Why am I traveling so much this month?

Many of you have asked why I have been traveling so much this month. To explain that it slightly complicated….

Over the past 10 years I have been traveling a lot and over time I have earned elite status on an airline. Previously it was on Delta but over the past few years I have been traveling on American. I love exploring new cities and love being up in the air.

The current status that I hold is American Executive Platinum. The status offers the following benefits:

1. Complimentary upgrades on domestic flights at 100 hours before the flight.
2. 8 system-wide upgrade certificates eligible to upgrade any paid economy fare to business class on an international itinerary operated by American
3. First Class Lounge Access when traveling on an international reservation on a One World Alliance Airline
4. Complimentary Main Cabin Extra seats on all flights
5. A complimentary snack and drink when flying on a domestic flight in economy
6. Free checked bags
7. Upgraded customer support and assistance in re-booking
8. No charge to re-deposit miles if canceling or changing an award trip

Basically, the status allows me to travel more comfortably.

In order to keep the status I need 100,000 miles per year. My travel this month is in order for me to reach that level for an additional year as well as to see a couple new cities.

Throughout the year, I have been searching for low priced tickets that would earn a lot of miles. Several months ago, I found a great fare from Seoul to the United States and subsequently a good fare from the US to Seoul. I also found one to Shanghai. These three trips happen to fall around the same time and they have been concentrated in September.

This has meant that I have been away from home a lot more than normal this month.

A lot of people have been asking me if I am traveling because I want to be away from my wife or away from home. That is absolutely not the case at all. I would much rather get to explore the world with my wife; however, it does not always work out for the two of us to travel together. When the trip is so short, it is a lot of flying for a short time in one place so it doesn’t always make sense for me to have her go with me.

I relax while I travel and watch movies, sleep a little and enjoy the time being up in the air. To most normal people it would seem crazy to fly 15 hours to Seoul to stay for less than that time and then fly back another 12 hours. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to me either; however, when I think about what benefits I get from it, it makes it much easier.

Unfortunately I have been away from home a lot this month and away from my wife. I miss her when I travel and she is always with me even when I am far away.

Fortunately, in a few weeks, the two of us are celebrating our anniversary and we will get to have a tropical vacation in Mexico. I am greatly looking forward to it so we can unwind and to be together.

I know that flying to keep status seems a little silly. And sometimes I feel the same way but it has allowed me to travel a little more comfortably over the past few years. I hope this post can help others to maybe understand why I have been traveling so much this month a little.