My First Million....miles!

I bet you thought that I was referring to my personal wealth, and in a way I guess I am but not in the monetary kind.   No earlier this year I passed one million air miles with Air Canada.

Air Canada Airbus 320 landing in Vancouver  

I joined Air Canada in 1998 and it’s taken me fourteen years to get me to the magic million air miles, actually earlier this week I checked and by the end of the year I will have added another 50,000 or so.  If you average out my mileage over the full fourteen years its about 71,500 miles per year.  Now, some years were far more that the seemingly paltry 71,500 miles ;-)    In 2010 it was very close to 200,000 air miles for the year, so not all travel years are created equal!

This year I’ll be closer to 125,000 so clearly you have “big” years where you feel like you live on a plane, other years not so much.  When I was working with Accenture I was on a plane weekly for almost the entire six plus years.   Now that’s where you really rake up the miles…

Let’s do the math shall we?   As you can see its pretty scary once you really start to dive more deeply into the numbers.

Average cruising speed (Airbus 320 = 500 mph)	Average against Total	Total Big Year	Total Lifetime (so far!)
Air Miles	71,500 miles	200,000 miles	1,050,000 miles
Number of mins in the air	8,580 min per yr	24,000 min per yr	126,000 min
Number of hrs in the air	143 hours per yr	400 hours per yr	2,100 hrs
Number of days in the air	6 days per yr	16.7 days per yr	87.5 days
Number of mths in the air			2.92 mths

Now this also doesn’t account for time going to and from the airport, waiting in the ever increasing security lines nor waiting for boarding.    Its pretty eye opening and to be honest a bit worrying when you consider how short life really is.

Realistically I think I’m closer to 1.5 million or perhaps more with all of the non-air miles flights and other airlines that I’ve flown with that don’t count against my Air Canada status.   Trust me its addictive…   I had one year in those fourteen in which I didn’t have airline status (no lounge access, no pre-boarding and no upgrades – not that Air Canada is overly generous in this last perk!) but seriously it nearly killed me every time I flew.  I hated the experience.

Yes, clearly I’ve become a bit of a “fat-cat” with regard to air travel, and have now taken these perks for granted but when reality strikes and you don’t have them and you’re being treated like the other member of the traveling public…yeah the other 90% of the population, its like a bucket of cold water on the experience.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret…I must admit there were years where it was going to be “touch & go” if I’d keep my status…just a few miles short.   I’m not proud to admit that a couple of times I found a way to travel to make up those miles…   I realize that’s incredibly sad and not proud of my actions but I’m being honest - the metaphorical “kimono is now open” (yes, I realize its not a pretty sight!  ;-)

Say no more :-)

 So what has been the impact on my life been with spending so much time on a plane?   Sure it has fueled my sense of adventure and provided me with an avenue to see the world…some great aspects, others so not so much (just read some of my other blogs).

Sure for the neophyte traveller, business travel is an exotic elixir of adventure and the coolness of being on the road, but for those of us who do it for a living it’s a complete “grind”.  I think most of us who travel for business would whole-heartedly agree that traveling for business wears pretty thin after the first couple of trips.

When the movie “Up in the Air” came out in 2009 starring George Clooney and Vera Farmiga it pretty much summed up my life on a plane, although George’s character surpassed the ten-million mile threshold on American Airlines (who knew that they actually named a plane after you if you reach that rarified level?) it was plain that you paid a steep price (yes, in more ways than one) for living out of a suitcase and being the “road warrior”.

Air Canada route map - North America

For me it highlighted the sheer loneliness of being on the road (all the time), and brought into stark focus the ultimate price that you pay with your family (spouse, kids, parents & siblings) not to mention your friends.  

It’s a quandary – when you’re traveling you feel extreme guilt for being away from your kids (I know I did) all the time and missing important events, activities and milestones (parent teacher interviews, soccer games, recitals…the list goes on and on).   When you’re home you feel guilt in two ways – you know you’re going to be leaving again very soon so giving equal time to everyone you love is a juggling act.   I always felt like I did a crappy job of managing this with Zach and Sami. 

The other challenge is that your close friends (if you still manage to have any) are for the most part ignored.   Not intentionally but there is never enough time to spread around – its just a fact of life under these circumstances, so your friends need to be resilient and okay with periods where you just don’t get a chance to connect.

Note my special designation -
oooh so important...yeah not really

The big “up-side”, if there actually is one are the air miles.   Zach, Sami and I have travelled quite a bit in recent times using my miles, as you may recall Sami and I went to NYC for the weekend on airline / hotel points.  The three of us traveled to San Francisco for the Labor Day (first weekend in September) long weekend which was amazing, again all on points.

I’m heading to London, England tonight (meetings next week with my team there), but will be actively scouting for a potential trip with Zach & Sami in 2013…stay tuned!   

I’d like to think that my “road warrior” days are now firmly behind me for the most part, although I still have to travel for business its now on my schedule and timing which is so important for me and the kids.   Although, now my business travel it’s usually for just a day or two which I can plan for, and schedule around the kids and what’s going on and important in their lives.  

A much healthier approach don’t you think?   Although quite frankly I’m still a little shocked and dismayed with how much of my life I’ve actually spent flying!     

For those of you that are in this “parallel universe” of business travel – how are you feeling about your lifetime of being on a plane?