Travelers Envy

I travel for work.  A lot.  Not as much as some people, though, and for that I'm grateful. 

When I transitioned into the job I now occupy, I was intrigued and excited by the prospect of being an official business traveler.  I would look smart and professional as I strode through the various concourses in my heels and suit, giving confident direction to my colleagues via BlackBerry and Bluetooth.  I would breeze through security and into my first class seating without a thought or a care.

HA.

Most trips I am lucky to keep up with all of my personal belongings, much less look professional or even pause long enough to smell first class.  Yes I travel a lot, but most trips are just a few hundred miles - too far to drive, but barely worth all the time and effort it takes to travel via Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport. 

You see, it takes me an hour to get to the airport, plus getting there early enough to fool with security, plus the probable delay... which means that I could've driven to Lexington and had a sandwich before the doggone plane leaves the ground in ATL.

But I digress.

It's become a great source of interest to me to ascertain people's "frequent flyer" designation.  I'm a personal fan of Delta (no, really!) and so I'm in their SkyMiles program.  I thought I had hit the jackpot last fall when I was "awarded" SILVER MEDALLION status.  I won Silver!  Woo hoo!  This must mean I'm an Official Business Traveler!

Again, expectations significantly outpaced reality, and it turns out that the Silver status basically means that I can check one "free" bag (which used to be free in the first place) and I might luck into a first class seat if everybody else in first class has a car wreck on the way to the airport.  I love watching the "Upgrade List", just for fun...when I first check in, I'm like #2 out of 3 people vying for those 2 open spots left in the First Class cabin.  Yet I mysteriously drop to #25 out of 30 in very short order.

Similarly, I thought I would get an automatic invitation for the pleasure of my company in the Delta Sky Club.  I'm a Silver member after all -- don't these people know who I am?  Again, it seems that Silver status basically means that you can buy a day pass for ten bucks cheaper than the average joe.  Meh.

And what's the real benefit of the SkyClub anyway?  Free booze just doesn't hold the same appeal for me that it once did, and I've got wi-fi pretty much anywhere.  Ok, the chairs are more comfy and you might spot a minor celebrity that can't afford their own private jet (I saw The Captain and Tenille once in the Sky Club.  When I was 20.  On a trip with my family. I knew it was them because of her hair and his glasses. Yes, I got The Captain's autograph.  No, I didn't ask them to sing Muskrat Love.)

The Sky Club is also somewhat appealing when you take into account the number of bums that occupy an airport toilet on any given day. Hygiene odds are better when the herd is thinner.  Just saying.

For a while there, I thought it would really be cool if I can one day be a Platinum or Diamond member -forget this amateur Silver level.  I'm going to run with the big dogs!

But today it occurred to me that people pay an awful lot for those cards.  Not so much the price of air fare...which is ridiculous anyway..but instead the priceless commodity of TIME.  Time with family, time with friends, time spent doing something other than waiting to go to the next somewhere.

So I'm OK with my Silver status, although it is about to turn Gold.  Until today, I didn't consider the sad side of frequent flyer milestones.

But if I have to travel for work, which I do, I'm pretty happy about the Sky Club toilets.