fault for them losing their shiny cards and the perks they used to enjoy free gratis. I have noticed a few posters opinion of the airline change for the worse as they drop down the status ladder. Others will become less serious about the whole business of flying and enjoy it more.
Quite a few posters will of course just disappear from the forum altogether. Whether that's because they can't face admitting to losing status,have no real interest in flying outside the workplace or find better things to do with their time I don't know for sure....probably a mixture of all three.

origin

You get home and then try to attack the trouser press when half asleep instead of trying to get out of the room or bathroom. Many times. Or waking up forgetting which City you are in.

origin

Lives change. Normally work wise or lifestyle wise you go through a different life cycles and phases. Travel is one of them. Then you move onto something else.

Its a bit like music taste. Sometimes you will like that the loud noise. Other times in life the quite nicer music. Thinking why did I buy that CD. These days you dont even buy cds.

Jenbel

Having done something similar - just enjoy it. While you might not be racking up the miles so much (Tesco shopping suddenly becomes a lot more important) you also are not doing the travelling so much you meet yourself coming backwards and you don't know where you are.

And here's the heresy - why do you need to retain status?

Afterall, you have status to help you when travelling a lot. If you aren't travelling a lot, then what is the point of status?

Having dropped from top tier in two alliances (and only ever ruby in oneworld, but hey, three was just not achievable ) I am now an airline nobody. But, I've also found I don't need it. OLCI/SSCI lets you avoid the necessity joining the J queue. I have priority pass which I predominantly use for domestics as I only try to fly J or higher - which ends up showing me that I don't need status. I use my FT knowledge to get the best class I can (except on domestic obviously) and find that magically if you are flying at the pointy end, status brings little benefit.

So don't get too hung up on how many flights you need to retain status - enjoy the CE and the CW flights as a blue, and don't worry about it.

Oh, and if you are like me, watch out for the jetlag withdrawal. When you are used to suffering jetlag on a regular basis, you'll find your body will inflict it on you when you stop suffering it for real, as it thinks you should be suffering it took a couple of months for me to stop suffering jetlag withdrawal :eek;

Padmeister

Congratulations on the new job Stez ^

I work in IT and would love to do lots of travel but unfortunately i only travel for annual holidays and the odd weekend away

origin

Well done Stez ^

Swanhunter

Enjoy the break.

My travelling has halved in the last 18 months and frankly it has been great. More time at home, better social life and holidays are even more enjoyable as they feel more like a break than an extension of never ending business travel. I've also lost weight, stopped having migraines and colds too. I've lost status with VS totally and dropped from GGL to Goldscum but as I see airports and planes less frequently it doesn't matter much. The loss of the GGL Joker is the only thing that really bothers me.

PaulN

I wouldn't worry. Most of us don't need to come here hourly. We just do because it can be quite interesting or fun. Even if you are statusless you can still look down on those with a post count of 1 who come here to share their complaint letter to BA and then disappear.

Stez

Thanks folks Same thing, different name but apparently the grass is greener and the sand is redder in the Australian deserts than in the Libya Sahara but we will see

origin

The PM is from Wales, UK so hopefully you wont need to escape so quickly this time.

Good Luck

rossmacd

Thanks all for the kind support ^

Having spoken to my new boss yesterday, it may look like there may be one trip per month at the most, albeit MAN-LHR/LGW (BA's shortest route!! )

I will be glad to cut down all this flying lark, as it will be great for my social life - no more leaving the house at 5am for the first flight out of LHR/LGW and returning after 10pm from the return flight ^

Flying for work is not sexy and something that, I believe, people should not aspire to. What people should aspire to is flying premium classes for leisure - you are travelling in relative luxury for 6-12hours to reach a destination that you have picked and paid for yourself, therefore the time when you arrive is yours and yours alone. Hopefully with this new job I will have more money and time to pay for such holidays ^

In response to those who are asking about maintaining status - I would like to maintain status as I will be taking frequent weekend trips to London and Continental Europe to visit friends and family and would like to fly in ET/Dom and would like to have the ground benefits

All in all, I don't think the drop in flying will reduce the time I spend on FT, it will likely increase it! Anyway, I need to find a new income stream for all those miles

Who knows, I may be tempted in another travelling job in the future, depending on the conditions!