130K BIS

And I do appreciate it.

I flew over 100K last year for the first time, all leisure travel. As pointed out above, getting the vacation time is the big problem. I solve that by working at a university that offers significant vacation, then working less than full time.

If you watch carefully for the sale and mistake fares and are willing to commit quickly (because they can end sometimes after only a few hours), you can sometimes get high status on not so much money. I have DL Plat and UA Premier and I'm guessing I spent less than $4000 for air fares last year. This year I won't fly that much, but I'll still make DL Plat, and for less money because of the DMQM offer.

There are people who skillfully manage bumps and use the resulting vouchers to fly for free, or close to it. I haven't progressed that far, but that will be my aim once I retire.

Become an auditor at a Big 4 Firm. But like many have said, its not travel, its work. You do get a ton of hotel/flight rewards. But the catch is, when you have vacation, you just want to stay home!!!!

I don't fly as much now as I used to (now - about 30,000-50,000 miles per year; previously about 60,000-100,000 miles per year). I have been working in international regulatory affairs (sometimes on the public side, sometimes on the private) for some time. The travel experience has varied, depending on the post. In my best job (from a fun travel perspective), I took about a 4-8 day trip once every 6 weeks, about 3/4 to Europe or Asia in J (carrier of my choice) and 1/4 in North America (economy, but usually no more than a 3 hour flight). The hotels were 3.5-4* (rarely 5*) and I got time to sightsee, and could add a day or a week's holiday to the trip pretty much whenever I wanted to. The meeting organizers also typically organized a couple of social events for us during our trip, so it wasn't all work.

The worst was working for an international public sector organization. More Y class flights (anything less than 8 hours) and often on scary national airlines from developing countries and with a requirement to stay in 3* hotels only. On the plus side, the travel was more exotic - I certainly went to some places I never would have thought of going to on my own dime (e.g., Tbilisi, Georgia). And I did once have a day (personal record for me) of standing on the soil (not just transiting in an airport) in 4 countries in one day.

One thing I'm glad I've never had to do is the domestic road warrior routine - e.g., weekly trips to the middle of nowhere via a seat at the back of the plane.

200K BIS miles to date. Another 30-50k BIS miles till the end of the year and secretly hoping that I stop flying after a week or 2 (I gotta finish this project faster and take some much needed vacation). I travel for work 100%. Operations Consultant

I've flown 160K BIS miles this year, all on my own dime. Yes, I've spent some money doing it but probably not as much as you'd expect. It is my passion and my hobby and it is what I use my discretionary income for. I've got about 30K more planned for the year.

Last year finished up at 180K BIS miles.

Being an auditor will do the trick for air travel. Or for sea travel work aboard a cruise ship for fun or a commercial vessel for money.

Do scoot around on a mix of private leers and assorted commerical with a few trains, subs and ships for good measure.

Fly a few hundred thousand miles a year.

Retain about 30 frequent flyer memberships and accumulate a few free flights each month.

Travelled to all states, at least 70 countries, most of the major domestic and international cities.

Whatever, man

100K EQM would cost around $4000 not including any bump vouchers, other compensation and DEQM promotions. Add another 200K RDM to this (at 2c each this is worth $4000 by itself) all the mileage running and other travelling is essentially free. Most of it in first too if you're an elite.

Since only the army guy actually provided a suggestion to our Young Grasshopper, look into consulting firms, like accenture, kmpg, deloitte, etc. Many of their young people travel every week. It is not glamorous. I have had friends traveling to the same second or third tier city for months on end, but the points and miles rack up. If you do that on top of the CC bonuses and other things that are suggested throughout this blog, it will get you pretty far. The consulting firms also hire young folks right out of college. Good luck.

With the recent 'Up in the Air' movie, a lot of threads sprouted with similar questions. Here are just a few:

Which careers involve lots of long haul business travel?

Jobs that require lots of travel?

Careers Involving a lot of Travel

What job for someone who loves int'l travel?

+1 to that. I'll try not to turn this into OMNI, but military life doesn't appear too easy to me. A few miles care of the taxpayers is not out of the question.

Mike

The suggestion of working on a cruise ship should come with an asterisk. It's ~60-70 hour work weeks with no days off. And depending on what job you do, you may not get a lot of time off on the ports (photographers & the entertainers are the exceptions).

It's not glamorous, but it is free travel.

Um... you COULD become a flight attendant or a pilot. DL is hiring FA's from what I understand, and well, you would most certainly FLY 100k a year.



on a more to-the-point note, just get a cush job with some software company. they are always flying their top people 'round the land to promote something somewhere.