Youtube Star Tries to Capture the Solitary Quirks of Business Travel

Youtube star Casey Neistat, who once broke up with American Airlines when they failed to renew his comped Concierge Key status, tries to capture business travel in his newest video.

He calls it ‘single serving friends’ because you have experiences that happen one time, friendly people offering hospitality even though you’ll never see them again.

I tend to disagree. You see the same agents in the airport lounge, week after week, so they smile at you and recognize you by name not just because they’re prompted with it on their screen. You go back to the same hotels. I know that the hotels I frequent most try to put me in the same room each time if they can. Business travel is all about the familiar in the unfamiliar, creating routines. That’s one reason chain hotels are so popular, offering a consistent experience everywhere you go (unless it’s a Sheraton).

Single serving friends aren’t the employees in the airport or at the hotels you frequent. They’re your seat opponents on flights, probably best captured in this deleted scene from Up in the Air.

And I tend to think this scene from Up in the Air hits the nail on the head for the airport experience, minus the dated reference to holding up your boarding pass as you walk through the metal detector.

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

  1. No,

    He calls it “single-serving friends” because he stole that line from Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club).

  2. Lone voice in the wilderness I may be, but I continue to utterly reject the nauseating and specious concept of a ‘YouTube star’ ….

  3. I see your point Gary and agree. Even the same TSA agents week after week at LAX who recognize my bright green Nike shoes for example.

    But maybe that is what separates frequent business travelers (more consistent routes) vs. frequent flyers like Casey who travel frequently but travel more “freely.”

    Anyhoo, most (if not all) of those people are NOT really your friends. So maybe Single-Serving isn’t so wrong. Let me know which of them have an open invitation to come into your house.

  4. I don’t get why he became a YT star. I generally get it, it’s not the usual “oh noes, the interwebz are weird” complaint.

    This guy is ugly as sin, conceited and not at all very informative. If he were funny, that might do it. Yet he isn’t.

    Also, Casey … you just know exactly where in the Valley people called Casey are from.

  5. Lots of hate towards Casey in these comments haha. He’s big because his videos are well shot and entertaining. He doesn’t try to be informative, he tries to be enjoyable to watch.

  6. Ick clip from one of the least interesting guys in a long time
    Don’t get his appeal but perhaps as I am older
    I wouldn’t walk to the nearest 7-11 if he showed up
    I meet thousands of interesting men and women all over the world traveling all these years that are interesting and charismatic as they are fun

  7. Really don’t understand all the hate. Don’t understand especially the comment about how he looks. Does that really matter? He is not a comedian either and his videos are not meant to be funny. You people with all the hate need to really examine yourselves. People should really search and understand his story. He worked really hard to be where he is right now. His videos are edited very well and entertaining. If you also follow him, he also partners and helps with charity organization.

  8. If he travels all that often, why doesn’t he have TSA Pre-Check? (took shoes and jacket off)

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