2021 in Review: Travel
Like many travel enthusiasts, 2021 was a year that started with most plans tentative at best for me, and rightly so. But, as the year went on, I was able to take a few trips, some with Naomi, to see my family in Chicago and for other purposes and occasions. I’ve documented individual trips in my bi-monthly In Review posts, so here I want to document where I ended the year in terms of travel stats and status.
Air Travel Stats
2021 was still far from my personal record for miles flown for the year (currently still 2017, thanks to our honeymoon to Kauai), but I did still bounce back from 2020’s low. In 2021, I flew a total of 5,502 miles across eight segments. Four flights on American Airlines; four flights on United Airlines. Each flight was to or from one of my current or former home airports: Chicago-O’Hare (ORD), Miami (MIA), and Washington-National (DCA). I’m very grateful that I was able to make three visits to Chicago in 2021, and since they all happened after our move to the Washington DC, area, those three round-trips have vaulted the DCA<>ORD route to my most frequently traveled route, a position in my personal flight stats I am sure it will maintain indefinitely. It’s a quick flight too, often just over an hour of actual time in flight. My multiple times at Washington-National this year coincided with the completion of their Project Journey renovations, so it was fun to see the changes (improvements!) from one visit to the next. My first flight on that route this year was operated by the newest airplane in United’s fleet, the CRJ-550. As a bit of an #AvGeek, that was fun to experience.
Here’s a consolidated map of all my flights in 2021. View all my personal flight stats — and start tracking your own! — at OpenFlights.
Hotel Stats and Status
This is where the year really got interesting. Many airlines and hotel companies reduced the requirements to earn elite status during 2021, in recognition that many of their loyal customers wouldn’t be able to travel as frequently as in 2019. For some, it meant achieving a higher level of status was within reach. That was the case for me with the World of Hyatt program, as the year of reduced requirements coincided with a year where I actually spent more nights in hotels than usual in large part due to our cross-country move. I booked all of my hotel stays for the year at Hyatt properties, and between reduced qualification requirements, leveraging promotions to accelerate earnings, and co-brand credit card usage, I unlocked Hyatt’s top-tier (and top-rated by all the travel bloggers) Globalist status in mid-September.
My first stay as a Globalist was in Chicago over Thanksgiving, when Naomi and I stayed at the historic Chicago Athletic Association hotel. And we have a few trips planned already during 2022 when I expect we’ll enjoy the Globalist perks as much as we can.
I also achieved my first award in Hyatt’s ongoing Brand Explorer promotion, and am well on the way to a second award.
Naomi, meanwhile, earned various levels of status with both Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy through extensive work travel this year, so we’ll be treated nicely at whatever hotel brand we stay into 2023!
Stats Summary:
Air Travel
8 segments, 5502 miles, all in economy class
2 carriers (American Airlines, United Airlines)
3 airports (Miami International, O’Hare International, Washington National)
4 plane types (Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX8, CRJ-550, and ERJ-175)
Nights Away from Home
16 hotel nights (all Hyatt; in addition to the familiar Hyatt Place, new brands for me were Andaz, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt Centric, Hyatt House, and the Unbound Collection), plus 8 nights with family
7 cities, 6 states (Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Virginia)
Here’s hoping for much more in 2022!
