New consultant so sorry for the dumb question: why do y’all miss the travel? I only got to travel a couple of months before the shutdown, but it seemed like it was just airplane->client site->hotel->airplane. Like, what’s to miss? I guess I was doing something wrong lol. Y’all staying there over the weekends to go out and explore or something?

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Points = free vacation, in style

Plus it was nice meeting people from all over (client site, hotel, local bars)

Just fun to do while young

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Idk why but the airline and hotel status at 23 really made me feel like I’m the bomb diggity. Project team was also a lot of fun and we had great experiences the entire time.

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I’m almost 29 and I’ve had executive platinum on AA since 24. Oh the looks that I would get when I board group 1 with my J’s and a hoodie on personal travel days or alt weekends 😂

And I agree - nothing beats a project team where everyone gets along. We used to go out on Wednesday nights weekly and then airport bar or lounge the next day to get rid of hangovers with more beer lol. I miss being on the road!

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Points. Interaction. Not having to pay for my own food. Sleeping with people in different cities.

likefunny

Concur 🥁

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Anything beats being on glorified house arrest

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Are you seeing any other professions that are sending people out any differently?

Alt travel. Kept in touch with and visited so many friends from high school/college completely for free. Flew like 250k miles in my 2 years of travel and saw all sorts of places I’d never see otherwise. Dinner in Houston on Thursday then back in Chicago for a concert Friday? Other than the super wealthy no one has that flexibility to fly wherever for the weekend, every single weekend.

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This is what I’m talking about! All my 20-something friends think I’m cooler than COOL flying in and out of everywhere, expensing all my flights, etc. it’s straight up luxury

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Clearly you're not married.

funnylikesmarthelpful

I will quit my job if we go back to the travel

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Flying first class everywhere. Was staying at the St. Regis every night for the 4 months prior to the shut down. No expense limit (within reason) when traveling so I was saving so much more money. Meaningless hook ups to relieve stress with people I don’t have to worry about running into. It was kind of awesome.

Alas, I am a shallow, single idiot, mind you... but that’s just me 🤷🏻‍♂️

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SD1, yep. I have a sense of morality. Sad to see how that’s something that’s considered evil these days.

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Seems like most of you value points a lot more than I do. They’re great, but that’s really the reason you love to travel so much?? I’ll work at home in my Pyjamas with a puppy in my lap, thanks.

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Less miles and more smiles with family.. I won’t trade wfh for anything

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All the reasons pro travel are shallow and have grave long term consequences to health, mental well-being , and relationships. Ofc you should travel to get to see new things but weekly travel absolutely kills you long term. Also isn’t very productive. Again depends on what is being achieved by traveling - mindless regular travel for everyone at every level in consulting - that’s gotta go.

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@EY6 SO true. When you were on a plane or in transit, you were untouchable — whether you bought the WiFi or not.

Also felt like you were making a real impact. Now it feels like I just spend my days making slides nobody will read, and chasing down people who I could just tap on the shoulder in the team room.

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Honestly, I’m a huge fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type, in that I thrive on last minute plans (like, hey we need you in Atlanta by this afternoon, go home pack a bag and get on the next flight). I also love to be constantly on the go, even if it doesn’t necessarily translate to higher productivity — I get this inherent joy from being up and moving. I love building relationships with the client and while that’s certainly possible over the phone/video, it’s no replacement for being face-to-face. For longer engagements, I love having a good routine built around solo/team travel (like, always stopping at the same tortas shop in O’Hare on my layover) and seeing the same people at my client site every week.

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Agree!

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There’s a 109 minute answer if you want to watch “Up in the Air”

likesmart

I always recommend that movie to people when they ask how’s the consulting travel life.

It looks like George Clooney’s life is the bomb, but eventually it very well reveals how all this “life” was just a tool to mask how deeply empty his actual life was.

I know a lot of people like that, defined only by their jobs

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I hate(d) the travel ans was about to quit

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Agree with all of the above, and also really miss travel. I felt like I had much better work life balance when I could meet friends/teammates in person, have fun banter during car rides or at the airport and plan in person team events.

Also OP, as an early tenured consultant it also had a huge impact on your effective total comp. especially if you live in a HCOL city, expensing meals 4-5 days a week can save you $100-200 per week. Plus, points you get for travel / hotels (especially if you optimize them with the right credit cards) can equal at least another $200-500 per month in non-cash comp. say you use $200 / wk food and $400 / no travel (what I was getting in intangible comp for the months before COVID hit), that’s $1200 a month of extra pay that we’re now forfeiting - a good chunk of potential py

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And that’s not even including value of activities like team events, free Friday lunches at the office, happy hours, etc.

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I’ve traveled alone and traveled on teams. Alone is the worst. But on my teams... I loved who I worked with. So imagine getting to hang out with friends every night and never having to pay for anything. There was a burnout factor but in moderation, I miss it.

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You gen xers don't get consulting

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Gen Z*

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Getting to see my friends was the best part, then points. I’m single and relatively new to my city, but had really good friends on my team. So traveling meant we got to hang out mon-thurs, and because of alt travel it meant I got to visit other friends (college, high school friends) in other cities with minimal effort.

The points were the cherry on top. I used them pretty sparingly, but hotel points in particular are a game-changer for being able to do trips with non-consultant friends who can maybe find a cheap flight deal, but couldn’t afford a week of lodging.

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I dislike travel. But it was a good way to cash up on tax free per diem. No good for married people at all.

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Escape NYC Taxation!

You essentially get two halfdays (Mon/Thurs) and now they have you at 110% of the time! It also wears out your counselor and project lead so they leave you alone on Friday/Weekends. You get to rack up all the points and miles for free vacas. Chasing statuses becomes you obsession. Food is also covered and most hotels have an awesome gym. I traveled almost every single week in 2019. I think I have earned $40k or more in Hotels and Flights from my points/miles/personal creditcard. I have a finance in nursing she would come once everyother month and would do some touristy thing while I was at work to break it up. We would also fly places for the weekend instead of coming home.

When do we start traveling again?

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Points , per firm, free maid service, meeting people outside my circle by need

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