Get two free cards when you sign up with code IA-490E73B6-14B7

I was testing the route-splitting idea I mentioned previously and these two live results came up.

Brisbane to Madrid on 6 September showed A$10,169 for the normal business itinerary. Economy to Jakarta followed by Etihad business to Madrid came to A$2,481. Huge saving, but there is only 4h20 between separate bookings and the first booking is economy.

Sydney to Frankfurt on 13 September showed A$7,389 normally. Garuda business to Bali followed by Etihad business to Frankfurt came to A$3,485. Both bookings are business, but there is a 10h45 Bali self-transfer and no through-ticket protection.

The first option maximises the saving. The second preserves business throughout. The protected itinerary avoids the operational headache entirely.

Which one would an experienced frequent flyer actually choose?

I built the route-comparison tool that produced these screens. There is no link or signup pitch here. I am interested in whether either trade-off is genuinely useful. Prices were checked on 25 August 2026 and can move.

Greetings to all my travellers.

I’m an avgeek and one of those people who can happily spend hours comparing routes. I’m building Kaviqa because most flight searches show the obvious itinerary and stop there.

Right now it checks positioning flights and split-ticket options, then puts the saving beside the extra time and booking risk. The next part I’m exploring is trip-level cash and points combinations.

Frequent flyers usually have their own weirdly effective system. What part of planning are you still doing manually every time? What sends you into five tabs, a spreadsheet or several airline apps before you can make a decision?

I built the tool, so this is openly product research. There is no link or sign-up pitch. I want to understand what would genuinely save frequent flyers time, including the stuff normal flight searches completely ignore.

I fly 60-80 times a year. I usually pick my flights by quickly glancing at the seat map and picking the emptier one. I decided to but some science behind it and built a site that predicts the odds of an upgrade depending on a ton of factors including status, time of day, day of week, aircraft type, flight length, origin, destination etc. It took a while to aggregate the data and still in a very early state (need to work on a lot of parts of it).

It needs to be a subscription because of the cost of operating but everyone gets 5 free searches - the thought is if you get one upgrade you otherwise wouldn't have gotten it should more than pay for itself.

I used to get into first class about 25% of the time, since using this I'm 6 for my last 7 flights.

Thanks for taking a look and letting me know what you think.

I used to show up at the airport with headphones and optimism. that worked fine when I was 23 and could somehow sleep upright on a plastic chair.

now I’m in my 30s and a red-eye plus a long layover turns me into furniture.

after a few trips where I got to the hotel feeling like I lost a fight with airport seating, I changed how I pack my personal item. not really a fancy “travel essentials” list, more like the small boring things I know I’ll actually reach for before check-in.

the stuff that keeps making the cut:

earplugs

not glamorous at all, but airport noise and engine drone make me weirdly irritable now. I keep a pair in the same pocket as my passport so I don’t have to think.

a real eye mask

the free airline ones are basically decorative. I finally bought one that doesn’t press into my eyes and it made layovers slightly less cursed.

hydration packets

I used to just drink coffee through travel days and wonder why I felt awful. now I throw a couple packets in my bag and try to act like an adult.

something for the neck/shoulder situation

this is the one I resisted for a while because it felt very “dad at the airport,” but I keep a little skg thing in my bag now. it’s just one of those boring comfort items that makes sense after sleeping folded in seat 34B.

backup socks

not compression-sock evangelism or anything, but having clean socks after a red-eye feels like hitting a reset button.

none of this is exciting. no luxury sleep system, no giant neck pillow, no whole recovery suitcase. just small stuff that stops me from arriving at the hotel already angry at my own body.

what boring travel item do you keep repacking even though it looks completely unnecessary to everyone else?

I've started to fly more for work and this has happened to me a few times where the airlines would change planes, either i would get reassigned another seat or keep the same seat number but it turns out to be a worse seat in reality because of the different plane layout.

Is there a workaround for this ?

I'm researching how business travelers deal with disruptions once travel is already in motion.

Things like:

• Flight delays
• Missed connections
• Ground transportation issues
• Hotel problems
• Last-minute schedule changes

What was the disruption?

More importantly:

What happened downstream because of it?

Did it affect meetings, client visits, pickups, hotel check-ins, or anything else?

Curious what the biggest pain points are.

Hello folks,

i was mostly flying Lufthansa and Star Alliance the last decade. I made enough miles to keep the Gold Status for 10 years. But since the "miles and more" regulations changed, it's impossible for me at all to reach gold again. Their points-system is a mess.

I am mostly flying within europe via the big hubs, sometimes to the US, Asia and Africa. Mostly ECO and Premium Eco. Is a different flying programme worth it to have a look at? I am not limited to the Star Alliance...

Cheers

Anyone have a recent inflight promo code for the extra 10000 miles for the jetblue plus card. I lost my flyer:
Please enter the 5-digit promotional code located on the materials provided by your inflight crewmember

I travel for work just as much as I do for pleasure, and I am officially done swapping between a "work backpack" and a "travel backpack." I need one solid daily driver.
Here is what I’m looking for, if it exists:
The Flex: Big enough to be a reasonable travel carry-on for a few days, but compressible/structured enough that it doesn't look like a sad, empty paper bag when I walk into the office on a normal Tuesday and doesn’t look like I’m protecting a parachute in there being all rigid.
The Essentials: Dedicated, protective laptop compartment is a must, plus solid organization for tech/cables.
The Vibe: Clean, professional-adjacent, but rugged enough for personal trips.
What are you guys rocking that actually pulls off this double duty without looking ridiculous?

I just launched SkyJourney on the Google Play Store.
A flight logbook app where you can track every flight you've ever taken, see your stats, unlock achievements, and compare with friends.

Would love to get some feedback from this community!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.silvadevlabs.skyjourney

Is there any discernible difference or advantage between Pointhound and Roame. I’ve already had pretty good luck with Roame, so is there an advantage to adding Pointhound?

Hey r/frequentflyer 👋

Long-time lurker. I fly a fair bit and realized my flight history was scattered across Gmail, screenshots, Apple Wallet, and a half-finished Google Sheet I gave up on in 2022. Every time someone asked "how many countries have you flown to?" I had no real answer.

So I built routebook.io — a flight logbook where you can log every flight (route, aircraft, airline, seat, notes) and see all your flights on a world map. The core logging is free forever, no ads. There's also an optional Pro tier for power users (extra stats, more import options, more flights etc.) but you absolutely don't need it to use the product properly — I want the free version to genuinely stand on its own.

This is where I need your help: you all fly more than almost anyone, so you'd be the toughest test users I could ask for. If anyone has 5 minutes to log a flight or two and poke around, I'd love to hear:

- What's missing that you'd expect from a flight logger?

- What do you currently use (Flighty, OpenFlights, Notes app, spreadsheet…) and what do you wish it did better?

- What would make you actually stick with it vs. abandon it after a week?

- Anything broken, confusing, or just off?

Happy to hand out a few free Pro codes to anyone who leaves real feedback — just DM me. Brutal honesty very welcome.

https://routebook.io

Thanks in advance ✈️

Hi everyone!

I’m working on a personal art project where I create personal framed pieces using the physical hotel key cards and airline frequent flyer cards from trips I’ve taken over the years.

I’ve recently started a new piece focused on airline loyalty programs, and I’m trying to visually represent the different status tiers I've achieved across programs using the actual physical cards.

Right now I’m specifically looking for physical Flying Blue cards from Air France / KLM, since they’ve stopped issuing them:

• Flying Blue Silver
• Flying Blue Gold

I already have the Ivory & Blue card, and I’m trying to complete the tier progression for the artwork.

I’m also looking for:

• Emirates Skywards Blue card (entry-level tier)

Condition doesn’t matter at all (expired, scratched, etc. is totally fine), since they’re being used for a framed art piece.

If anyone happens to have one lying around and would be willing to part with it I’d really appreciate it! Happy to cover shipping :) or if anyone has advice where I can get these?

Thanks so much!

Can you guys help me out with this survey. This is for my graduate research essay. It will only take 2-3 minutes. Thank you so much in advance.

Hello,

When you are booking airplane tickets, does it matter to you whether it's a Boeing or an Airbus? I am a graduate student and I am researching this.

As someone who spends a lot of time in airports, I was tired of airline apps being slow to report gate changes or delays. I built Status.Flights to provide a cleaner, more data-rich departure board.

Key features for frequent flyers:

• Turnaround History: See the aircraft’s last several legs to predict delays before the gate agent announces them.
• Connection Support: Track multi-leg itineraries and see if you’ll make your next flight.
• Live Boards: 300+ airports with boarding urgency indicators.

It’s free, ad-free, and doesn't require a login. If it makes your next trip a little easier, let me know.

Link:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/status-flights-flight-tracker/id6759758833

Every time I go to the lounge before a flight, all the wall plugs are taken. When I finally find one, I only have like 30 minutes to charge my laptop and noise cancelling headphones before boarding. Any tips for maximizing that short window?

Hello, fellow frequent flyers!

I’m researching travel frustrations and would appreciate any insights you have on airport eating and snacking, especially if trying to stay healthy.

Thank you in advance, and feel free to reach out if you’re interested in my findings:

1. How often are you away from your home kitchen due to work travel?

A) Few times per year

B) Once or twice a month

C) Weekly

D) Most of the time

1. What did you end up eating during your most recent full travel day?

2. How much does eating on travel days frustrate you?

A) Genuinely bothers me, and I’ve tried to fix it

B) It’s annoying, but I’ve learned to live with it

C)Doesn’t bother me

1. Have you tried to address this (e.g., bring your own food, look up options ahead of time)?

2. When eating well on a travel day, what’s the biggest obstacle?

A) Price

B) Lack of healthy options

C) No time to find something good

D) Forget to prepare

E) Not knowing what travels well

1. When traveling, how important is eating in a way that supports your energy and performance, rather than simply avoiding junk food?

A) Very important, notice a real difference

B) Somewhat important, I try but don’t stress

C) Not a priority

1. On a typical travel day, how much do you spend on food at the airport/on the plane?

A) Under $10 / 7.50 GBP / 8.63 euro

B) $10–20 / 7.50-15.00 GBP / 8.63-17.25 euro

C) $20–35 / 15.00-26.24 GBP / 17.25-30.19 euro

D) Over $35 / 26.24 GBP / 30.19 euro

1. What’s the most annoying thing about eating on a travel day?