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How many flights do you actually do?
In the last 18 months I’ve discovered this flying bug and got well into the whole avios collection to the point of having done NYC, LAS and Tokyo (later this year). (Flights generally been F out and back in business). In in the next 8 months I’ve now got 18 flights booked, mainly cos I’m connecting from Glasgow, via LHR, with a mix of several cash bookings too, which I think is quite a lot. I’m actually gonna get silver status which I’m strangely excited by. All of this is pure leisure travel. The question is, I think I’m flying quite a bit now but clearly many of you are doing LOADS more, so I’m curious how often and in what class? And how do you manage it? Cheers. |
Been blue for years just using. BA for a couple of reward flights a year.
now on own so fancied a bit of travelling so got the bug in October during the last sale easy for me as I am a local bus ride from Gatwick did 5 flights CE to get silver in three months, then the rest are cattle class, but with seat selection you can grab exit row seats for more room Priority everything and lounges. Loving my new hobby In the last 8 months....all leasure trips. 3, 4 or 5 night weekend breaks to.... Nice, Genoa, Malta, Nuremberg, Funchal, Malaga, Malta (again), Barcelona, Guernsey (not BA), JFK.... Budapest at end of this month, then off to Faro a week later |
70+ sectors a year, mostly short haul in Y (not worth paying for CE if you’re silver). W if long haul. Managing it is pretty straightforward: Bose NC headphones, iPad, short legs and I love travelling. :) |
The thing about the frequent flier epithet is that it’s entirely relative. The vast majority of people (certainly in a UK context anyway) will do a single return trip for an annual holiday (or not at all). Last year I did 8 separate ‘trips’ comprising 32 sectors: 20 economy 3 economy+ 7 business 2 first 20 were for business, 12 for leisure. Compared to some esteemed members here, that is almost laughingly tiny. But yet most people in my social circle remark “wow, you’re always jetting off aren’t you?” So I’d say your 18 flights in 8 months is certainly not a low number in absolute terms, even if relatively few compared to other posters. As to how I do it? Well, my travel pattern isn’t exactly onerous compared to many here who may have better tips. But I find a good helping of self sufficiency helps (buy water and snacks post security, always have iPads/kindles etc charged and loaded with content, good pair of headphones). Always check-in online as soon as possible. Go HBO whenever possible. Have a good packing system and be ready to quickly extract the necessary liquids and electronics at security. And for airports that I’ve not been to before, a little bit of research by looking at maps and reading the relevant FlyerTalk posts beforehand is always advised. |
Right now I fly maybe 4 times a year. Private not business
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I did 104 sectors last year. This year I've done 46 (it'll be 48 by the end of tomorrow). But I recognise I'm not a frequent flyer compared to others here.
Every single flight has been for business, although the vast majority are EDI to LON in Y. A few to JFK and BLR. |
A little different than most. I fly exclusively for leisure. Last year, 63 segments, 12 in business for a total of ~120k miles and 287 hours airborne. This year already at 37 flights, 8 business, 1 first for 83k miles and 200 hours airborne.
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Roughly 200 sectors per year, 99% work-related travel and mostly short/medium haul i.e. no grandeur. How do I manage? Easy-peasy like getting on a train from Welwyn to King’s Cross (there are several folks in here who do a significant amount of long-haul travel, which probably requires way more skills than a bi-weekly ‘bus commute’ ;)). G |
In the last 12 months 36 sectors. Only 2 for work, and the rest personal. 6 were short haul and the rest domestic.
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Well, purely leisure flights now, so this year two TATL one each in J and F, couple of SH European hops and later on LHR-DOH-CMB In J on Qatar. But since I started keeping a log in 1992 it’s been 2,058,209 miles over 671 sectors (mostly Tokyo and Sydney), 1.59m on BA. Can’t say I miss the business travel even though I managed to wangle F a fair bit towards the end. Best ever has to be Concord to and from JFK. |
there are some folks on the AA and UA forums that regularly fly 300+ short haul flights a year... a big NO THANKS from me!
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Looks like 32 segments so far in 2019, a mix of shorthaul European in Y, long-haul J for work, and a trip to aus in Y.
I've been Gold for the last year, and just became British, so LHR just became a whole lot nicer for me, as I can use F-wing to leave, and e-gates to arrive. I'm 6'3" and the biggest problem I have is sleep on a long-haul Y flight can be a little unpleasant if I don't have a window seat or have a seat that reclines far enough. Right now is the first time in years that my BA app doesn't show an upcoming flight, and I don't even know what my next trip will be. Usually seeing it empty means I've failed to get around to booking something important and I should be doing that. |
In the last year, 26 business trips (all short haul) and 4 leisure trips (1 long haul). Total 126 segments, mainly BA but some on AY, KL, AF, FR, SK, LH and DY. I try and space out my work trips so I am only away every other week (which doesn’t always work out). Having a variety of things to watch on my iPad and things to listen to on my phone helps pass the time when I don’t want to work on the plane. My spare phone/laptop chargers and earphones remain in my carry on suitcase when i’m home so they always travel with me. Biggest tip is stay in control of your own work travel (worth the effort to get your head around ITA Matrix) so you can avoid the administrator booking a transfer at CDG or work out for yourself the most efficient way to get from the North East of England to a meeting in LNZ. |
There’s some helluva lot of travelling going on!!
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11 work flights and as I’m self employed I pay for them , and 4 leisure flights for this year. Couple of west coast US trips in the work stuff. |
Last year was somewhat busy with a total of 53 flights (3 AY all econ, 2 LH both econ, 3 AA 8 econ, 5 econ+, 35 BA 8 ET, 5 CE, 9 WT, 10 WT+, 3 CW ) amounting to 126,796 air miles (or 132,631 actual miles) - 255.4 hours in the air.
This year a lot less - although I tend to plan a year out, quite a few flights get slotted in at the last minute (my record last year was a TATL booking 3 hours before the flight...). |
Last year was fairly typical. 44 flights and 128,846 miles traveled, so average flight length 2,746 miles. 3 economy, 38 business and 3 first. 25 flights for business and 19 personal. Top airlines flown: BA 8 QR 8 JL 6 SQ 6 AY 2 MH 2 CX 2 TG 2 BR 2 MI 2 |
I have done 10 flights in a week, twice. But that was a few years ago and travel is now reduced.
Normal travel is now more civilised. 2 or 4 sectors a week. Fortunately not flying every week. But as mentioned above - it is like a bus journey to work. |
My 2019 flown or scheduled so far...
A3: 8Y 4J BA: 6W 13J 7Y 1F AA: 2W JU: 4J LA: 3J 1W 1Y BE: 1Y SA: 2Y That's 53 flights and I imagine there will be about another dozen to add. |
Based in YYC:
2-3 long haul trips per year, 1-2 short haul, so maybe up to 30 sectors. Hit gold for the first time this year on BA, very unlikely to keep it after the current membership year. Long haul almost always in business and short haul always in economy. Zero travel for business, my job is not important enough to require me to visit anywhere else other than our own head office. There are plenty of times where I wish I had a job that sent me on 250+ sectors per year like some people, since I love travelling. But then I realize that I'm fortunate enough to have a different type of job that affords me the ability to do all of our trips as a family, and go in business class on the long trips, even with a young child. I've done a few trips, even in J, without my family (when I had to travel on different dates than them) and I can say that I'd much rather enjoy the journey with someone special. |
Steadily increasing the last few years. I travel three to four times a month for work and nearly every weekend for leisure. Thanks to upgrades and buying premium cabin fares when I can about 60% of it is in First or Business
2017: 143 Flights 2018: 256 Flights 2019: 130 Flights so far |
I'll probably fly 80-100 sectors in 2019, all short haul (1-3 hours) all domestic, all in coach and all paid by my employer. I never get on a plane when I want to relax.... It's doubtful if I'll even make gold, after many years of 1K it's going to hurt a bit....
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I've done about 42 sectors this last year and will do 14 more this summer. This is way above my normal 16 to 20 per year. I'd imagine next year I'll be back on normal rate. Depends how many diving trips to Cancun (Cozumel) I take. Sounds glamorous? It's a 1.50 hrs flight from Mexico City :)
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For what it’s worth, this type of thread pops up every few months so with a little search you’ll get quite a few additional data points |
I wonder whether we are about to see a sea change in this kind of admission! Are you going to be eyed up and down by the climate change lobby? |
Originally Posted by allturnleft
(Post 31181917)
Are you going to be eyed up and down by the climate change lobby? |
Originally Posted by tigertanaka
(Post 31181082)
Biggest tip is stay in control of your own work travel (worth the effort to get your head around ITA Matrix) so you can avoid the administrator booking a transfer at CDG or work out for yourself the most efficient way to get from the North East of England to a meeting in LNZ. |
74 flown last year, which was a lot higher than the average of c. 45. About 4 or 5 were for work, the rest leisure. By distance 41% F, 33.4% J and 25.6% Y.
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OAP Leisure Stats ... minimal, but TP-efficient to retain Gold!
Typically 4-6 trips a year, 25-30 sectors [starting JER-UK every time helps!], and only CE/CW thank you. This calendar year will be 7 trips but only 24 sectors, as no 'creative routings' are involved. ;) Top year so far was 2016, with 30 sectors, 63,825 miles, 13 airports and 148h in the air. Going indirect to Alaska and Hawaii helped! |
For the first time since 2009 this year I will be under 50 flights with 44.
Peak was 2014-2016 with 86/93 and 94 flights. Overall, just crossed 1000 lifetime flights recently, and will cross 2 million miles soon (about 52% Y, 48% not) and still in my 30s, so hopefully quite a bit of travel left in me. Usually do several smaller (<2 weeks) vacations and a couple larger ones (>4 weeks) every year. Helps that the wife has the time off work as well. I have never flown any flights for work. |
100% leisure travel. Have flown 50 legs so far in 2019, will finish the year somewhere in the 90s...those are the commercial flights. I am a private pilot and go up several times/week in a 172 when I am home and not on commercial flights. SLIGHT obsession.
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Originally Posted by rankourabu
(Post 31182710)
....and still in my 30s, so hopefully quite a bit of travel left in me.
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58 segments this year, 40/60% work/leisure, 80% Europe, all full fare and mainly Y.
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When I was working, it was typically 80-120 segments per year, depending on whether my clients' locations were available non-stop.
Since I retired, that has decreased quite a bit.... |
For a couple years did a lot of miles / segment ~ 100 segments and ~ 310K miles / year. This year different gig with likely similar number of segments but far fewer miles about 60K miles, what a relief, LOL
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So far this year (in 5 months): 115k flown miles, 52 segments. Pretty much all personal travel. All paid business class or redeemed first class, with the occasional economy short-hauls (3h max). Will likely clear 200k butt-in-seat miles this year.
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Originally Posted by Mwenenzi
(Post 31183746)
The annual threads:-
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip...ar-review.html https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip...ar-review.html my log reflects the following: 2000 - 55 2001 - 54 (2 military, Space-Available) 2002 - 39 2003 - 48 (2 military, duty travel) 2004 - 44 2005 - 60 2006 - 89 (1 general aviation, EAA Ford TriMotor) 2007 - 131 (1 sightseeing helicopter) 2008 - 99 2009 - 89 2010 - 88 2011 - 52 2012 - 34 (between jobs Dec 11 - Mar 12; business travel resumed Jul 12) 2013 - 42 2014 - 53 (1 general aviation) 2015 - 90 2016 - 87 2017 - 92 2018 - 88 (1 general aviation, Collings Foundation B-17) 2019 to date - 41 |
Originally Posted by helvetic
(Post 31184257)
So far this year (in 5 months): 115k flown miles, 52 segments. Pretty much all personal travel. All paid business class or redeemed first class, with the occasional economy short-hauls (3h max). Will likely clear 200k butt-in-seat miles this year.
Last year I believe I did 30 segments, all economy except 4 were PE, over 9 trips (5 US-domestic, 4 international). ~80% personal travel. I'm tired of flying economy, but I have no choice. I currently spend ~25% of my take-home on travel/vacation, far more than ideal (and saving far less than I should). And this is despite ~1/3 of those segments being either award or company-paid. I'm certainly doing okay salary-wise. Granted, majority of my trips are with wife and kids and I'm accounting for their costs. But since J costs 3-4x economy, my situation is akin to traveling solo and doing the above trip in J all the time but really pushing the financial limits in doing so. I am flying business (award) next month for the first time in a long time. Award business is a good deal, but still not an easy thing to pull the trigger on, considering you could be flying double the number of family members if economy. |
Originally Posted by evergrn
(Post 31184495)
That type of travel volume has to require a lot of money and time off, no matter how adept you are with the miles game, no? I don't mean to get into personal business and ask about your finances, but I just wonder how people pull it off. I know there've been other threads discussing this.
Last year I believe I did 30 segments, all economy except 4 were PE, over 9 trips (5 US-domestic, 4 international). ~80% personal travel. I'm tired of flying economy, but I have no choice. I currently spend ~25% of my take-home on travel/vacation, far more than ideal (and saving far less than I should). And this is despite ~1/3 of those segments being either award or company-paid. I'm certainly doing okay salary-wise. Granted, majority of my trips are with wife and kids and I'm accounting for their costs. But since J costs 3-4x economy, my situation is akin to traveling solo and doing the above trip in J all the time but really pushing the financial limits in doing so. I am flying business (award) next month for the first time in a long time. Award business is a good deal, but still not an easy thing to pull the trigger on, considering you could be flying double the number of family members if economy. I spend more money on travel than on anything else (eating/drinking out is probably a not-too-distant second). I love travel and the experiences it gives me, so I'm totally willing and happy to do so. I have few other major expenses — I hate shopping, I live out of a tiny suitcase, and I have no dependents. My rent is crazy overpriced ($42k/yr for a 1br in SF) but I'm getting rid of it which should pretty much cover the cost of hotels full-time. At the end of the day, this is all about what you decide you value most and where you choose to spend your time, energy, and money. |
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