Too much flying?

[Wan1dap]

Can there be such a thing?

I just requalified for Solitaire after 3 months. Am now in my 11th consecutive year. I don't say this to boast - it's nearly all paid for by my employer. Just wondering whether you guys have to balance family with work like this. Don't get me wrong, I feel lucky that over 90% of my travel is on SQ in J or F. Having travelled on NZ, UA, AC, QF, Southwest, TG, CX this year I'm under no illusion about SQ's superiority. It's simply the work/life balance of spending 120-150 night per year away from home that bothers me a bit. Wonderful to have a supportive wife but is it really worth all the mileage and hotel points?

Interested to hear your thoughts.

[CarbonMan]

Yes, I know what you mean, Wan1dap. One has to make up his mind what one wants out of life. Once one makes that decision, all else is easy - you just prioritize. I have a global role in my job and that means travel and late evening conference calls are obligatory. But I have learnt to focus travel to make them as productive as it gets, and conference calls to no more than 2-3 nights a week.

The majority of the time is either family, friends, community work and personal pursuits (in that order). Am I willing to give this up for a more interesting job or a generous-paying one? The answer is no because I have made a personal decision that there are more important aspects to life than career and money ... or collecting loyalty points. But I'm not saying neither career nor money is not important, they are, but they are not my main motivators.

My two cents.

[benlee]

Worth it or not? That's a question I think only you yourself can answer because everyone of us is different and we value things differently. For me, even 1-2 flights a month feels like too much.

[AsiaCommuter]

Can there be such a thing?

I just requalified for Solitaire after 3 months. Am now in my 11th consecutive year. I don't say this to boast - it's nearly all paid for by my employer. Just wondering whether you guys have to balance family with work like this. Don't get me wrong, I feel lucky that over 90% of my travel is on SQ in J or F. Having travelled on NZ, UA, AC, QF, Southwest, TG, CX this year I'm under no illusion about SQ's superiority. It's simply the work/life balance of spending 120-150 night per year away from home that bothers me a bit. Wonderful to have a supportive wife but is it really worth all the mileage and hotel points?

Interested to hear your thoughts.

Very good post and something I often think about - more often than not when travelling, or in a hotel of an evening.

Achieving a healthy work/life balance is not easy - that said it's a choice you have to make... I was travelling heavy in a global role (mostly Asia Pacific) before I married, luckily thereafter my wife and I can manage this and make it work to our advantage. But at times it can be tough... I keep saying within 2 years I will cut down or stop my current travelling schedule, but after 12 years I am still doing the same.

Personally travel time is sacred because it is my time to switch off from work. I have a rule to never work when I fly, rather I always read, listen to music, watch a movie or TV, or sleep. This is a reason why I am so particular about how I travel, therefore personal space, privacy, and exceptional service are important factors to me.

[Kyo]

I'm trying to slow things down, I've never felt less enthused about flying than I do now. I just can't wait to get to my destination and get the flight bit done and over with. If I ever felt I was travelling way too much, I'd stop. There are more important things in life, and as someone says, prioritise that which matters most to you.

All the perks that come with being Plat this / that or the other are simply fringe benefits. Some fruit in a basket in a hotel room can only make you feel *so* excited...

[SQflyergirl]

Wasn't there a rather young chap who came on SQTalk a couple of years ago wishing he had a job that had to travel all the time? Careful what you wish for.

Am fortunate enough that having been around long enough I can effectively pick and choose where and when I want to go, and I never thought I'd see the day but I find myself avoiding travel for work when I can.


The best seat of all? The one in your living room.
The best lounge? The one in your house where you can kick back and sit around with your feet up or dance around like no one's watching.
The best beds? They're not on SQ A380's, they're in your bedroom.
The best meals aren't made by LSG Skychef or Do & Co. They're made in your kitchen.

The further and farther wide I roam, the more I miss home.

[milehighj]

7 business flight sectors (and excluding 2 personal trip sectors) and counting this month. 8th & 9th probably next week.

Yesterday, back in the office but still in a brain-haze from my last red-eye, I actually found myself fobbing off what would potentially be the 11th & 12th sectors to someone else in the office... I must be growing old...

[MAN Flyer]

We've discussed this to varying degrees on here a few times, and the consensus is always more or less the same ; those who have to travel a lot for work have had enough of it (and are even sick to death of it), and those who travel mainly for leisure still enjoy it, sometimes.

As I have said before, many moons ago before I travelled so much I used to watch with envy as a family friend jetted off every month to 'exotic locations in S.E. Asia' as I saw it then. When I expressed a desire to do that myself one day, he told me to be careful what I wish for as it is not the fun it's cracked up to be. This was before 9/11 and the security clampdown (the majority of which is valueless bullsh*t) that made travelling sometimes a miserable experience.

Until last night this was my itinerary for my next trip, starting today:

SA 22 OCT MAN-LHR
SA 22 OCT LHR-BKK
MO 24 OCT BKK-KUL
MO 24 OCT KUL-BKK
MO 24 OCT BKK-PER
TU 25 OCT PER-BKK
WE 26 OCT BKK-HKG
WE 26 OCT HKG-ICN
TH 27 OCT ICN-BUS
TH 27 OCT BUS-GMP (don't get me started on ICN-BUS again...)
FR 28 OCT ICN-SIN
SU 30 OCT SIN-BKK
SU 30 OCT BKK-SIN
SU 30 OCT SIN-LHR
MO 31 OCT LHR-MAN

Absolutely ridiculous. Granted the hop up and back to BKK next Sunday is to start a particular ticket, which is my call, but the rest of it is stupid.

Fortunately I can probably afford to give Perth a miss next week (handy as Queenie is there for first time in years and there is a Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting ), so I am doing. I am also not prepared to risk so many transits through BKK next week as I don't trust the Thai authorities with the flooding. I wouldn't mind if it was a holiday, but not for such a tight work trip. I may well be there at some point later in the week but I'll see how it goes.

As a result instead of flying TG F from LHR-BKK today I am still at home, relaxing with a smile on my face as I don't need to travel until tomorrow. I know there will be some who would rather be flying TG F than sat at home, but I am certainly not one of them. And that tells me all I need to know about how I view travelling these days.

[CarbonMan]

Until last night this was my itinerary for my next trip, starting today:

SA 22 OCT MAN-LHR
SA 22 OCT LHR-BKK
MO 24 OCT BKK-KUL
MO 24 OCT KUL-BKK
MO 24 OCT BKK-PER
TU 25 OCT PER-BKK
WE 26 OCT BKK-HKG
WE 26 OCT HKG-ICN
TH 27 OCT ICN-BUS
TH 27 OCT BUS-GMP (don't get me started on ICN-BUS again...)
FR 28 OCT ICN-SIN
SU 30 OCT SIN-BKK
SU 30 OCT BKK-SIN
SU 30 OCT SIN-LHR
MO 31 OCT LHR-MAN.

Manflyer, I don't know how you do this. I take my hat off for you and give you either a standing ovation or my deepest sympathies whichever you choose. I would cringe at the thought of having to do this even if this itinerary was a holiday and with F class thrown it! You must really love what you do.

[SilverChris]

deleted

[SQflyergirl]

SU 30 OCT SIN-LHR

We'll fly in parallel.....

[calvinoeh]

I don't even fly close to what some of you do and fully understand how some of you might there that might be too much flying. I had to do 2 flights to US in a month and by then, I was missing my bed at home.

However, when grounded for too long, there's that itch to get on the plane again...

[Wan1dap]

Interesting and thoughtful responses... Seems like we all agree there can be too much flying. The president of our company tried to encourage people to use video conferencing instead of traveling, but it hasn't happened. In fact VC isn't available in most of our offices around the world, and even where it is, it's not used. I have only participated in one VC meeting in the last 10 years.

The good news is, after this trip I only have one more (albeit three weeks away) this year. In between work trips I'm flying to Queenstown for a long weekend. That one I'm looking forward to!

And Go the All Blacks tomorrow! I'll be watching from afar....

[jhm]

SA 22 OCT MAN-LHR
SA 22 OCT LHR-BKK
MO 24 OCT BKK-KUL
MO 24 OCT KUL-BKK
MO 24 OCT BKK-PER
TU 25 OCT PER-BKK
WE 26 OCT BKK-HKG
WE 26 OCT HKG-ICN
TH 27 OCT ICN-BUS
TH 27 OCT BUS-GMP (don't get me started on ICN-BUS again...)
FR 28 OCT ICN-SIN
SU 30 OCT SIN-BKK
SU 30 OCT BKK-SIN
SU 30 OCT SIN-LHR
MO 31 OCT LHR-MAN

I think quite a lot of this pain is self inflicted and can be mitigated.

First and foremost, move down from the sticks to London (or even better relocate to Asia).

Secondly, presumably some of the destinations (e.g. BKK or SIN) are transits because you only want to fly * or whatever. Just fly direct - whatever the airline - and you can probably save a lot of flights each year just like that!

[Kyo]

Wasn't there a rather young chap who came on SQTalk a couple of years ago wishing he had a job that had to travel all the time? Careful what you wish for.

I'd say that chap classifies those trips (leisure or otherwise) more as commutes as they constitute at least 80% of the regular destinations he flies to, not travelling. And therein lies the difference. Despite the 'leisure', not 'business' tag attached to the trip, the real journeys are still events to look forward to, for now.

Does anyone else buy into the 'too much exposure to cosmic rays' theory, actually...