EFTM – What we do. Please don’t judge us

I fly an awful lot really, not as much as our Dictator Trevor Long but on average at least once a month. Mostly domestically, I don’t quite have the clout to score 4000 international trips a year like Trev. 

But it’s still a lot of flying, even my wife who has a real job as a TV reporter is still a tad flabbergasted by the process when occasionally she has to fly somewhere.

My first flight was in 2006, my late parents I’m pretty sure flew perhaps twice in their life. My Dad never even left the country, so what I do goes against the Bowen family trend.

I am mostly flown to motoring events, as a guest of whatever company it is. It’s kind of a weird world, I’m not crying poor but due to some unfortunate circumstances myself and my sister grew up in fairly basic conditions. A fibro house in North Gosford and a shortage of cash was all we knew. We lost dad because he loved the smokes and mum had a few issues and took things into her own hands.

But the thing is when you fly a lot, you become part of this elite club. With Virgin for example, I’m a Platinum member. To reach that level requires many hours in the air. But what it grants you is stuff I could not have predicted growing up in Gosford.

At Sydney airport there’s a separate premium check in area for Platinum members. You literally rock up at the southern end of the terminal, walk up a ramp and have your own dedicated security screening area. After that you walk straight into the Virgin lounge. At EFTM we like to also use the valet service. Honestly this process can see you back in the car and out of the airport precinct while people are still getting off the plane. We do this because we just want to get home, in my case just over an hour’s drive.

I upgrade a lot, depending on the fare booked Virgin offers four complimentary upgrades a year, so business class is my go to simply because I want to get off the plane first and on my way. I tend to use points to do this as well where I can.

But ultimately while this sounds like I’m some wanker, which I’m not, I just thought I’d tell you what we get up to. People call it a rort, but I’m just accepting invitations from car companies to see what they have on offer. The places I’ve seen, here and overseas are just ridiculous. So much so I’ve stopped telling mates about it, because I actually feel a tad embarrassed.

Also I’m not a journalist. I’ve driven more than a thousand cars since about 2006, but I’m just a commentator or blogger. But I get to hang out with some of Australia’s best, Trent Nikolic, Josh Dowling and Paul Maric for example. All of those blokes are absolute experts in their fields. Trent for example I regard as a potential talkback radio host, Paul with his engineering background is a true pro and great on camera. Plus Josh is an old school journo who lives and breathes this stuff, he can sniff out a story before most.

But I will say this. The motoring fraternity is treated like royalty, I’ve stayed in places that would require me to take out a loan. But at the end of the day I still pinch myself every time, I’m no tosser, just lucky.