6 ms·
The 30-day flight
- _pius 17y agoNice. Btw, anyone know what font he's using in the logo?
- treyp 17y agoi'm also an AYCJ pass-holder. i'm a bit more tied down due to work, but this seemed like something where collaborating would definitely help everyone make the most of it. i created a facebook group because it seemed like the lowest barrier to entry ( http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=123309380809 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=123309380809 ), but if anyone else has other ways of discussing/sharing, post them here. http://wherewejet.com/ http://wherewejet.com/ looks like they'll be updating, but i was hoping for something social.
- bryanwoods 17y agoI'm suddenly reminded of the Eggers novel "You Shall Know Our Velocity!" wherein the characters go on a week-long international journey trying to give away an inherited sum of money. Sounds like a great experiment. I'm especially interested to see if these bizarre flights trigger any inquiry by authorities.
- Laurentvw 17y agoWhy not take it a little bit further and try to break the current world record, which is set at 135 flights ;) http://community.guinnessworldrecords.com/_New-record-for-the-most-scheduled-flights-taken-within-30-days/blog/416112/7691.html http://community.guinnessworldrecords.com/_New-record-for-th... But I guess that would ruin the fun.
- mhb 17y agoThat sounds like a completely miserable way to waste a month.
- paulgb 17y agoThat sounds like a completely depressing way to approach life.
- run4yourlives 17y agoNot if you consider that it was a joke it doesn't :-)
- mhb 17y agoSo is it?
- run4yourlives 17y agoIn that you're pointing out that it's ludicrous to spend all that time in airports when life in each of those cities is much more interesting and could be better explored in pretty much any other way possible, yeah, I think it is pretty funny. I think it's painfully obvious that you aren't challenging the hackish nature of the project, but the actual project itself. So, people who don't seem to get that aren't getting the "joke".
- mhb 17y agoSo your contention is that since the premise is so lame, the "joke" is that it raises awareness about what it means to actually visit a place? In the same sense that the presumably unintentional misunderstanding of irony in the song Ironic can be spun to actually be a (supposed) clever joke about irony.
- run4yourlives 17y agoNo, I mean you were "joking". I'm not talking about the "experiment", I'm talking about the guy who got all uppity about you not being able to enjoy life. I was saying he should be taking your comment (somewhat) in jest.
- edw519 17y agoThere's a difference between taking advantage of a bargain and being a glutton. 83 segments in 30 days just to see how many you can do? Sounds foolish and selfish (How many others with $599 passes won't be able to get the seats they need because of you?) Imagine how much fun you could have if you did this sensibly. Sure, you can go to an all-you-can-eat buffet and eat until you vomit, but why would you?
- pavel_lishin 17y agoI believe that in order to qualify for the seat, you have to make your reservations ahead of time. You don't just show up, then get your seat stolen out form under you, and return home in tears. Furthermore, you could apply this to virtually anything. Ever been to an all-you-can-eat buffet? Every shrimp you eat is a shrimp that some poor retiree won't get to eat. You monster.
- edw519 17y agoyou have to make your reservations ahead of time Doesn't matter. The seat was still taken by someone who really didn't need it. Every shrimp you eat is a shrimp that some poor retiree won't get to eat Illogical analogy. The number of seats is limited. The number of shrimp (for all intents and purposes) is unlimited. Also, the shrimp are not distinctive; that is, any one shrimp is pretty much as the same as any other. The seats are distinctive per flight (a seat on Flight 123 is not the same thing as a seat on Flight 567). Lots of people made good faith purchases of these $599 passes for legitimate travel, and some of them will be disappointed because others want to game the system simply to see how far they could go with it. Not cool. You monster. I hope that's a joke (even though I don't get it).
- byrneseyeview 17y agoThe number of seats is limited. The number of shrimp (for all intents and purposes) is unlimited. Actually, the opposite is more precisely true. The marginal cost putting one more person on a plane is minimal, compared to the fixed cost of the flight. The marginal cost of one more shrimp correlates more closely with the total cost of shrimp.
- pavel_lishin 17y agoI wish the site were already up, with an RSS feed. I will not remember to check that domain in a week.
- mrtron 17y agoMy main concern would be that you miss a flight - then subsequently miss all your remaining flights and have to pay some sort of penalties. Don't listen to the haters - this could be a great experience.
- mcantelon 17y agoTake that, Mister Ozone Layer!
- diN0bot 17y agoflying is terrible for the environment. i'm all for having a good time and doing neat projects, but this one seems extraordinarily ignorant and harmful.
- byrneseyeview 17y agoDo empty seats reduce carbon emissions?
- run4yourlives 17y agoGiven that the plane weighs less, and by extension uses less fuel, I'd say yes. How much is a different question altogether.
- jsrn 17y agoYes. Flying is very different in this respect from cars/trains: > "Half of the work done by a plane goes into staying up; the other half goes into keeping going." therefore: > "The plane was going anyway, so my flying was energy-neutral." > This is false for two reasons. First, your extra weight on the plane requires extra energy to be consumed in keeping you up. Second, airlines respond to demand by flying more planes. Quotes taken from "Sustainable Energy - without the hot air." by David McKay - University of Cambridge. The book is available free here: http://www.withouthotair.com/Contents.html http://www.withouthotair.com/Contents.html the chapter about plane physics is here: http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/cC/page_269.shtml http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/cC/page_269...
- electronslave 17y agoNo. They increase payload capacity. That Southwest airlines jet where half the people weren't onboard? That just got converted into (200 seats * 200lbs lardass Americans) = 40,000 lbs. of roses, prawns and couriered legal documents. The fact that you're not farting into a foam cushion doesn't matter to the operator or the environment. It just means less cattle are in the boxcar. Here's how the problem is presented: more people want to fly, but they like fresh flowers, fresh food and, more than this, fast package delivery. Your girlfriend who swears she's helping the environment by insisting on organically-farmed New Zealand lamb? Your dad who overnights parts for his biodiesel conversion? Your mom who wants domestic roses fertilized with only the freshest of cow shit? Yeah, they're dumping hydrocarbons into the atmosphere with every dollar spent. Fuel on a 747-200 burns at ~23,700 lbs./hr. during cruise flight, more during taxi operations. Pounds. Flight. More during taxi. You know what taxi operations are, right? Where you're waiting on the tarmac? Happens a lot, doesn't it? Cargo gets consolidated per air carrier for environmental and operational cost purposes. It just does. The reason why more empty seats equate to less environmental damage (at least in my mind) is that you're staying at home instead of using the extra energy to get to the airport. Those planes will keep doing what they're doing, no matter what, unless you refine your behavior. Worried about carbon? Worried about environmental impact? Buy local only. Cut down on time in cars/taxis. Ride a motorcycle. Eat less. Drink tap water instead of anything else. Grow your own food. Otherwise, do what I do, stick your fingers in your ears, say "lalalalala" and enjoy living in the first world.
- ryanwaggoner 17y agoNot that this isn't interesting, but aren't you supposed to be, you know, running a startup? EDIT: Now that I'm poking around a little, I don't see any reference to a startup on any of your sites or anything, but I thought you had one (perhaps Frogmetrics?). Was I mistaken?
- run4yourlives 17y agoPeople do realize that most airlines offer "round the world" passes designed for this type of thing right? I get that it's not as cheap as jetblue's promotion, but seriously, if you really want to spend 30 days in airports, you may as well get your passport stamped! http://staralliance.innosked.com/ http://staralliance.innosked.com/ for example.
- Yrlec 17y agoA bit off-topic but I did exactly that a couple of months ago. Around the world in 29 days. The best trip of my life!
- wallflower 17y agoIf you don't mind me asking, which cities did you enjoy most? And how did you keep to your budget?
- Yrlec 17y agoThe city that was the most positive surprise was probably Honolulu. The people were even friendler than I had expected, the city was the cleanest of them all and I really liked the way they had combined beach- and "city"-life. If you wanna see all the places I went to you can view them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/65204739@N00/sets/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/65204739@N00/sets/
- agotterer 17y agohttp://www.twelvehoursinacity.com/ http://www.twelvehoursinacity.com/ is doing 30 cities in 30 days. They have gotten a ton of press and some sponsors.
- liuliu 17y agoI stuck in airport for more than 30 hours just from SFO to UVa. How do you expect all the airlines to have freemium model with so much delay and flight canceling? (United has extra leg space option, but what if your flight canceled?)
- mhb 17y agoIn the comments someone points out that the terms of the pass (http://jetblue.com/deals/all-you-can-jet/ http://jetblue.com/deals/all-you-can-jet/) say: You may only book one flight per city per day; if a violation of this policy is found, JetBlue will honor only the last booking made and cancel the customer's other bookings from that city on that day.
- adbachman 17y ago> cancel the customer's other bookings from that city on that day. Means you can't fly out of a city, fly back, then fly out again. Also, you can't double book yourself out of a given city and then choose which flight you want to take. I think he's going to get stung on the $100 cancellation/no-show fee: > Changes or cancellations of flight bookings made after 11:59 p.m. MDT three days prior to the flight's scheduled departure will incur a $100 change/cancel fee. "No shows" for flights will incur a $100 fee, with Pass suspension until fee is paid. Miss one connecting flight (e.g., due to an overnight delay) and they could be looking at $300 in cancellation fees.
- akamaka 17y agoHas anybody here looked into the health effects of spending 30 days in a low air pressure environment? Even flight attendants don't spend this much time on a plane.
- phil 17y agoSupposedly airplane cabins are kept at the equivalent of about 6000 ft above sea level, which would make a month on a plane only a little worse for you than moving to Denver.
- dylanz 17y agoDustin... awesome. Has anybody else done something like this? This could be like a "Supersize" movie, but about the perils of travel. Film it! And @#$%... make sure to stretch regularly.
- matt1 17y agoDoes anyone else get the feeling this is some kind of experiment like the 'Follow me on Twitter' tests?
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- joshu 17y agoI hope they're buying carbon offsets so they won't feel bad. I also hope someone will now explain why carbon offsets don't actually make it up, so then they will feel bad twice.