Scott McCartney, author of the weekly Middle Seat column in the Wall Street Journal, wrote on a topic near and dear to my heart today: “a growing number of 20-somethings mastering the calculus of frequent-flier miles, making globe-trotting their hobby.”
Yes, that aptly describes me and I wish Scott had featured me in his story as well. I mileage run for two reasons:
1.) Simply because it is fun
Most would be horrified at the thought of traveling 20,000 miles with only a few hours between flights (if that), but I relish it. My spring mileage run from Seattle to Newark via Hawaii and Brazil (among other places) was great, even with delays and sleep deprivation. Even more conventional runs between Philadelphia and Los Angeles can be a lot of fun–a decent meal or two, plenty of time to study law or create material for this blog, and often a few hiccups that make for great stories and fond memories.
2.) Mileage runs make aspirational international first class trips affordable
For better or worse, I am hooked on international first class, those seats that retail for thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars and are well-beyond my budget. But with strategically planned mileage runs that pay for themselves with delay compensation or bumps, I can use those miles to book elusive first class tickets and pay next to nothing out of pocket.
And even when I am “mileage running” I have had the grand opportunity to see much of the United States and countries around the world–and not just from airports and tarmacs.
Mileage running requires an investment in time and patience, but I have found that my investment has been paid back many times over.
Interesting article, and also interesting to see the reactions from some of the commenters. The level of bitterness and judgement is a bit unexpected, and seems to be due in large part to a lack of understanding. The whole topic is very much foreign to so many people, to whom airline travel cannot be seen as anything but an expensive hassle.
It would be ludicrous to most people to run to Fiji for some McD’s – to them Fiji is a near-unobtainable, once-in-a-lifetime destination only reachable via an expensive ticket, and requiring them to suffer through a long flight to experience. For others, it’s an enjoyable flight that they get to experience to a destination they frequently visit, and also get to say hello to a friend. Of course, writing for a US audience about a New Zealand-based flyer amplifies this.
There are so many fundamental differences in how different people experience airline travel (both from differing levels of service and comfort and from different disposition and personal priorities) that an article like this can never cover. It’s extremely difficult to communicate this in a short article.
I’ve only been flying regularly for about 2 years at this point, and the shift in experience (and perspective) from occasional flyer to probably 35k miles flown without status in about a year to mid-upper tier flyer is extreme. The progression from novelty to enduring steerage in a practiced retreat into self-imposed noise-isolated shell to anticipated relaxed enjoyment was pretty dramatic.
I’ve got some nice redemptions planned and booked (even with DL miles) to destinations I’d have never have dreamed possible even a year or two ago. Tickets that would have been unobtainable at over $14k (my approximate take-home for a year when I was on a grad-student stipend) to purchase each now come with the biggest cost being the time needed to use them wiping out 6 months of vacation accrual. That sort of seismic shift in perspective is unimaginable to many.
Well considering that I am traveling to the OW Launch Party from Family Day with at least 3 other 20-something elite frequent travelers, this is not a surprising thing (And I’m the oldest of the group at 26). Glad to see that it is a growing field, and that our generation is expanding beyond their home towns.