Hyperfliers can be identified by pallid complexion, red, watery eyes and a crease in their stomach from having a laptop crushed into their body by the reclining seat in front of them.

The final jet-booster of this trend is the airlines' extraordinarily successful frequent-flier programs, which have provided the burgeoning hyperflier culture with its own currency, lexicon, and class structure. … The hyperfliers may think they're getting something for nothing, but they're actually playing the airlines' game. By tightly restricting free flights, airlines have rigged it so that a passenger flying for free almost never displaces a paying customer, and typically costs the airline only about $20 per flight. But to earn that $20 flight, hyperfliers will go out of their way to book all their tickets on one airline, and may waste hundreds or thousands of dollars building their status."