ADA Artist Management & Representation

Air Travel – Get control and credit

In periods of economic hardship, artists and the organizations they work for all must tighten their belt to keep their careers and seasons thriving. From the artists’ perspective, make time to take a hard look at your flying habits and take control and credit for having to be in the air as part of your job.

In the recent past, arts organizations frequently flew guest artists in to perform using the best economy rate available to the company. Sometimes arts organizations had a sponsorship from an airline who provided a certain number of seats each year to assist non-profit organizations. If that is the case, and the company you are working for has guest passes on a sponsor airline, there is little you can do as a flier other than be thankful that there are still companies out there looking out for the arts in general. However, few of these sponsorships remain, even at the largest companies across the United States. A little advance planning on your part can reap big rewards later if you take the time to think ahead.

Consider how many times you fly in a year – for business and pleasure combined. If your average one-way flight is 750 miles and you fly on average once a month, you would likely qualify for the lowest level of any major carrier’s Mileage Club. These clubs are not what they once were, but during the current economic crunch, airlines are taking loyalty seriously from their customers.

Find out which airlines have hubs in your most frequently traveled cities. Pick one, jump online and sign up for their Mileage Club. If you can, check out the possibility of taking out a credit card affiliated with your air carrier. Be loyal to your airline. When contracts come in, ask if the company hiring you will please book you on your airline of choice. If they find a seat for you on a different airline that is $30 less expensive than a flight on your preferred carrier, offer to pay the difference, or ask if you book the flight yourself if they will reimburse you the cost of the fare they found. The benefits for taking these steps can be many. Airlines notice patterns. While they don’t advertise a specific policy, many of them allow people into their mileage club who haven’t quite reached the requisite number of miles.

If you are a Mileage Club member in good standing, your fees for checked luggage can be severely discounted if not free altogether on your preferred carrier. Sure, paying $30 for a ticket on your airline stinks in the short-term, but companies are not going to pick up the $50-125 in fees you incur checking baggage en route to start work with them, either.

As you begin to rack up miles in your account, and climb into higher levels of Mileage Club rankings, you may start to get complimentary upgrades for certain flights. Your cell-phone minute-eating hold time when you have travel-related questions or diversions will be reduced as you’ll be given a different number to call than the general public. Many airports have special security lines for frequent travelers who are a part of a mileage club, reducing the time you’re stuck behind a first-timer going through the screening process. Finally, you’ll have extra miles with which to purchase upgrades, or a future flight for someone special who might be able to join you on the road. As you begin to tailor your flight habits to a single airline and to meet your needs, you’ll find the travel process much more enjoyable and familiar as well.