My first reaction was to quickly check my own status – a lowly miserable Kris Flyer Silver. How can this be? My 8 year-old daughter higher ranked frequent flyer tier than her intrepid, ‘wandering’ dad!

“Don’t worry daddy” she said, “It says here I can bring one guest into the lounge, so you can come with me”.

‘Great’ ... so I now have to be super-nice to my daughter when at the airport, so we can get into the Airline lounges – go figure. She is already a master of negotiation (if you need a salary increase, she can help) so I can just imagine the bargaining that will now take place between gate lounges.

Then my mind starts contemplating how different the youth of today is.

I had not even left the country (New Zealand) until I was 19 and it wasn’t no holiday I can tell you moreover, the first plane I was ever in, I jumped out of (parachuting). Would you believe I once applied for an airline steward position with Air New Zealand back in the mid-80s, because they asked me to, but then knocked me back.

I wonder if it had something to do with my answer to one of the questions in the application form, ‘What flying experience do I have?” To which I replied “I’m pretty good at jumping out of them”. But that’s another story...

So, here we are; the next generation already on her third passport, her second running out of pages for visa stamps and now - a Kris Flyer Gold Member. And yes, it’s not often she turns to the right when embarking.

All I can say, whoever she marries will need a Trust inheritance or at the minimum be a pilot.