Guides

6 tips for AvGeeks and frequent flyers working from home

Daniel Ross

March 22, 2020 • 7 min read

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Quick summary

With widespread remote work due to the pandemic, aviation enthusiasts can stay engaged with several at-home activities.
Suggestions include planning elite status strategies, updating personal flight logs and researching future travel options.
Readers are encouraged to explore first and business class reviews, try airline management simulation games and organize aviation memorabilia.
Tools like flight-logging websites and alert services can help maintain travel interests during periods of limited flying.

What to consider

Uncertainty around future travel means it is wise to delay booking until late spring or early summer.
Elite status qualification may be affected by reduced travel, so reviewing loyalty program requirements is recommended.
Some online tools and games may require account creation or have learning curves for new users.

What you'll miss from the article

Creative ways to stay connected to the aviation world and detailed resources for planning future travel during extended time at home.

Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.

Company policies regarding flexible and home working, until recently, were things that only some of us were able to make the most of. In the space of a week, owing to the fast-developing coronavirus situation, it's gone from a luxury for the few to mandatory for many of us. Whether you're a city worker, a teacher or an office worker, the chances are that very soon, you'll have to spend a lot more time at home than usual.

With that in mind, we thought we'd come up with a few AvGeek-themed distractions and break ideas to help those long days at home fly over a bit quicker.

1. Plan your elite status strategy

Our beloved travel and aviation industries are undoubtedly two of the hardest hit given the current pandemic. Flights are being canceled and routes are being axed left, right and center. Not only does that mean we don't get to go on our trips, but it also has an impact on the number of miles and points we'll be earning this year.

In such cases, it might be an idea to delve into your various mileage and frequent flyer programs and rethink your strategy for hitting your desired level of status this year. There's a great level of uncertainty about when things will start to get back to normal, so TPG's advice is to avoid booking any travel until at least late spring or early summer.

With that in mind, plan as far in advance as you possibly can to reduce the risk of having to cancel plans once again.

2. Update your flight log

Most of you will probably know Flightradar24 as being an excellent tool for checking out live flight information. What you might not know, however, is that there's a built-in social section where you can track and log your own flights. Simply click the "social" tab at the top of the screen then "Myflightradar24" where you'll be asked to create a profile -- if you haven't already.

Once that's done, it's time to put aside a few hours to log every single flight you've ever taken. If you log your flights close enough after the time of departure, it will even automatically pull the aircraft type and tail registration of the plane simply by inputting the date of your flight and the flight number -- but if they're old flights you're logging then you'll have to find this stuff out yourself.

There are also other flight-logging sites like Openflights.org and myflightbook.com but I really like the visual of Flightradar24, how easy it is to use and the detailed statistics you can get about your travels.

For example, you can take a snapshot of any year for which you have data and see the stats broken down into several categories including class, type of aircraft flown, top routes flown and even whether you sat in the window, middle or aisle seat the most.

3. Plan ahead

As of right now, we don't have any clear idea of when we'll be able to start flying as normal again. So, why not make the most of this nonflying time to plan for future trips, update your bucket list and do some research on the best business class, first class and airlines around the world. That way, you can start to make a plan of how you're going to fly them.

First class

There are fewer and fewer airlines operating first-class cabins these days, so it's not always easy to know which airlines do fly it, and if so, on which routes.

(Photo by Liam Spencer / The Points Guy) — TPG's Liam Spencer flying in his first-ever first class experience on a Lufthansa A340 from Munich to New York. (Photo by Liam Spencer/The Points Guy)

Here are a few recent TPG reviews if you're in need of some inspiration:

Business class

There are far more options to choose from when flying business class, meaning it might make it harder to decide which ones you want to fly. Here are a few recent TPG business class reviews to help you decide what you want to fly next:

Jean Arnas onboard BA's new Club Suite. (Photo by Nicky Kelvin/The Points Guy)

4. Try running your own airline

I don't mean literally trying to take the reins from Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss. But, you can pretend to be like him and practice your hand at what you would be like at running an airline thanks to some AvGeek video games like Airlines Manager Tycoon.

Be careful, though, it gets quite addictive -- so I hear...

5. Update your ExpertFlyer alerts

Using ExpertFlyer is one of the best ways to keep your future travel plans in order. You can see check what redemption availability there is on certain flights as well as set yourself alerts for when availability drops in and even when your favorite seat becomes available.

We put a guide together for everything you need to know about getting started with ExpertFlyer. (ExpertFlyer is owned by TPG's parent company Red Ventures.)

6. Organize your aviation stash

And finally, many AvGeeks have something that they collect on every flight they take a flight. Whether your thing is sick bags or safety cards or everything you can possibly sneak into your hand luggage, now is a good time to get your stash in order.

Not just that, but if you're like me and keep every single boarding pass stub, why not take yourself on a little trip down memory lane and find a creative way to store your memories...

https://www.instagram.com/p/Btt6Z3Kl3dK/?igshid=16gywf14fvijy

Bottom line

Just because we're having to take some time out of the sky, it doesn't mean to say that we can't still enjoy the wonderful world of aviation. Hopefully, it won't be long before we're back in the air where we belong.

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