Yesterday I shared the details of four review trips that I’m going to be taking over the coming months, and I just realized something sort of crazy.
My travel style varies significantly
Obviously my travel style varies significantly based on the type of trip I’m taking. When I’m actually going for the purpose of visiting a destination (or traveling with Ford), I take my time.
When I’m taking a review trip (flying for the sole purpose of reviewing airline products), I do everything I can to minimize my time on the ground and get in as many product reviews as possible, unless it’s a destination I really want to visit.
While I like spending 2-3 nights somewhere, the worst thing for me is a one night stopover.
That’s because when I travel I generally at least partly stay on US East Coast time due to my work. So a one night stopover might sound relaxing to many, but to me it means I’ll get virtually no sleep.
That’s why I often prefer turning right around rather than spending just one night somewhere. For example, that’s what I did last year when I reviewed United’s 777-300ER business class from San Francisco to Hong Kong, and then Singapore’s 777-300ER business class from Hong Kong to San Francisco. That way I avoid jetlag and can sleep pretty well on the return flight.
And that’s pretty mild by my standards. A couple of years ago Live and Let’s Fly and I flew from Casablanca to Doha to Colombo to Jeddah to Manchester to New York to Los Angeles without spending a night anywhere. That was sort of insane.
Redeyes six nights in a row?!? Oops!
Well, there’s something that just occurred to me as I was more closely looking at the travel I have planned over the coming months. I keep a spreadsheet that tracks where I spend every night, and I figured I’d get ahead a bit, and fill this out for the coming weeks.
As I did this, I realized that I’m scheduled to be on a flight for six nights in a row.
This was sort of a mistake, because I thought I had a night in New York, but had failed to account for the flight arriving the following day.
So, what all am I flying?
- Washington to Abu Dhabi in Etihad’s 787 first class (flat bed)
- Abu Dhabi to Ahmedabad in Etihad’s A320 business class (recliner seat)
- Ahmedabad to Singapore in Singapore’s A330 business class (angled seat)
- Singapore to Newark in Singapore’s A350 business class (flat bed)
- New York to Nairobi in Kenya Airways’ 787 business class (flat bed)
- Nairobi to London in British Airways’ 747 business class (flat bed)
Now, in fairness, not all of these are total redeyes, in the sense that I’ll still be getting some sleep on the ground. I have hotels booked in Ahmedabad, Singapore, and Nairobi, even though I won’t be in the rooms overnight.
So wish me luck… if I’m a bit grouchy then, I apologize in advance, though I suspect I’ll actually find it to be quite enjoyable, and there should be no shortage of content!
Yeah, relatable, The end of this month im doing an around the world trip, all business class: ATL-BRU DAL 767-400, BRU-BKK Thai A350, BKK-HKG Thai 77W, HKG-MNL CPA A350-1000, MNL-JFK PAL A350. Only have 2 hotels book, (in Bangkok and Hong kong), and half of those flights are red-eyes. Can I get an amen?
Love Debit & Credit.
They make this blog.
I have a friend who travels the world, alone & in economy, just to get the stamps in his passport. He did Sydney, Melbourne & Auckland in one week (including flights), and claimed one day in Melbourne was enough. I find this sad.
By the way - don’t let all these flight reviews get in the way of credit card promos!
We see you still Dodging Qantas Perth to London :(
Where will you be staying in AMD? The Hyatt Regency is relatively close to the airport and is an excellent value. If you have a few hours in the city, there are a couple of must see sights. AMD is a UNESCO World Heritage City. Check this out for more information:
https://houseofmg.com/explore/heritage-walks/
@trey
You are right. My game has been down ever since you dragged your feet paying my invoice for your entertainment charges. Send me $999.99 soon and I will put in more effort to entertain you.
@Trey good catch as they only have Prem and Biz, so Debit being Debit was a fail or was it.....
Ben you are amazing! Last week I had two redeyes in a row and somehow miraculously survived that. In your case I have no worries as we know you can handle anything!
I think this is quite terrible...my policy is 2 consecutive red-eyes, and only if it means I get interesting cities for day trips. Even if it's SQ/ QR business I'd feel in desperate need of a nice fluffy bed.
@ Debit: you mean Premium Economy? Your posts have been lacking lately in accuracy and hilarity, and as an Accounting student, I'm disappointed.
Well, oops. At least two-thirds of the seats are flat beds, so could be much worse.
Hope you booked the Hyatt Regency, Ahmedabad. Best in town with some amazing F&B service.
@ henry LAX do you really suck that much? You're consistently the most negative poster here... that's maybe how you define it but you're just some kind of weird if you think that 6 nights on an airplane in a row doesn't auto qualify... get a life.
Love it!
I wonder how many other people in the world can say that....
I'm sure Ford is so thankful right now that you aren't forcing him to come. He just got married and now he wants to die! That's why this blog is so awsome (or atleast it was incase you don't make it....)
The commitment to CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT is why this blog is the best in the biz.
I am impressed how you manage jetlag in general given that that exposure to sun changes your biological time even if you keep east coast time. You can avoid sun but that is also not healthy so... How does it work?
Also I use TripIt for me travels. Is there a reason why you use excel sheet?
Is a red eye really that much of a hardship when you have a flat bed?
@ Debit -- He used a DEBIT card.
What credit card did you use to book these with?
my friend and his wife were booked on kenya airways jfk to nairobi on thursday november 8, booked through AF flying blue, and they received a message today that the flight was cancelled...they are now scrambling to find new flights as they were booked all the way through to cape town
Curious:
Do you feel that you adequately and fairly review the flights when they’re at the end of a trip like this?
Just seems like one could be either bored or tired or ornery by the end of this, which could negatively impact the report
Recently we did 10 days of Budapest Prague and Vienna
Loved them all, but was ready to get home by the end
Much of the architecture and churches...
Curious:
Do you feel that you adequately and fairly review the flights when they’re at the end of a trip like this?
Just seems like one could be either bored or tired or ornery by the end of this, which could negatively impact the report
Recently we did 10 days of Budapest Prague and Vienna
Loved them all, but was ready to get home by the end
Much of the architecture and churches and palaces seemed more pedestrian by the end
That said, we still loved our Austrian flight home in j and found the food to be amazing, so maybe it’s not a big deal
Lucky - did you see that announcement by UNITED ?
United Is Cracking Down on Skiplagging Customers - something that you have written about in your posts on how you are able to locate cheaper fares
First of all - that is an IMPRESSIVE travel map! On the other hand, look out Kenya Airways! That JFK-NBO is going to be brutal after the SIN-EWR run, no matter how comfortable SQ is going to be. Plus, you have the fun of getting between EWR and JFK where you expend the same amount of energy as a 12hr red-eye.
zOMG you are like a hero.
Not mine but somebody's.
Maybe not somebody's either.
@ Ben -- LOL
I've quickly shifted from being sad that I wasn't joining on this one to being really really grateful.
P.S. Get your flu shot! ;)
a standard overnight, say 6.5+ hours, isn't a "red-eye". AUH-AMD is so short you could just stay up and read a book. Out of that whole list, only AMD-SIN kinda qualifies.
And most usually define "red-eye" as "you have to be fully functional at work the next morning despite a super short 3-5 hour overnight flight". Are you conducting face-to-face meetings in Singapore shortly after landing ?
Haha you're crazy but this is why I continue reading this blog! Good stuff
My first reaction was that Ford wasn’t going so there’s that :-)
You should enjoy EY B787-9 1st. This flight allows you to watch the sun come up and go down
How soon did you find award space? I’m looking for next May to complete my RTW19 Double Trips. Appears award seats open up about 4 weeks before departure. What was your experience?
I actually find that you post pretty feisty posts after doing crazy runs ;)
Good luck! I would be near death after this trip I think.
Also do you use an app or website to make your flight travel map?
@ Adrian -- We did a little tutorial here that might help: https://onemileatatime.com/how-to-make-flight-maps/
Nice.
I will be impressed when you do the review for EWR-SIN in economy.
Haha, wow. I do the same thing in a spreadsheet - I feel like I would forget which night of hotel to book/book the wrong night if I didn't.