If you had to buy a new plane every time you flew somewhere, it would be incredibly expensive.
The only airline I avoid like the plague is Ryanair. I don't like that, when you book, there are then all of these little extras to pay for, and you end up paying more than just flying with British Airways.
My greatest pleasure is still flying private. I spend between $300,000 to $500,000, depending on my year, on flying private.
In the late 1990s, I was a guest on a private plane. By the time my partners and I got off the flight, we knew we had to figure out how to fly privately more often.
Wherever I can get a fast track, I'll try to because I can't stand the airport experience. If you can afford priority boarding, then do it. Nobody wants an unpleasant experience before it starts.
Airlines need staff to fly and maintain their aircraft. They need to pay applicable taxes and gate fees. They need to buy new planes, repair worn-out parts, manage their company pension plan, and everything else a service industry has to do. But by far, the largest chunk of their non-payroll operating budget goes to fuel. That's what costs the most for any given flight.
I consider myself a frequent flyer, flying roughly 200 times a year on mostly mainstream airlines.
Almost all of my business flights are commercial, not private.
I would always be going from L.A. to Miami to New York, to Russia, St-Tropez. Costs about $50,000 for a domestic flight, $250,000 for overseas. Yeah, that's an expensive habit.
The only really expensive thing in our family budget, frankly, is private air travel.
Instead of traveling on a weekend, begin your trip on a Tuesday or Wednesday, which are often the cheapest days to fly. Being flexible with timing can help with savings.
I don't really have any peeves, and I fly other carriers a good bit. My experience has been good in terms of getting on the airplane expeditiously and getting to my destination as need be, on time, with my bags - which I carry on.
