"Up in the Air"

[Kyo]

Well, that is why you need to nick the nice cloth bag from the hotel

Of all things to feel remorseful about, this is perhaps the one that 'gets me'... sometimes I call the Operator or hunt for a sanitary napkin sachet (have even used two end to end once when desperate... oh, the lives we lead...)

[B727]

The hotel rooms become boring. Even with Pay TV in hotel rooms you tend to miss your family, dog, friends and the news, sports and events from your own country

That's the thing about the Ryan character is that he didn't have a family (of his own or one that he actually took care of), no dog, no real friends, etc

[B727]

trying to find a tiny plastic bag for laundry to do once I'm home

Well, that is why you need to nick the nice cloth bag from the hotel

[Kyo]

Gunners, you're smack bang on the money... the most annoying thing, for me, is packing up power adaptors, various wires for charging my phone + iPod, re-packing my bag when it's time to leave, trying to find a tiny plastic bag for laundry to do once I'm home, separating laundry that needs to be separated, separating slippers from shoes... and re-packing again when I'm at the lounge before boarding the plane last-minute after a shower.


And then know I'll be doing exactly all of the above the following weekend. And the weekend after that... and the weekend after that... (unless LD#7 is going on, woohoo)...

[Gunners]

The interesting observation from “Up in the Air” is how flying habits change from regularly travelling on business trips. The major change that I have made is that I take no check in luggage on business trips. I normally take two pieces on hand luggage on each trip. I find that in some developing countries a PAX can wait up to 1.5 hours to clear customs due to waiting on arrival for check in luggage and scanning again on arrival through customs.

There are enormous differences between infrastructure between developing countries and the quality of the airports. There are some real ordinary lounges around where they do not even offer a cold drink.

On average I stay for around 10 days. I do not know how Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) could fit everything in one bag. With Gym clothes, business shirts, casual gear, laptop, business etc it is nearly impossible to fit everything in one bag. I guess Ryan was not travelling overseas and had only a few days at each destination.

The other observation is how the flight staff know you and you know them by their first names. The hotel staff gets to know so well that they begin preparing toast, coffee, scrambled eggs etc for breakfast before you even sit down.

Business travel is not as glamorous as people perceive. Plane trips are tiring no matter if you sit in F, Y or J. The hotel rooms become boring. Even with Pay TV in hotel rooms you tend to miss your family, dog, friends and the news, sports and events from your own country. TV tends to be US centric.

The silly thing about the frequent flyer program for business travelers is that you collect frequent flyer points for business travel. Then you use the same frequent flyer points to book travel with the family when really all you want to do is avoid air travel for some time. I guess that was one of the reasons Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) gave some of his FFP away to his family members.

Do not get me wrong, being an entrepreneur is one of the most rewarding things a person can do. I love business, strategy and building companies. However, at times I wish they were all located in the same country.

It is good that there are some airlines like SIA around that make the travel experience less tiresome.

[FlyingDan]

+1.

It would be a very sad day for me if I got anywhere near that. I wouldn't find it anything to shout about or be proud of at all, in fact the opposite.

I know I would be proud! But only when I get to fly solely in business, I can't imagine hitting 10 million miles in Y .
Being proud might have something to do I'm still young at the age of 20

[MSPeconomist]

My lifetime flying has been primarily TWA and Northwest (plus their partners and codeshares such as KLM), now merged with Delta. I estimate that to date, I've collected in total over seven million program (redeemable) miles and just slightly under three million qualifying miles.

For a VFF using US-based programs with bonuses, partners, and credit card affiliations, ten million program miles isn't such a big deal, but ten million elite qualifying or BIS miles is indeed really a lot, although a bunch of people have achieved it. If it must all be in one program, this gets harder with airlines either ceasing to operate or merging, not to mention simple changes of the names of their FF programs. Americans also tend to move a lot, which frequently means that it makes sense to change one's primary FF program.

SQ seems unlikely to have many of these issues, so those who concentrate miles on KF should be looking at a genuine lifetime total.

[globetrekker84]

+1.

It would be a very sad day for me if I got anywhere near that. I wouldn't find it anything to shout about or be proud of at all, in fact the opposite.

-1

I, for one, would do anything to get that many miles. I think my lifetime BIS miles is somewhere in the vicinity of 1.25 million based on memory. So...another 8.75 million to go...

PS - I think my madness stems from the fact that I've been grounded (workwise) for the past 20 months and I'm itching for some business travel.

[SilverChris]

I think MH also has non-expiring miles right? Only for platinum members (aren't they making the rich, richer here? )

[hybridace101]

No. AA miles expires after 18 months of inactivity. CO is the one you want.

I think KL and NW used to do it. Now that NW merged with DL it won't expire if you have activity in the past few years (not sure if it is miles-earning only or any kind). If your account did not have any activity, not only will you lose your miles but you can lose your account.

[trekkie]

deleted

[SMK77]

Non-expiring miles are extremely rare. See FFP mileage expiry.

Disagree with that statement. Most airlines offer you miles that do not expire if you have a) one of their own credit cards, b) status with them or c) any activity with in three years time (which could be just 500 miles from a hotel stay to keep all miles earned).

My turn-over with US Airways miles alone in the past twelve months was more than 1,000,000 miles. I haven't taken a single flight on US though...

[Kiwi]

There are many programs that do not expire miles. SQ being an exception. But despite all the shortcomings, the SQ FFP is also one that is favoured for SQ seats namely.

Non-expiring miles are extremely rare. See FFP mileage expiry.

[LionCity]

Probably, but I'd rather not know. Having watched for years with great amusement the end of year parades where people list how many miles they've done I was going to keep a record of this years travel, but I knocked it on the head as I really don't want to know.

In the future what is going to happen is you don't need to show your record on how many miles you have accumulated. They are going to have a device where it measured a certain type of radiation = number of actual miles flown.

[MAN Flyer]

Manflyer, with the amount of flying particularly to the Far East, I won't be surprised if you are already in the couple of million category.

Probably, but I'd rather not know. Having watched for years with great amusement the end of year parades where people list how many miles they've done I was going to keep a record of this years travel, but I knocked it on the head as I really don't want to know.