scubadu

This seems like kind of a silly thread. Rick Steves has certainly earned the right to fly (and travel) in any method he desires. He certainly doesn't owe a bunch of anonymous FTers a justification.

And frankly, this might be hard to believe, but literally the mass of humanity fly (successfully) just as you have described in your post, including older people, every single day and they all arrive at their destinations, all over the world, mostly in one piece. It is a very, very tiny percent of human beings that travel, globally, in business class every day to everywhere.

FT is a rather bizarre (and occasionally dysfunctional) little bubble, but again most of humanity fly in coach and they survive just fine.

Regards

frappant

Nobody said he or anyone else can't choose coach, though if it were up to some people, there would only be one class of cabins.

I posted this because I thought it might be of interest, since he's a famous travel author who has a completely different POV on international flying compared to FT members.

As noted, he's leaving a ton of points and miles on the table, which he could donate, since he's very philanthropic.

moondog

How could he donate his points?

Since he's probably not clearing more than ~200k miles per year, how would he allocate any points he was permitted to donate? 3 one-way tickets between Boston and Dublin?

guv1976

It just strikes me as a ridiculous approach. Putting aside the possibility of upgrades to a premium cabin, having status would entitle him to a more comfortable Coach seat (e.g., "Main Cabin Extra" on AA) for the same money as a regular Coach seat. I don't know how tall Steves is, but for me, those few extra inches of seat pitch make a big difference in terms of comfort.

moondog

He's using his megaphone to voice his opinion about his dislike for the system. Getting that word out is seemingly more important to him than being given extra comforts during his travels.

scubadu

I really don't see how that is any of our concern. If he doesn't want to with the hassle of these programs he is not required to do so regardless of what any of us think.

Furthermore, I'd be willing to bet that Rick Steves is far more philanthropic, with his actual money, than most of the folks participating in this thread. Perhaps he is content with his level of philanthropy.

Regards

scubadu

Again, millions (tens of millions?) of "tall people" travel all around the world, all day, every single day of the year, for decades and decades, in coach. They survive just fine. It's not my style for sure, but I don't see the point in throwing rocks at the personal choices someone else makes.

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest he probably does not lose a lot of sleep worrying about whether anonymous people on the internet agree with his approach. In fact, since he spends much of his life actually building things (e.g. writing books, filming TV shows, growing his business, etc.) he might think that those of us that spend all day, every day, posting on Flyertalk have a "ridiculous approach" as well.

There is more than one road to Dublin, yours isn't the only one.

Regards

guv1976

Decades and decades ago, the seat pitch in domestic Coach on the major U.S. carriers was not the measly 31" (or even 30", in some cases) that it is today. I'm sure that there are plenty of people who can still be comfortable in today's standard Coach seat for a long flight, and maybe Steves is one of them. All I know is, I ain't.

SPN Lifer

Many carriers allow points or miles to be donated directly to specified charitable organizations. No ticket redemption required.

As stated upthread, the value of his actual monetary donations likely far exceeds whatever value could be attributed to points or miles forgone through his principled stand.

busdriver11

We are going on our sixth Rick Steves trip this summer. The trips certainly don�t have you avoid comfort or luxury. I think Rick has firm ideas of things he agrees with and stands on his principles, whether or not some of us think those are silly, that�s more than most people do. Personally, I�m happy to participate in certain frequent flyer programs, getting free tickets and upgrades. It�s a waste not to do so. But I doubt I�m as wealthy as Rick, so I don�t throw away money.

gaobest

Also in the 90s when bill gates was just extremely wealthy instead of being ultra-extremely wealthy, he flew commercial economy until his company got a jet to avoid flight delays. I read about this in 1999 in Burn Rate book.

I know really rich people who fly Y. I don’t get it. They’re not rich because they save money by flying Y. My dead German friend died at age 53 with millions. A few years before his death, he told me about an awful trip flying Germany to China with Alitalia in economy - to look at a $25M machine that he was considering for work and how the German manufacturer suggested that he see it in action with the one client willing to show it. So yes, many rich people don’t fly F and don’t bother with the points & status. I don’t get it although I think my parents didn’t start status etc until the 1980s so their trips the previous decades lacked status help. They even avoided buying an admirals club lifetime membership.

moondog

In the case of uncle who flies Y, it really comes down to an austere approach to money almost across the board (I wasn't going to include "almost", but then I thought about his wine cellar...).

SPN Lifer

The first frequent flyer program was started by AA in 1981.

I have a lifetime Admirals Club membership and hardly use it. Hindsight is 20/20.

Thrift is a virtue, and can become a habit -- regardless of increased net worth. Indeed, that attitude probably helped achieve or retain their wealth.

onlyairfare

My mother always said "The coach seat passenger arrives at the same time as a first class passenger" and she chose to use her money at the destination, especially spoiling her children and grandchildren, rather than more expensive plane tickets.

She'd traveled the globe extensively as a military officer's wife, but when it came to retirement it was just domestic trips several times a year and international trips maybe once a decade. She never bothered with airline "loyalty" or points and she probably traveled by air much more than the average American. Rick Steves tends to serve those travelers rather than very frequent flyers and he sticks with his personal philosophy.

frappant

I bet plenty of Rick Steve’s’ customers and fans are members of FF programs.