Backstory

As I sit here with my personal laptop and my work laptop, AND smart phone, I realize that things must have been easier for the forefathers of my current quest. There was free sex, cheap drugs and nips of alcohol didn't cost $5 while cruising at 30k feet. Flights had multiple course meals that had delicious food from Michelin starred chefs. Did the chefs have stars back then? Let's just assume "YES".

What do we have now? Long security lines; X-rays where people in far off and distant lands (people not in the current purview of the flyer being scanned) can you see parts you wouldn't show until at least the 3rd date; a la carte food options; rude airline employees and fees to choose an aisle seat. It's nuts. It's crazy. It's today's flying norm. Flying used to be half the fun of the trip, but it is becoming more and more of a bus ride, if anything. There must be something an average joe like myself can do in order to make this experience more rewarding...right?

I decided to become a consultant. I'm no George Clooney though. I mean, I am, but I'm not. Right? Right? Did I just lose everyone? If it was David Schwimmer in "Up in the Air", I would have hit that joke to a T. Oh well. Let's just say that instead of flying place to place to place like Georgey, I am going to fly to the same place almost every single week for the next 8-10 months. And then, I'll be put onto a different project and start the whole cycle over.

While discussing this new job with my wife (with whom I have a 6 month old son, and YES, we weighed the options: in this economy, we need as much money as we can get ahold of in order to put ourselves into a better situation....wait, why am i explaining this to you? I shouldn't have to give you my reasoning, should I? Shit. Maybe I do. Sorry. My apologies. Where was I?) While discussing this new job with my wife, I thought to myself "Self, you will get status eventually, but when you start traveling, you should be good for at least a window/aisle seat in the middle of the plane most of the time". I was wrong. Dead wrong. But more on that when we get to my "motive".

I got the go ahead from the PM of my company stating that I can start booking flights and other required travel arrangements. Here are the variables:

*I can only book up to 4 weeks in advance
*I can only book flights for the cheapest airfare available
*I can stick with an airline if, and only if, it is within a reasonable amount of money to a cheaper carrier
*Hotels are through a client rate (there are ways to get better hotels through bartering, or so I am told)
*Hertz Gold through my company
*X amount of dollars per day for food

Fast forward, errr, rewind to when I was told I could book 2 weeks in advance. I know I said I could book up to 4 weeks, but I need to visit with the client to discuss a schedule before I can truly start booking. I was hoping to keep airlines, hotels, etc anonymous, but I'll try to be reasonable without giving too much away.

*I am flying out of Boston [insert another person from Boston sigh here]
*I will be traveling less than 1k miles, but more than 700 miles per segment
*I will be traveling to the same place for 8-10 months until my next work engagement
*I will be doing the standard 3-4-5 (3 overnights, 4 days on site, 5th day remote)

My goal is to attain status at 1 hotel and 1 airline as fast as possible. During this process, I will be:
*documenting how credit cards can help gain miles/points
*researching how some mileage cards may in fact be useless
*trying to gain access to airline lounges and scoffing at their costs
*talking about Frequent Flyer Challenges, and whether other airlines do them along with American
*gauging how my individual airline is doing in terms of customer service
*debating as to whether or not I need to change airlines and start over

Motive:
Remember when I said I was "DEAD WRONG"? I was wrong because I booked 2 round-trips back to back and got middle seats in the ass back of the plane for 3 out of the 4 flights. I ponied up $24 just to get a window seat on a return segment because I wasn't given an option to even a crappy seat. There is a potential to change seats when I get to the airport/check-in at home, but I'm balking at extra fees if they are required for me to migrate.

So there's my story. Now you are caught up to speed. My first flight isn't until next Monday, so stay tuned in case something changes. It won't though. I'll probably fly out on Monday and forget to update on how things went and it won't be until 3 weeks from now when I remember that I wrote this blog. But hey!!! Here's hoping!