While flying often might be a hassle for some business professionals, they might also take advantage of this frequency to save money, get preferable treatment and maximize comfort.
First of all, be loyal to businesses. The key thing for business travel is frequent flier programs. If you are loyal to a brand, you can get an elite status and have access to more perks and upgrades.
One hack every business international traveller should know is how to get served first on the plane. If you order a special meal - such as gluten free or vegetarian - you will get your meal before everyone else. This way you can eat straight away and then sleep for the rest of the flight, so you can be rested once you reach your destination.
Download your airline's app. If you do, you'll get real-time updates on gate changes and delays, and even paperless boarding at most airports. Therefore, you don't have to worry about sitting back and relaxing at the lounge with a glass of wine and missing the boarding call as you'll receive an update when it's time to board straight to your phone. It's like personal assistance.
Fly on a Boing 767 to maximize comfort and avoid flying on a puddle jumper whenever possible. If deciding between similar flights and one is on a Boing 767, go for the 767 every time as the plane has less middle seats than other air-crafts. To choose a comfortable site, go on seatguru.com so you can scope out up-to-date seating charts for every single flight and these will offer insight into which rows don't recline, which seats are too close to the bathroom or whether you have to option to get extra legroom.
If you are a business traveler, avoid layovers at all cost. If you are on a business trip going to and from meetings, it's a huge waste of time to take a day to get there and a day to get back because of layovers. Plus it can be extremely tiring and you want to be fresh for your meeting and fresh for work by the time you get back. Besides, even though flights with layovers might be cheaper, in the end, they are most costly as you might spend this money overpriced food at the airport, drinks, extra fees for the lounge or even in accommodation if the layover is overnight.
It is a good idea to book flights keeping in mind to earn more points, but just to collect points don't pass on cheaper fares on other carriers, as the difference in fares might not make it worthwhile and it might be better to just get the cheaper fare regardless of collecting points. So just keep in mind what is happening around to maximize your resources. However, if you are really focused on earning points, use apps to track your miles. They can be worth a lot of money depending on how you redeem them.
Finally, get upgrades on flights by booking an economy ticket with a Y or B booking code. This means that the ticket will be full fare but you will receive an free upgrade if there are open places in the next class of service.