More Than Just Miles

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You know the latest sign-up bonuses for Chase and American Express off the top of your head. You can calculate the monetary value of an AAdvantage mile and convert it into Avios within seconds. You have status on three different airlines, one of which you’ve never even flown. But what is it all for?

Being a frequent traveler seems to be as much about the process as the end result. We obsess over mileage runs and shopping portal bonuses, but shouldn’t we be obsessing over how we’re going to spend those points and miles? I can’t count a show of hands right now, but I’m guessing that a large portion of anyone reading this — myself included — don’t have a Dream Vacation lined up. Why not?

I started Fly&Dine just over three years ago. At the time, I noticed that the points and miles community didn’t have anyone covering the food you ate on the way to your destinations. Now, I’ve come to realize that I’m not nearly passionate enough about this specific niche (food, yes; food on airplanes and at airports; no), and neither are you. So I’m broadening the scope. Instead of this site serving as an occasional news update on where to get tacos at O’Hare, it will function more as a traditional blog. Fly&Dine is now going to be about traveling as a lifestyle. Whether you’re in the air four times a week for week or just somebody that counts the days until you get to cash in your annual two weeks of vacation, Fly&Dine is going to be about vacation as the ultimate goal in life.

Instead of trying to break news about the latest chef/airline collaborations, I’m going to do my best to get all of us to realize that there’s a purpose to all of this point collecting. It’s not just a hobby that engages the analytical 11-year-olds in all of us, collecting frequent flyer miles as if they’re tickets spitting out of a Skeeball game. It’s a way of life that should always be pointed towards a goal.

To that end, I’m giving you a homework assignment. All you have to do is answer a simple question: Where’s your Dream Vacation? Are you saving up those miles for a safari in Kenya? An engagement trip to Hokkaido? An around-the-world jaunt where you’ll have to learn how to say “where’s the bathroom?” in six different languages? No matter what it is, I want you to think hard about where you want to spend those miles you’ve been building up. When you figure it out, tell me in the comment section below. Write a city, a hotel, a type of trip, or anything else that could be categorized as a Dream Vacation. There are no rules here and everyone gets an A just for participating.

I want Fly&Dine to be the place you go to get inspired to go on vacation. Let’s start by inspiring each other. Ready? Start dreaming.

Comments

  1. I’ll get things started. My Dream Vacation has three destinations. I want to start off in Buenos Aires eating steak and drinking wine as I explore the city. Then I want to jet off to Tokyo and get lost. Finally, I want to head to Greece and lie on the beach of Mykonos with a platter of grilled octopus at my side.

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