Flying to London, one city block at a time

By Dr Steve Jasper

Life after a PhD is different. Mainly in that I’m no longer chained to a desk writing a thesis roughly the length of one of the longer Harry Potter novels (one of J. K. Rowling’s lesser known works, Harry Potter and the Jetlagged Executive).

So, I’ve joined the gym, and I’m going every second day. I’ve taken up eating healthy food (kale! carrots! seaweed!) and quit sugar (which took some doing). I’ve committed to walking 10,000 steps a day, which is apparently the bare minimum it requires to be healthy.

To support me in this I downloaded the Qantas Wellbeing app, which Qantas is using to reward healthy behaviour. I’ve committed to walking 10,000 steps a day, and when I do I get a “WOOHOO!” message on my screen and 1.8 points per day. I’ve also committed to walking 80,000 steps a week (because 70,000 is just too easy), and for that little feat I get 9 points per week doing 80,000 steps. My total points per week is (1.8 × 7) + 9 = 21.6 points. My daily points come to 21.6 ÷ 7 = 3.09 points.

To fly to London, return, on points it would cost me 183,900 points. That’s a total distance of 16,893 km × 2 = 33,786 km. So, for every point I earn, I get to travel 33,786 km ÷ 183,900 points = 0.184 km = 184 metres. (At least I could do that calculation in my head!) Multiply that by the number of points I earn per day (3.09 points) and I get to travel 567 metres towards my destination of London. Just over half a kilometre per day, or two-and-a-half city blocks in downtown Melbourne.

Travelling at that rate, it will take me 183,900 points ÷ 3.09 points/day = 59597 days (let’s forget about the .2 repeater and assume Qantas takes pity on me) which is 163 years, 2 months and half a day. (Steve Hui, please feel free to check my maths and comment, you’re the expert on frequent flyer points.)

So, I’m probably not going to London just on points from walking.

BUT – the point isn’t the points! The point is that Qantas is rewarding healthy behaviour (and I should totally get Frequent Flyer points every time I eat kale). And I love the idea that every time I walk to the beach in the evening, I get that little bit closer to my next destination.

And I like that.

As always, happy travels!