I too feel this pull. But would it have changed anything very much? At least in this realm we have some influence over our fate.

I am ok being a FF whore :p I will do almost anything for miles or points!

It seems our intrepid OP is addicted to flying.

This is a fine and lofty ambition and one that got me started on the road to true addiction.

Then one realises the benefits of status and lo and behold you become a status addict.

There is a slight difference between the two although one may not necessarily lead to the other if you just fly without considering the FF program.

What follows is an addiction to flying in business class as your status will no doubt at some point have you seated in front of the curtain.

Then one glorious day you are op-upped to First.
Say goodbye to any common sense or frugality. You are constantly surfing for the best deals in First and finding it way too easy to say 'yes I can afford that'.

The pinnacle of status and a true addict is when you become a first class addict. This addiction is truly debilitating and requires all your will power to resist.

Good luck with the frequent flyer addiction spiral folks.

I could not agree more with the above poster.. It is an addiction.... I find myself looking not daily but HOURLY at the ANA availability tool as well as expertflyer... quite intense but truly great....

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9000/4.6.0.167 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

Well I'm scared now :eek: :p

I've only flown domestic F so far... (Never been on an int'l flight yet)

But I'm dreaming of an int'l flight in F using my AS miles- got enough... But then I'll want to do it again!

I have been going thru withdrawal for the last three weeks.
October to May I commute RSW to MHT weekly.
June thru September my retired spouse comes up to NH for the summer.
All our friends say " Oh, it must be nice not to have to fly every week".
I was so happy to have a business trip this week MHT to LAX. Luckily I have another to DEN in July, ATL in August and SFO in September. These monthly trips will get me through.
Our friends would never understand. I know you do.

The wide world is out there waiting for you...

...and I'd be happy to serve as your guide...for a price! ;)

Ahhhhh... and so we move to a later stage of the journey... the ft variant of that malady of the ancients (past and present ancients)... The Retirement Syndrome... in which we again face that face that we once knew and adored, lo those many years passed by... in the ft variant, passed in the air... some find that they like this person... even love them still... and some find that they still love them, just not that much of them... this passage can be more difficult than the others... because it no longer involves leaning into the wind... but rather balancing upon the stationary fulcrum of marriage... when it has reached that state known in flying as stall... and lift and steerage must be sought, searched and found again... and they fly... sometimes to sustain what they already have... sometimes away...

grasshoppers, think of this also along your journey.