Tips for Flying Off the Beaten Path

I'm not really into crowds. I'm a big guy, and I grew up in Texas so I have a larger "personal space bubble" than most.

Therefore, when I once had to pack myself into a very crowded subway car in Tokyo, I was on edge! Each and every Japanese citizen who crushed himself into that car that day put another wrinkle in my good business suit.  There were at least six different people making direct contact with my torso, and I could feel what Dr. Jekyl must have felt just before the turned into Mr. Hyde. 

By the time we reached my stop I was no longer "polite and understanding of the local culture that surrounded me." Nope.

I was at least 100 lbs. heavier than every one of those people. Whether they were ready or not, I was getting off of that train! I took a couple of determined steps, physically crushing those in the crowd who were closest to me -- and slowly, a hushed warning spread like an imperceptible wave in front of me. 

It seemed to say that, "The hulk of a man from America is leaving the train, and he is leaving right now!"  I watched (and smiled) as the mass of shocked commuters stared at me, and as they ultimately moved out and away to allow me to exit the car.

Crowds suck.  They can cost you in lots of ways. They cause stress, they make you late for appointments, they cost you money, time, and brain cells. 

How often has your elite status failed to get you an upgrade due to overcrowding?  Even as a Platinum flier, it seems that I only get an upgrade to first class about half the time. After talking to several gate agents I've learned that there are fewer flights with open seats, and more and more Platinum fliers are entering the skies, particularly in the fall after they’ve had a chance to accumulate the required mileage. 

Coming home from San Francisco on a Friday, I'll rub shoulders with more than 75 Platinum fliers on that single flight. With only 16 seats in the first class cabin -- well, you can do the math.

So I did some digging to figure out which air routes typically have the highest number and lowest number of occupied seats.  I was hoping there was a less crowded way to get to some of the more popular cities I have to travel to. 

I didn't have much luck. Perhaps yours will be better.

With that in mind, here are the 10 busiest round-trip routes in the United States (avoid them if you can) with the highest overall average of filled seats:

1. Atlanta-Orlando
2. Honolulu-Maui
3. Chicago O'Hare-New York LaGuardia
4. Los Angeles-Las Vegas
5. Atlanta-LaGuardia
6. O'Hare-Los Angeles
7. Honolulu-Los Angeles
8. Los Angeles-San Francisco
9. Atlanta-Fort Lauderdale
10. New York Kennedy-Los Angeles

Here are the five most crowded routes (by percentage of filled seats):

1. Honolulu-Las Vegas (94 percent) 
2. Las Vegas-Honolulu (93.8 percent) 
3. Detroit-Los Angeles (91.8 percent) 
4. Los Angeles-Chicago O'Hare (91.2 ercent) 
5. Detroit-Las Vegas (90.9 percent)

Here are the five least crowded routes (also by percentage of filled seats):

1. Washington National-New York LaGuardia (50.4 percent)  
2. LaGuardia-Washington National 50.8 (percent) 
3. LaGuardia-Boston 52.5 (percent) 
4. Boston-LaGuardia 53.3 (percent) 
5. Fairbanks-Anchorage (53.9 percent)

What you’re looking for is a less stressful way to get where you need to go.  For example, if you live in Chicago and you need to go to New York, that’s obviously a crowded route.  Instead, consider Chicago to New York with a layover in Washington, D.C.  You’ll have a much better chance of making your upgrade, and you’ll deal with fewer people during the trip. 

If the cities are close (like New York and Philadelphia, for example), consider the train or a means of travel other than flying.

Your meetings will go much more smoothly if your suit isn’t wrinkled!

EXTRA:  Please feel free to leave comments on this article! If you have questions for Ken regarding business travel, hotels, airplanes, etc, please send him a “Tweet” on his twitter account.  You can also follow Ken on Twitter @foodbreeze!