What makes a frequent flyer

[RobJamesau]

As a group yes we spend more time in aircraft than society, but sometimes that is by choice.
In my own example I took a HKG-SIN-(BNE)-SYD flight rather than a direct HKG-SYD flight because I both love flying, and it gave me a chance to go past SIN and have lunch there.

For me, travel is as much a hobby as it is sometimes a necessity, and therefore I think nothing of taking the long way home if that means I'll get to see something interesting, or even to fly in something I would otherwise not get to fly in (eg a 747 from BNE to SYD). This was as much true when I was doing very frequent trips as it is now that I am doing less frequent (but much better) trips.

I suppose the ultimate purpose behind the travel can have an impact on the joy of the flight! As does the airport you are coming from or going to - plus the transit to and from the airport! Agree on the upside of seeing different things or flying on something unusual. A little off topic but I do recollect as a kid the joy of being able to fly somewhere (albeit a rare occurrence) and becoming a member of the TAA Junior Flyers Club - might still have my pin somewhere even! And reading my father's diary entry when he had his first flight as part of his Air Cadet's training at the end of WW2, his comments on seeing the top of the clouds for the first time were simple but quite moving (to me anyway!). Tending to find now however that the windows of a plane all look the same, as do the sky and clouds, if I could travel more by train I'd do it!

 

[Oceanic]

A frequent flyer is not necessarily and experienced flyer. An experienced flyer to me is someone who has travelled globally to many continents, ports of call, on numerous carriers, numerous aircraft types and in many classes. I wish there was a clear definition and distinction of the two. A frequent flyer may well be an experienced flyer by my definition or may fly frequently to ports A, B & C only and in only one class. Currently, the term frequent flyer can mean anything according to one's perception.

 

[Milefest]

Welcome to AFF HEC!

A frequent flyer is someone that travels at least monthly.

I've got friends on Facebook that call themselves jetsetters when they fly 4 times a year, each to their own I guess.

 

[harvyk]

I've got friends on Facebook that call themselves jetsetters when they fly 4 times a year, each to their own I guess.

Well it's all a matter of perspective, even one trip every 3 months is 8 times more frequent compared to the person whom scraps together enough money to go on a trip once every couple of years.

 

[wombatpatties]

I am a fully qualified member of the infrequent flyers club, along with many other members from this site.
Welcome aboard and hope you enjoy your flight., and see you next year!

 

[TonyHancock]

I am a fully qualified member of the infrequent flyers club..

I'm with you. I just fly a long way infrequently.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I hope someone is correlating the answers, as there are some great responses here.

Maybe we need to also identify "flying". Is it purely the time in air or also the associated support travel, the connections, the transits, the waiting, etc?

Some have suggested at various times that the time/distance travelling is as/more important than number of sectors. But a long hauler may fly a long way but my short hauls are anything but steamlined. A single commute for me from home to work once took over 50 hours. Of course not all in the air, but that particular commute consited of taxi, train, walk, jet, hire car, jet, bus, prop, bus, rotary, private car along with 2 overnighters (one which made the H-SYD dogboxes seem palatial). So, I average 8-10 sectors a month but they're mostly short haul.......max. 3 hours, min 25 mins, however throw in the connections, waiting times, transits etc and it can be longer than the longest long haul!

I like the description of a "frequent flyer game" someone mentioned. I dabble in that game a little bit, but not to the extent that others here do and I think the game is as genuine as anything else. However I believe the overarching word is frequent, which is defined as "occurring or done many times at short intervals". I have 3 flights tomorrow to get home (I'll leave tomorrow morning at 3.55am and will walk in my front door at home at about midnight), which will be for 3 days before I go again. Last month I visited my home for 1 day in a row and then again for 3 days in a row. This month I'll visit home for 3 days in a row (Sat, Sun and Mon) and then for 4 days in a row.........so it's getting better! Who knows, one of these days I may even find the urge to unpack when I get home!

 

[ajmillen]

There are some great answers here Interesting reading, another one is knowing the security screening etiquette to enable smooth flow, especially in the premium lanes.

 

[wandering_fred]

Welcome aboard HEC. Things might be more interesting if you included a general indication of where you are based.

There seems to be a bit of a dichotomy between the eastern states members and the westerners.

Something along the lines of modifying ALBY's response regarding SIN to suggest a frequent flyer might understand why a PER flyer might chose to fly PER-eastern states-HKG... Unless the person is a Cathay MPC flyer...

Happy wandering

Fred

 

[wendym]

Love this response which really made me think about my own personal travel. While I travel frequently compared to my colleagues I only occasionally think about days of travel even when thinking about upgrades. But I sense I now can be more strategic. A colleague once said to me that managing FF points was like managing a bank account. I laughed at the time but now understand the importance of what he was telling me.

How v Why

While a Flyer will initiate business travel from Sydney - Hong Kong return leave Monday, return Friday....a frequent flyer will

discover a lower cost flight
route via Singapore and pickup some Changi dollars
have time to go into SIN for Chilli crab
arrive in HKG and know the best line for fast immigration processing
later use a hotel award voucher for a free night overlooking the harbour
during the week fill in any spare nights with drinks night with a fellow ff
on the way home, experience the best airport lounge in HK
be on the return flight with the best chance of an upgrade
get a call and upgrade comes through early in the day
sleep well and arrive home refreshed

later that day, check their ff account and see that they optimised SC and miles accrual with a smile knowing they are well on their way to enough miles for that Christmas family trip trekking through Cambodia.



Alby

 

[Scash]

I travel purely for leisure and do a couple of domestic and one international trip most years so would not consider myself a frequent flyer by any means. However I would consider my knowledge level as being of "frequent flyer" status thanks predominately to the information, tips and tricks I have garnered from this site. Point in case is that I have recently booked a multi leg trip (with some legs in business) using points based on strategies I learnt from AFF.

 

[Scash]

And as albatross710 mentioned I actually did route through SIN (even though it was slightly out of the way) to visit my brother who lives there and experience the wonderful food from the out of the way local hawker stalls.

 

[timmyb]

Hello,
My name is Tim
and I'm an addict

 

[andye]

Hello,
My name is Tim
and I'm an addict

Welcome Tim
You are amongst friends

 

[drewbles]

Welcome to AFF HEC!

A frequent flyer is someone that travels at least monthly.

I fly on average 60-100 segments a year, but often have 2-3 months between flights and then a large spurt of travel.

Does that make me not a frequent-flyer despite having elite status in three programs?

How long is a piece of string. There's frequent travellers and frequent flyers, they are different. Optimising your travel as above is not the defenition of a frequent flyer. I know plenty of business people who have not got the slightest clue about programs, but just use the lounge before they fly and do 50-100 flights a year.

It's a loaded question...

 

[wandering_fred]

Hello,
My name is Tim
and I'm an addict

Welcome timmyb. Hopefully the addiction is traveling in the most economical mode that generates the most benefits.
PS Such addictions are economically dangerous at times.


Happy wandering

Fred

 

[ayebee]

from my observations there are multiple variants each as valid as the other.
My first flight in January 1960 was on a brand new Ansett ANA Lockheed Electra (PER-ADL) and I have over 700 sectors since for around 2m km.
I first heard the concept of FF when Qantas (international before the merger with Australian domestic) introduced its scheme. It truly was for frequent flyers as you had to register, then after flying (I think) 70k km you got accepted into the fold. Once qualified you got your lovely cabin bag (black with red piping) plus access to the lounge, and just about guaranteed upgrades when a seat was available. You always knew the QFFs on board from their cabin bags. Later you could buy them so all the originals went into cupboards. There was an element of customer loyalty handcuffs with points from flights, but nothing like today where (we at least) get more points from shopping and banking than flying. It was truly an exclusive club.

Sometimes there were gaps of years between flights, and sometimes intensive periods of domestic and/or international business travel.
During those intensive periods, the focus of the FF status was mainly about making travel less of a chore with a little special treatment and chance of an upgrade.
Now we are retired our travel is less frequent but we know how to use the short queue, know where we will be sitting, and usually get into the lounge no matter what class we travel.

Putting aside points etc, I think my lifetime travel and knowledge of how it works, plus an interest in aviation, makes me a FF even though today it may be one or sometimes two trips per year.
If you consider yourself a FF, then you are.

(timmyb - I think I may also be an addict)

Ian

 

[Cult of one]

A frequent flyer is monthly plus in my book.

Sometimes it can be that people have an intense period of lots of flights on an annual holiday ( I had 10 in 10 days over Xmas in domestic USA with all connenctions). I had around 130 flights in the last 12 months and am now doing a lot less due to change of job but living in one city and working in another is a good start.

Basic rule of thumb if
you have silver status or above you can claim to fly a fair bit.
Every novel I own has a boarding pass in it as a book mark.
I get a double digit percentage of my calories from the Lounge
I can't remember the last time I paid for a beer
All my suits have mentos in the pockets
I saw every episode of the west wing (7 whole seasons) on the IFE

 

[wandering_fred]

When you can claim "life time" status?
Well it would mean at one time you were...

Happy wandering

Fred

 

[24601]

Someone who knows what "smart casual" actually is?