pinkcat

ah, its not just me then
went on the Royal Gorge route in CO a few weeks ago, could have ridden it all day!

HIDDY

That sounds marvellous fun.....have you read Seat 2As wonderful train trip reports?
I did a Kamloops - Lake Louise overnight in my own sleeping cabin many years ago....waking up amongst the Rockies really was an unforgettable experience. Would love to do more trips by train.

BushwoodCountryClub

Great thread!
Childhood holidays in the 80s were at a caravan in West Wales (and were fabulous), but I never went near a plane until I was about 10 when we flew to Munich for a first family holiday abroad - went in the cockpit too, and I got a signed postcard (737-200) from the Captain :-) I'm fairly sure even then I actually quite liked airports, which has certainly helped in more recent times!

Through school days in the early 90's I flew maybe once or twice a year - school ski trips, exchanges etc, and this period included my first long haul: LGW-BOS, then Greyhound to Orlando, and finally MCO-MSP-LGW on Northwest. It was in the back, but felt incredible.
This pattern of a couple of trips a year with a very occasional long-haul lasted until around 10 years ago when I entered the world of work. My company was based in Germany, so as time went on the frequency of business travel increased (anything in Europe and all under 5 hours in Y), and added to this were my increased leisure trips - USA, Middle-East, Africa and shorter stuff too.
Around 2004 I started thinking that my travel was getting frequent enough that I should look at one of these frequent flyer programs I kept seeing in the in-flight mag (and that genuinely sounded to me quite "glamorous"). Firstly (given the German travel) was M&M, but I quickly realised the rate of progress with my patterns/class was lousy so lost the card down the back of the sofa at some point.
Around this time I started to fly BA more too, I much preferred the ambiance and experience to that of Lufthansa (yellow and grey.....), and I knew that flying BA or telling others you were doing so felt in some way good (I am proud to be British too)!

Then in 2005 there was a step change in my travel patterns - more regular Transatlantic started, and for these I could go in WT+, or if there was a sale I could squeeze J in. Naturally, the first time in the lounge (T1 back then) was fantastic - just entering the sanctum felt rather special. I was still stuck on Blue in BAEC due to low frequencies but I was picking up points and miles, and this did possibly assist in a couple of opups and some nice treatment on occasions (a couple of lounge vouchers in LAX for example). This continued for the next five years or so - no real status but just picking up a few things here and there, and liking the fact that your loyalty was being recognised with a handful of award bookings.

Eight months ago this all changed though, and I was offered a global role within the company. It wasn't clear how much travel it would entail at first as it was working on a completely new project. As things worked out though, it was a lot (by my standards anyway), and given I can essentially control the travel it was only going to be on one airline - BA. The travel started in April, and within 4 months I'd made it to Silver (reaching 610 points one day before my year end :-)). In the four months since I've racked up another 1250 points and am well on course for Gold in the next month or so. The travel has been a mixture of shorthaul Y and longhaul J, and except various shorthauls all exclusively BA (and despite the odd up and down I am proud of that) - the progress through the club has become pretty addictive.

It's early days in my rather more frequent flying I know, but I don't bore of it. The river of life in an airport can never be less than fascinating for me (although there have been a couple of close calls at CDG "security"), and as someone fascinated by engineering and geography the whole aspect of a plane flying above a tapestry of landscapes is simply majestic. What sums up a love of travel for me was an overnight return from LAX a few years back. Peering out the window I could see it was a completely clear night over the plains of Midwest America and Southern Canada, and during a snowy January the ground was shimmering silver as it reflected the moonlight. On the flat treeless plains the visibility was enormous, and for dozens (or even hundreds) of miles you could see little clusters of lights in the farming towns with thin veins linking them where car headlights or the occasional streetlight was visible. It was simply a stunning view, and one I just stared at for some time. Those in the air are lucky people since for me, that view is one that beats anything I've seen with my feet on the ground

matthandy

This is a really great thread!

I flew a lot as a child mostly to the Canary Islands or various British holiday destinations, but never long haul. As I started to get older, around 11 or 12, my parents took my sister and I to the US. I can still remember the excitement of boarding my first 747 to Orlando. The size of the aircraft was utterly amazing to me. We were even lucky enough to visit the cockpit and there is a poloroid kicking around somewhere of me in the flight deck over the Atlantic. For some reason, our family holidays always started at Gatwick, so it has a fond place in my heart.

We had several trips to the US and also a school trip to Canada which was pretty good fun. I still have some old photos taken on the flight over (a 747 too). I guess that this is when I started to build up an interest in flying.

At the time, I really don't think that I had any concept of any a class above Y. It wasn't until I started work that I realised that it was quite possible for people to fly business class. My first flight (albeit in Y) was to Luxembourg from Gatwick. I almost missed it, as I was meant to get up at around 4.00am to drive to Gatwick to catch the 6.30am flight. At about 5am I can remember my dad coming into my room (I was living at home) and asking me why I hadn't left yet! I made a mad dash to the airport and managed to make the flight although I looked a little scruffy! The whole novelty of flying for 'work' was not lost on me and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. This was during my internship/sandwhich year.

Before returning to work full time, and after completing my degree, on a bit of a whim I travelled to Australia, back packing, on my own for 5 weeks. I'd honestly say that at the time it was the scariest and most exciting thing I'd ever done, but it was completely the making of me. I flew on Emirates (from Gatwick again!) and I can remember saying goodbye to my mother at security. Almost as soon as stepped through I felt like a different person, full of confidence and excitement about what lay ahead. The flight over was rather eventful. There was a medical emergency on-board and we ended up landing in Tehran () of all places. We then took off again for Dubai but because we were so late, all of the connection time was lost. I literally ran from one gate (after a 8 hour flight) to the other to connect to Sydney (14.5 hour flight). This flight was hell. I got moved to a middle seat and was sat next to a rather active toddler and disinterested parents. Australia was simply amazing though. I've never had a better time in my life.

I re-joined the same company in 2004. They ran an annual training program in Wisconsin for all of the IT graduates and so in 2005 I took a flight from LHR to ORD on BA. I'd signed up to BAEC just days before the flight and I was very excited as the company policy allowed me to book WT+. This was the first time ever that I'd be travelling in anything but economy. I felt like I was going to be travelling in First! On check in I enquired about a window seat to be told that one wasn't available, but that I had been upgraded to business instead. I was totally beside myself! I rang about 10 different people to tell them my news. I boarded the 747 and sat down in 18B (second cabin on a high-J) and had the most wonderful time exploring all of the space around me. What stuck in my mind is that I couldn't even reach the magazine rack! It was of course old Club World (NCW? The previous generation Club World) and I found the cabin so elegant. I couldn't actually believe that I was on an aircraft. I mean, the seat turns into a bed, you get a proper menu, they serve you course by course, on china! It was all amazing. So that was it, I had to fly J again.

My next J flight came a couple of years later. It was an MFU back to ORD to visit some friends which cost me the earth (at the time) but I lapped up the experience.

It wasn't until 2008, after I moved to a consultancy company and started working at a global fashion brand that I really started travelling in J. I spent 10 months in New York, going back and forth, almost always an MFU from WTP to CW. I got so used to the routine that it all became normal to me and others that were on the project with me, which I certainly consider to be a bad thing. It's about this time that I joined Flyertalk and wrote my first trip report. On that trip I vowed that one day I would fly First class and would be able to set foot in the CCR.

My time at the fashion company took me the US and Asia, including Singapore, Seoul and Hong Kong. I was able to experience business class on Cathay Pacific and also managed to get a trip on the Emirates A380, with a few drinks at the bar which was a complete novelty.

At the end of last year I made a big decision to move over to Sydney, and took a very emotional flight to live and work somewhere that I'd only dreamed about before. Long gone is the international travel for work and it's mostly domestic hops for me now.

However, this year I finally achieved an ambition of mine, to fly First Class, to sit in 1A on a 747 and to visit the CCR. It was great to be able to share the CCR experience with my sister.

None of my family has ever flown in anything but Y and from what I can see, probably never will. I consider myself very lucky and I only hope that I'll be able to treat my family and friends at some point in the future.

Now that I've had quite a bit of experience in J and some in F I know that I am spoilt and I'm certain that I will continue to seek out those experiences. The thought of having to do a Y trip back to the UK fills me with dread! I mostly blame FT for all of this and especially some of the excellent trip reports out there. So, Genius1, SFO777, Moomba, Kiwi Flyer and Seat 2A, you owe me some money!

EuropeanPete

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rathin100

Count me in as well.

Try the Bangkok- Singapore route, sometime. Spectacular!!! you wont want to get off!!!

The mostdepressing thing about living in Brazil is that there are almost no passenger trains. Same story as the USA --- the blasted car companies destroyed the railways.

nave888

When I was young my parents started traveling alot for work (AC E or SE every year from when I was 4, other parent was usually Prestige). I guess I just found a way to deal with it- so I'd get them to bring me the airline magazine, safety cards, when they'd call id ask how the flight was, etc.

When I would travel with them I gotta say....I loved it! I remember being in Kindergarten and sitting in the Canadian Empress Lounge in Vancouver with my mother, eating crackers watching the planes....I also remember flying in J the first time (on points, the whole family) on one vacation when I was probably 8, and getting upgraded numerous other times. I remember always hoping they'd call my parents' name at the gate...I'm sure I was the only kid who knew what that usually meant!

Once you know that A litte "AC*E or "AC*SE" on your boarding pass brings you faster security, customs (sometimes), lounges, boarding, upgrades, and all that, it's hard to go back to not having it!

TakeTheATrain

My parents signed me up for United Mileage Plus when I was two. I am quite proud of having two zeros in front of my number compared to one zero as do many of my peers.

I flew relatively frequently as a child and teenager. My parents were Star Gold with United but didn't really understand the intricacies of the program (a lot of expired e500s come to think about it).

When I started college, I started to fly 4-5 times a year between San Francisco and New York as well as one international trip a year. I switched airlines quite a lot just because of price ($99 fares with VX and B6 were pretty enticing). It wasn't until I received my first op-up on ANA to Business on a NRT-SFO flight that I realized there was a whole other world I was missing. I started to get more obsessed with keeping my miles with one airline. United and Star Alliance was always our family's choice airline, so I kept flying with them, finally unlocking Economy Plus access. After that I was hooked.

I frequently tell my friends, "once you have status, you can never go back." I cannot count how many cumulative hours I have saved using the EliteAccess lines. I received my first UDU upgrade on a SFO-EWR flight this March and received an op-up on UA's p.s. service in August. I decided to fly back an extra time to SFO for a weekend just to achieve Premier Executive (Star Gold) status this December.

And then the changes in the Mileage Plus program were announced... I felt so cheated by the airline I've flown for 20 years. I started to consider maybe going into an "open relationship" with United and go to the dAArk side with American. I spent way too much time thinking about where I would be going in the future, where I wanted to go, and realized that maybe I'll stick out one more year with United/Star Alliance and perhaps do a status match if I'm still unhappy.

My friends think I'm absolutely crazy, always obsessing with my frequent flyer miles. Only the ones who have actually traveled with me understand my obsession, telling their parents/friends, "he just showed his card and we cut the entire security line!"

Reaching Premier Executive / Star Gold this year is only a beginning for me. Who knows if I'll still be UA or with another airline a few years from now. I have a long way to go to reach a million miles, but my goal is to reach that number some day no matter which airline.

darthbimmer

In terms of frequent flying I am a late bloomer.

I grew up in a family with too little money for flying vacations. Our family trips were always by car. That bred in me a love for driving-- being able to experience the route as well as the destination.

I flew only twice during my college years, once to check out a college and once to check out a graduate school. The rest of the time I traveled by car or bus. I bought my own car at age 19 with money I saved from working part time jobs.

Coming out of graduate school I became a frequent flyer for about 2 months as I traveled back and forth the country for multiple job interviews. After that I settled back into a less frequent pattern, flying 3 round trips a year on average. Despite not flying much I did travel frequently, criss-crossing the state of California and the Western US by car.

I began heavy air travel about 7 years ago when I took a field engineering job. At first I traveled domestically, later internationally.

Although flying has certainly broadened my scope of travel I still enjoy car touring. It's the ability to enjoy the route as well as the destination. The act of air travel is mostly boring-- and that's just its good side! On the bad side there are the long lines, the delays, the security check theater, the hours spent in a cramped aluminum tube with no choice of where to go and self-nominated "safety" professionals monitoring your every move. Driving a car offers significantly more freedom.

Sheikh Yerbooty

Dad worked for a small airline that was part of a large package holiday company. Job came with 2 annual free trips to anywhere the company went, or rather to anywhere there was space available if you wanted to go during school holidays. So we went off-season, which was great 'cause it meant I got a couple weeks off school, and got travel all of the Med, but never much beyond. I remember how much I used to love flying; having a Dad working for the airline had quite a substantial amount of advantages for a 8-14 year old kid. I've probably spent more time in the cockpit than in my seat on all those trips, and though I got to sit there for take-offs and landings too, back then I was too small to look over the panel and out the front windows.

As an adult I never had any inclination to brave inter-continental travels, but as many other here was roped in courtesy of a job. Since the company I work for has a humane travel policy I'm able to say, with quite a lot of relief, that I've never flown long-haul in anything but business or first. Done economy plenty of times intra Europe, Middle East and the US though, and it is not an experience I treasure. Neither is flying F or J actually, but knowing you're going in comfort makes it bearable.

15 years later and it's more than 80 countries, around 2/3rds of which are outside Europe, and some in some downright nasty places I hope never to see again. Still, being payed to sit at Maho beach and watch KLM come in with a 747 is pretty cool, but not quite as cool as hooking up with a couple of members from an A-list band and being taken out for the night. On a Caribbean island. So I guess intercon travel does have a bit going for it now and again, but my favourite flight will always be the shortest one possible.

What miles I rake up, and it's quite a lot, are used flying friends and family to see me - which is not a problem at all; about the last thing I want to do when on vacation is to subject myself to travel by air.

Cattle Airlines

When TWA started offering the program, they advertised in the newspaper. I responded. I never thought I'd reach the 50,000 miles needed for a domestic award.

Eventually, I was a member in nearly all the programs of the larger airlines and some foreign ones. Now, travel is down and I am down to two or three programs that I regularly use.

I still fly in the cattle class. Once I paid for F transatlantic and once for C (not J). The other times were on awards.

pinworm

I flew as a kid, but not that frequently. Perhaps 2 times a year. However when I was a teen my father began to date the head of Lufthansa Canada and we got J tix all the time to Europe. That ended when the relationship did!

When I began my professional life I had to fly several times a month, nearly all domestic but once in a while it was international. This was in the days before the internet! You could still get upgrades on charm alone, but as someone who was a regular pax I found they came pretty often. This was in the early days of "airmiles". My corp credit card was a miles collector and I began to pile up the miles and ugs.

Then there was an 8 year period..I guess between 1998 and 2006 in which my job did not require the same level of travel and I flew only on personal vacations..maybe twice a year.

In 06 I got a job that required domestic travel throughout the US and started from 0. At at least 2 flights a week, it was not long before I was back up in the higher tiers of US, CO, and AA. Some WN, but I hated it with a passion and still hate it. Made A list anyhow. Held the same Amex and sent all benefits from hotels, cars and flights into miles only, so missed out on the Hotel member benefits. By early 08 I was getting ug'd into F 90% of the time, especially on US.

In 09 I began to work for a UK based international company from the US. My area is world wide, so I now fly frequently to Europe and Asia...at least twice a month and there is some domestic as well, but not as much as before. Less flying but longer distances and in J, so I still earn more miles. My UG rate to F is now only about 80%, but my company pays for J over 8 hours, which is what most of my flights are. And I sometimes cash out miles for F for the REALLY long flights (11+ hours) or for the longer domestic ones that are under the 8 hour J requirement. LAX to MIA is a frequent one that I do that for.

I will fly in steerage with the commoners for short domestic trips still. I can only tolerate the riff raff for about 2 hours!! lol

Joshua

We have a disturbing similarity - I got signed up for MP as well at age 2, and my MP starts with 001. (Quite sad I'll be losing it for a rather unromantic "number" starting with JD, and no, I'm not a lawyer.)

Indeed. My dad was a 1P, with either IBM flying him in J or on award tix. Literally no way to use the E-500s. We moved to CLE right after UA relocated its hub to IAD from there.

I always enjoyed flying Economy and never got a taste of F until I started working for a client that was, frankly, foolish with money and insisted on only flying me on last minute Y fares because they assumed my project would be done next week... for about six months. I quickly figured out full fare bookings on US got confirmed in F, and the rest was history.

I'm crazy enough to just view the changes as motivation to stay at 1K...

My wife thought I was a bit mad until her first time:

• Bypassing a long security line
• Sitting around in the United club
• Boarding via the blue carpet past a long line of people
• Sitting up front

I made sure not to tell her she had an upgrade for item #4 and enjoyed the look of shock when she kept double checking her seat assignment on her boarding pass.

Now, instead of thinking I'm mad, she keeps checking up on when she'll hit the next status tier...

Bigger question is who knows what UA will look like in a few years or if elite programmes will even resemble what they do today. I try to just enjoy the good times while they last.

HelloKittysMum

Only flown business a couple of times (one a free upgrade London to Newark for writing a letter to Richard Branson, the other a free ticket with my dad's miles to South Africa) but did travel extensively as a child on a combination of charter holiday flights (Britannia etc) to the med which were one class. However we did do a few trips a year for about 4 or 5 years (short haul - Channel Islands, Amsertdam, Ireland etc) in the only way to travel - private jet. (My dad's company had it as part of some corporation tax incentive and although it was chartered out most of the time he had to use it a minimum number of trips a year).

There is absolutely nothing like it for convenience and enjoyment (esp when you get to sit upfront and have a go yourself!) although it is a bit scary being on the runway at a major international airport and all these huge (even in the 1970s) planes are surrounding you in your 10 seater. Security and customs were so much easier then as well.