We are the parents of Frequently Flying author, Darren Booth. We are so saddened and grief-stricken to let you know that he passed away on January 4th. We know he would like to thank Boarding Area, of which he felt so honored to be part of the blogging “family”, and especially to all his readers for your support and comments, both pro and con. Flight and travel were his absolute passion. We take comfort in knowing that his final trip at the end of November into December was to his beloved Australia. And so we wish our dear son much “love and light” on his final “flight”.
Sharon & Larry Booth
P.S. FrequentlyFlying will be discontinued. Please know all of you are in our hearts, and we thank BoardingArea for helping us with this final blog. Darren would be so pleased.
Shocked to hear the news. Was a wonderful writer and always enjoyed his material. Our thoughts and prayers are with his parents, family and friends.
Oh my God I had no idea.
RIP
I’m SO sorry to hear this… Darren was a ‘colleague across the seas’ although we kept in touch online and enjoyed a catch-up over dinner on his previous trip to Sydney. I’m sure his trip ‘beyond’ was first class, and I hope he got the most amazing amenity kit on the way!
Hello David,
While going through some of Darren’s papers, we came across a couple weathered (as in aged) King Neptune certificates for crossing the equator in the name of Gloria E. Jensen (1920-2011) and wondered if you know anyone who would like to have them. One is from 1952 and one from 1978. We asked a mutual friend of ours and Darren’s in Sydney, and she knew nothing about them or the Jensen family. I googled them and at one time they were in Seattle, but with marriages and relocations, I don’t know who is who. The certificates I’m guessing would only have sentimental value and I’m sure whoever gave them to Darren knew he would treasure them. Let us know if you have any suggestions or would like to have them yourself, as we would be happy to mail them. Our best wishes to you, and thanks so much for your friendship/colleague with Darren. Regards, Sharon & Larry
RIP
he always tweeted back to me whenever I sent him a message 🙂 It was always a privelege to chat with him back and forth. He will be missed, God rest your soul.
I cried. Very sad and never met, but I always saw so much of me in the way he wrote and posted.
Sharon & Larry hugs from Lisa & I and are thinking of you both. Darren was one of the BEST and I will miss him very much.
I am very sorry for your sudden loss.
Wow… I can’t believe this. I only corresponded with you a couple of times, but you were always so generous and helpful. We’ll miss you Darren 🙁
This is a total shock. I’m so sad to hear the news. Sharon and Larry, I’m so sorry for your loss. Darren was smart, passionate, and always on top of news affecting frequent flyers. I know he’ll be missed deeply by me and our community. Godspeed to him on his final flight. :*(
Oh how very sad. He was so nice the time our paths crossed and definitely loved the skies. Fly free and sincere condolences to his family.
Wow. Truly shocking to hear this. While I didn’t know Darren personally, this blog was by far one of my favorites.
My sincere condolences. He will be greatly missed. 🙁
Ooh WOOW, that is a shock indeed! He was a very nice gentleman who’ll missed dearly. He always replied to tweets I sent him, always! My sincere condolences to his family, may you RIP Darren.
Always enjoyed his posts and genuine passion for commercial aviation and its history.
My sympathies. I always enjoyed your son’s blog and send my thoughts and prayers your way.
This blog was so unique and his spirit and passion was on display in his posts. I am so sorry to hear of his passing. My condolences go out to his family.
I’m so sorry to hear this. Our prayers and thoughts go out to your family. Darren was an amazingly kind and genuine person and I will truly miss learning from him. The travel community will not be the same without him. Rest in peace, Darren.
RIP Darren. I am shocked to hear this and even though I never got to meet him, he will be missed. This blog was one of my favorites. My condolences to his family. 🙁
I am sorry for your loss, actually for everyone in the travel world’s loss. I have enjoyed his blog every day/
This is incredibly sad news. Darren was very generous with his time and knowledge. I’ll miss the chats we would have on Twitter. He truly loved AV geeking out. He will be missed.
My heart hurts reading this. Darren was a great guy and blogger – truly passionate about all things aviation. My love, prayers, and thoughts go out to all in this difficult time.
I’m so sorry to hear this and my thoughts are with the Booth family. I met Darren a few times at our frequent flyer meetups and I always enjoyed talking and tweeting with him. He will be missed.
Dear Sharon and Larry,
I’m so sorry you had to pass on such a sad message and I am so sorry for your loss and the sadness you must hold in your heart. I loved receiving Darren’s tweets and reading his blog and he will be missed. I hope you find comfort in knowing how positively he touched so many of our lives by his writing.
With heartfelt sympathy.
k2o konorth
My condolences for your loss. Darren will be missed.
RIP Darren
Sorry for your loss, he will be missed.
This is very sad to hear. I remember Darren was one of the first people I met at any kind of frequent flyer meetup. He sought me out in the crowd and made a point of introducing himself. He was always kind and outgoing in every respect.
I’m so sorry – he was always so kind and entertaining. Prayers to you all.
My sympathies. I always enjoyed your son’s blog and send my thoughts and prayers your way.
I enjoyed reading Darren’s posts on travel, and learned a lot from them. He was a great contributor to the community, and will be truly missed. My prayers go out to his family…I’m sure he was seated in First Class all the way up to heaven!
Very sorry to hear this. I very much enjoyed interacting with Darren via the blog and twitter. My sympathies and prayers to you and your family.
So sorry!
My condolences. Very sad to hear this.
R.I.P. I always enjoy your son blog here. He will be miss. What’s sad news.
Dear Mr and Mrs Booth,
So sorry to read of your loss and hope that you can find comfort in knowing that your son lived a good life.
My greatest sympathy goes out to you.
Kind regards,
Alex
Very sad to hear this – I hope you all take solace in knowing that he helping lots of people see the world. Seemed like a very nice person, and a great blogger as well. He will be missed.
Incredibly sorry to hear this news.
Words are poor tools for many things, but Darren knew how to use them with skill.
God bless Darren. His family is in my prayers. Travel on in memory of Darren.
Darren was extremely inspirational in me getting into Aviation. He was always helpful via Twitter/Email. Thoughts and prayers with you and the rest of Darren’s family!
Dear Sharon and Larry,
I am so sorry for the loss of your son. I counted him as a friend and will treasure the Hawaiian Airlines wings and United pin he once sent me. Even more, I will treasure the conversations we had and his genuine kindness. He will be missed.
With Respect,
Matthew Klint
I am very saddened to hear this, and my thoughts and prayers go out to Darren’s family.
“High Flight”
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds,
— and done a hundred things you have not dreamed of —
wheeled and soared and swung, high in the sunlit silence.
Hov’ring there, I’ve chased the shouting wind along,
and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air….
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
– Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
Shocked to see this news. Although I never met Darren in person, very much enjoyed his posts and exchanges on Twitter. My heart goes out to his family.
I am truly saddened to read this post. I always followed his blog for tips and tools of the trade and learned quite a bit. The FF community has lost an avid and inspirational traveler and he will be missed.
So sorry for your loss. Darren was a great fellow blogger and I am shocked and at a loss to hear of his life being cut so short. I can’t imagine losing my own child, but at least you know that he made a difference to so many readers.
I remember meeting Darren–I approached him at the united global first lounge at SFO. Very genuine and friendly. It was a true pleasure to share experiences about something he was so passionate about.
He will be missed by the community.
Respectfully,
Sean Riegert
I am sorry for your loss. Even though I never met Darren, I enjoyed reading his blog. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
I’m truly saddened to read this news. My sincerest condolences to Darren’s family, friends and #AvGeek followers. While I only corresponded with Darren a couple times, I loved following his blog. He will be missed by all of us. RIP.
So sorry for your loss, RIP Darren
I remember Darren as such a warm and friendly person – he made a point of welcoming me and always said hello when I saw him at events. His friendliness made a big difference to me.
I am so sad to hear this news. My thoughts are with you.
Dear Sharon and Larry,
We all loved and admired Darren’s kind spirit, gentle ways, tremendous intellect, and generosity with his time and knowledge. Of Darren’s numerous outstanding qualities, always striking to me was his utter goodness. Bless you and be proud knowing you raised a remarkable man who left a memorable and loving impression on many, many people. He’ll be sorely missed and remembered very fondly.
JH
I am so sorry for your loss. Darren was a generous and friendly flyer and blogger and I was blessed to have met him. He will be missed.
The world is a little less better place without Darren. Deepest sympathies to his family and friends.
It was always a pleasure to meet Darren in a conference or to trade emails.
In addition to being kind, humble and genuine, Darren was also a perfectionist and I’ve never seen a better review of an amenity anywhere else.
Darren, you’ll be missed.
I am so shocked and sadden to hear this news.
I enjoyed reading Darren’s blog and can say that I share his passion for flying and travel.
My condolences,
Erik
Loved reading Darren’s blog and will miss it. I never met him in person but appreciated what he brought to this community. My sympathies to you Larry and Sharon for your loss.
Darren,
We only met once – you were my seat mate on the United 787 inaugural in November 2012. I became a big fan of you work and you personally during all of our correspondences. I all loved your seat maps as well – Your passion was very clear! I wish you God speed.
I am absolutely shocked to hear this news. Darren was the one who introduced me to blogging and he was great help in starting my brown blog. I only spoke on the phone with him once but he definitely was a very kind and humble person. My deepest condolences to Darren’s family. May he rest in peace.
Truly sad to hear. Condolences to the Booth family and loved ones. I never met Darren in person but he was always so helpful whenever I emailed or tweeted him. We will all miss him.
I sat next to Darren at a conference last year. A genuinely nice and decent person – I feel lucky to have met him.
My sincere condolences to the Booth family.
Very sorry for this sudden loss. Much sympathy for the family!
Rest in peace Darren. It was great speaking with you on twitter. My condolences to his family.
So sorry for your loss. I loved his amenity kit reviews.
The world will be less of a wonderful place without Darren. He was an incredibly open, friendly person. Deepest sympathies to his family and friends.
Wow. Sincere condolences to the family.
Darren happened to be one of the first people I met at FTU LAX event. He was a great person to talk to and I enjoyed his blog. May he rest in peace.
Very sorry to hear of your loss. Your son obviously had quite an impact on the travel community and will be very missed. RIP.
I’m so, so sad to read this news. And I’m very sorry to hear of your loss. I’ve never met Darren, but I really enjoyed his blog. He will be missed. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
my sympathies to you both how sad..i just lost my younger sister christmas eve so am in grief mode as u are…truly sorry
I’m so sorry to hear about this. I loved his blog. He will be dearly missed. R.I.P.
I’m so sorry for your loss. Darren’s passion for aviation itself — the magic and miracle of flight — was the greatest on the internet. He got me excited about things that otherwise I wouldn’t have thought twice about.
I am so sorry to hear that your son passed away. He helped me to fly more and I learned so much from him. He tweeted in response to my queries. My condolences to his family.
I am crushed at this news. Darren was a wonderful person, so kind and considerate. I always enjoyed talking with him, and appreciated his passion for this crazy industry. Darren’s amenity kit reviews are legendary.
My deepest condolences to you, Mr. and Mrs. Booth. How I wish you could be spared this awful heartache. May peace find its way to you and your family. I hope you will take some solace knowing the a part of Darren will live on forever in many of our hearts.
My deepest condolence to the Booth family.
Feels like we just loose a part of a bigger family even tho I do not know Darren personally. I am thankful for his blog and he will be missed.
Very sorry to hear this sad news. Your son will be missed.
I am so saddened to hear this. I didnt know Darren well, but I know he had a huge impact on many frequent flyers and will be dearly missed. My heart goes out to you and your loved ones during this difficult time.
Such sad news. RIP Darren.
Dear Booth Family,
I am greatly saddened to learn that Darren has passed away. Your family is in my family’s thoughts and prayers.
Darren, you have taught me so much. You were such a kind person, and I really enjoyed interacting with you on Twitter. I still think back to the inaugural United 787 Dreamliner flight frequently. I had so much fun spending the entire flight from ORD-IAH talking to you.
Also, thank you for answering questions about Embry-Riddle for my family and myself. I also sincerely appreciate the wonderful recommendation letter you wrote for me. I am very excited to begin studying at Embry-Riddle later this year.
Darren, you are greatly missed. Thank you for being a part of my life.
Such sad news. RIP Darren
May you rest in peace Mr. Darren Booth
My thoughts are with your family at this tough time.
Down-to-earth, helpful, genuine, and personable. RIP, Darren.
I am so sorry to hear that and wish the family the greatest of comfort during this difficult time.
I had the pleasure of being the Cabin Supervisor on Darren’s two Virgin Australia flights that he reviewed on his last visit Down Under. Such a lovely guy and we spent much time chatting on those flights, I was so pleased at how wonderful he thought our airline and service was on those occasions. We kept in touch, but unfortunately weren’t able to catch up when he was here last month, saying he’d catch me next time he was in Sydney. How sad I am knowing that now won’t happen. I’ll see you some day mate, in the first class lounge up there of course.
http://upgrd.com/matthew/a-salute-to-darren-booth-frequently-flying.html
this comes as a true shock. I loved reading his blog. I wish all the family and friends the best in this difficult time
How very sad to read of the passing of Darren, such a kind and passionate person. I had the pleasure to meet and talk to him at a couple frequent flyers meets. I remember how much fun it was to engage him in anything that had to do with travel, planes or amenity kits! He will be missed. My deepest condolences to the family for this great loss.
So very sorry to learn of this. My deepest condolences to Darren’s family.
I am deeply saddened by the news. I’ve really enjoyed reading this blog and learned a lot from him.
Wow, that’s crazy, I know something is not right as both me and him are an avid amenity kit collector, he didn’t even post about the new UA special amentiy kit tin not til Jan 3rd when it came out (a week after it was announced back in December 22nd !) He will definately be missed with all the amentiy kit reviews, wish I can help and continue part of his legend.
I remember meeting Darren and thinking he was such a nice guy. That continued on through website comments and Twitter conversations. He will be missed.
I am so sorry to hear the sad news. My deepest condolences to the Booth family.
Darren, you were such an inspiration to me. You will be missed. I will celebrate you on each of my journeys! Thank you and fly-on!
We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of condolences and wonderful statements about Darren. All are equally touching and important to us, and we wish to send our own condolences to Dotti on the loss of your sister, we are so sorry. To Bob, we will always treasure your poem “High Flight”. To Adam, he so looked forward to catching up with you Down Under but didn’t feel well during that last trip. To ORDnHKG, Darren would love for you to continue the amenity kit reviews. He has tons of kits, and if any of you have ideas on what we can do with them or where to send some or all, please let BoardingArea Admin know, and hopefully they will forward your suggestion(s) to us. We don’t know how long FrequentlyFlying will remain posted by BA Admin, so with this sign-off, we wish each and every one of you the most happiest of skies with our deepest thanks for all the heartwarming responses.
Dear Booth family,
I am so sorry to hear of Darren’s passing. May he fly away home to a better place. Peace and comfort to you both.
Cindy
Sharon and Larry
I am shocked to hear the news of Darren’s passing. I can tell you he was nothing short of a gentleman and always friendly each time I met him thru the years. He was one of the first guys I met when coming into the travel and air world. And he was so sweet. Even remember last year when he was in Colorado at the airport speaking about taking care of his parents or moving them to a new place. He was selfless and I really did respect him. I am sorry for your loss.
Sharon and Larry, deepest condolences again. Your son really was a very bright spot to all who encountered him. I know many of us would like to do something to honor Darren, so if there are any special causes or suggestions you have please let the BA Admins know so we can do something he would be proud of.
This is incredibly sad news.
Never met DB, but always read his Blog.
May DB RIP.
So very sorry to hear this.
My prayers for your family.
Condolences to the Booth family.
So sorry to hear that. I will miss reading his posts. Please leave the blog open so we can all learn from his posts.
I’m sorry I never met Darren in person, but enjoyed his writing immensely and am truly saddened to hear this news. I am deeply sorry for your loss, Sharon and Larry. As you can see in the comments above, he was deeply respected and loved in the Frequent Flyer community, and well beyond.
I am sorry for your loss. Darren, as the comments clearly show, was a very kind and very well liked person by everyone he interacted with. I met him a few years ago in LA at one of the frequent flyer events and his gentle spirit, manners and integrity just shined through. I am very saddened he is no longer with us. You should be very proud of your son. Sincerely, George
Rest in peace Darren, I always enjoyed reading your blog and your insights as well. To the Booth family, I’m sorry for your loss, my deepest condolences.
Well Darren, you will be missed… You got your million mile status and you had the holidays with your family.
Rest in Peace
Thank you taking the time to give us this news. I’m so sorry for your loss. He will be missed.
What sad news. I sent Daren a few amenity kits for his reviews. One of my favorite blogs and such a kind and friendly fellow. You’ll be deeply missed.
FlyerTalkers are mourning his loss.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/communitybuzz/1538619-r-i-p-darren-booth-aka-united863-frequently-flying-blog.html#post22104259
Dear Sharon and Larry, thank you for your kind words, I know how much he loved Sydney and wasn’t concerned about missing him on this recent trip as I knew he’d be back soon. Your son was truly one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my 18yrs of flying as cabin crew. So sorry for your loss but take solace in the fact that he positively impacted so many peoples lives with his charm, personality and wit, not to mention his good looks of course! He will be sady missed by all his friends and fans. xxxx
May he rest in peace O:)
Dear Sharon and Larry,
I’m so sorry for your loss. I rarely comment but read this blog regularly. Darren was a great guy.
I enjoyed the spirit of his blogs. My deepest condolences.
Im in absoloute shock. Im looking at his tweets which he wrote and his blogs and his pictures , and yet hes no longer with us. Really really cant express in words what weve all lost. Weve lost an inspirational , fun travelling lad who will really really be missed. Cant express it in words sorry. Please take my most sincere condolences .
My dearest condolences. I was so happy the first time I bumped into one of Darren’s amenity kit review posts. Finally someone who cares like me. I will miss reading his posts.
I am shocked to hear the news. Read one of his recent posts not even a week back!
Mr. and Mrs. Booth,
Thank you so much for letting us know, as many of us would have wondered what happened. This must have been one of the most difficult things you’ve ever written.
Darren was a great guy, as you’re hopefully seeing in this post. Please know that your son had a very positive, upbeat impact in the lives of many, even the ones he only touched peripherally. His Twitter posts and this blog have been a sheer delight.
I’m so sorry to read this, and you, the rest of your family, and Darren’s many friends will be in our thoughts.
I am so, so sorry to hear this news. I hope his family will be able to see the comments from all the people who followed his work with enthusiasm, appreciation, and interest.
My thoughts are with his loved ones.
RIP Darren, may you have the greatest flights and amenity kits ever now in Heaven!
I was saddened to hear of the loss of Darren. I enjoyed reading his stories on frequently flying blog. He will be missed greatly by the flying public. Did must give you some comfort to know so many appreciated his writings and comments about the flying world. My condolences to his family may he rest in peace
This is very sad! What an avgeek! He was also a great guy! RIP Darren.
Dear Mr and Mrs Booth,
My condolences and prayers go out to you and the rest of your family, as you mourn the loss of your beloved son, Darren. He was a well noted gentlemen in the aviation and airline enthusiast public and he taught me a lot. He was very fun and kind on Twitter, where we interacted a lot. He’ll be missed.
With condolence,
Ryan Ewing
We met Darren a few years ago at the HNL RCC. Both he and us were in the midst of a SFO-HNL-LAX-SYD-LAX-HNL-SFO mileage run. In coach.
I figured if he could survive that, he could survive anything!
Very nice guy. Sad to see him go.
Dear Darren, I am in so much shock at this news. I have never met you but I always read your blog and feel as if you are a friend. You will be sorely missed here but you now have wings of your own. Much love.
So sad to hear about the loss of your son. I hope he went peacefully and is watching the skies and fliers from heaven. The skies will be much emptier without him.
Wow. Truly saddened by this and i never met him but it was obvious from his writings what type of person he was. Rest in peace Darren.
Rest in peace, my blogging friend. My thoughts and prayers to the Booth family.
Rest in peace Darren. My thoughts & prayers are with your family.
Our sincere condolences for your loss. We will miss him.
Despite our never having met, Darren Booth once bought me dinner. I was the recipient of one of his many generous giveaways from this blog, and through our e-mail interaction I learned that we had grown up just miles apart in the northwest suburbs of Chicago – in the shadow of O’Hare.
On occasion, one finds other person who shares so many strange, coincidental similarities that you can’t help but be taken aback. It’s the small details that do it, like hoarding amenity kits (I thought I was the only one!) or loving old airline seat maps.
Like so many readers of this blog surely did, I felt a special connection to Darren despite only ever encountering him as an author on a website. The world is a lonelier place for all of us that he is gone, but it is a better, kinder place for his presence.
The natural order of things is not for parents to have to mourn the loss of their children. I’m profoundly sorry for you loss. Darren was an entertaining part of our world and will certainly be missed
safe travels Darren
Hare Krishna and may God protect on your journey home
May God Bless and keep him, May his family too find Peace and God’s Blessing.
I enjoyed the blog and reviews.
Supporting wishes to you and your family in this time of loss.
Worldtraveller73.
RIP. Please accept my condolences.
Dear Sharon & Larry, I just read all these special condolences, and you should be so very proud of Darren. I am and have always been proud of him. So many good memories. RIP Darren Aunt Twyla
RIP, Darren. I’m honestly shocked. He was such a great writer.
Terribly sad news. My thoughts and prayers to the Booth family. Rest in peace sir.
I want to add, it was so cool to find someone who was into amenity kits like I am! What a kick it was to read those detailed reviews.
I hope you got a first class kit (with lots of logos) on your final journey, Darren!
Just visited your page again today, you won’t be forgotten by any of us. You are one of the first bloggers that got me involved in travel and points. It has enabled me to spend countless hours with my son who is now 7 all over the world.
Thinking of you today buddy! Miss your gentle spirit.