Catch him if you can: Jetsetter who lives the high life for virtually nothing

FOR many of us, a plane trip is something to be endured. For one 25-year-old who’s spent most of the year airborne, first-class travel is the end goal.

Jetsetter lives high life for virtually nothing

FOR many of us, plane trips are there to be endured. But for a 25-year-old who spends most of his life in the air, luxury travel is the end goal.

Ben Schlappig, also known as “Lucky” or “Coins”, flies 640,000 kilometres a year on average — more than 16 times around the world.

Ben is part of an elite band of savvy travellers called “Hobbyists”. He makes a career from the Hobby (capitals required), working the system to fly in style on a shoestring budget, and sharing his expertise .

His blog, One Mile At A Time, provides tips for travellers on how to use frequent flyer points, credit card offers, deals and hotel stays to minimise the cost of your journeys.

While it is aimed primarily at a US readership, it includes some invaluable information for Australians, such as his advice on using airline alliances.

Travellers flying Qantas, for example, can earn their points with any of its partners, where “the redemption rates are almost universally better.” A business class ticket from Sydney to Perth with Qantas would require 36,000 Qantas points one-way, but only 17,500 American AAdvantage miles (one of its affiliates) — although you do earn points more slowly.

Virgin Australia, meanwhile, partners with Singapore Airlines, who also have much lower redemption rates and often better availability.

Qantas also partners with Emirates and Virgin Australia with Etihad, who have “a better product and more space”, so you could redeem your Qantas points on an Emirates flight to Europe and enjoy a first-class in-flight shower.

However, a spokesperson for Qantas said: “If you live in Australia but you join an overseas program instead of Qantas, you can’t earn points when you’re at Woolworths or the hundreds of other Frequent Flyer partners — and you’re therefore going to miss out on well over 15,000 opportunities to earn Qantas Points for things other than flying.”

Ben’s fixation with flights began in his youth, when his German family regularly took him back there from the US during the holidays. At 14, he received a flyer in the mail from United Airlines, advertising what he calls an “outrageous promotion”.

“I did the math, and convinced my parents that allowing their youngest child to fly back and forth across the country all summer was not only a great idea, but would mean our next trip to Europe would be in Lufthansa First Class,” he said. “They went for it, and a few months later I was a 14-year-old with top-tier airline elite status, and had spent almost the entire summer in airports.”

Ben was hooked. He pored over travel discount forum FlyerTalk, later working there before moving to TalkBoard, and starting his own blog in 2008. Now, this aviation enthusiast gets to take flights that would ordinarily cost as much as a new car.

Most importantly, he adores the lifestyle that comes along with it. “I love airports,” he writes. “I could spend all day watching people come and go, wondering where they are coming from, what their story is, and what their final destination might be.

”I am obsessed with aviation. I’ve flown over four million miles ... visiting more than fifty countries on six continents and spending thousands of nights in hotels.”

What excites Ben the most is finding ways to “elevate the travel experience”, and his blog, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts show just why he’s so fascinated with every aspect of flying.

Posts show him sipping champagne, dining on gourmet meals and enjoying all the perks and comforts of rubbing shoulders with the wealthy on the world’s biggest airlines.

His profile went stratospheric after a feature in this month’s Rolling Stone magazine, which called him the “biggest star” of this elite world of travel hackers. He described planes as his office, bedroom and playroom.

When Ben makes it out of the airport, he lives in luxury hotels — on the cheap, of course. He doesn’t like to spend longer than three days anywhere. But his Robin Hood attitude to low-cost, high-end travel hasn’t made him the favourite person of the airlines who have to treat him like a king.

“We are beating the airlines at their own game,” he said at a Hobbyist meeting last year. “The people who run these programs are idiots, and we’ll always be one step ahead of them.”

He wields a terrific amount of power. In one cutting post on Instagram, where he has 28,300 followers, he writes: “Etihad has a flexible dining menu whereby you can eat what you want when you want. Except four hours out not a single thing on the menu is available anymore. So chef served me everything she had (none of which is on the menu) -- bagel, breakfast starter, and satay. Interesting ...”

Ben says he no longer makes a single purchase without considering the potential points. “The most lucrative way to accrue airline miles is through specific, leveraged, spend on the right credit cards,” he says. “Anyone can significantly upgrade their travel experiences through strategic use of airline miles, hotel points, and credit card rewards.

“I earn well over a million miles a year, which I don’t think is really unattainable for most.”

Many follow his blog and social media for tips on money-saving travel, but the vicarious experience of the first-class lifestyle is a reward in itself.

Ben is spreading valuable knowledge and financial tips, but it’s about that taste of opulence, too.

As the maverick traveller tells his readers: “Keep on dreaming”.