As we wind down 2024, it is time again for me to reflect on my year, especially regarding travelling. It has been a fruitful year of travel and I did regional and Europe travels. It is still an all-out travel year for me and there are some significant milestones that I checked off this year. The travel demand and high prices continue since COVID days and tickets are still that expensive. You have to book super early. Let’s review my 2024 in travel.

2024 in Travelling

I spent a total of 113 days overseas across 14 trips! This is one of the most well-travelled years. I probably just failed slightly of the mark that I set back in 2023. Sadly, I feel this is the most I can go. 2025 is going to be very much less than this. Some of the highlights this year include spending New Year’s Day in Germany and seeing the Pandas in Chengdu and Croatia.

In 2024, I went to 14 countries and 46 cities with 3 countries and 37 cities being new ones. I am glad to add these to my list. I have also clocked off my 200th unique city in the world and the title belongs to Stow-on-the-Wold! I am excited to see where will my 250th be. Hopefully, that will be sometime around 2026. I have 36 to go!

One of my biggest regrets is not checking off my 40th country! I am ending 2024 with 39! That title belongs to Qatar! This is my current count! 39 Countries and 214 Cities.

I took a total of 32 flights and flew 98,997 km around the world. 8 of those are long-haul flights. That is 2.5x around the world! I travel the world 2.5 times in 2024! I spend close to 140 hours in the air. There is a mixture of both first-class flights and budget airlines!

I am glad to be able to try out a couple of new airlines this year with the highlight being Qatar Q Suites. Turkish Airlines business class is another one that I got to experience this year. Sadly, no error fare this year.

Elite Status Outlook

The saddest news is that I will be losing my KrisFlyer Elite Gold status in April! The status has served me well and I am going to try to make full use of it to check off more SKL around the world. It affects me the most when I do internal flights or intra-Europe travel. Usually on SQ, I fly premium cabins straight so that doesn’t affect much. Barring any special changes, I will not be clocking enough butt in elite miles to renew my KF Elite Gold. On the bright side, I recently got hold of Delta Gold status which offers me Skyteam Elite Gold. I will have this for at least 6 months. I am unsure if I would actually get to use it but that will be refreshing if I do so.

The news is more positive on the hotel side. I have all but secured my Hilton Diamond status till March 2027. I do not need to stay a single night until 1 Jan 2026. This is my best year ever! I clock an amazing 136 nights in 2024! It will continue to be my primary status but I will have the freedom to stay wherever I want next year and try different properties.

I also hold GHA Titanium for 2025 and will also be getting Marriott Gold on account of my KF Elite Gold Status. I might be going for the 10-night Platinum challenge since I have already secured my Hilton. That will cost me 8 nights with Citi Prestige.

I will be losing my IHG Platinum status.

Travel plans in 2025

March – Japan Sakura Trip

April / May – Canada Trip

June – Europe Trip

August – Tasmania Trip

October – South Korea

December – Dubai & Japan

That is just what I have tentatively booked for the year ahead. I have not confirmed if I will be going on all trips. There are some of my bucket lists there like Tasmania and Canada. I am certainly keen on exploring some new places to add to my list and perhaps catching the Northern lights, a road trip in Iceland or something. It is not a very exciting year as I am looking to be more tied to Singapore. There are also no exciting products I have locked in so far. These are all booked on Singapore Airlines. Let’s see how things go. I can’t wait to See The World In Steps in 2025!