Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast Part 1/2 – From cake to caterpillars: Travel boss reveals 2025 highs and lows
Dec 26, 2025
Paul Charles, the Chief Executive of the PC Agency and a globetrotter, shares his extensive insights on aviation trends. He reveals his impressive stats for 2025, including 82 flights and 145,000 miles traveled. Paul praises British Airways for a delightful custom cake experience in first-class, while contrasting it with a disappointing meal on Air Madagascar featuring a caterpillar. He discusses improvements in punctuality thanks to enhanced weather conditions and tech investments, including facial recognition for smoother airport processes.
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Log Flights Automatically With Flighty
- Use Flighty to automatically log flights from your calendar and get detailed live updates.
- The app shows delays, previous flights on the same aircraft, distance and other tracking data to simplify travel planning.
What A High-Frequency Year Looks Like
- Paul Charles recorded 82 flights and 145,000 miles in 2025, showing high-frequency business travel patterns.
- He also spent over 14 days onboard and circled the Earth about 5.8 times, highlighting intense travel exposure.
Crew-made Cake Wins Over A Passenger
- Paul Charles described a bespoke service on British Airways when cabin crew improvised a fresh chocolate cake from first class.
- He used the example to praise improved onboard customer service at BA in 2025.