How do you explain your frequent flying?

[TomVexille]

It's only 3 hours, why not?

Exactly. I often remind friends that NZ is closer (and usually cheaper to get to) to MEL than PER is.

 

[burmans]

Exactly. I often remind friends that NZ is closer (and usually cheaper to get to) to MEL than PER is.

It's not the closeness, I have family in NZ, so have many times gone there for a weekend, it's the timing. To WLF, CHC or AKL I can fly out Friday night & back Monday morning without missing any significant work time, ZQN flights just don't allow this.

 

[farawaymum]

It's only 3 hours, why not?

I agree, Auckland is a great place for a weekend from Sydney , you can leave after work Friday on the last flight for the day and fly back on Sunday.Fares are often on sale, you basically walk through immigration with no lines.Plenty to see and do and lots of great restaurants.
I do this run frequently and for me it is a great way to collect status credits.

 

[nonpop]

I agree, Auckland is a great place for a weekend from Sydney , you can leave after work Friday on the last flight for the day and fly back on Sunday.Fares are often on sale, you basically walk through immigration with no lines.Plenty to see and do and lots of great restaurants.
I do this run frequently and for me it is a great way to collect status credits.

How do you get from AKL to the city cost effectively and in a timely fashion when you land late night ?
A cab from airport to Hilton sets me back about $100 ... so at $200 return it starts to become an expensive weekend.

 

[farawaymum]

I take the blue bus outside the terminal , with no traffic it is not much longer than a cab and much cheaper @$16 , runs 24/7 stops right at the door of many Auckland CBD hotels or within a five minute walk. Runs half hourly at that time so the max wait is half an hour and can be much less if you are lucky - timetable is available on line.There are lots of people around on a Friday night so I never feel unsafe , even if i am travelling solo.

 

[cambriamarsh]

How do you get from AKL to the city cost effectively and in a timely fashion when you land late night ?
A cab from airport to Hilton sets me back about $100 ... so at $200 return it starts to become an expensive weekend.

$100 for a cab late at night is a rip off, $70 is more like it. However the Airport Blue Bus is $16 each way and runs all night.

 

[Mattg]

I take the blue bus outside the terminal , with no traffic it is not much longer than a cab and much cheaper @$16 , runs 24/7 stops right at the door of many Auckland CBD hotels or within a five minute walk. Runs half hourly at that time so the max wait is half an hour and can be much less if you are lucky - timetable is available on line.There are lots of people around on a Friday night so I never feel unsafe , even if i am travelling solo.

I'm also a fan of the AKL airport bus. But failing this, the Super Shuttle can drop you off at your hotel for $35, from memory. They are right outside the arrivals hall.

 

[Deleted member]

How do you get from AKL to the city cost effectively and in a timely fashion when you land late night ?
A cab from airport to Hilton sets me back about $100 ... so at $200 return it starts to become an expensive weekend.

I get my mum to collect me.

 

[blackcat20]

Uber is pretty good too.

 

[puppysparkes]

I agree, Auckland is a great place for a weekend from Sydney , you can leave after work Friday on the last flight for the day and fly back on Sunday.Fares are often on sale, you basically walk through immigration with no lines.Plenty to see and do and lots of great restaurants.
I do this run frequently and for me it is a great way to collect status credits.

Ten thousand likes

 

[GoldCanyon340]

I've just started a new contract so I'm going through the workplace explanations once more. However, I have made the decision to no longer impart the more technical aspects of this lifestyle (ex-EU flights on BA, YUPP runs on AA etc.). I've been free with this info in the past but then realised I've spent a great deal of my time either in the industry directly or with private research and got to thinking, "if you want to know how to get to WP easily then look it up yourself." I see this more as realism than cynicism.

 

[Fiches Mouser]

I've just started a new contract so I'm going through the workplace explanations once more. However, I have made the decision to no longer impart the more technical aspects of this lifestyle (ex-EU flights on BA, YUPP runs on AA etc.). I've been free with this info in the past but then realised I've spent a great deal of my time either in the industry directly or with private research and got to thinking, "if you want to know how to get to WP easily then look it up yourself." I see this more as realism than cynicism.

I'm with you. Happy to help loved ones. Everyone else can work for the information like the rest of us!

 

[OATEK]

I'm with you. Happy to help loved ones. Everyone else can work for the information like the rest of us!

After all, isn't it generally agreed that people do not value what they don't work for?

 

[boomy]

When people not so close to me ask how can they also fly J/F at a fraction of the cost I give them a simple answer - go to this great website called AFF, everything you need to know you will find there.
To be fair I do invite everyone to contact me for specific questions after they read the basics.
So far no one I know could be bothered spending the time reading through the relevant forums and they all keep flying Y and keep coughing about it.

 

[JohnK]

I gave up trying to explain it to friends. They just laugh and think there is something wrong with me. They are probably right anyway.

I don't travel in premium cabins that often and class of travel does not often get mentioned. But the frequency of travel does not go unnoticed.

"Oh, you are going to Thailand again? Didn't you just come back from Thailand?"....

 

[DrA]

Apparently telling people that I'm a geological consultant doesn't quite cut it...Certain friends and family are for some unfathomable reason convinced that I work for ASIO.

 

[blackcat20]

Certain friends and family are for some unfathomable reason convinced that I work for ASIO.

I wish! My friends and family just shake their heads and ask "when's your next holiday?"

 

[smit0847]

So far no one I know could be bothered spending the time reading through the relevant forums and they all keep flying Y and keep coughing about it.

Choosing to complain about problems rather than fixing them seems to be the Australian way!

 

[DrA]

I wish! My friends and family just shake their heads and ask "when's your next holiday?"

What do you mean you have to go to Kazakhstan for work? What's there to do there? The only thing there is like Borat! You must be like a spy or something, huh?

 

[ninin]

Such a brilliant thread and I am so pleased to learn that I am not alone.

I hardly ever mention my travelling to most friends and family - sick of the raised eyebrows and comments like"you're so lucky" and once again the comments that I must be rich etc.

I would never ever check in on FaceBook at the F or J lounge. I barely mention most of the trips I do (certainly not a weekend trip to HK or BGK etc). No one except my partner and I know we are off to NYC in August.

Sometimes it is a bit sad, but I have found that it is the easiest way forward.