A Day In The Life Of A Travel Blogger
Today I thought I’d pull back the curtain on my work as a travel blogger and how I approach opportunities to interact directly with airlines.
A Day In The Life Of A Travel Blogger
I receive a lot of media invites for events like new lounge openings, aircraft deliveries, or terminal expansions. Blogging is not my only gig, so I generally turn those down. It’s not that I do not enjoy them (I do), but I prefer to experience seats or lounges like other travelers do so that I can provide a more honest review. I do not have a “no free flights” policy, but I know that if I fly as a guest on a carrier, the value of my review is far lower because there is no way to know if the red carpet has been rolled out.
Time is also money and I am very busy both with work and family and these vents do take time and expense to reach.
United Airlines had an event in San Francisco this week that highlighted the carrier’s expansion at SFO and I decided to go. First, because it’s easy to fly up from Southern California to San Francisco. Second, because it is good to renew old acquaintances–both journalists and folks from the carrier–in person.
At 3:30 am my alarm rang and I got up so that I could work for about 90 minutes while enjoying my coffee. At 5:00 am I left for Burbank Airport (BUR), which is only 15 minutes away from my home. My flight did not depart until 7:00 am, but security lines in Terminal B at BUR can be really bad during the. morning rush and I did not want to have to spend 30-40 minutes in line.
I parked in the short-term structure, walked into the terminal, and cleared security within one minute. That left an hour before boarding and I was quite productive in the gate area.
The flight up to SFO on United was smooth and quick…my upgrade cleared and I enjoyed a cup of coffee during the flight.
Upon reaching SFO, I headed out to the curb, where United was shuttling media folks over to its hangar where the event would take place.
The event itself, which I outlined here, lasted from about 10:00 am to 10:45 am. I had already had the press release emailed to me earlier in the morning, so there was no breaking news (beyond Scott Kirby’s off-the-cuff tariff remarks).
After the event, there were aircraft tours and I used the time to chat with folks ranging from Kirby and Patrick Quayle, the wunderkind behind United’s expanding global route network, to flight attendants and writers that I have come to know over the years.
Then I took a shuttle back to Terminal 3 and placed myself on standby for an earlier flight at 1:25p (which was delayed until 2:05 pm). I headed over to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge and enjoyed a delicious lunch followed by superb coffee. During that time I worked on my other ventures.
30 minutes before departure, I was cleared onto the earlier Burbank flight and assigned a middle seat toward the back of the plane. Onboard, the couple traveling together had done the aisle window trick, hoping the middle would stay open (the flight went out 100% full) and offered me the window seat.
United’s old A320s which have not been retrofitted yet do not have power in the back, but my phone and laptop were charged in the lounge and I was able to get some work done on the short flight back down to Burbank.
By 3:15 pm we had touched down and by 3:30 pm I was driving home. Back at home, I hit the gym and then enjoyed a pleasant dinner and evening with the family.
Most days I’m just sitting in my home office working from 6:30 am to 3:00 pm then again from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, but I do like days like this…they are both fun and productive.