Airline magazines | Jobs & networking ops | Baubles nominations
Airline magazines | Jobs & networking ops | Baubles nominations
Do you know excellent people in the travel media? Nominate your colleagues now!
Last November we were lucky enough to receive an award at the inaugural TravYule Baubles event run by Travel Connection Group. It was such an honour to be recognised for the work we do on this newsletter and in the wider industry, and we know the other nominees were equally thrilled, so we’d love to encourage you to get your nominations in for this year for whomever you think deserves it — be it a fellow freelancer, a PR or an editor you’ve worked with.
There are 12 different categories from Best Mentor to Unsung Hero and lots more. Get your nominations in now so we can celebrate all the best people in travel this winter.
Why I never pitch airline magazines
I’ve been in this industry for over a decade and yet, despite my varied bylines elsewhere, I’ve hardly ever written for airline mags. And I barely pitch them.
It must be that ‘out of sight, out of mind’ effect: I don’t see them on the shelves at the newsagents, I don’t see others regularly sharing their airline mag bylines, and I don’t follow any of them on social media. And because I don’t fly all that often, I don’t see them in the seatback pockets, either.
But that’s not to say they’re not worth pitching, of course. The airline mags are some of the most powerful travel media out there. They are free to read and literally have a captive audience in front of them on the plane. Unless the entire plane is “rawdogging” (we’ll let you google that one; it’s not as saucy as it sounds) on their flight, you’re guaranteed to get a handful of people on each aircraft flicking through the mag provided.
PRs love airline mags for this very reason, and writing for them often brings better rates, too: the magazines can charge higher fees for advertisers, and unusually for the media, this is often passed onto the writers through better per-word rates.
I enjoyed this privilege when writing for the only two airline mags I’ve ever worked with: Korean Air’s Morning Calm magazine and WestJet’s inflight. Both had approached me — one for a dog piece, naturally, and another for a city profile on Bristol. I received around £0.30 per word for WestJet and £0.46 per word for my Morning Calm piece.
The payment processes weren’t as simple, mind – Westjet sent me a physical cheque (!) made out to the wrong name, while Morning Calm’s finance team seemed flummoxed by my foreign bank account details. This was well over five years ago, so here’s to hoping their processes have changed and it’s a smoother, more modernised process now. Perhaps I’ll pitch again…
In the meantime, there’s news afoot for airline mags — new launches abound, with easyJet Traveller returning to seatbacks and new mags arising in Cyprus and beyond. You’ll get all the news this month if you’re a paid subscriber and hear directly from the editors. Here’s what we’re covering for paid subscribers in August; buy your subscription now so you don’t miss out:
Interview: Claire Koksal has some intel on two new airline mag launches
Interview: We talk to Andy Morris about the recently relaunched easyJet Magazine
Highlife: BA’s inflight mag editor Helen Whitaker shares what they want from freelancers
Job opportunity: Roar Africa
Salary from: $100,000 (USD)
Location: remote
Apply: Send your CV/portfolio to clairee@roarafrica.com to apply
Roar Africa is seeking a “visionary Editorial Director” to join their team and lead on content and media strategy. The role works closely with the founder and CEO, Deborah Calmeyer and involves collaborating with multiple stakeholders. You’ll need SEO, editing, writing and digital content production skills, and at least five years’ experience in digital media and content strategy. Full job description here.
Networking event: JSPR Oxfordshire meet up
Banish the back-to-school vibes, and say goodbye to the summer with the second annual get-together of Oxfordshire (and around…) travel writers, editors and PRs. Join JSPR at Five Little Pigs in Wallingford (OX10 0ET) from 6pm for a friendly networking event on Thursday 5th September. RSVP to Hugh at JSPR on juliaspence.pr@gmail.com or me (lottiecgross@gmail.com).
Tweet of the week
Who to follow
Wizz Air mag editor Claire Koksal, next week’s newsletter interviewee, is on Twitter and occasionally puts out calls for pitches.
Industry must-reads
Dark tourism has long been a slightly controversial topic and Zanny Steffgen has written a fascinating piece picking this apart for Roadbook here.
Thrillist launched a travel section earlier this year and this piece on what Gen Z is expected to prioritise from their trips is an intriguing read.
Don’t forget, we’ve partnered with Meera Dattani to bring you a series of brilliant webinars, each downloadable for just £6 right here.
When I was a more active travel writer than I am now, pitching a story to an airline magazine was always part of my strategy (not that I saw it as a 'strategy') for making the most out of a trip - financially, personal satisfaction, pleasing the host if it was hosted. They paid well, often paid extra for photos, and took stories that were more feature-like. Wherever you travelled, there were invariably several inflight magazines you could pitch, and by delivering a good story and good photos, I got on the regulars list for a few magazines, and would get unexpected commissions. They're well worth seeking out.
I was English editor of Finnair’s inflight Blue Wings for more than ten years, and contributor for twice as long. The magazine was great to work for and paid well (it was a custom publisher who produced it on contract). I wrote about many topics, not just travel. It was something of a Finnish institution (I live in Finland). Alas, the pandemic was the print version’s death knell although there is still a digital version. Finnair make a big deal about aircraft weight contributing to fuel efficiency but I think they were also happy not to have the extra task of distributing the magazine. I thought this would be the trend, but it seems many airlines still attach some importance to making print versions available on aircraft.