Catch me on Radio 4 at 11am in ‘Inside the World of the Frequent Flyer’

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If you came to the Head for Points Christmas party in December you may have met Laurence Grissell from BBC Radio 4. He was – with our permission – looking for interesting characters to feature in a documentary that he was producing.

The finished programme is now ready and will be broadcast at 11am today. It is 30 minutes long.

This is how Radio 4 is promoting it:

Up in the air with the frequent flyers who’ll go to extreme lengths to achieve airline status and rack up air miles. Are they playing the system – or is the system playing them? Georgie Glen narrates their stories

Many hardcore frequent flyers will stop at nothing to achieve the privileges which go with airline status, planning convoluted multi-leg journeys to maximise their points. It’s a whole sub-economy – a parallel currency which the airlines control, and which the frequent flyers seek to exploit.

The consequence is a life which is spent perpetually in transit, on airplanes and in airport lounges. We hear what motivates these individuals, what they gain and what they lose from spending so much of their lives up in the air.

I recorded a long segment for the programme but I don’t know how much of it has made the finished cut.

My contribution should be slightly detached because as a family man I don’t have the time these days to undertake the mileage and tier point runs which are at the heart of the documentary. I do, of course, understand the economics of the process from both the point of view of the airline and the traveller and that’s probably where I will pop up. Part of the reason for hiring Anika was to let me escape much of the day-to-day review travel that comes with this job – the next stop for her is Johannesburg – in order to spend more time reading “Captain Underpants” to an eager 6-year old.

If you have something better to do at 11am – like, erm, working – you can listen online via this link after 11.30am.

Category

General

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Yuff says:

5 Mar5 March 06:49

Planning my first TP run in November to get gold 😉 to coincidence with the start of my collection period. Flyertalk is very helpful for info 🙂
Decided gold was the best way to get avios availability for peak school holidays, RFS flights.
- Adam says:
  
  5 Mar5 March 07:04
  
  Are you doing the European TP routes or mix it in with one long haul / short haul?
  - Yuff says:
    
    5 Mar5 March 08:48
    
    Looking at OTP – los Angeles hoping to add Honolulu on.
    Fare at end of nov in J/F is about £1500 for over 1000 TP’S
    - Zoe says:
      
      5 Mar5 March 10:48
      
      Hi Yuff, who /what / where is OTP I have done a quick google but can’t imagine you mean?
      Thanks
    - Gavin says:
      
      5 Mar5 March 11:03
      
      Bucharest
    - Adam says:
      
      5 Mar5 March 16:48
      
      Sounds good, I looked at 4 x EU TP runs for silver but can’t be bothered now.
    - Alex says:
      
      5 Mar5 March 18:07
      
      Adam, there are some interesting fares on AY, LHR to OSL for 515 GBP (I’ve found 498 but the’ve disappeared). That nets 240 TP so you should only need 2 runs for silver if you travel a bit on the side. If I remember the flyertalk conversations about it, it’s not the absolute best deal but for a weekend run that doesn’t mess up with jetlag too much, it’s probably good value.
Peter K says:

5 Mar5 March 07:38

I’ve got this virus so won’t be at work but will still be working at 11am helping my mother-in-law move an eight person table (rolls eyes).
I look forward to listening to this afterwards however!
- Rob says:
  
  5 Mar5 March 08:29
  
  I will be at the funeral of the wife of a friend of mine who has died very quickly from breast cancer (and who is only about a year older than my own wife) just to put all this flying stuff in perspective.
  - Cat says:
    
    5 Mar5 March 11:43
    
    I’m sorry Rob.
  - Peter K says:
    
    5 Mar5 March 12:10
    
    Sorry to hear that Rob. Yes, it does bring everything into sharp contrast ????
    - Lady London says:
      
      5 Mar5 March 12:40
      
      Makes us all know how lucky we are to be here.
  - BigSi says:
    
    5 Mar5 March 13:32
    
    Sorry to hear/
Mikeact says:

5 Mar5 March 09:20

I just love some of the comments about the programme on FT today ! Do take a read if you haven’t already.
JP says:

5 Mar5 March 09:52

OT: Due to abrupt change in plans, I need to make last-minute preparations for a celebration weekend around the Richmond/Kew area this weekend. I have already planned a couple of small things, but I would be very grateful for any hotel / restaurant / spa recommendations around the area, or even a bit further out from London. It’s for me and my partner.
- DV says:
  
  5 Mar5 March 11:07
  
  The Glasshouse in Kew is a very good restaurant. About 25 minutes down the A316/M3 you’ve got the Four Seasons Hampshire, which has an very good Spa.
  - JP says:
    
    5 Mar5 March 11:23
    
    Thank you very much for the suggestions! I really appreciate it.
  - Lady London says:
    
    5 Mar5 March 16:52
    
    I haven’t been to The Leatherne Bottle at Goring for years. Used to love it for Sunday lunch. Does anyone know if it’s still worth a detour?
    - Lady London says:
      
      5 Mar5 March 16:53
      
      Also didn’t Rob review a very nice hotel at Syon Park which is right in this area, a couple of years ago?
      - Rob says:
        
        5 Mar5 March 17:17
        
        I did, it is a very plush Hilton because it was built as a Waldorf Astoria before being downgraded.
- Vivian says:
  
  5 Mar5 March 14:48
  
  Petersham Nurseries is a good place for lunch. Very nice atmosphere.
  - JP says:
    
    5 Mar5 March 15:03
    
    Thank you!
- Craig says:
  
  5 Mar5 March 15:23
  
  Indigo in Kensington is excellent, it’s a few hundred metres from Earls Court tube which is a direct connection to Kew/Richmond.
lev441 says:

5 Mar5 March 10:35

I had a good chat with him for quite a while with Polly and a couple of others – Looking forward to hearing..
- Rob says:
  
  5 Mar5 March 10:45
  
  Yup, I was in that group also.
  - Polly says:
    
    5 Mar5 March 13:37
    
    Yes he was certainly interested in our opinions that evening but.. felt he focused too much on TP runs, and not enough on the normal folks who do it for a hobby, like many of us for instance. He mentioned it being a bit addictive too. But it was only a short half hour. Was wishing those two slowbies would speed up and speak a bit faster so we could get more info!
Anthony Dunn says:

5 Mar5 March 11:11

A “narrator” whose sneering condescension and patronising tone was utterly nauseating. Sadly, it cast a pall over what was otherwise pretty much known to all of us…
- DaveP says:
  
  5 Mar5 March 11:30
  
  Totally agree with the awful tone of the commentator: patronising in the extreme.
  If she was the CSD on my flight I would want to get off the plane!!
  - Anthony Dunn says:
    
    5 Mar5 March 11:31
    
    If she’d been the CSD on any plane I’ve been on, she’d have had a flea in her ear and told to grow up.
- RussellH says:
  
  5 Mar5 March 11:46
  
  I found Georgie Glen’s tone quite appropriate for audience the proramme was aimed at. Quietly amusing. TBH the programme was not pitched at reader’s of this site at all – we (were / could have been) the input.
- Trevor says:
  
  5 Mar5 March 12:34
  
  Totally agree. Does everything have to be trivialised?Why can’t we just have an interesting documentary? I doubt whether any newbie listening knows any more than before about collecting Avios, lounge access with status etc etc. Oh well…
- Tony says:
  
  5 Mar5 March 13:23
  
  Agree with this. Not sure what anyone inside or outside of the “hobby” has learned after listening to that. A missed opportunity I thought – too much trivial fluff, not enough substance.
N says:

5 Mar5 March 11:25

Oh wow I hate the narrator
N says:

5 Mar5 March 11:29

Lack of mention of BA has been very weird
- Graeme says:
  
  5 Mar5 March 11:39
  
  Agreed, I imagine it avoids them having to add “Other airlines are available” each time. Enjoyed hearing of the more extreme point runs and the parellel commentary on FlyerTalk. Can’t convince the OH tier point run are worth it, but she does love her Gold status…
- RussellH says:
  
  5 Mar5 March 11:43
  
  Not weird at all – there was no reason to mention BA – I am old enough to remember when mentioning the name of a business was a capital offence, and I still dislike it.
- John says:
  
  5 Mar5 March 12:16
  
  Then they shouldn’t have kept playing the Flower Duet
  - Rob says:
    
    5 Mar5 March 13:05
    
    I had to re-record chunks of mine to remove references to specific airlines.
    - Polly says:
      
      5 Mar5 March 13:39
      
      Yes they wanted to keep it neutral, it seems, but anyone in the know would know it was aimed at BA.
  - Alex says:
    
    6 Mar6 March 10:53
    
    I’ve always found it funny that BA’s music was a French Opera song.
    Although obviously, Gilbert and Sullivan is much less relaxing! 😀