For somebody that travels the same route over and over again, what are some ways to save on airfare?
Yapta.com will track flight prices, so you can know when a good time historically is to make a bunch of reservations.  Also, Air India has a frequent flier program so I hope you have signed up for it... you could get free flights once you get enough points (although I would probably use your points for upgrades to business class). I remember when humorist Dave Barry discussed some guy who invented the software that guaranteed that no two airline passengers ever paid the same fare.  As with much of Dave Barry's stuff, it has way too much truth in it. Research when the best time frame to buy your tickets is.  It varies wildly with time of day, time of week, time of year, whether the plane is half-empty or not, which airline you're traveling on, etc. Beyond that, if you can rack up frequent flier miles fast enough, you maybe can offset the cost of one of those trips.
I know you were partly joking, but still:  &gt; movies  Bring an iPad, most modern planes have WiFi, you can watch Netflix and relax without paying for Buisness Class.  &gt;elaborate meals  Buy a meal at the terminal before you fly. You can even indulge and treat yourself at the nicer sit down restaurants in the airport. Even if you pay $100 for the meal, that's only 10% the cost of upgraded to Buisiness Class just for the food on board.  &gt;priority boarding  You can pay a token fee, like $20, for priority boarding. Hardly need a $1000 ticket for that.   &gt;power  Power is standard on most newer planes, even in coach. I flew Spirit, the budget airline in my region, and despite paying $80 for my economy ticket I had a powered USB outlet *and* an AC outlet I could use.  &gt;storage, recline chairs, &amp; cocaine  Well, you got me there. It's funny how the american airlines have degraded into what you would call a low-cost airline in Europe, minus the ridiculously cheap fare prices that is.   I hope the main airlines here in Europe don't follow suit with all those extra costs. &gt; If someone who is paid $200k+ a year is flying long haul to participate in some meetings, I want them at their best at those meetings, as their time is worth $100/hr.       I work with plenty of people in private industry who earn far more than that who only get economy flights paid for. TravelGuysOnline provides the best online booking service for an air flight, hotels, car rental and adventure tour, in the United Kingdom and throughout the world. If you want to get abroad with your family and friend, then you can visit our company website and Find Cheap Hotel Deals and flights when you want to with enter the suitable date. We provide the best packages offer with very affordable price and savings on the total price of your flight and hotel deals. It's a different ballgame when you have to fly regularly too. It's all well and good suffering through 4 hours when you have a vacation in Vegas or New York waiting for you, but when it's work on both ends, and you have to do it again and again and again, I don't see how anyone could remain sane. There are some great tips and advice in here.   Here's something you may not have considered. The capacity for income is limited by your time and the tuk-tuk rates.  For example, if you become the best and most well-known tuk-tuk driver in Siam Reap and all the tourist want to use your service, the most business you can do is 1 customer per day.   However, if you were to make Trusty Tuk Tuks a booking service you could make a margin from multiple drivers.  Heres how it works:  You find 10 drivers who all agree to do the same features - Cold drinks and snacks, curtains, help tourists with tickets, trusty tuk-tuk business cards. Paint or decorate the tuk-tuks so they all look the same. All drivers agree that for every booking you bring them, they will offer the same service and pay you 10%.   Set up a stand at the market with someone that speaks English and take bookings. Tell your potential customers about the price, the tuk tuks, the cold drinks, the ticketing help, and what temples they can visit.  Soon Trusty Tuk Tuks becomes a brand. This way you are not limited to 1 tuk tuk and 1 customer a day.  The key here is that all drivers must agree to the same price and the same service. Its the consistency that makes a brand. "Modern airlines are one of the most amazing technological achievements in human history. Think about it-- you can travel across the country or even across the world, in a matter of hours, more safely than driving across town, for less money than any time in history. It's not a great experience but it sure beats a wagon train, a 3 masted ship, or walking. But the airlines can't figure out how to make money doing it.  Whenever ""fees"" and other non-core revenue starts accounting for your profit, your business is in trouble. Think of the GM's financing arm, that made more money for GM than making cars. Or Blockbuster with late fees. (Btw, I have no problem in principle with baggage fees-- transporting stuff seems to be part of the core business of an airline. Encouraging everyone to stuff the cabin full of carry-ons is another matter.)" Ride a bicycle or walk for short trips (< 5mi–10mi, depending on your level of comfort). Nothing saves as much on car expenses as simply driving less. I don't know about anyone else, but I see this going as well as the self-service checkout counters at the grocery store. This isn't a tactic to speed up our experience - its a tactic to enhance the bottom line of an already dehumanizing and money-centric travel industry. We rarely do them where they go beyond 100m one way.  When we do we get a single charge in the middle and go 300m.  If we were going any further then a few more stops don't bother me...especially with noisy kids.  There was one time we picked up a 1-day rental for $20 to go into the mountains where there were no chargers (and dirty bumpy etc).  Good thing, popped a tire on the rental :). For the extremely adventurous maybe you want something else.  For most others it works out really well. "&gt; The main reason you see so many people in first class is because they earn miles for themselves  Yup.  My private company allows us to use our own milage accounts when booking company travel, so we earn the miles.  I also make heavy use of my Chase sapphire card, that has a 1:1 transfer between card-miles and most airline programs' miles.    While I don't travel _often_ for my job, I'm usually on a plane every couple months, at least, and most of the time, I can upgrade to first/business, or at least the ""special cattle"" rows of coach on my own dime (or miles)." That is a really short sighted way of looking at costs. I've known some higher up's for major major tech firms that fly first class everywhere and they get burnt out. I can't imagine making someone fly coach. I know I'd quit. Yeah, pretty much. Most hotels will have a long-term rate that's much cheaper if you're staying weeks, or months at a time - however it's not something that they highly publicize because otherwise normal hotel guests can feel that they're being overcharged. The weekly rate usually applies to bookings longer than three weeks, and the monthly rate for those more than three months. The place I stayed at also had 6 monthly and 12 monthly rates which were even less again - and I knew some people who had been living there for 2-3 years.  Although I guess it depends on your budget, when you compare the rates of corporate/short-stay accommodation you can sometimes get a better deal from a hotel if you just call and negotiate something. There was an article I read about this a few years back on some dude who started doing this because it worked out cheaper than keeping a permanent place in London and a place in NY - but I can't for the life of me find it now! Well, yes, it's just an observation.  But I travel 100 days per year or so and for years I was saving money and staying in awesome places in many different countries.  Now when I go on airbnb prices I just don't see the value anymore. Does your employer offer direct deposit?  Can you deposit to more than one account? Personally, I have my pay split up like this via direct deposit: From an early age I found that separating my expenses from my spending money kept me inside my spending limits and kept my savings on track.  In fact, checking account 1 and 2 are at two different banks. Get yourself a credit card to start establishing some credit.  Make a payment plan for the student loan, but before focusing completely on repaying it start to establish an emergency fund.