Flights
2024’s time in the skies was – by my standards – modest, with just nine flights. Pandemic aside, I last dipped into single digits in 2011 – and back then I still covered over 21,000 miles thanks to five long hauls. But with only one transatlantic hop, this year’s mileage was also low: less than 12K, not even half of 2023’s total.
Nor was there much novelty to be found – all but one flight was with BA, with no new airlines or aircraft encountered. NCE, LUX and TIA were new airports, but the rest were familiar. Some, deliberately so: I marked the 20th anniversary of my first ever flight by recreating it, with a surprisingly smooth experience on Ryanair from Stansted to Torp.
I last flew in BA’s Eurotraveller in November of 2019, so this year’s other economy leg, from Tirana, ended a long Club Europe streak. Thankfully I preserved over a decade of being strictly business when travelling long-haul on BA, but it was a close run thing: for an hour or so, it looked like my only way out of Washington would be at the back of the bus.
Trains
Much more excitement was to be found on the rails. I arrived in my first new country of the year, Monaco, by train. My trio of tripoints project in May required a five hour trial by DeutscheBahn to reach the first, in Schengen; I then made use of Luxembourg’s (free) railways on the way to the other two. Later that month I returned to the US and Amtrak – albeit for one of their shortest trips possible, between DC and Alexandria.
All this was warm-up for August, when I completed the bulk of a UK – Albania race by rail. Between London and Bari I racked up 42 hours aboard 20 different trains, usually in first class thanks to an Interrail pass. How this all-you-can-eat ticket hasn’t featured in my travel plans before is a mystery, but I am sure this will be the first of many.
Finally, my December trip to Norway included a train from Torp to Oslo. Altogether, then, I rode the rails in eleven different countries in 2024. This isn’t a stat I normally keep track of, but that count must surely be a personal annual record!
Systematic Travel
As the above suggests, 2024 was a good year for country-counting. Of the 25 countries I’ve visited in my life, over half featured in this year’s travels. Four were new – Monaco, Luxembourg, San Marino and Albania – which maintains a suitable pace for achieving my “50 by 50 goal”. Over in the US, I ticked off my 17th state – Virginia – whilst reinforcing my claim to another (Maryland) and getting a better look at Washington, DC.
I also collected some niche achievements relating to borders and modes of transport. For my first visit to Luxembourg I arrived as a pedestrian, strolling in from Germany; once there, I was able to set foot in all its neighbours whilst visiting three more tripoints. My race across Europe saw many borders crossed by train, whilst Albania joins just Ireland and France on my list of countries first reached by ferry.
That trip was more efficient than I imagined, so I only added nine new Nomad Mania regions; having hoped to reach triple digits, I landed thee short. As a result I have fallen far out of the top 10,000 users, which now requires 110 regions. I had more success with the exploration game Zonder, reaching the top 60 (of what must be a much smaller community) by distance travelled over the year. Unfortunately I found its tracking to be frustratingly inconsistent, so won’t be carrying that forward into 2025. Polarsteps, however, continues to be a quick and easy way to share trips whilst still on the move.
Accommodation
This year featured both more stays (29) and nights (48) than 2023, but the general pattern was the same: mostly hotels, with a couple of AirBnBs plus a week in the countryside with an ever-growing group of friends. Not included in these totals are one night in the air (flying from DC to London) and one at sea (crossing the Adriatic). Another night on the water I did count, as although floating cabin The Inspiration bobbed around a bit, it didn’t leave its mooring in Brixham Harbour:
Despite only one redemption, I kept my costs down to under £60 a night thanks to sharing with friends, expensing more work-related trips than usual, and some hefty industry discounts from Accor and Premier Inn. Those were generally for unexciting nights near airports (usually Heathrow, but also London City and Nice), but one of my best savings – and best stays – was at the Sofitel Luxembourg Le Grand Ducal. Other highlights this year were the Tirana Marriott and (closer to home) Cadbury House near Bristol.
Loyalty
Last year’s change of the Executive Club to spend-based earn had already driven me to Alaska Mileage Plan; the recent shift to spend-based recognition only cements this choice. Not that it particularly mattered: I only had three points-eligible flights this year! Generous multipliers – sadly coming to an end in 2025 – netted me 3681 RDM from 1910 flown miles, a modest increase to my stash.
I saw much more success with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: 30,000 points from a credit card sign-up bonus; 11,700 during a 30% bonus on AmEx transfers; and nearly 10K from card spend and the Virgin Trains ticketing app. I should also unlock an upgrade voucher next year, so despite devaluations to the programme I hope to find a suitable redemption for these efforts.
Hotels told a similarly lopsided story to flights. Although I spent 15 nights in Accor properties, the majority of these were on industry rates ineligible for rewards, so I collected a mere 869 points. Those are worth less than £15, but I reckon I saved almost £300 compared to public rates, and points should never take priority over cash in pocket!
Hilton HHonors was more lucrative – my 6 nights / 5 stays yielding almost 30,000 points – and I still retain gold status for another year from a long-expired credit card perk. Renewing Intercontinental Ambassador was probably a mistake – I only made two IHG stays in 2024 – but I was able to match it to VIP status in Radisson Rewards. They saw three nights, whilst two at the Tirana Marriott kept my Bonvoy account alive.
I’m very happy with the breadth of my travel this year, and in particular how much of it was completed by train. 2025 should see more of the same, for the simple reason that I’ve signed up for another Lupine Race, The Baltic Brutal. Aviation could do with a bit more variety, but I have some novelty booked on that front too. I don’t yet have a long haul trip lined up, but I imagine I’ll think of something! And of course I should make use of the assortment of hotel statuses I now find myself holding…
