A savvy traveller who was dubbed ‘crazy’ for adding an extra 15,000 miles to his round trip from London to Bangkok has explained why it was worth the weeks spent cramped in economy seating.
The globetrotter, who goes by u/Flashy-Jaguar-2880 on Reddit, took to the platform to share how he managed to stitch together two open jaw round trip tickets through experience – and plenty of ‘trial and error.’
He explained that his initial goal was to travel from the UK to Thailand and back, with a direct economy round trip ticket on EVA Air costing about $1,172 (£872).
However, his ‘obsession’ with Google flights and toying around with multi city bookings soon took hold, leading to a number of bold last-minute changes that brought him a surprising range of perks and experiences in the end.
For just $339 (£252) more, the traveller turned his 11,916 mile, 24-hour journey into a 27,534 mile, three-week adventure – squeezing in visits to four extra destinations along the way.
In a post uploaded to the subreddit r/TravelHacks, he revealed his updated flight path saw him travel from Bangkok, to Taiwan, to San Francisco, to New York and to Seattle, before heading back to Taiwan and Bangkok.
His first ticket, booked with EVA Air for $792 (£589), saw him travel outbound from Bangkok to Taiwan to San Francisco, and inbound from Seattle to Taiwan to Bangkok.
The passenger purchased a second ticket with United Airlines, costing $630 (£468), which allowed him to fly outbound from San Francisco to New York to London, and return from London to New York.
A savvy traveller who was dubbed ‘crazy’ for adding an extra 15,000 miles to his round trip from London to Bangkok has explained why it was worth the weeks spent cramped in economy seating
In a post uploaded Reddit, the traveller revealed his updated flight path saw him travel from Bangkok, to Taiwan , to San Francisco, to New York and to Seattle, before heading back to Taiwan and Bangkok
For just $339 (£252) more, the traveller turned his 11,916 mile, 24-hour journey into a 27,534 mile, three-week adventure – squeezing in visits to four extra destinations along the way
He paid $89 (£66) for his third ticket with United Airlines, which included a short flight from New York to Seattle.
The traveller further explained: ‘These three tickets total up to $1511. All my friends think I am crazy for doing this especially in economy.
‘However, I disagree. For about $339 more I get to visit 3 extra cities Taipei, NYC and Seattle (thanks to my friends I have free accommodation in New York City and Seattle), and do two transpacific and two transatlantic crossings in one trip.’
He also revealed he was able to take advantage of his Star Alliance Gold status and ‘mediocre’ lounge food and airport showers for days at a time.
In addition, he earned approximately 15,000 miles with his Eva Air frequent flyer program, Infinity Mileage Lands, earning about 7,000 miles alone on his Bangkok to London round trip.
The traveller added: ‘For reference, a one-way, business class award redemption from Asia to North America costs 80k miles and very little taxes.’
But he warned: ‘I’m fortunate in the sense that I have three weeks to drop everything and travel. And my accommodation costs are zero in all the cities I am visiting so it makes sense for me. If I had to pay for hotels this would not work financially at all.’
Nonetheless, hundreds of impressed Redditors took to the comments to share their thoughts, with many commending the flyer for utilising alternative flight paths and making the most out of his trip.
One person wrote: ‘How long is this trip over??? You are absolutely insane but I hope it is a fun adventure!’
Another said: ‘Sounds fun. If I had the time and flexibility, I would do it to see more cities. Some people hate traveling so being on a plane is a nightmare to them. None of these flights are exceptionally long.
‘And you’re also flying on a better transpacific airline so the economy experience wouldn’t be that bad.’
A third chimed: ‘This sounds like fun and is exactly something that I would do too. So nice to read of other like-minded people, because everyone around me thinks I’m crazy for my obsession with flying.’
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