Andrew said the amount of miles he travels during a year usually varies depending on the work he gets. “While I was working in news, I was on flights up to three times a week. As a reality producer, up to twice a week,” he told. “Both jobs require I travel all over the United States. When I get some time off work, I like to plan trips out of the country, which is usually twice a year.”

“Flying in America sucks,” he added. “Especially when you have to do it all the time. So the travel perks which have continually become more difficult to attain for what feels like fewer perks do make a big difference financially, mentally, and physically.”

This last year he was an Executive Platinum with American Airlines. “This provided me with three free checked bags, top of the list for complimentary upgrades on all domestic flights (which, if you fly the LA-NYC route, usually lands you in a business class full lie-down bed for the cost of an economy ticket),” Andrew explained. “Free same-day flight changes (as a producer, this is key as I often make last-minute changes and need to change my departure time), and the really great perk… four free systemwide upgrades. That means if I am flying economy to Asia, I can use one systemwide upgrade that bumps me to business on up to three segments to my destination. So essentially, an $800 economy ticket could land you a $5,000 business class seat. Unfortunately, American Airlines just upped the threshold to get Executive Platinum from spending $12K a year on flights (pre-tax) to $15K a year, a cost I can’t possibly reach being self-employed or working as a freelancer. I reached Platinum Pro, one tier below EP, which requires $9K pre-tax towards flights plus 75K miles.”