I Left My Job To Pursue A Career In Aviation…

For those who read The Alviator regularly, I know that there’s been some transience in some of the content that I’ve been writing, as well as the various life updates I’ve been posting. I’m really grateful for your readership, and I’ve been blessed by many of you that have expressed your support to me through emails, DMs, LinkedIn, etc.. I thought I’d put everything in one place, just to let you know what’s happening next at The Alviator, as well as other side projects that I’m doing.

If you’ve just stumbled onto The Alviator, this will be more of a regulars’ update rather than a review or insight, so feel free to skip this post (and go read one of my reviews, insights, guides, or updates).

I’ve left my day job to pursue an aviation career

In 2023, I began my first graduate role as an operations consultant. As someone who hadn’t done a proper internship before, I came to love the role, and the opportunity to talk to stakeholders and make projects happen. Unfortunately, I learned too little, too late, and I was let go after working for them for a few months.

Since then, I’d worked for a couple of retail firms, and I spent most of my time working at an EdTech. While I enjoyed being a founder’s associate/operations manager for all of these roles, and really appreciated the opportunity to work for various startups, I kept finding myself either trying to write content on this site after I logged off, or doing other other aviation-related activities. It made less and less sense to me that I clearly knew what I loved doing most, and wasn’t waking up every day excited about doing it.

There were a couple of other personal reasons that accelerated my departure from my current role, though a couple of weeks ago, I decided to make a leap and go freelance for the time being. I was building up a couple of income streams that I was super excited about, and I also had a few ideas to bring more revenue and content in. The founders of the company I currently work for were extremely supportive as well, and gave a framework of how I could go about making connections and setting up my own business.

It made a lot of sense to me to pursue roles in the aviation department

One of my traits (for better or for worse) is that I tend to be brutally honest – it’s a trait I’ve built up through many years of writing The Alviator. I find it incredibly difficult to back products I don’t believe in, promote products that I don’t genuinely believe are the best for the passenger, or engage with work I don’t trust in. Given that, and also because I write a blog where I’m impartial to airlines by definition, I’d like to remain an advisor or consultant of sorts, instead of working directly under an airline or airport.

I’m in conversations with a few friends and others in my network to find ways where I can support their initiatives, and I’m also looking to start a few of my own. I can’t share things that I haven’t confirmed yet, though I’m currently in talks with a couple of major consultancies to work in their aviation division, and with some small businesses that help advise with miles and points.

I’m not planning to leave London soon

Well, given that I’m geographically not tied to London anymore, why don’t I just work around the world, especially when I can chase cheap airfare, and avoid paying so much rent and taxes?

• I help run a music team at the church I’m at in Northwest London, and would love to continue doing so for the next couple of years (if you’d like to know more about Christianity and what I believe in, please feel free to comment below, or shoot me an email or LinkedIn message)
• I also would like to continue working towards indefinite leave to remain in the UK
• J lives in a city not far away and I’d prefer not to move further away from her for now
• I’d prefer to continue nurturing my friendships here in London as well, and feel like there’s more of the city to get to know, love, and serve

I definitely have plans to relocate elsewhere in the future, as I feel like moving stretches you and makes you learn more about the world (not to mention that I’d love to be closer to family). However, that’s not on the cards right now.

Leaving London is on the cards, though not right now

With that in mind, let me run through some of the initiatives I’m currently helping with…

I’m helping HeyMax users learn how to use their miles and points!

Singaporean company HeyMax lets you earn Max Miles based on their spending, which can be transferred to 30+ airline and hotel options. I’ve gotten to know some of the team, and they’re incredibly fun to work with, and so knowledgeable about the industry – I love the fact that they are also airline gurus that have come together to build a great product. HeyMax is only available in Singapore right now, though they’re expanding to Hong Kong, and have bigger plans beyond this.

As some of you may have seen on the blog, I’m helping HeyMax users write some content on how best to use their miles. Over the past 12 years writing The Alviator, I’ve learned a thing or two about how to use airline miles – whether it’s using AAdvantage miles for a four-segment business class itinerary on Qatar Airways and Etihad, or knowing the best airline cabin products in each alliance. I’ve been writing some content for HeyMax users showing them the airlines they can fly with their Max Miles transfer options, which I’ve also been posting on this blog – I hope that readers holding miles in that currency will be able to benefit from the content as well.

One of my favourite business class flights was on Etihad, and you can fly Etihad with your AAdvantage miles

I’m helping people around the world book flights and itineraries

In 2024 I founded Alvia, a miles and points concierge where I’d help people use their miles to book flights. There was some interest back when it was a free service, and feedback was good – I’m now trying to do this on a professional basis, given my knowledge of how to use miles and points, as well as bagging cheap fares.

At Alvia, we take itineraries from people going on family trips, honeymoons, business trips and more, and we return recommendations for flights, with an option for us to book it and send an e-ticket over if you would like. This way, I’m doing what I love doing for you, and I recognise that I probably love hunting for award space and looking for flights more than the average person. We charge from £49 per trip.

I’ve found a few fares in my time, and would love to help you do so as well

I’m helping people around the world set up miles and points earnings

Speaking of Alvia, one of the other services I’m also offering is helping those new to miles and points set up their earnings. Generally I’d be best at this if you’re UK-based, though I’d help you research your options as well regardless of the country you’re based in, and whether you spend for yourself or for your business.

There are so many unspoken rules in the world of miles and points (e.g. don’t redeem for a shorthaul economy flight unless pricing has surged, etc.), and I’d love to share those with my network as well, alongside setting up your miles and points earning streams. One of the things that incentivised this is when one of my ex-colleagues was excited about redeeming 18,000 Avios for a roundtrip flight on British Airways that otherwise would’ve cost £60.

I’d love to teach people when to (and when not to) use miles and points

I’m trying to set up a transferrable mile in the UK

I’m also in the process of trying to set up Alvia Points, a transferrable mile that you can earn when spending with certain merchants, and transfer to 15+ airlines to redeem flights on 100+ airlines. The business proposition makes sense – this would be quite similar to the Avios eStore and Virgin Atlantic Shops Away, though the Alvia Points earned would be transferrable (to both Avios and Virgin Atlantic, among others). I’d take a cut on the margin I earn just to make sure we have a good product, and would basically just make the economics work so I break even, or earn enough to make a living.

There are so many companies that have done this so well, and I’m so grateful that many senior stakeholders from these companies have provided a wealth of helpful input – HeyMax does a similar operation in Singapore and Hong Kong, and Rove does something similar in the U.S.. I’m so grateful especially to David from HeyMax, Rhys from Head for Points, and Max from Rove, as well as Dan from MakeBuild – they have all given invaluable input in terms of where I should start, as I’m completely new to this.

The aim is to be able to have some of the best transfer partners out there, including some of my favourite mileage programmes – British Airways’ Avios, Virgin Points, AAdvantage miles, Aeroplan, Flying Blue, and more.

The aim is for Alvia Points to allow you to fly both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic’s business class suites (unfortunately we wouldn’t be able to help you dodge the APD)

We’ve got some merchants onboarded and a way to onboard these transfer partners for now, though the tech isn’t fully set up yet – I’d love you to join the waitlist. I’m appreciating how much there is for founders to learn – I’m learning that I need the skills to manage the marketing end, the technical end, the business development end, and the operations end at the same time. These are definitely big shoes that need to be filled, and please bear with me as I come to grips with these different facets!

I’ll be using some of these earnings to book exciting travel

Of course, reviews will continue to be a major focus for me. Over the coming months, I’ve got at least seven new airline products lined up that I’d love to review, as well as a number of hotels and airline lounges on top of this as well. I’m going to share what these are in a separate post.

From a business standpoint, reviews will bring in awareness of the wider Alviator/Alvia brand (as well as get me where I need to be – these aren’t review trips, but rather I am genuinely flying to these places anyway). I’m also hoping to do some video-form outreach when I get on these flights, using Instagram reels as well as other forms of media. I’d appreciate any and all advice about this, so please do reach out if you’ve got any advice!

Conclusion: Please do reach out if you have any advice!

While I’m still going to explore full-time roles in the meantime, this is unchartered territory for me. I’d really love to spend time doing what I love doing, and at the moment, that seems to be advising others about miles and points and delivering projects in the aviation industry. I’d love to continue working towards being a thought leader in the space, as well as learning more of the ins and outs of this complex industry.

Regardless of what happens, I’m going to continue to want to support HeyMax, make Alvia Points work in the UK, as well as write more exciting reviews for you guys.

If you’ve got any advice or wisdom, please do comment or reach out!