Frequent Travel Programs – a Perk or a Necessity?

I figure, what better way to kick off a blog about the consulting lifestyle than to talk about frequent travel programs? For those of us who spend 80-90% of our professional life on the road, this is probably one of the most widely talked about topics amongst us, and one of the most widely misunderstood topics amongst those who don’t travel.

As someone who has accumulated his share of status on at least 4 major airlines and hotel chains, it stills amazes me when people start to talk about how lucky we must be to have accumulated all of those points and perks every year. Let’s take a quick look at some of those perks they’re talking about, shall we?

• Airline status that allows us to board first
• Airline status that allows us to get priority in stand-by situations
• Airline status that allows us to get upgrades from economy
• Airline miles that can be redeemed for round trip tickets
• Hotel status that allows us to make guaranteed same-day reservations
• Hotel status that allows us to get room upgrades and free bottles of water
• Hotel points that can be redeemed for free night

Sure these all seem like fantastic perks worthy of some oohs and ahhs at face value. However let’s revisit that same list in context of a typical travel work week for a consultant:

• Since most business travel is done early Monday morning – late afternoon/evening Thursday, we find ourselves traveling with other road warriors with status. And since most of us haven’t checked a bag since we first started the job, we’re all still fighting for the same overhead bin space. The only exception is when you find yourself going to podunk-town in middle America by yourself, in which case you have worse problems than worrying about luggage space.
• Usually the only times we fly stand-by is because we’re on a last-minute flight to the client on a Sunday evening because they just signed the statement of work and want you there by 8am Monday.
• Ok, I admit that flight upgrades are nice…
• Redeeming miles for free tickets is a great concept when talking about vacation travel. When was the last time you took a vacation?
• Guaranteed Same day reservations – see flying stand-by…
• Room upgrades are nice, and cold bottled water tastes like champagne after you’ve been stuck in a plane for 4 hours while waiting on the runway for 3 of those hours sitting next to Chit-Chat Cathy.
• Redeeming points for free hotel stays – again, when was the last time you took a vacation?

So as it stands, most of the so-called perks actually end up being valued as necessities. The only real way to take advantage of some of these programs is to make sure you actually leverage your vacation and holiday time wisely, and that is a whole other discussion.