Do Investment Bankers Have Elite (Airline) Status?

Unlike its sister occupation, management consulting, the traveling component of investment banking is less frequently discussed. Part of the reason is that at more junior levels, bankers generally travel only when working on live transactions, particularly M&A deals and IPOs. Senior bankers, on the other hand, travel much more.

Managing directors constantly travel to meet clients, and those who are most geographically distant from their clients clearly travel the most. So how many miles do MDs earn annually? Many banks allow US based bankers to fly business class for coast-to-coast trips so a single LA-NYC or BOS-SF flight can be $2,500-5,000. Simply making a monthly trip can easily result in more than $25,000 of spend which qualifies the banker for United 1K or its equivalent on the other airlines.

The big question is can MDs get United Global Services (or equivalent), which includes services such as holding a flight, luxury car service to the gate and a separate check-in lounge and path through security? The general rule of thumb is Global Services requires at least twice as much annual spend as 1K, so more than $50,000. We can see that it is possible for an industrious MD who travels coast-to-coast twice a month and/or travels internationally.

Bankers also tend to stay in 4-5 star hotels almost exclusively which is another nice perk, but unlike consulting travel, banking trips can be a quick as one meeting (even if traveling around the world), so MDs don't always get to spend much time in their hotel room.

It is not uncommon to see several MDs you know from other banks when on a red eye flight cross-country so while MDs aren't making models or pitchbooks anymore, they continue to pay their dues reviewing those models and pitchbooks, often at 30,000 feet high.