In addition to the other important factors (challenge, fun, money, etc...) are there any particular jobs that lend themselves well to supporting a FF addict? And what are some of the more interesting FF jobs? In other words, which jobs take you to a wider variety of places (including international) as opposed to making the same "commute" every week?




[This message has been edited by LEB (edited 03-12-2001).]

Years ago, as I was getting on a DL flight, I looked over the luggage tags in the first class section. The flight had five or six million milers on it. That's the first time I ever saw a "Twice as many is Twice as Nice -- 2 Million Miles" tag.

One guy had a tag that said "There can be Only One -- 8 Million Miles". I asked an FA about the guy. Yes, he was DL's most frequent flier. What did he do for a living? He consulted to airports.

I think that those of us who are sports officials get a relatively nice deal. We travel around to quite a few spots - sometimes on our own nickel; sometimes on the event organizers.

My personal itinerary for January - April 2001 include: LAX, MGM, SNA, MSY (but I drove that one), ATL, ORD (for the job that pays for the water polo), BWI, PIT, HPN, CLE, RDU, and COS. Haven't started scheduling the rest of the year yet, although I have commitments at DCA, SNA, STL, FLL, and DTW sometime before end of summer. As I am not an international referee, I don't go overseas much. Some referees travel more than I do; most travel less.

Oh, and I have a real job too (for example for ORD). But that only accounts for about 3 trips a year.

[This message has been edited by Water Polo Ref (edited 03-13-2001).]

Perhaps running an operation such as Inside Flyer and Webflyer!

I worked as an international auditor for four years for two major corporations. Although many perceive being an auditor as a "downer" job, I loved it! I was in my early 20's and was able to travel 1st class all over the world leading the "jet set" life. I would spend anywhere from 1 week to 6 weeks in one place and really racked up the frequent flyer miles traveling 1st class. The work was exciting because every place I went to was different and in most cases, I was treated like an honored guest by the local employees. I also didn't have to pay federal or state tax since I was out of the country more than 335 days a year. Although I stopped traveling for business about 5 years ago, my husband and I are still taking several international trips a year using my frequent flyer miles. I recently earned the 1,000,000 bonus through LatinPass, too.

I've had several friends that are either auditors, or general business consultants. They do seem to get a lot of travel in, etc. I would also say people that are software/hardware installers, or work on projects for mid/major softare deployments, etc. For instance, our company put in an ACD (automatic call distribution) reporting system, and it involved two to four trips on the part of the company. Both to do planning, installation, training, etc. Oh yes, speakers and trainers would get a lot of travel in as well. Then you would have freelance or IT consultants with firms, etc. Or if you work for a company that has offices around the country or world, etc.

How about the ultimate FF career? I am referring to, of course, being a well-paid travel writer, paid to rate (First Class only) airlines, hotels, and restaurants... I could waste a few hours writing in that first class seat!! Ahhh, but back to reality....

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If anyone is looking for a teacher of French as a foreign language and is willing to employ me for a several day class (intensive corporate class???) with a Star Alliance first class ticket and Hilton stay on YOUR house.... you can Email me!!!

I sat next to a DL 3 million miler who produces college basketball games for ESPN. He said he flys 12 or more segments a week.

Anyone who fly's that much does not have much of a family life. I have two young children ages 2 and 9 and they weigh in big time when I schedule my travels.

If I grow old, sitting back on my rocking chair, I will be thinking about the great time I had raising my children, not that seat I occupied in a long metal tube.

I agree 100% with Tango. That's what kept me out of the consulting game for so long -- I have twin girls born 10/98 and didn't want to be traveling all the time. I took the leap in November and I'm loving it -- so is my family. I'm home 3 nights a week (fly to work Mon morning, fly home Fri afternoon), and soon hope to be home 4 nights a week, working from home on Fridays. It's a very nice balance... all the travel and FF miles, lots of $$$, and I get to see my family about as much as I did as a "captive" employee when I was working 60+ hours a week on "in house" projects. When I was an employee I worked 7 days/week, often getting paged/called on weekends and all hours of the night. Now I work 35-40 hours a week "on site" and am left alone 100% of the time I'm with my family, which is a much better family-work balance in my book. ;-)

Having a job with any of the Big 5 consulting firms(Accenture,PWC,KPMG,EY,DT) will almost guarantee you will be stuck in a metal tube every monday and friday.

But how much does he fly from March to November?