My grandfather was an airline pilot in the golden era, so my father rode non-rev first class all the time and got stuck next to business men often. None of them helped with his career.

I can get my kids in front of people it will be useful for them to talk to, but they need to be bringing something to the table related to that specific person. Accosting random rich people while flying would not be the way to go.

I think it's worth the investment surround yourself with the people you want to be around. It's not just a seat everything in life is a potential connection. The people in economy who are barely scraping by to get on the flight aren't people you want to connect with for work and your career. Also discount airlines are the worst nothing positive comes about them except maybe making it to your destination and during a time no one is talking like a red eye.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you just discover that rich kids have more opportunities to become rich than poor kids?

No, but maybe people underestimate the networking part of it. We spend insane money on college and degrees, but sometimes a first class upgrade is only a few hundred bucks and puts your kids around a completely different crowd. I honestly never thought about it that way before.

At the end of the day, a lot of opportunities come from conversations and connections, not just resumes.

almost never a "few hundred bucks" for any lenght of time that matters

Anonymous wrote:People on planes and in lounges overwhelmingly do not want to have conversations with your kids. I would not confuse it happening once for being something that is common.

If you’re desperate for them to be around wealthy business people, have them work at the nearest country club.

Fact. I fit the bill of someone your kid might want to network with. I typically fly on one of the company’s plane or spend the trip avoiding conversations with my fellow travelers.

First/business class is so hit or miss. You’re more likely to be next to a mid-level manager than anyone with serious pull (those people fly private).

My kid has gotten amazing connections through his private school. He’s friendly, outgoing and polite. He always makes the point of talking to parents (and has done this since preschool). He’ll be a freshman in college next year and has an amazing internship for the summer that a dad offered him when he spent the weekend at their vacation home.

Another great place for connections- country clubs and vacation home communities. These are more likely to cultivate long-term connections than a one-time chance encounter on a flight or at a high end resort.

Anonymous wrote:People on planes and in lounges overwhelmingly do not want to have conversations with your kids. I would not confuse it happening once for being something that is common.

If you’re desperate for them to be around wealthy business people, have them work at the nearest country club.

It depends, when I see a young child coding or doing ai projects on their laptop I am very interested to strike up a convo. Scrolling through tik Tok I'm not going to bother them

People on planes and in lounges overwhelmingly do not want to have conversations with your kids. I would not confuse it happening once for being something that is common.

If you’re desperate for them to be around wealthy business people, have them work at the nearest country club.

Anonymous wrote:Something interesting I never really thought about until recently.

We usually fly domestic first class and international business mostly for comfort reasons. The funny part is the kids would rather sit next to other people than us anyway.

But on a recent trip, both of them ended up talking for a long time with executives sitting nearby. Those conversations actually turned into real contacts for internships and future opportunities. The people followed up afterward because they were genuinely impressed with them.

It got me thinking... is part of the value actually the environment and access? Not in a forced networking way, but just naturally being around people where these conversations happen organically.

Same thing in lounges. People there seem a lot more open to chatting, especially during delays or longer waits. And honestly, a lot of these executives are having a drink or two, traveling alone, relaxed, and way more open to conversations than they probably would be in a normal professional setting.

I never viewed premium travel as a career or opportunity thing for kids before. But now I am wondering if being around the right crowd creates natural collisions that would take way longer through normal job application channels, or maybe never happen at all.

To be in that environment, while very useful, is only the first step, because unless you have something to offer, it will not lead to anything in the future.

I got laid off last year due to DOGE and received six months of severance pay. I took some time off to play pickleball in Rockville. I met several women there who were really into pickleball. Since I was a former tennis player, I became quite good at the sport. I gave them free pickleball lessons, and I also mentioned that I was looking for a job.

Little did I know that some of these women were married to executives at major companies. One woman spoke to her husband about my situation, and he personally reached out to me and offered me a job at a Fortune 100 company. That job pays 50% more than my previous one. I’m glad that my pickleball skills led me to a new, better-paying job.

Anonymous wrote:Extroverts alwaus ahve it easier, OP. Rich extroverts? They'd need to be blindingly stupid not to "succeed". Barrier to entry is so low for that subgroup!!!

We're rich, but also introverted nerds on the spectrum. Made our money in the stock market. My kids are not starting up convos with the rich executives sitting next to them, that's not something any of us do They'll need to put in a lot more sweat equity into their professional successes.

Yup.

Extroverts alwaus ahve it easier, OP. Rich extroverts? They'd need to be blindingly stupid not to "succeed". Barrier to entry is so low for that subgroup!!!

We're rich, but also introverted nerds on the spectrum. Made our money in the stock market. My kids are not starting up convos with the rich executives sitting next to them, that's not something any of us do They'll need to put in a lot more sweat equity into their professional successes.

Anonymous wrote:Did you just discover that rich kids have more opportunities to become rich than poor kids?

No, but maybe people underestimate the networking part of it. We spend insane money on college and degrees, but sometimes a first class upgrade is only a few hundred bucks and puts your kids around a completely different crowd. I honestly never thought about it that way before.

At the end of the day, a lot of opportunities come from conversations and connections, not just resumes.

Anonymous wrote:Did you just discover that rich kids have more opportunities to become rich than poor kids?

::mindblown::!

Did you just discover that rich kids have more opportunities to become rich than poor kids?

Something interesting I never really thought about until recently.

We usually fly domestic first class and international business mostly for comfort reasons. The funny part is the kids would rather sit next to other people than us anyway.

But on a recent trip, both of them ended up talking for a long time with executives sitting nearby. Those conversations actually turned into real contacts for internships and future opportunities. The people followed up afterward because they were genuinely impressed with them.

It got me thinking... is part of the value actually the environment and access? Not in a forced networking way, but just naturally being around people where these conversations happen organically.

Same thing in lounges. People there seem a lot more open to chatting, especially during delays or longer waits. And honestly, a lot of these executives are having a drink or two, traveling alone, relaxed, and way more open to conversations than they probably would be in a normal professional setting.

I never viewed premium travel as a career or opportunity thing for kids before. But now I am wondering if being around the right crowd creates natural collisions that would take way longer through normal job application channels, or maybe never happen at all.