Man Asks For Blind Date Online, Flies Her To Tokyo And It’s “The Best Thing Happening On The Internet Right Now”

by Gary Leff

Nick Gray headed to Tokyo and, after his trip there last year, felt like he’d have enjoyed it more after a few days if he had someone to hang out along with him. So he posted to the internet that he’d like a blind date and that he’d fly them there (in coach) for a long weekend and cover all expenses. He created a Google Doc with how to apply. This story is going viral, viewed millions of times.

He got applications. He had criteria.

Nick picked a date. And he flew off to Tokyo on ZipAir.

And he asked the internet for more help: when he goes to pick his date up at Tokyo Narita airport, should he bring flowers? As one commenter put it, “You literally flew the girl to Japan. There is no chill now.” So he did.

He describes waiting for her and meeting her at the airport,

I picked her up at the airport and we have officially met in person now

This is my Tokyo Blind Date update

Waiting for someone at the airport is humbling

You are scanning hundreds of people to find 1 person that you’ve never met before

Each passing person is a No, not her, No, not her, No

Until! I see her come out

I pump my fist in the air and call her name

She runs over and we sort of half-hug

Then we look at each other and square up and full-smile

I think we are both thinking the same thing:

Wow you are real!

At least I have this feeling deep in my stomach that YES— she is real

That is a relief. I knew she would be real… but you never know

“What are people saying on the internet about us?” she asks me

“It is about 90% hype and 10% worry that you’re going to cut out my kidneys.”

“I like those odds.”

They headed off for a ‘ramen tour’ and he has an interesting explanation for why that was the start of their trip together.

(1) in case it was awkward between us, we would have someone else leading the conversation for a while

(2) to help keep her awake until at least 9pm through the jet lag

As a reader following the story put it, “This is the best thing happening on the internet right now.”

I have to say thought that I agree with this comment, although I understand a strategy that wants someone that isn’t attracted to the trip because of business class or for someone who is paying for business class – they’re coming purely for the adventure.

So I think the starting place should be “advertise it as an economy trip, but surprise her with business” or at least “change her return to a business class award if the blind weekend date goes well.”

Wouldn’t it be amazing if this actually works out for the two of them? But if not, it’s a story, a great adventure, and worth doing for its own sake. I will continue to follow along.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  2. The dating scene needs a shakeup. As a high class man seeking a woman, I’ve gone on 20 first dates and had 0 girlfriends in the last 7 years. I managed to go on 6 dates with one woman who chose another guy. I went on 3 dates with a woman 5 years older than me (ugh) and STILL rejected me despite her repeated claims of wanting kids. Good luck with that at age 37! (She is now engaged to some guy age 24, can you believe it.)

    I’ve spent over $1,000 on Hinge roses and Bumble premium features. I’ve taken women to $400 omakase. No success whatsoever and by the way I’m a very high income, highly educated, high class white collar professional in Manhattan. I’m just not George Clooney.

  3. He really should have taken either Tiffany Gomas or Sierra Mist. These are the internet’s two most visible flyer ladies– and I’m sure both of them would do just about anything to get more attention.

  4. @High class professional, may I suggest looking in east Asia or Southeast Asia. That is what I did.

  6. @High class professional, may I suggest looking for a hot Colombian woman. There are plenty living in the Jackson Heights area of Queens and also in south Florida. Met mine in Texas 34 years ago and I am still with the same one! BTW, do you know what the definition of an Alpha Male is? A guy who does not marry, or has not married, a high maintenance woman no matter how hot she is!

  7. jns, I’d strongly prefer an American woman. My romantic fantasy is cruising down California Route 1 at golden hour in a convertible with the top down, wind in our faces. At dusk, we’d pull into an oceanfront turnout, eat our picnic of hot dogs and salt-and-vinegar kettle chips, and reminisce about life growing up in the USA. Nickelodeon? Disney Channel? These cultural motifs are unknown to women who grew up outside the US.

  8. @High class professional
    As a woman its all too obvious from your comments why these women keep rejecting you. I’m sorry to say its your attitude towards women that is putting them off. Respect seems to be missing.

  9. I noticed there’s only one secret to winning a mature, thinking woman’s heart, of any nationality: listen to them earnestly.

  10. I am a low class man, and I get all the women.
    My bumble is basic, and I treat her to all you can eat shrimp at red lobster, and spend $50 on roses.

    However I dont call myself a low class man, maybe thats my secret

  11. @High class professional….I agree with the people who said you need to change your attitude. I hate, hate hate it when people tell me how class they are and how important their best friends are, and how much they talk about how high class they are. Think you are looking for the wrong princess on a horse.

  12. @Texan@heart: I know who Tiffany Gomas is (“That man is not real!”), but the only Sierra Mist I can find anything about online is the now-defunct brand of soda

  13. @Joshua K
    Sierra Mist was a flight attendant on one of the regionals that posted “secrets” to flying. Gary was infatuated with her for a while posting her videos (but in his defense he did make fun of her).

  15. @JoshuaK… Sierra Mist was a flight attendant that posted ridiculous tips about how to get upgraded. But her other claim to fame is her OnlyFans, where she used to post videos of herself having “relations” with various flight crews.

    Tiffany didn’t exactly say that “man” is not real. She used a more gender-neutral expletive that began with “mother.”

  16. Whenever I think about the combination of a Date that involves Jet Travel, I just can’t get that scene from Pretty Woman out of my head, where Richard Gere flies Julia Roberts to the Opera in San Francisco on a G5 (technically the GV). Great show, even cooler Jet.

  17. @Joshua K
    Sierra Mist the drink is now Starry.
    Don’t ask me why. They rebranded as Mist Twist for a while then changed it back. And now this.

  18. Nice story. I found a girl in Japan, but I had been there for years, and it was almost fifty years ago. I think it’s going to last…

  19. @Richard and @JoshuaK: The unofficial story of why Sierra Mist changed its name to Starry: Pepsico sent the flight attendant/OnlyFans celebrity a cease and desist letter when they found out she was using the name. She did a search and found out that Pepsico never bothered to register the service mark. So she registered it herself and tried to get money from Pepsico. That’s when they changed the name of the drink to Starry.

    I admit that I’ve spent WAY too much time learning about these internet attention-seekers. But it’s much less depressing than reading about how airlines and hotels continue to charge more and deliver less,

  20. @Texan@heart

    Having just learned about the “celebrity” I wondered if it might be something like that. Thanks for the info.

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