Flying For The Sake Of Flying

G-KIRAN · Mon Sep 03, 2001 8:45 pm

How many of you here hop on the plane not to go on holiday or business,but just because you want to fly?Well,I am one of them,I just brought a ticket from SIN-KUL-BKK-KUL-SIN for 5 october and I will be returning 6 hours later.Has any of you done the same?

airsicknessbag · Mon Sep 03, 2001 9:12 pm

can´t afford it Sad

Daniel

Mr.BA · Mon Sep 03, 2001 9:21 pm

I can't afford to buy tickets to fly just becuase I love flying. :-( But when it comes to holiday trips, flights is what i look more forward to. Smile/happy/getting dizzy

alvin

godbless · Mon Sep 03, 2001 9:28 pm

Exactly this day one year ago (3.9.00) I flew FRA-STR-FRA-ATH-FRA just for the fun of it. I spent the whole day in the Cockpit ot the Lufthansa A310-300 D-AIDF.
And on saturday I spent the day @ DUS with two A.net friends and there we checked the counters if any airline would sell us a ticket to leave within an hour so that we could arrive still the same day... No airline wanted to help us...so we couldn't fly.

VS744 · Mon Sep 03, 2001 9:32 pm

When Easyjet began their services between Liverpool and Luton, I used to pay £20 to fly the return journey "just for the sake of it".

But I do arrange my holidays around the airline I am gong to fly with...like this year I had a choice between all the UK Charter airlines, and Virgin. Obviously I chose Virgin, not only because its a 744, but also because of the serviec, entertainment and reputation!

mandala499 · Tue Sep 04, 2001 1:19 am

I have done SYD-BNE-SYD for AUD110 for the hell of it...
Sat on PK-KAR (B732) last week just for the hell of it... and guess what... it flew with me in it!

Mandala499

Guest · Tue Sep 04, 2001 1:25 am

In 1996 when I was a senior in college I very nearly bought a 'spring-break' roundtrip ticket on Air France Concorde as a graduation present to myself, just to fly this plane (I'd return from Paris a day or two later). I booked the flight, but at the last minute I canceled. I decided I did not want to spend that major chunk of my hard-earned savings quite yet Smile

Maybe in a few years I'll do it.

An-225 · Tue Sep 04, 2001 1:26 am

I would if I had money.

turbulence · Tue Sep 04, 2001 1:28 am

OK, it's a pity I can't afford "flying days". But when I used to travel to Athens, Olympic was flying triangles: two days a week ATH-MAD-BCN-ATH, and two days the opposite way ATH-BCN-MAD-ATH. Whenever it was possible, I used to arrange my days so I was able to fly BCN-MAD-ATH (35mins+3hrs10+extra t/o & landing) instead of BCN-ATH (2hrs30) and back home ATH-MAD-BCN. The price was the same!!! Big grin

Best turbulences

turbulence · Tue Sep 04, 2001 1:31 am

Oh!
I forgot: next Christmas I'm going to Brazil, BCN-CDG then CDG-GRU on 777, GRU-SSA, and back SSA-GIG, then GIG-CDG on 340, CDG-BCN.

For a similar price I could fly BCN-LIS-SSA and back.

Best turbulences

mlsrar · Tue Sep 04, 2001 1:44 am

Probably once a month I'll escape on YX's MKE-LAX-MKE. It costs $20 USD...if you're an employee. Wink/being sarcastic

mls515 · Tue Sep 04, 2001 2:00 am

I don't have the money to fly whenever I feel like it but when I do fly I try to fine tune my itenerary to take more flights or get on specific types if my schedule allows it. For example, this weekend I could have flown AA CID-DFW-CID on ERJs, but instead I paid $10 more so that I could fly on TWA for the first time, go to STL for the first time, and tonight I'll hopefully fly on a 717 for the first time.

Guest · Tue Sep 04, 2001 2:04 am

Unfortunately I can't afford it here just for the fun of it !

jtdieffen · Tue Sep 04, 2001 2:08 am

I do it as often as I can. In addition to job/holiday related traveling, I enjoy traveling to the airport, buying a ticket for somewhere I've never been, and leaving several hours later. I'm thinking about a trip to California in a month or so, and in just two weeks I'm flying BOS-LHR-BOS to give the triple 7 a try. Spontaneous flying is the best kind!

N6801 · Tue Sep 04, 2001 5:58 am

I once flew YYZ-YXU-YZR-YXU-YZR so I could try out a Convair 580. Loved it!

Check out our 'hop' from Denmark to Canada this past July:

SK D94 CPH-STN
US 333 LGW-PIT
US M82 PIT-EWR
B6 320 JFK-BUF
B6 320 BUF-JFK
(US Airways then shoved us in a taxi between EWR and PHL)! Pissed

US 767 PHL-LHR
SK 738 STN-CPH

Why make it simple when you can make it COMPLICATED?! Nuts

N6801 · Tue Sep 04, 2001 6:05 am

Typo:

I once flew YYZ-YXU-YZR-YXU-YYZ so I could try out a Convair 580. Loved it!

VapourTrails · Tue Sep 04, 2001 7:07 pm

I have never actually done this but I have thought about it many times. Smile

Now with cheaper airfares in Australia it has become more affordable to fly interstate and back in the one day or next day 'just for the sake of it' (and to check out a new airport). When I fly I often arrange my itinerary so I can choose (or avoid) a particular type of aircraft, or one I haven't flown in before. Smokin cool

rpwgw · Tue Sep 04, 2001 8:53 pm

It's good to try it for the sake of it. When I was commuting to Singapore this year it often cost less to go beyond so I went to Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong and was going to get to Japan, China and Bangkok but don't go to Singapore anymore.

I purposely flew on Qantas A300 VH-TAA once when I went to the Gold Coast in business class (they retired those aircraft that year).

I always used my wife's ID travel priveleges to the max.

I wanted to fly MD11 last year and went to BNE from SYD and took EVA to Taipei and on to Sanfrancisco and then Vancouver on Alaska. That was a long trip. Came back one stop via TPE to Sydney though!!!

USAFHummer · Tue Sep 04, 2001 10:34 pm

If I had money, a way to get to PHL, and parental permission Smile

, I would do it...I might need to make a mileage run in December to push me into US Silver Preferred, so this could come true.

Greg

classic707 · Tue Sep 04, 2001 10:42 pm

I do it once or twice a year now with airfares so low out of Austin. I usualy head for either DFW or IAH. All I can say is THANK YOU AMERICAN!!! Big thumbs up

Click for large version

Photo © Jonathan Derden

shankly · Tue Sep 04, 2001 10:47 pm

Agreed. Any chance to get on a jet. My up and coming trip to the Far East will include:

London-Kuala Lumpur MAS 744
KL-Penang MAS 734
Penang-KL MAS 734
KL-SIN MAS 734
SIN-Bali Garuda A330
Bali-SIN Garuda A330
SIN-KL MAS A330
KL-London MAS 744

Too many flights in too short a period, but what fun.

Also flew London-Malaga earlier this year and chose the via Madrid route rather than direct!

Guest · Tue Sep 04, 2001 10:52 pm

Ok lets start.
When I was 9 years old I always asked my father to go to the downtown airport of Buenos Aires just to see the planes land and take off. And every day we went I always cried because of I could not be on the plane. One day, my father , bored of seeing crying me, bought two RT tickets to Rosario (ROS). 45 flying time just for give me a trip for present.
It was on a Bac 111 of ALA ( an old argentine airline) leased registered G AWGG.
We departed early in the mornig got a excellent breakfast!!! , we stayed 45 minutes of touraround of the plane there and then we came back to Buenos Aires in the same plane..Good experience and then started my relation with Aviation... It was on jan 18th 1969.
Times went on... In 1979 I joint Aerolineas Argentinas, and got my first free international pass in 1982..We can use our free passes for a year, and I used it for flying to ROM.
I depareted on saterday on AR160 EZE GIG FCO arrived at ROM at midday, Had lunch in Via Veneto and again in a rush to the airport and jumped in the same plane departin 10pm again to BUE......Just for not lose my first free international pass.
Then a lot of time jumped on a 737 for a ride to MDQ on Sundays just for flying...40 minutes...turnaround in the airport 30 minutes and again other 40 minutes flying....
Thks for the free passes!!!!

Guest · Tue Sep 04, 2001 10:56 pm

Did it all the time when Mom worked for TWA. Once flew pia-stl-lax-bos-sfo-jfk-stl-pia in around a day and a half. Almost made me sick of flying! (Almost)

L-1011Alpha · Tue Sep 04, 2001 10:58 pm

About how much does it cost ?

VIflyer · Tue Sep 04, 2001 11:18 pm

I did it once, about a while back I was looking in the America Way (AA's inflight mag) and I noticed between personal flights and deadheading flights for work I flew on ever aircraft AA and eagle owned except the 777 and the MD-11 so I decied one day to non-rev to DFW (I'm bases in ORD) and Catch the 1pm DFW-ORD flight which is a 777 (the one of the few domestic 777 flights AA does) it was a ball got to fly in first, and let me say a 777 is only loaded with about 50 people and not that much cargo is takes off like a rocket......

777fan · Tue Sep 04, 2001 11:24 pm

AA usually offers many last minute deals with a Sat stay. Many times first class under $400!

I too have gotten on last minute on the ORD-DFW 777 flight. Never more than half full and if you are lucky, you can pay coach and get a seat in business class.

Also, I will fly between BMI (Bloomington Il) and Atlanta on Airtran. They also have good deals without an advanced purchase and a good FF program. Sometimes I will find a connection out of Atlanta, and go further.

Rgds,

Greg

G-KIRAN · Tue Sep 04, 2001 11:31 pm

My SIN-KUL-BKK-KUL-SIN trip on Malaysia Airlines cost me S$300 incl tax,thats around US$190 for 4 flights!I was planning to do SIN-KUL-HKG-KUL-SIN,but the schedule did not suit me.Next year I might try SIN-KUL-JKT-KUL-SIN just for the heck of it.For those of you who want cheap flights from SIN fly MAS with SIA.You will save loads of $$$$!

AC_A340 · Tue Sep 04, 2001 11:35 pm

I would if I had the money. But whenever I go on holidays and I get to choose my flights, I get as many connections as possible.

Ilyushin96M · Wed Sep 05, 2001 2:15 am

When I was in college, I knew a guy who did this all the time. He'd book a return ticket on a flight to a city, depart and arrive back the same day. I thought it was a big waste of money. However, maybe if I had money to spare, I might do the same, on an infrequent basis.

wn700driver · Wed Sep 05, 2001 2:26 am

When I was in my final year of public school, I took my girlfriend (now wife), from BWI-BNA-PHX-LAX-PHX-BNA-BWI for lunch and to meet Dave Ralph (a popular DJ out there at the time) for lunch. We flew in an aging WN2H4, and owing to her abilities to talk to just about anyone, and my love for all kinds of aircraft (even airbus...well maybe, but only in the way a chevy owner would drive a ford over walking somewhere), I came home with a new job. One thing leeds to another, and whammo here I am. The moral of the story? It wasn't a waste of money

trident3 · Wed Sep 05, 2001 3:43 am

BA used to do a fare called the FunFlyer. It cost about£20 ,you had to turn up at LHR at 9:00am and they then told you where you were going-usually Amsterdam ,Paris or Frankfurt.They also told you what time( we flew at 4:00 in the afternoon) and you had to fly back on the return flight.
easy Jet do some good deals, someone mentioned £9 each way Luton to Liverpool , you can also get Amsterdam for about£25 each way.
The best deal I ever got was when my Aunt got me a seat on one of the route proving flights for the BAe 146.We flew from the old Hawker Siddley factory at Hatfield to the Airbus facility at Toulouse and back in an evening. Prototype 146 operated by British Air Ferries

coboeing777 · Wed Sep 05, 2001 4:48 am

thank god I am a non rev or I never would any flying just for the sake of flying. I've flown EWR-IAH-EWR one day just to fly on the 777 when CO first got them. I've also flown from EWR to many places in FL just to have go have lunch or just get away for the day. Most of my trips are just so I can fly. The things I do when I get there are usually just the excuse to be able to fly. Sure beats going to the mall around the corner to eat or shop...

Ayy of you's who can't aford to buy real tickets like me, just get a nice part time airline for an airline.

SWA TPA · Wed Sep 05, 2001 5:01 am

I love to fly for the heck of it! Thats the great thing of being a non-rev, if you get to bored at home one day, hop a flight to FLL or if I have time MDW and check out Chicago for the day! I have not had the chance to do that in a while though. I think when December comes around I want to head up to New York to see all the christmas sites and maybe some snow if I am lucky Smile

I have yet to see snow! Can you believe that!?

Smile

Tango-Bravo · Wed Sep 05, 2001 6:33 am

Three times in the past two years I have flown from PHX to ANC (via SEA or LAX) and back, a total distance of more than 5,000 miles, in less than 24 hours.

Another personal mark I have set is in flying 7 segments in one calendar day. This is one I will try to top some day if I can put together an intinerary that makes it possible.

My "joy rides" were possible becasue of my airline employee flight benefits. I will admit the trips I include in this category were mainly flying for the sake of the enjoyment of flying, but I was also motivated by the challenges of PHX-ANC-PHX in under 24 hours and as many segments as I could fly in one calendar day. These trips also allow me opportunities to familiarize myself with the "real world" of the airline I represent.

klm672 · Wed Sep 05, 2001 7:32 am

BTV-JFK to try out Jb and JFK airport!

EGGD · Wed Sep 05, 2001 8:03 am

I have never actually done it, but i have thought about it. If i lived by a larger airport, i could do it alot, i quite often have £40-£50 to spare and that is enough for a return ticket to the Med or somewhere within 2 or 3 hours flying time.

Fun huh?

Currently planning BRS-CDG-QKR QKR-CDG-BRS, and its all free, whats more i get to fly Buisness class on the QKR-CDG sectors.

And its all free!!

Regards

Dan

Continental · Wed Sep 05, 2001 9:03 am

I have MSP-ORD, ORD-MSP, and MSP-MCO, MCO-LAX, LAX-MSP.

madmax · Wed Sep 05, 2001 10:20 am

Is called mileage running, its practically a religion at flyertalk.com check it out. It has better trip reports than here too!

TonyBurr · Wed Sep 05, 2001 11:05 am

I have done it just for the heck of it, and also to obtain miles in the FF program (UA) to maintain 1 K. I have done several times:

PHL-SFO-PHL (somtimes overnight)
PHL-IAD-LHR-IAD-PHL ( Generally one or two nigts in London).

jessman · Wed Sep 05, 2001 11:16 am

I like flyin. It is great being an employee of an airline.
I flew CVG/LAX/HNL slept on the beach, stayed a grand total of 9hrs. HNL/LAX/CVG. I love it.
I flew CVG/PDX/SEA/CVG once, but I got stuck in SEA for several hours.

HyperMike · Wed Sep 05, 2001 11:29 am

when the us airways flight attendants didn't strike, the airline was offering double tier miles, and i jumped on that like ugly on a monkey. using my company american express card, which got me in trouble later, i booked an a4coach ticket chs-clt-sfo-clt-chs for the weekend.

this weekend, i saw a 119 ticket on us express from pit to msn. i had a friend working there over the weekend on business. i told him that i was coming into town and that i needed a place to stay. he was amused.

when i worked for big blue, i would quite often book a ticket for my biz travel, and once it was ticketed, call the airline and rearrange it so i could get more connections and miles, fly the aircraft i wanted, and stuff like that. it's fun.

one day, i told my boss that i was going to get out of the office early since i was flying to sfo for the weekend to visit a friend. he asked me if i was connecting in frankfurt. honestly, if i could have, i would.

srbmod · Thu Sep 06, 2001 5:52 pm

That's something I really miss doing. I lost my flight benefits on Delta when I left ASA, so I'm really wanting to fly really bad, thank goodness I've got friends at several airlines that can hook me up with a buddy pass. My biggest fly for fun day was ATL-MCO (on a Delta 777) MCO-JFK (same 777) and JFK-ATL (on a 767-300 with BusinessElite setup). I also did ATL-PDX-ATL three times last year when Delta still flew the MD-11 on the route. I did a lot of daytrips to Boston and Washington D.C. in my time as well.

L-188 · Thu Sep 06, 2001 6:03 pm

When I was working out in the bush I used to hop on the aircraft that belonged to the 135 carrier that was out there and fly to the small villages around.

But of course since I worked for a different airline I was non-rev and part of the deal was that I had to help unload the aircraft. So cost really wasn't an issue.

Billy · Thu Sep 06, 2001 6:11 pm

Do it all the time - especially on business trips. The best and cheapest are the taiwanese domestic flights. Loads of carriers and aircraft types to choose from. Single fares are about $35, or $50 for business class. Took FEAT 757 and TransAsia 321. The Rio-Sao shuttle is cheap and very regular. Took TAM, Vasp, Varig and Rio Sul, I think. Flew four Indian domestic routes, and domestic in Korea is cheap, too, though the choice is KAL or OZ, but good ways of flying A300s and 330s. Japan is fairly reasonable on the Tokyo-Osaka run, and they have lowered the fares, so yu can choose from A300s, M11s, 744s or 777s. Took the YS-11 for $50 return on one domestic service. Saudi domestic fares are cheap and managed a L10-11 and 737 flight before they were retired.

I would ne interested in any other cheap domestic markets as I am on the go all the time.

IndianGuy · Thu Sep 06, 2001 7:16 pm

While i havent specifically flown just for the heck of it, many times i have rerouted and taken crazy routings just to fly on a certain aircraft type/airline.

i had to travel many times to BLR from my city (PNQ). the only eqpt on this route r A320's and 737's. can u believe for 3 years since i started flying regulalry i had NEVER got to fly a widebody. so for the heck of it, i once re-routed BLR-BOM(on a A300) and BOM-PNQ(A320). SInce then i have done that a zillion times! An added adv: since the flights arent connecting either way, there is a 3 hr wait at BOM, which gives plenty of time to do some plane spotting.

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