I did look at that cruise! Very difficult to picture a ship full of people who don't have somewhere else they need to be at any point in a 3 year period... Plus, as usual, the quoted price was somewhat massaged to attract interest - the cost most would end up paying would be quite a lot higher.... Question noted - which actually gave me a good idea for the video.... Thanks!
I enjoy your videos and have learned a lot. I was an avid backpacker between 1979 - 1992. My goal was to backpack through countries that border each other from Europe through Southeast Asia. I did accomplish the goal. At that time I was not able to visit Iran or Afghanistan. People would also say to me It must be nice to have the money to travel. They would not realize that you can get good value if you travel smart. Backpacking days are over. But I still get great value when I travel. The people I met and places I went were some of the best times of my life
Fantastic! I do know someone who did make it to Afghanistan in its hippy phase and she thought it was great... At least what she can remember was great! Backpacking is a young persons game!
I am not surprised at your viewers. You do well in your posts; they are interesting, informative, and entertaining. Your personality is suited for this venture. Questions, I have many, but they would be on a personal level, and I doubt they are suitable for this. So just keep at it.
Thanks Mikie - happy to receive personal questions! There will be a limit to what I share, but feel free to ask! There's an email in the description of every video too if you'd prefer to keep it less public...
@Matt's Planet im a student at the moment so i dont have money yo spair or else I would support your patron. They way you structure your videos is the same as my thought processe so they have been extremely helpful.
@@MattsPlanet You are not wrong! was at 280 points with business trip to the States, just shy of Bronze. Booked a family holiday to Florida via BA Holidays (with double tier points) and leap frogged to into Silver 12 days upon return! On the way back from Florida I had "naturally" hit Bronze and we were in Premium economy, the stewards came over and handed me a card and business class drinks and snack as a thank you...basically business in premium economy! Felt very special, I am sitting here now trying to work out how to get from 740 tier to 1500, got till Feb to do it. Its sooo darn addictive, just work keeps getting in the way :)
Excellent video. I was lucky to always work for international airlines. Outsourced, bankrupted, but still going strong at 1500 flights and nearly 2 million miles
Fantastic! Always a bit worried about the culture you're going to find in a state owned / bankrupt / outsourced airline but I guess you can put up with a lot if it means you can travel so much!
Jordan is quite a remarkable place - so many fantastic things to see. Actually going back later this year, albeit briefly... I vividly remember the tourist stalls outside Petra - there was no crime and everyone was honest so the stall holders just threw a blanket over their carts at night with all their stock still on it... It was all still there in the morning! Never seen that anywhere else in the world, even in other Islamic countries
Working for an airline that does a bit of everything is what did it for me (Titan Airways). Late last year as part of one of our trips we stopped for 2 days at Easter Island and we rode quad bikes around the whole island whilst thinking to myself "I'm actually being paid to be here", still can't quite believe it and I know i'll never have such a good job ever again!
I’ve visited 120countries - there lots of countries I have zero interest in going to . If I was young starting out in travel I.d take a crap job with BA or Virgin or Emirates just for the travel perks for 3/4 years see the world before doing my post graduate studies or professional qualifications. Then I.d rent my spare room at low cost to flight attendant and use their non Rev perks.... which is what I did for ten years . Zero interest in visiting all US states . Was lucky enough to go to Brazil for business , love going back there , make sure you get there if you haven.t already
I have kids , but dragged them along before 2 to go far and wide whilst we could for free with them. Now they both love travel ...but true re cost ..24 year old still at home asking what's for dinner, breakfast or food they can eat from the fridge !!!!
Was I right about them being a delight? Occasionally, perhaps??? Well done for keeping going until they were 2 - that must have been challenging at times but great fun!
@MattsPlanet yes even at 20 and 24 years, still dragged everywhere. Mind you one pays for himself, off to Dubai, Spain, Italy, Austria the 2nd half of 2023. I suffer from Notripophobia ...aka no- trip-o- phobia which obviously means a fear of no trips booked 🤣
I thought I'd travelled quite a lot - but you beat me in every area (countries lived in: 5 vs 3, countries visited >100 vs 58, US states visited 50 vs 48, 1.4 million miles vs 0.95 million miles). As you say, one doesn't have to be rich to travel a lot.
Cheers Dave - 48 states is pretty solid! Must be tempting to make a trip just to get the last 2 - hopefully you haven't left Alaska and Hawaii as that's a tough trip!
I enjoy your videos. Yes, I've taken self-funded ultra-long haul flights (as recently as a few days ago.) I also have many friends and colleagues who have never flown or need to drink a couple liters of beer before stepping onto a one-hour flight. So I enjoy your videos. I remember when a transatlantic flight was a big deal for me. Now, I think nothing of taking several self-funded ultra long haul flights a year. I've come to the conclusion that, if I am careful, I can take an ultra-long-haul flight in economy for about the same price as a domestic flight in first class. So, I have fun doing this. And you do, too. And you don't complain about how many hours airborne, and you don't complain about which class you're in. You enjoy it all. That's what I like.
Thanks so much. I think I was a bit hesitant to get on a plane without good reason until I lived in Australia... From Sydney its pretty much 8 hours to get anywhere (except NZ) and 14 hours to the US... After a couple of years of that, a 5-6 hour flight felt like a flight from London to Paris!
Thanks Matt, really enjoyed your MSC videos which helped me on my trip last year. I like travelling solo, usually on cruises, and don't think I would've got to see New York without going on a cruise ship. I would welcome any tips from you for solo cruising.
Thanks Paul. Went on a short (3 night) cruise a couple of weeks back which was my first solo cruise in 13 years.... A video about cruising solo is not a bad idea!
Another good option to enable fequent travel is to work for an airline. Most scheduled airlines have interline agreements allowing staff travel on other carriers which increases the routes you can book using heavily discounted tickets
Thanks James - very good point. I thought that would be what I did when I was young, but (certainly back then) most airlines were state owned and were absolutely terrible places to work! There's a few more commercially driven ones these days, but I always felt I needed to enjoy the job as well as the benefits it might have brought! Now, being a secret shopper / service quality reviewer for an airline would be a good gig....
Matt - first and foremost, congrats on the great content. With your invaluable help I’ve made it to BA Gold in 8 months (something I hadn’t achieved in 5 years). I am about to hit 2500 Tier Points and wanted some advice on making the most of the ‘Gold Voucher for Two’. My idea is to book a Europe-Asia-AUS-Europe multi-journey on a single ticket (WTP to Club, or Club to First) and make the most bang for my buck, but I’ve no idea where to start! Any help is much appreciated. One love!
Thanks Enrique - really happy to hear my ramblings have been useful in the real world! I can't really help you with the GUF2 (if that's what its known as) - I've always got to 1,500 TPs and slammed on the brakes so have never personally had one... I know Head For Points has some coverage of the topic and I'm sure Flyertalk would have an insight too... I will confess to being confused about GUF1s, GUF2s and Jokers... Thought about researching it for a video but I didn't feel it would have mass appeal as so few people would ever get there...
Hi Matt, watch, pause, watch and make notes of your BAEC videos as having reached silver this year I’m desperate to maintain it. Do you provide any step by step instructions for some of the more detailed stuff ie tier point runs? That just blows my mind 😁
Thanks Sarah! Its addictive.... There was a series a year or two back on Tier Point Runs and another on Ex-EUs - if you search RUclips for those words you should find me! And Matrix ITA is another you'll probably benefit from!
Super interesting! I'm 20 and I've already reached 60 countries and over 200 flights including this year reaching all 7 continents with a trip to antarctica, thanks to my parents' love of travel, and more recently my job as a live events director has allowed me to travel even more!
As you know, one of my favourite videos on all of RUclips is the one where you took a bus. It's going back a bit now but my first question is simply: are you planning on doing anymore bus or coach videos? And my second completely unrelated question is: can you do my tax return? 🤣
Don’t matter if your older,if you have a lot of experience in certain areas you can move…. I am a safeguarding and risk expert…so even as older I can move about even though older. Like your channel you shatter the illusion of having to be rich to travel, you make it easy… ive done about 25 countries, but really want to travel more. Juggling my travel around my work schedule, watching your videos avidly for routes in business class..
Well done on your 10K, Matt, well deserved. Having a career which makes you travel certainly gives you the bug, and it does wonders for your self-esteem and confidence. You are immediately introduced to people, and (in my experience) they want to be good hosts. You see and experience things you won't as a tourist, even with careful research. One thing you didn't mention - pets can hold you back too.They don't live as long as children, but people often replace them. The pets, not the children :-)
Thanks Peter - business travel does certainly show you a side to places a tourist wouldn't see - its a good point... And its a good point about pets - I did think to escalate them in my script to put alongside kids but I thought some might be bothered by that!!!
100% agree about not having kids, we became foster carers by accident in 2001 and that curtailed our travel and destruction of our bank balance. we are finally starting to get back to adventures. great video Matt.
Thanks so much - is it actually Boaz??? Not too familiar with that as a name! I was a bit nervous about being a bit abrupt about kids, but people seem to have realised my tongue was in my cheek!
Hey Matt, I'm still playing catch-up and just seen this vid. Many thanks for your insight, joviality and frankness. Most inspirational. I'm off to sub to your cruise channel...
Congratulations Matt on 10k followers. I have been an avid follower of your channel. After a very long time , I managed to get the Bronze status and following your advice booked two short trips to Sofia and Marrakesh which will upgrade me to Silver status on the BA executive club . I’m planning to go to SFA and Singapore next year on First class and hopefully would elevate me to Good club. Fingers crossed . Wishing you more travels and success for your channel ❤🙌🏼👍🏼🥳
And pets Mat, their travel limiting luckily we manage to get a friend to foster the dog otherwise it’d be expensive boarding. My Q&A which I’ll wait (hopefully) to the video for the answer is did you ever fly Concorde or want to & whether you’d like to see supersonic travel back ? We were lucky to fly to JFK weeks before the final flights & still miss the sound of Concorde over London.
Thanks so much Robin. You can never know how a video will sound when you've watched yourself say all that 10 times through the editing process so this feedback is really helpful!
Q&A Question for you Matt: What is your opinion on International Airline First Class products and have you ever flown on one? Also hope to see you on 10K subs before I go to Australia in November, you're channel has become one of my favourites over the last few years!
Thought i’d comment on a more recent video this time 😁. Recently visited Sydney, absolutely loved it. Considering to do a 6 month secondment there as part of my training contract to become a commercial lawyer. I’m deliberating between choosing Sydney. NYC, Tokyo and Sao Paulo. Did you enjoy visiting/living in any of these places more? Btw, really enjoy your presentational style and review content.
Thanks AG - great question and a fantastic opportunity! I guess there's two angles - which place would be the best for the career and which would be best for you... On both counts I'd imagine a non-Engllsh speaking country would be more challenging - in the office not so much as English will be the business language... And the Japanese business environment is very different from "the West" and Brazil would be very different again... On a personal level, I've never lived in New York and have always wanted to - a 6 month posting would be a perfect way to experience one of the world's great cities. But Sydney is an amazing place to live... I went to Tokyo 18 years ago and found it a little difficult to "get into" - its better these days as the world has globalised and I was only there for 4 days but the cultural and language differences made me feel like I was bouncing off the surface of the place rather than truly experiencing it as I did in (say) Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. Never been to Sao Paolo...
Thanks! I'll answer your question here - and I have talked about this in the past - all TAP business class flights give 200% miles flown so they're usually the best place to look for good value points in bulk... Aegean also has strong discounts several times a year on flights to Greece - I think there's one on now which is usually not too bad. Don't forget you can buy them too - if you only need a few then buying what you need may be cheaper than taking an entire trip.
"So hello!" what a wonderful way to make my Sunday morning in Nebraska just a tad more British :) I think even someone with a lousy job can still make travel happen, just a matter of time management and saving / budgeting. Even here in the US where the norm is a 2 week holiday (i.e. 10 paid days), one can spread that across the year and actually go on several short holidays a year if planned strategically. More reason to absorb all the lessons from Daddy Matt's videos! - Red
Hello Nebraska! Ah, US holiday (sorry vacation!) entitlements... It takes a good few hours to get out of the US, which bites into the limited time even more but I suppose the Caribbean is relatively close and offers some really interesting options... Cheers
Great video Matt and a lot of good comments. Before retiring I was an accountant working in the oil and gas sector and visited a lot of "interesting" places. As I love both travel and aircraft, my work went in tandem with it. I've just added up the amount of countries visited and have been surprised at the total. Now retired, I'm following all your tips on collecting miles to keep this number increasing
Thanks Alastair. I had a paragraph scripted about how the oil and gas sector was a brilliant choice if you want more exotic travel destinations but I cut it as I'd waffled on for long enough, and advising people to go into oil and gas may not be the wisest career advice I could give right now! Let me guess - Libya??
@@alistairmacdonald5541 Aha! I suspect the Algerian experience was indistinguishable from what the Libyan one would have been, just a different stamp in the passport!
Hi Matt! I love your videos, this one was a great insight into your travel life, very interesting! If you’re ever in the Vancouver BC area and need a tour guide 👀 haha do you follow hockey at all?
Thanks Brandon! Love Vancouver - been 3 or 4 times. Used to do visa renewals there when I was living in the US. First place in Canada I visited so it will always be special. Wouldn't say I was a hockey fan but its an enjoyable sport to watch. Smaller venues than football, so easier for a great atmosphere to build. Still not certain I've ever actually seen a moving puck with my own eyes when I've been at a game but that wasn't a huge issue!!
Hey Matt, I used to work at AA right by Temple station during the 90's. Could we have crossed pathes i wonder? so happy with your growth, as always love your videos
What an amazing life! Thanks for sharing + congratulations on your channels success 🎈🎉🎊 Question - what's been your most memorable flight + in your opinion which carrier offers the best first class product?
Thanks Jimmy. Question's on the list! Not done many F's as yet - Trek Trendy's your man for that sort of content but I'll answer the question in the video anyway!
Nice video as always, Matt! I have an issue with list of Travelers' Century Club however. As a Greek, I can reassure you there's absolutely no reason to consider regions/islands such as the Aegean or Ionian Sea islands different than Greece. They're not like Jersey or Isle of Man. They're actual parts, regions of the country. It's like considering Long Island in New York - sort of - independent! Doesn't make any sense, does it?
Thanks so much... The TCC is odd! Tasmania is separate from Australia.... Prince Edward Island is separate from Canada... Makes little sense - odd quirks of history aren't significant these days.... Been to Athens, Corfu, Crete and Rhodes which I think are 4 separate territories but they all felt Greek!
I did an international development module within my degree and it was really interesting... That points you towards international travel (developing world) rather than the usual haunts, but that can be the most interesting sort of travel of all! Good luck, and remember to have some fun amidst all that studying!
@@felixnewton7556I’m now (almost) 32 and started off in the humanitarian / non-profit world after studying international development and intercultural studies. I worked with a few INGOs and was fortunate to travel extensively in Central and Eastern Africa. It was a wonderful time. I’m now married with a little one and am a consultant project manger which also affords me some travel (although often to the same places again and again). If you’re interested in travelling to some less-traditional places, int. development is a great way to go, but in my experience definitely suits a younger traveller so make the most of it over the next 10 years or so. All the best in your studies!
Hi Matt, Great video and we’ll done on nearly 10,000 subscribers. I completely agree that cruises are great ways to explore many countries at once, but do you have any advice on what travel agent to use or even what company is your favourite (I’ve seen the ‘what makes ___ different’ videos on the second channel), I’ve heard that it’s very important to book through a travel agent for onboard credit or free promotions etc. Keep up the good work, Thanks.
I very much do and in a couple of weeks I'll be talking about it in great detail! You should use a travel agent for cruising as it costs you no more and may open up access to additional bits and pieces. Not guaranteed, but they will be proactive in tracking what may be happening with your booking. Sorry to quote myself, but you'll have to stick around for a few more weeks!
Dear Shirley. Well Matt another interesting, ish video. You don't come across as bragging and you have definitely inspired many people along the way and been very helpful also. My question to you is tier point related. Like you my status level ends or renews on 7th August and I will require 480 points to reach Gold by that date. If you required 480 points what would you do? I have looked at the Sofia trip, with nesting flights, but in Aug it is about £1600 with the BA holiday to double it up. You also mentioned a flight from Abudabi to Jakarta with Srilankan. Would that require a BA flight number? Would you even bother chasing Gold? Cheers in advance. Steve. C. No Champions League unfortunately but hayho YNWA
Hi Steve. I've always preferred the Europa League anyway... Looking forward to a strong summer of signings. Quite a complex question and I'm looking at the exact same thing for a short haul plus holiday in Aug/Sep. I have found £730 to Bucharest with a car for 5 days from Jersey in Sep but Aug is annoyingly peak season still - that's 480 TPs plus whatever you might get positioning to JER. No need to nest, but a bit of a faff to get too and from JER, and pricing will be higher in August. The AUH - CGK one is a SriLankan flight number but it still earns tier points and avios as a oneworld partner. As I usually point out, getting gold on the last day of your year gets the status for a year and a bit, getting it on the first day gives status for two years and a bit... So is it "easier" for you to just hoover up 1,500 in Aug/Sep/Oct (out of peak season) and get gold from scratch in the new year than it is to get the extra points you need this year....
Matt. I understand what you are saying about the, 1 day makes a difference between Gold for 1 year or Gold for 2 years, but if you had to do a full run for Gold, ie 1500 points, before the end of the year to take advantage of the double tier points offer what would you look at? I know its probably got to take in the East and west coast of America. regards Steve. C. YNWA. Still got a chance of Champions league if we win and UTD lose both there last 2 games., as unlikely as that is, I'll hold on to them straws. 🤞🤞🤞
Interesting to hear you are an accountant for your day job, I had assumed you were a PM given how organised you were. Great content Matt and I hope you keep it going.
Great content, thank you! Have you ever encountered problems entering places like the USA because of some of the countries you have visited (Syria, etc)? I would love to visit Cuba personally but am worried about the subsequent ramifications on travel to North America.
Hi Toby. I went to Syria in 2004, well before it was put on the naughty step... There's no data interchange between Cuba and the US and Cuba doesn't stamp your passport so it is possible to visit if you are happy to lie on an ESTA application. I believe Mexico stamps you in as having travelled from Cuba if you go there via that country so beware if you pick that routing....
Hey Matt! I love your videos! I am keen to begin travelling, but as a young person, I do not yet have the funds to do so! How might I begin seeing the world? What places should I start with? Are there any “travel hacks” for saving money?
Hi Jacob - thanks for watching! As I hope I show in this video, it gets easier to travel as you get older, your income increases and you perhaps have an international job.... Before then, backpacking in SouthEast Asia or India can be very inexpensive - provided you can get there for a reasonable price.... Looking at prices of flights and hotels gives an idea of when peak seasons are - avoid them!
Q&A Question: In my experience, modern short-haul European business travel is invariably in economy, even for more senior staff (I don’t know if this is cost-saving or environment related). Even frequent travel between UK and Germany (for example) makes it really hard to build status. What’s the best way to do this - upgrading through Avios/equivalent, or paying your way?
Hi Matt. Forgive me for asking as you might have explained in a different video, how do I book multiple flights for a tier point run ? I’m unable to see it on Google Flights (probably my mobile doesn’t allow that). What do you recommend? I want to fly to Singapore next year on First class but want to get the best tier points for the BA executive club . I’m currently on Bronze but will hopefully elevate to Silver in the next few weeks 🙏🏼
There are videos on this - its quite complicated! Search for tier point runs and it should pop up... Singapore is a tricky place to build a tier point run to though - most of the good ones are to the US where American has such a strong network that allows you to add lots of hops to build up the tier points...
Do you think one day we will be able to turn up 1 hour before take off? The whole process I appreciate is big scale but the 2/3 hour before annoys me 😂
I think it was cruisetimetables.com - quite a retro look. They had a period when they weren't very reliable (as the restart got a little confusing) but they seem to be back on their game now!
Not a fan of cruises, I’ve been on one and the ship sank. I didn’t like that! I’ll stick to flying thanks 😂 A job with travel is my approach, the place I’ve most been surprised about was Columbia, what a country.
I'm sure it was really traumatic but the way you phrase the sinking makes it sound hilarious! The only ship I can remember sinking was the Costa Concordia which was indeed a big deal... I can certainly understand why going back on a cruise isn't appealing... Returning to Colombia in a few weeks and really looking forward to it!
@@MattsPlanet school cruise (MV Jupiter) 1988 sank just out of Piraeus harbour in Greece. Hope you enjoy Columbia, I desperately want to go back there. Enjoying the channel just signed up yesterday. Today I have the dubious pleasure of a Eurowings flight but at least it wasn’t cancelled like BA on Monday. Making quite a lot of money out of BA compensation at the moment 😂
@@MattsPlanet not at all don’t worry! Too busy raging about eurowings terrible service on twitter to get worried about such things :) Never fly eurowings! I think only an internal China flight was worse than this, that’s basically as I got a pot noodle dropped on me! Stuff happens when you travel
Matt, I have almost 100,000 Virgin Atlantic miles which have been grown mainly via using the Virgin credit card, I have no flying status ranking. My question is how can i best use the miles and how do I use them ? I have had a look at the Virgin website but I can’t work the best method of using them. Is there a best time to use them and do Virgin have offers for using miles ? I do have a Barbados flight booked for January 2024 flying Premium so that will earn miles and status so I’m thinking maybe a trip to the USA in late 2024 flying Virgin and using the miles. Thank you and I enjoy your content.
Thanks Steve - a tricky question to answer succinctly... If you have an card and have the vouchers, using the points to upgrade from premium to upper is a great way to use them. Otherwise I find Virgin quite expensive - I'd take a look at partner redemptions... I did AMS to Bonaire in the Caribbean for (I think) 42,000 points and not a lot of cash as the Netherlands doesn't have Air Passenger Duty. So a return to the Caribbean in business on a partner airline for
Hi Matt. Great video, as always. Question if I may please: I have 250k Avios (BA) Wife has 50k Avios (BA) We want to book flights with Qatar totalling 300k Avios. Any idea how we can combine them to do so? BA have the household account, so we can combine them into 300k there, but just not sure how we then ship them over to Qatar to spend them. Any ideas?
Most things available on Qatar's website are available on BA's, so I'd see first if you can book it through BA and take advantage of the household link. You can move avios between people, but its expensive to do so... I don't think Qatar has the same household functionality. Check BA first and if its not there, perhaps give them a call?
LOOK at all those comments!!! Nearing 10k is paying off, so now you'll be relieved of my inanity seeding the pitch to kick things off. 🙃 But for a real comment, FYI, you can add IT to your list of "transportable" skills. Except for navigating in a non-English language within Win/MacOS (not always required) and sticking to professional staff consituencies (more likely to speak English), it's on the list of skill shortages in almost every sub-discipline.
Thanks Kevin. Couldn't have done it without you! IT is an excellent point, although with remote working these days you can probably work for a Thai IT company without having to actually leave your home country....
I've always gone with the supplement as I like my own space at the end of a day. Most people do not and although you can get the occasional quirky roommate, some firm friendships have been formed by roomies on trips I've been on
RUclips comments are like an email inbox - I have to answer every comment to clear it out and keep the inbox under control. Hence the bland responses - thanks!
I worked overtime as a paramedic during Y2K not a single call
That must have been a tough night to roster! Not even drunken injuries???
Did you see that 3 year cruise from Istanbul! Imagine it! :D My question - can you tell us 3 things we don't know about you? Cheers Matt!
I did look at that cruise! Very difficult to picture a ship full of people who don't have somewhere else they need to be at any point in a 3 year period... Plus, as usual, the quoted price was somewhat massaged to attract interest - the cost most would end up paying would be quite a lot higher.... Question noted - which actually gave me a good idea for the video.... Thanks!
I enjoy your videos and have learned a lot. I was an avid backpacker between 1979 - 1992. My goal was to backpack through countries that border each other from Europe through Southeast Asia. I did accomplish the goal. At that time I was not able to visit Iran or Afghanistan. People would also say to me It must be nice to have the money to travel. They would not realize that you can get good value if you travel smart. Backpacking days are over. But I still get great value when I travel. The people I met and places I went were some of the best times of my life
Fantastic! I do know someone who did make it to Afghanistan in its hippy phase and she thought it was great... At least what she can remember was great! Backpacking is a young persons game!
I am not surprised at your viewers. You do well in your posts; they are interesting, informative, and entertaining. Your personality is suited for this venture. Questions, I have many, but they would be on a personal level, and I doubt they are suitable for this. So just keep at it.
Thanks Mikie - happy to receive personal questions! There will be a limit to what I share, but feel free to ask! There's an email in the description of every video too if you'd prefer to keep it less public...
I rember when you were under 300 subs, great job with all the videos
I believe that would make you, in the vernacular of today's youngsters, an OG viewer! Thanks for sticking around!
@Matt's Planet im a student at the moment so i dont have money yo spair or else I would support your patron.
They way you structure your videos is the same as my thought processe so they have been extremely helpful.
@@Diego-pc4rc No worries Diego! Thanks for watching and I hope you can keep doing so!
Refreshingly down to earth, dare I say......normal!!!.... must be an accountant!!!
Great job Matt!!!
The wonders of normality! Thanks
I'm glad to of found your channel and subscribed, As I type this I'm 1 short haul + trip in Club away from Bronze.
Well done - first rung on the ladder. A warning though - it's addictive!
@@MattsPlanet You are not wrong! was at 280 points with business trip to the States, just shy of Bronze. Booked a family holiday to Florida via BA Holidays (with double tier points) and leap frogged to into Silver 12 days upon return! On the way back from Florida I had "naturally" hit Bronze and we were in Premium economy, the stewards came over and handed me a card and business class drinks and snack as a thank you...basically business in premium economy! Felt very special, I am sitting here now trying to work out how to get from 740 tier to 1500, got till Feb to do it. Its sooo darn addictive, just work keeps getting in the way :)
@@jonkemp3927 You get somewhere, and a few months later it all resets and you have to do it again!!!!
Being a musician worked for me to get around the world at someone else`s expense with no local training required!
Great work Matt, love the channel.
Good one - hadn't thought of that! A viola is still a viola if you take it to Tokyo!
Excellent video. I was lucky to always work for international airlines. Outsourced, bankrupted, but still going strong at 1500 flights and nearly 2 million miles
Fantastic! Always a bit worried about the culture you're going to find in a state owned / bankrupt / outsourced airline but I guess you can put up with a lot if it means you can travel so much!
@@MattsPlanet BA outsourced me. Swissair went bankrupt and now I'm on my last sector with EK! Keep flying and exploring!
Brilliant, you should have your own TV show, very interesting and very honest.
I wouldn't say no, but I doubt I'll ever be given the chance to say no!
Good, innovative video.
Jordan? Loved it. I'll head back to finish off the southern bit of the country.
Jordan is quite a remarkable place - so many fantastic things to see. Actually going back later this year, albeit briefly... I vividly remember the tourist stalls outside Petra - there was no crime and everyone was honest so the stall holders just threw a blanket over their carts at night with all their stock still on it... It was all still there in the morning! Never seen that anywhere else in the world, even in other Islamic countries
Working for an airline that does a bit of everything is what did it for me (Titan Airways). Late last year as part of one of our trips we stopped for 2 days at Easter Island and we rode quad bikes around the whole island whilst thinking to myself "I'm actually being paid to be here", still can't quite believe it and I know i'll never have such a good job ever again!
That's a cracking story! Titan does some interesting charters by the sounds of it - they have filled in for BA in the past?
@@MattsPlanet Yep! And still do occasionally (if you're lucky) ;)
I’ve visited 120countries - there lots of countries I have zero interest in going to . If I was young starting out in travel I.d take a crap job with BA or Virgin or Emirates just for the travel perks for 3/4 years see the world before doing my post graduate studies or professional qualifications. Then I.d rent my spare room at low cost to flight attendant and use their non Rev perks.... which is what I did for ten years . Zero interest in visiting all US states . Was lucky enough to go to Brazil for business , love going back there , make sure you get there if you haven.t already
Thanks 120 is a decent count!! Brazil in January for the first time... Very much looking forward to it... Probably one more new one before then too..
I have kids , but dragged them along before 2 to go far and wide whilst we could for free with them. Now they both love travel ...but true re cost ..24 year old still at home asking what's for dinner, breakfast or food they can eat from the fridge !!!!
Was I right about them being a delight? Occasionally, perhaps??? Well done for keeping going until they were 2 - that must have been challenging at times but great fun!
@MattsPlanet yes even at 20 and 24 years, still dragged everywhere. Mind you one pays for himself, off to Dubai, Spain, Italy, Austria the 2nd half of 2023. I suffer from Notripophobia ...aka no- trip-o- phobia which obviously means a fear of no trips booked 🤣
I thought I'd travelled quite a lot - but you beat me in every area (countries lived in: 5 vs 3, countries visited >100 vs 58, US states visited 50 vs 48, 1.4 million miles vs 0.95 million miles). As you say, one doesn't have to be rich to travel a lot.
Cheers Dave - 48 states is pretty solid! Must be tempting to make a trip just to get the last 2 - hopefully you haven't left Alaska and Hawaii as that's a tough trip!
@@MattsPlanet Funnily enough those are my final two! I'll get round to them sometime :)
I enjoy your videos. Yes, I've taken self-funded ultra-long haul flights (as recently as a few days ago.) I also have many friends and colleagues who have never flown or need to drink a couple liters of beer before stepping onto a one-hour flight. So I enjoy your videos. I remember when a transatlantic flight was a big deal for me. Now, I think nothing of taking several self-funded ultra long haul flights a year. I've come to the conclusion that, if I am careful, I can take an ultra-long-haul flight in economy for about the same price as a domestic flight in first class. So, I have fun doing this. And you do, too. And you don't complain about how many hours airborne, and you don't complain about which class you're in. You enjoy it all. That's what I like.
Thanks so much. I think I was a bit hesitant to get on a plane without good reason until I lived in Australia... From Sydney its pretty much 8 hours to get anywhere (except NZ) and 14 hours to the US... After a couple of years of that, a 5-6 hour flight felt like a flight from London to Paris!
Thanks Matt, really enjoyed your MSC videos which helped me on my trip last year. I like travelling solo, usually on cruises, and don't think I would've got to see New York without going on a cruise ship. I would welcome any tips from you for solo cruising.
Thanks Paul. Went on a short (3 night) cruise a couple of weeks back which was my first solo cruise in 13 years.... A video about cruising solo is not a bad idea!
Another good option to enable fequent travel is to work for an airline. Most scheduled airlines have interline agreements allowing staff travel on other carriers which increases the routes you can book using heavily discounted tickets
Thanks James - very good point. I thought that would be what I did when I was young, but (certainly back then) most airlines were state owned and were absolutely terrible places to work! There's a few more commercially driven ones these days, but I always felt I needed to enjoy the job as well as the benefits it might have brought! Now, being a secret shopper / service quality reviewer for an airline would be a good gig....
What a life, Bravo Matt! You're a wealth of wisdom as always, your content is appreciated.
It's not been a bad life! Hopefully lots to go too!
You need to do one of the increasingly popular Antarctic cruises
I have had a look at them.... Budget is the big issue but if the channel keeps growing it will become more of a reality!
Matt - first and foremost, congrats on the great content. With your invaluable help I’ve made it to BA Gold in 8 months (something I hadn’t achieved in 5 years). I am about to hit 2500 Tier Points and wanted some advice on making the most of the ‘Gold Voucher for Two’. My idea is to book a Europe-Asia-AUS-Europe multi-journey on a single ticket (WTP to Club, or Club to First) and make the most bang for my buck, but I’ve no idea where to start! Any help is much appreciated. One love!
Thanks Enrique - really happy to hear my ramblings have been useful in the real world! I can't really help you with the GUF2 (if that's what its known as) - I've always got to 1,500 TPs and slammed on the brakes so have never personally had one... I know Head For Points has some coverage of the topic and I'm sure Flyertalk would have an insight too... I will confess to being confused about GUF1s, GUF2s and Jokers... Thought about researching it for a video but I didn't feel it would have mass appeal as so few people would ever get there...
Hi Matt, watch, pause, watch and make notes of your BAEC videos as having reached silver this year I’m desperate to maintain it. Do you provide any step by step instructions for some of the more detailed stuff ie tier point runs? That just blows my mind 😁
Thanks Sarah! Its addictive.... There was a series a year or two back on Tier Point Runs and another on Ex-EUs - if you search RUclips for those words you should find me! And Matrix ITA is another you'll probably benefit from!
Super interesting! I'm 20 and I've already reached 60 countries and over 200 flights including this year reaching all 7 continents with a trip to antarctica, thanks to my parents' love of travel, and more recently my job as a live events director has allowed me to travel even more!
That's amazing - 60 by 20 is remarkable. Good job Dane's parents! And keep it going with the career
As you know, one of my favourite videos on all of RUclips is the one where you took a bus. It's going back a bit now but my first question is simply: are you planning on doing anymore bus or coach videos? And my second completely unrelated question is: can you do my tax return? 🤣
Cheers Mark!
Don’t matter if your older,if you have a lot of experience in certain areas you can move…. I am a safeguarding and risk expert…so even as older I can move about even though older. Like your channel you shatter the illusion of having to be rich to travel, you make it easy… ive done about 25 countries, but really want to travel more. Juggling my travel around my work schedule, watching your videos avidly for routes in business class..
Thanks! Experience does certainly feature in the relocation equation. Interesting career you have there!
Thanks for your efforts Matt... i enjoy the content and the tips have been invaluable....
Thanks Richard
Well done on your 10K, Matt, well deserved.
Having a career which makes you travel certainly gives you the bug, and it does wonders for your self-esteem and confidence. You are immediately introduced to people, and (in my experience) they want to be good hosts. You see and experience things you won't as a tourist, even with careful research.
One thing you didn't mention - pets can hold you back too.They don't live as long as children, but people often replace them. The pets, not the children :-)
Thanks Peter - business travel does certainly show you a side to places a tourist wouldn't see - its a good point... And its a good point about pets - I did think to escalate them in my script to put alongside kids but I thought some might be bothered by that!!!
Hey Matt, great to see you nearing 10k- well deserved
Thanks Alex!
100% agree about not having kids, we became foster carers by accident in 2001 and that curtailed our travel and destruction of our bank balance. we are finally starting to get back to adventures. great video Matt.
Thanks so much - is it actually Boaz??? Not too familiar with that as a name! I was a bit nervous about being a bit abrupt about kids, but people seem to have realised my tongue was in my cheek!
Hey Matt, I'm still playing catch-up and just seen this vid. Many thanks for your insight, joviality and frankness. Most inspirational. I'm off to sub to your cruise channel...
Thanks - one from the vault here!
Well done Matt as a recent subscriber love your videos
Thanks John - welcome!
Congratulations Matt on 10k followers. I have been an avid follower of your channel. After a very long time , I managed to get the Bronze status and following your advice booked two short trips to Sofia and Marrakesh which will upgrade me to Silver status on the BA executive club . I’m planning to go to SFA and Singapore next year on First class and hopefully would elevate me to Good club. Fingers crossed . Wishing you more travels and success for your channel ❤🙌🏼👍🏼🥳
Thanks so much! Sofia and Marrakesh are both great places so you chose well! Here's to 20k...
And pets Mat, their travel limiting luckily we manage to get a friend to foster the dog otherwise it’d be expensive boarding.
My Q&A which I’ll wait (hopefully) to the video for the answer is did you ever fly Concorde or want to & whether you’d like to see supersonic travel back ?
We were lucky to fly to JFK weeks before the final flights & still miss the sound of Concorde over London.
Thanks so much - good question! Pets can be a speedbump... Easier to put a pet in a kennel than it is a small child!
Great video, loads of good insight, and definitely not braggy. Cheers.
Thanks so much Robin. You can never know how a video will sound when you've watched yourself say all that 10 times through the editing process so this feedback is really helpful!
Another really interesting video Matt ; a great insight. Hope that your 100th country is special. Thanks for creating such a good channel 👍
Thanks Nick... A few candidates for #100...
Q&A Question for you Matt: What is your opinion on International Airline First Class products and have you ever flown on one?
Also hope to see you on 10K subs before I go to Australia in November, you're channel has become one of my favourites over the last few years!
Good Q Jett - thanks. I should hit 10k in the next few days! I see you're nearly at the magic 1,000 too....
@@MattsPlanet Closing in one month at a time! I'm hoping a weekly upload schedule will contribute the final push!
Thought i’d comment on a more recent video this time 😁. Recently visited Sydney, absolutely loved it. Considering to do a 6 month secondment there as part of my training contract to become a commercial lawyer. I’m deliberating between choosing Sydney. NYC, Tokyo and Sao Paulo. Did you enjoy visiting/living in any of these places more? Btw, really enjoy your presentational style and review content.
Thanks AG - great question and a fantastic opportunity! I guess there's two angles - which place would be the best for the career and which would be best for you... On both counts I'd imagine a non-Engllsh speaking country would be more challenging - in the office not so much as English will be the business language... And the Japanese business environment is very different from "the West" and Brazil would be very different again... On a personal level, I've never lived in New York and have always wanted to - a 6 month posting would be a perfect way to experience one of the world's great cities. But Sydney is an amazing place to live... I went to Tokyo 18 years ago and found it a little difficult to "get into" - its better these days as the world has globalised and I was only there for 4 days but the cultural and language differences made me feel like I was bouncing off the surface of the place rather than truly experiencing it as I did in (say) Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. Never been to Sao Paolo...
I wish university was still a timewasting exercise. Now it's just masses of debt and stress.
There was still some stress back in my day but I have to be thankful that there wasn't as much debt as there is these days...
Lovely video Matt. Some excellent points shared - appreciate it.
Thanks so much
Keep on going your vlogs are brilliant. Hope I catch up with you on a cruise one day. Drinks on me
Thanks Chris - very kind of you.
Hey Matt, i'm really enjoying your content. Q&A: what is to your knowledge the best value for money to gain Aegean status miles? Thx
Thanks! I'll answer your question here - and I have talked about this in the past - all TAP business class flights give 200% miles flown so they're usually the best place to look for good value points in bulk... Aegean also has strong discounts several times a year on flights to Greece - I think there's one on now which is usually not too bad. Don't forget you can buy them too - if you only need a few then buying what you need may be cheaper than taking an entire trip.
Love your videos. Always filled with details and very interesting.
Thanks Patrick. Was worried this one was a bit too personal and introspective but people are watching it!
"So hello!" what a wonderful way to make my Sunday morning in Nebraska just a tad more British :) I think even someone with a lousy job can still make travel happen, just a matter of time management and saving / budgeting. Even here in the US where the norm is a 2 week holiday (i.e. 10 paid days), one can spread that across the year and actually go on several short holidays a year if planned strategically. More reason to absorb all the lessons from Daddy Matt's videos!
- Red
Hello Nebraska! Ah, US holiday (sorry vacation!) entitlements... It takes a good few hours to get out of the US, which bites into the limited time even more but I suppose the Caribbean is relatively close and offers some really interesting options... Cheers
Great video Matt and a lot of good comments. Before retiring I was an accountant working in the oil and gas sector and visited a lot of "interesting" places. As I love both travel and aircraft, my work went in tandem with it. I've just added up the amount of countries visited and have been surprised at the total. Now retired, I'm following all your tips on collecting miles to keep this number increasing
Thanks Alastair. I had a paragraph scripted about how the oil and gas sector was a brilliant choice if you want more exotic travel destinations but I cut it as I'd waffled on for long enough, and advising people to go into oil and gas may not be the wisest career advice I could give right now! Let me guess - Libya??
@@MattsPlanet never made it to Libya, a camp in the middle the Sahara Desert in Algeria and also Angola were the "highlights"
@@alistairmacdonald5541 Aha! I suspect the Algerian experience was indistinguishable from what the Libyan one would have been, just a different stamp in the passport!
Hi Matt! I love your videos, this one was a great insight into your travel life, very interesting! If you’re ever in the Vancouver BC area and need a tour guide 👀 haha do you follow hockey at all?
Thanks Brandon! Love Vancouver - been 3 or 4 times. Used to do visa renewals there when I was living in the US. First place in Canada I visited so it will always be special. Wouldn't say I was a hockey fan but its an enjoyable sport to watch. Smaller venues than football, so easier for a great atmosphere to build. Still not certain I've ever actually seen a moving puck with my own eyes when I've been at a game but that wasn't a huge issue!!
Loving the content! Any tips on how to get TAP Air points?
Thanks - not really.... Hard to keep across every loyalty program out there! Sorry!!
Sure - any advice then on how to get to Sao Tome and Principe on reward flights / generating relevant points?
Hey Matt, I used to work at AA right by Temple station during the 90's. Could we have crossed pathes i wonder? so happy with your growth, as always love your videos
Thanks Peter. Ah, Surrey Street... Oh the memories! Not that I was ever there as I was usually out auditing!
Hi matt, my question is what could BA do to make themselves competitive against the top carriers again?
Cracking question! Almost merits a video of it's own... Thanks
What an amazing life! Thanks for sharing + congratulations on your channels success 🎈🎉🎊 Question - what's been your most memorable flight + in your opinion which carrier offers the best first class product?
Thanks Jimmy. Question's on the list! Not done many F's as yet - Trek Trendy's your man for that sort of content but I'll answer the question in the video anyway!
Hi Matt thanks for a another informative insight to your life travel story one thing that may be of interest is how do you chose your hotel?
Thanks Paul. I did make a video about that a while back but it's been several years so it is due a refresh... Will answer in the Q&A video
Nice video as always, Matt! I have an issue with list of Travelers' Century Club however. As a Greek, I can reassure you there's absolutely no reason to consider regions/islands such as the Aegean or Ionian Sea islands different than Greece. They're not like Jersey or Isle of Man. They're actual parts, regions of the country. It's like considering Long Island in New York - sort of - independent! Doesn't make any sense, does it?
Thanks so much... The TCC is odd! Tasmania is separate from Australia.... Prince Edward Island is separate from Canada... Makes little sense - odd quirks of history aren't significant these days.... Been to Athens, Corfu, Crete and Rhodes which I think are 4 separate territories but they all felt Greek!
Hi Matt, my question is what advice do you have for getting over jet lag? I bet you have had your fair share of that over the years. Cheers Alex P
Thanks - good question!
Love the structure, in fact I need it to keep sane somehow. Which airline would you love to try in the coming months/years and on what route?
Thanks - question filed!
I am 18 lol, this made me rethink my uni choice, I want to do international development and economics - hoping for some travel in my career!
I did an international development module within my degree and it was really interesting... That points you towards international travel (developing world) rather than the usual haunts, but that can be the most interesting sort of travel of all! Good luck, and remember to have some fun amidst all that studying!
@@MattsPlanet Thanks matt, been absolutely loving your channel recently - so glad I found it!
@@felixnewton7556I’m now (almost) 32 and started off in the humanitarian / non-profit world after studying international development and intercultural studies. I worked with a few INGOs and was fortunate to travel extensively in Central and Eastern Africa. It was a wonderful time.
I’m now married with a little one and am a consultant project manger which also affords me some travel (although often to the same places again and again). If you’re interested in travelling to some less-traditional places, int. development is a great way to go, but in my experience definitely suits a younger traveller so make the most of it over the next 10 years or so.
All the best in your studies!
Hi Matt, Great video and we’ll done on nearly 10,000 subscribers.
I completely agree that cruises are great ways to explore many countries at once, but do you have any advice on what travel agent to use or even what company is your favourite (I’ve seen the ‘what makes ___ different’ videos on the second channel), I’ve heard that it’s very important to book through a travel agent for onboard credit or free promotions etc.
Keep up the good work,
Thanks.
I very much do and in a couple of weeks I'll be talking about it in great detail! You should use a travel agent for cruising as it costs you no more and may open up access to additional bits and pieces. Not guaranteed, but they will be proactive in tracking what may be happening with your booking. Sorry to quote myself, but you'll have to stick around for a few more weeks!
Loving the content Matt as always - here’s to the next 10k. One question - do you hold any UK travel rewards cards at all?
Thanks so much. Just to clarify re UK travel rewards - do you mean credit cards of other things like nectar???
@@MattsPlanet Yes sorry - I meant credit cards
Go to Andorra its really nice
I'd love to!
Q&A question: what would be on your ideal cheese plate served as part of a top quality business class in-flight service?
That's a slightly odd, but still great question! Thanks
@@MattsPlanet I'm sure there will be better questions which are worth answering instead of this ;)
Dear Shirley. Well Matt another interesting, ish video. You don't come across as bragging and you have definitely inspired many people along the way and been very helpful also. My question to you is tier point related. Like you my status level ends or renews on 7th August and I will require 480 points to reach Gold by that date. If you required 480 points what would you do? I have looked at the Sofia trip, with nesting flights, but in Aug it is about £1600 with the BA holiday to double it up. You also mentioned a flight from Abudabi to Jakarta with Srilankan. Would that require a BA flight number?
Would you even bother chasing Gold?
Cheers in advance.
Steve. C.
No Champions League unfortunately but hayho YNWA
Hi Steve. I've always preferred the Europa League anyway... Looking forward to a strong summer of signings. Quite a complex question and I'm looking at the exact same thing for a short haul plus holiday in Aug/Sep. I have found £730 to Bucharest with a car for 5 days from Jersey in Sep but Aug is annoyingly peak season still - that's 480 TPs plus whatever you might get positioning to JER. No need to nest, but a bit of a faff to get too and from JER, and pricing will be higher in August. The AUH - CGK one is a SriLankan flight number but it still earns tier points and avios as a oneworld partner. As I usually point out, getting gold on the last day of your year gets the status for a year and a bit, getting it on the first day gives status for two years and a bit... So is it "easier" for you to just hoover up 1,500 in Aug/Sep/Oct (out of peak season) and get gold from scratch in the new year than it is to get the extra points you need this year....
Matt. I understand what you are saying about the, 1 day makes a difference between Gold for 1 year or Gold for 2 years, but if you had to do a full run for Gold, ie 1500 points, before the end of the year to take advantage of the double tier points offer what would you look at? I know its probably got to take in the East and west coast of America.
regards Steve. C. YNWA.
Still got a chance of Champions league if we win and UTD lose both there last 2 games., as unlikely as that is, I'll hold on to them straws. 🤞🤞🤞
Sorry Steve - missed your reply... I was tempted by an F redemption from JER to the East Coast which would have been
Interesting to hear you are an accountant for your day job, I had assumed you were a PM given how organised you were. Great content Matt and I hope you keep it going.
Thanks! I think the skillset overlap - did a few system implementations over the years and it's all about the structure!!!
Great content, thank you! Have you ever encountered problems entering places like the USA because of some of the countries you have visited (Syria, etc)? I would love to visit Cuba personally but am worried about the subsequent ramifications on travel to North America.
Hi Toby. I went to Syria in 2004, well before it was put on the naughty step... There's no data interchange between Cuba and the US and Cuba doesn't stamp your passport so it is possible to visit if you are happy to lie on an ESTA application. I believe Mexico stamps you in as having travelled from Cuba if you go there via that country so beware if you pick that routing....
Hey Matt! I love your videos!
I am keen to begin travelling, but as a young person, I do not yet have the funds to do so! How might I begin seeing the world? What places should I start with? Are there any “travel hacks” for saving money?
Hi Jacob - thanks for watching! As I hope I show in this video, it gets easier to travel as you get older, your income increases and you perhaps have an international job.... Before then, backpacking in SouthEast Asia or India can be very inexpensive - provided you can get there for a reasonable price.... Looking at prices of flights and hotels gives an idea of when peak seasons are - avoid them!
Q&A Question: In my experience, modern short-haul European business travel is invariably in economy, even for more senior staff (I don’t know if this is cost-saving or environment related). Even frequent travel between UK and Germany (for example) makes it really hard to build status. What’s the best way to do this - upgrading through Avios/equivalent, or paying your way?
Thanks Mark. A good question I'll try and answer in the video...
Hi Matt. Forgive me for asking as you might have explained in a different video, how do I book multiple flights for a tier point run ? I’m unable to see it on Google Flights (probably my mobile doesn’t allow that). What do you recommend? I want to fly to Singapore next year on First class but want to get the best tier points for the BA executive club . I’m currently on Bronze but will hopefully elevate to Silver in the next few weeks 🙏🏼
There are videos on this - its quite complicated! Search for tier point runs and it should pop up... Singapore is a tricky place to build a tier point run to though - most of the good ones are to the US where American has such a strong network that allows you to add lots of hops to build up the tier points...
Do you think one day we will be able to turn up 1 hour before take off? The whole process I appreciate is big scale but the 2/3 hour before annoys me 😂
And again!
You mentioned a website where you can search for cruises. It has an old look to it i think. Do you know the site?
I think it was cruisetimetables.com - quite a retro look. They had a period when they weren't very reliable (as the restart got a little confusing) but they seem to be back on their game now!
@@MattsPlanet That's the one! Thanks Matt. Loving your videos.
Not a fan of cruises, I’ve been on one and the ship sank. I didn’t like that! I’ll stick to flying thanks 😂 A job with travel is my approach, the place I’ve most been surprised about was Columbia, what a country.
I'm sure it was really traumatic but the way you phrase the sinking makes it sound hilarious! The only ship I can remember sinking was the Costa Concordia which was indeed a big deal... I can certainly understand why going back on a cruise isn't appealing... Returning to Colombia in a few weeks and really looking forward to it!
@@MattsPlanet school cruise (MV Jupiter) 1988 sank just out of Piraeus harbour in Greece. Hope you enjoy Columbia, I desperately want to go back there. Enjoying the channel just signed up yesterday. Today I have the dubious pleasure of a Eurowings flight but at least it wasn’t cancelled like BA on Monday. Making quite a lot of money out of BA compensation at the moment 😂
@@iainhay2823 Thanks Iain and welcome! I googled it and it must have been very traumatic... I hope I didn't come across as flippant!
@@MattsPlanet not at all don’t worry! Too busy raging about eurowings terrible service on twitter to get worried about such things :) Never fly eurowings! I think only an internal China flight was worse than this, that’s basically as I got a pot noodle dropped on me! Stuff happens when you travel
Matt, I have almost 100,000 Virgin Atlantic miles which have been grown mainly via using the Virgin credit card, I have no flying status ranking. My question is how can i best use the miles and how do I use them ? I have had a look at the Virgin website but I can’t work the best method of using them. Is there a best time to use them and do Virgin have offers for using miles ? I do have a Barbados flight booked for January 2024 flying Premium so that will earn miles and status so I’m thinking maybe a trip to the USA in late 2024 flying Virgin and using the miles. Thank you and I enjoy your content.
Thanks Steve - a tricky question to answer succinctly... If you have an card and have the vouchers, using the points to upgrade from premium to upper is a great way to use them. Otherwise I find Virgin quite expensive - I'd take a look at partner redemptions... I did AMS to Bonaire in the Caribbean for (I think) 42,000 points and not a lot of cash as the Netherlands doesn't have Air Passenger Duty. So a return to the Caribbean in business on a partner airline for
Hi Matt. Great video, as always. Question if I may please:
I have 250k Avios (BA)
Wife has 50k Avios (BA)
We want to book flights with Qatar totalling 300k Avios. Any idea how we can combine them to do so? BA have the household account, so we can combine them into 300k there, but just not sure how we then ship them over to Qatar to spend them. Any ideas?
Most things available on Qatar's website are available on BA's, so I'd see first if you can book it through BA and take advantage of the household link. You can move avios between people, but its expensive to do so... I don't think Qatar has the same household functionality. Check BA first and if its not there, perhaps give them a call?
Thanks Matt, really grateful. I was working on the assumption that BA would charge more Avios, for the same flights. If they don’t, that’s great. 👍👍👍
@@DrRichardSmithLondon Avios - no. The taxes may be a little different but it shouldn't be too dramatic...
LOOK at all those comments!!! Nearing 10k is paying off, so now you'll be relieved of my inanity seeding the pitch to kick things off. 🙃
But for a real comment, FYI, you can add IT to your list of "transportable" skills. Except for navigating in a non-English language within Win/MacOS (not always required) and sticking to professional staff consituencies (more likely to speak English), it's on the list of skill shortages in almost every sub-discipline.
Thanks Kevin. Couldn't have done it without you! IT is an excellent point, although with remote working these days you can probably work for a Thai IT company without having to actually leave your home country....
So the Explore outfit looks legit for sure . In your experience did you pay the single supplement or have an assigned roommate on the accommodation?
I've always gone with the supplement as I like my own space at the end of a day. Most people do not and although you can get the occasional quirky roommate, some firm friendships have been formed by roomies on trips I've been on
I think that there's a more global profession, but as a 50 year old bloke not sure it's open for me......
Quite an old profession too... Perhaps the oldest?
Do you have a favourite aircraft, ie 747, A380?
Thanks
What is your favourite business class seat / cabin ?
What’s is your favourite first class seat / cabin ?
What is your economy seat / cabin?
RUclips comments are like an email inbox - I have to answer every comment to clear it out and keep the inbox under control. Hence the bland responses - thanks!
What is your favourite Airline to fly short haul and long haul?
Thanks 2!
What is one thing that could be improved on in all basic economy classes?
And 3....
you showing off .....dont make me larf unlike some of the other bloggers
Thanks Tony! You can never be sure of how you're going to sound when you make these videos!!
Incredible to get so many subscribers in such a short time. Well done.
Thanks so much. It perplexes me that people find this stuff interesting! I do, but I'm weird!!!
Your 53 I thought 40s
You charmer....
@@MattsPlanet oh idk just honest u good