Apropos of nothing: Blogger changed their user interface, and it is awful. Formatting is fifteen times harder now.
This post is about two months late, which is silly because I created this post's graphics even before 2020 was over (read: when it was clear that COVID-19 cases were going to keep climbing and I would definitely not be flying again anytime soon). But, better late than never, I suppose.
GOALS FOR 2020
At the end of 2019, I set the following goals for myself with respect to air travel in 2020:
Hit my fifth continent--Australia--using the ~$100 credit I had with Qantas.
Achieve airline status again.
Fly out of my hometown's airport (CCR).
- Fly in every month of the calendar year.
Here is how I did.
[Insert clown emoji] That $100 is almost certainly gone, too. It was originally supposed to expire in October 2020. I haven't even bothered to check.
I mean, everyone who had status with Alaska at the beginning of 2020 got their status renewed for 2021. So I guess I technically accomplished this goal, although it was through no effort on my part. It feels a bit like cheating.
Nope.
- [Insert clown emoji]
I mean, who could have known what 2020 was going to be, right?
YEAR-OVER-YEAR TRENDS
5,986 miles flown in 2020, measured as great-circle distances in statute miles. 87% decrease from 2019; 90% decrease from 2018.
8 segments flown in 2020. 79% decrease from 2019; 83% decrease from 2018. The total segments I flew in 2018 is equal to the number of segments flown in 2019 and 2020 combined.
$1,168.37 in airfare paid in 2020, which considers the actual amounts charged to the card, inclusive of airline credits, miles used, taxes, and fees. 79% decrease from 2019; 88% decrease from 2018.
MORE ON MILES
Gee, what happened in March?
American unseated Alaska this year, although I did fly more segments with Alaska (3) than with American (2).
Regretfully, I did fly with United in 2020. Although it was for one segment on which I used miles, so I at least have the satisfaction of knowing that I didn't give them any money.
"Others" should really just be "Other", as it consists only of Porter Airlines.
The B737 unseated the A320 this year. The last year in which I flew more miles on the B737 than the A320 was 2016.
"Others" includes the B767, B777, CRJ, and Q400.
It is Wednesday, my dudes.
MORE ON MONEY
Southwest's "Wanna Get Away" fare is the sole element of the "Other or N/A" category. Since I only flew 8 segments, this pie chart comes out much too cleanly for my liking.
My average cost per mile for leisure travel was not quite as low as I would have liked to have achieved (I got it down to $0.09/mile in 2019), but in my defense, I had only 3 leisure reservations to work with in 2020. I also had only 2 business reservations.
The minimum cost per mile for leisure travel is so low because that segment was purchased with miles, so I only had to pay the $5.60 in taxes and fees.
"Lead time" is defined as how far in advance of departure the ticket was purchased.
In a Normal YearTM, I would show the minimum, 25th percentile, median, average, 75th percentile, and maximum of these distributions. However, you can't really show the 25th or 75th percentiles when your sample sizes are 2 business and 3 leisure reservations.
The small sample size is also why the leisure distribution is so low. The 16-day lead time was a (relatively) short-notice decision to spend a weekend in Los Angeles, and the other two lead times of 1 and 2 days were when I spontaneously decided to fly to San Diego for my sister's college graduation.
Rebecca Black would be so proud.
MORE ON WHERE
Border closures were trending in 2020.
A "visit" is defined as a segment either originating or terminating at a given airport. So connections grant two visits to the connecting airport.
The size of the font is directly proportional to the number of visits.
Similar to the fare class pie chart, it's not terribly interesting this year. This is what happens when you're dealing with a small sample size. I flew four round trips out of SFO to each of the four destinations in the graphic. In fact, the next image shows all the routes I flew in 2020.
Really riveting stuff.
WHILE IN FLIGHT
I don't know if I had ever made a graph before this one that plots natural numbers but has a y-axis that only goes up to 2.
This was one of my greatest accomplishments of 2020: avoiding the middle seat. And, for the record, 6 of my 8 seats were before the airlines began blocking middle seats.
Once again, not a terribly exciting shape with a sample size of 8.
A "pushback pause" is defined as the time when the aircraft is stationary after being pushed back from the gate. Specifically, it begins when the aircraft stops moving backward and the tug begins detaching, and it ends when the aircraft begins moving forward on its own power.
I made up for my lack of in-flight drinking in 2020 by drinking more at home. It's cheaper that way.
Each of the upgrades were on segments between Northern and Southern California. It almost seems a waste to get upgraded on such segments which are only an hour long. Although, my first class upgrade was when I had my one in-flight drink of 2020, so perhaps that made it worthwhile.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2020
Typically, this is where I would list of my "firsts", such as the first time flying on a specific aircraft type, to/from a country or U.S. state, on an airline, or some other activity unique to the year.
Unfortunately, there is nothing exciting of this manner to report for 2020. I think the year 2020 was not the time to be taking risks or to pursue ambitious "firsts" while flying. "First time wearing a face mask during a flight" is about as creative as I can get.
GOALS FOR 2021
Even as I write this in March, what air travel will look like even a month from now is very much up in the air (pun intended). As was the case in 2020, it may be foolish to set goals for air travel in 2021 given how much uncertainty still exists in the world.
Nevertheless, goals are supposed to be something that challenge you. So I will set one sole goal for myself in 2021, which is not new to this year: achieve airline status for 2022. This could be very easy if most of the world remains shut down and airlines decide again to automatically renew statuses or lower their eligibility requirements; or it could be very difficult if things reopen given how much airlines have cut back their schedules.
For example, starting in April or May, Alaska will only fly SFO-EWR and EWR-SFO non-stops once a day on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and Friday. This route used to have 2-3 daily non-stops in both directions. Furthermore, this route is now much more expensive on Alaska than on the obvious candidate for this route, United (hub to hub). So, if the winter continues to thaw and things reopen, I may need to make some tough decisions in order to achieve this goal.
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