Sam Chui is an Australian and an “avgeek”. In the parlance of the international community of aviation enthusiasts, an aviation geek. But there is more to this. It is a mix of social media, air travel, photography, planes and plenty of passion.
With 3 million YouTube subscribers, 700 million views, an active aviation website , a plane spotter since his teens and with a love of photography, you have to wonder what makes this man.
Sam has made waves in an industry that is relatively insular and nationalistic. But he has managed to move barriers and reach further than most. Other than taking flights, he has never been employed in any capacity within aviation whether as ground or flight crew or in the executive ranks.
Airlines invite him when they want to unveil a new onboard service or showcase their upgraded Business class. CEOs of leading airlines of the World know who Sam is. They share their vision, what the future holds and what they think the customers want.
One CEO of a leading Airline noted for its service took Sam on a personal tour of his new cabin. Painstakingly explaining in great detail what they required from the Airline manufacturer to achieve the comfort for their passengers.
I was not surprised as both are known for their passion for what they do. By the way it is Qatar Airlines and its CEO, the charismatic Akbar Al Baker. Still in the seat for Qatar Airways over 25 years and still making changes.
Sam has covered over a 100 countries, done over 2,000 flights and reviewed a multitude of airlines, big and small.
Sam Chui however is less well known to the general public and even to the country that he now calls home.
Whose is Sam Chui?
So let’s see if we can unravel the man, his background and his passion. And why his request to Airlines to take videos of their crew and their service on flights is rarely turned down.
For a start, Sam was born on 7 November 1980 in Beijing, China and moved to Hong Kong when he was young. 42 yrs of age at the time of this post.
For his tertiary education, Sam moves to Australia, graduating in 2004 from University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
He first job was in the financial sector as an analyst in Sydney and along the way becoming a naturalised Australian. Eventually moving in time to Abu Dhabi to take up an offer as a financial analyst with one of UAE’s sovereign funds.
All this while he begins building a following in social media with his passion for aviation photography, planes and air travel.
Throughout his career in finance, he has kept up with his passion for air travel and its progress overtime. When YouTube became popular, it was a medium that he readily picked to share his plane journeys.
That passion he says began as a young teen watching flights into the legendary Kai Tak Airport of Hong Kong. The airport whose runway sticks out into the sea. Kai Tak no longer exist but do google for the fascinating and breathtaking images of planes landing at Kai Tak. You will understand the meaning of breathtaking when you see these images with the Hong Kong high density and high rise housing backdrop.
The fork in the road
13 years after starting a career in the financial sector and the year is 2018, a day of reckoning has come. Its that proverbial fork in the road.
While in the UAE, the decision is made to quit his day job and move from Abu Dhabi to Dubai to start the next leg of his journey. The journey of turning his passion into a career.
I suspect the proximity to Dubai was one of the factors in his decision. Dubai is the leading aviation hub for international air travel. A hub that is used by major Airlines of the World as it fortuitously on the crossroads of the World. And it would fit perfectly in his plans. You certainly can’t do this in Australia as we are at one end of the World.
Sam is now a full-time content creator, blogger, author and amateur pilot of late. His passion, hobby and content is all about airlines, planes and what they offer to a fee paying passenger.
His biggest fan base is interestingly is in the US, but he rates Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Qantas. A frequent international flyer would understand why these three.
Since 2021, Sam has been running his own aviation focused media and PR consultancy out of Dubai.
Why a post on Sam Chui
I have done a previous post about social media content creators so why another?
Sam is now an Australian and has made an impact on social media and in the aviation industry. What he does connects Australia to the World with content on topic that is of interest to many.
I have also covered an Australian content creating couple, now a family that have done something similar.
Australians Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu whose YouTube channel ”Sailing La Vagabonde” too made an impact on YouTube. They are are in the popular travel genre but in sailing. They help connect Australia to the World. Here is my post on them done in February 2022.
In many of the comments on their Youtube you could clearly see people wanting to know more about Australia and their Australian background.
Like Sam, Riley and Elayna thrive on the travel genre but there are interesting differences between the two contents as well as the approach. One thing however is the same, the ability to draw an income in a consistent manner, build a sustainable business on social media and enjoy what they are doing.
Consider this. Getting paid for diving from your yacht in the Bahamas to catch fish for your meals or getting paid for enjoying champagne and caviar 35,000 ft in the air in a first class cabin. Something that a few of us can achieve.
Nuances of air travel
To understand and appreciate Sam’s world it is worth having a look at the types of air travellers and the nuances of air travel.
The first observation is that commercial air travel means many things to many people.
The starting point for all is a means of transport from one location to another. The general approach is to consider cost, time to destination, number of stop-overs and the safety reputation of the airline. And in that order.
Young holiday travellers and those backpacking across a number of countries tend to focus on cost. Airline reputation on service, reliability and even more than 1 stop-over are not pressing issues.
Then you have regular business travellers who are generally tied to a particular airline loyalty programme. And nearly all flights are done on one airline or their code sharing partners. Due to the frequency of work travel, the tendency is to look for dependable service standards and an airline’s reputation of sticking to schedules.
The seasoned air traveller
The last group are air travellers who enjoy air travel with a passion.
Not just a means of transport. Their interest range from aircraft types, service standards, loyalty points, upgrade frequency and down to the type of wines and caviar served. And this is the category of air travellers that I expect to Sam’s followers to be in. Bear in mind they might not be able to afford frequent flights but capitalise where they can. They looks for tips and hacks. A close second would be business travellers.
This last group of air travel enthusiasts also go one step deeper. They know planes and engine models, the year it came into service, seat configuration and capacity, how loyalty points work and the the points redemption blackout dates. Plus fare arbitrage.
Just in case you are not aware, there are hardcore flyers who are prepared to fly into a country, not leave the airport and fly right back to make sure they get the sector miles to either qualify for the next level or retain their status in the frequent flyer program.
In the aviation forums, which sectors to go for are discussed including which flights to take to save on time waiting at the airport. Sector scoring is indeed a thing.
Not just airlines but airports as well
Sam’s website now covers airports and airline manufacturers and much of what is going on in the airline industry. So you can see which are the top airports and which airports have gained infamy for flight cancellations and delays. These are things that frequent travellers are sensitive to.
This post is not about Sam alone and what he has achieved in a difficult sector. It is a template of what can be achieved with what is out there. And not just about aviation. It then begs the questions, Why did we not do this?
Not only has he monetised his passion, he took on a social media platform available to all us. He has also made a name for himself. He has been interviewed by the BBC, CNN and many others and more importantly gained the respect of leading airline operators and their customers. How good is that?
Here is his video of July 2022 on airport chaos that the World is currently facing.
This is his website and this is his popular Youtube channel.
Ps. Main photo courtesy of Sam Chui