Award Travel 101

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT10” for $10 off your first year.  Recent finds include:

• Round-trip to Mexico for 11K points
• Business Class to Southeast Asia for 50K miles
• Business class to Europe for 55K miles

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium 

Join us for Ask Me Anything LIVE Event with Tiffany Funk

New group of mods

Post of the Week

Will Weider - long lines at LAS Centurion

News

• When and How You Can Book Award Flights for Friends and Family
• Increased Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card Offers: Up to 185K Points or 5 Free Nights
• Get Access to Hidden Award Space with United Credit Cards
• World of Hyatt’s Annual Sadness-Inducing Award Changes Announced
• Little-Known Southwest Credit Card Perk: 20% Off Discount Code for Southwest Reward Flights

TRIP UPDATES? 

Angie - nothing new

Joe - 

• Virgin Islands
• Rebooked GH Seoul again thanks to a member's suggestion

WHAT BONUSES DID WE GET? 

• Angie - Alaska card and Venture X Business 
• Joe- Ink Preferred. 20K Frontier Miles

Highlight Feature - Maximizing Spend for the Most Rewards

Cards to use and where - idea is to build a portfolio/family of cards that return more value. Get CardPointers and SAVE:

http://cardpointers.com/at101

Never earn only one point per dollar ever again:

• Travel
• Gas
• Grocery
• Dining
• Utilities
• Office Supply & Communications below
• Streaming
• Pharmacy
• Health/Gym
• Everywhere

Tip of the Week 

Book now, ask questions later. My buddy's how a friend nearly lost his optimal booking.

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

The Award Travel 101 Podcast is brought to you in part by Thrifty Traveler Premium. Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT10” for $10 off your first year. Recent finds include:

• Business Class to Europe for 50K points
• Tapei for 75K miles
• Business class to Hawaii for $582

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium

Post of the week

Xochitl Sierra Hernandez - What would you do if placed in this situation?

News

• Etihad Guest Changes
• Awards to Book Before They're Gone
• Capital One to Purchase Discover?
• American Airlines 

Trip updates

• Angie
  • Safari cancellation
  •  Beach day in May
• Joe
  • Sydney, Australia - How I used a Credit Card Perk/Benefit
  • Chase Travel Portal Booking - Does it make sense?
  • $573 savings
  • Choice Points for HUGE savings - should you buy them?
  • Flexibility vs paying less
  • Hyatt Points, but a catch?

What bonuses did we get?

• Angie
  • Wyndham Business
  • Alaska Card
  • Venture X Business
• Joe
  • Chase Ink
  • Barclays AAdvantage

Highlight feature: Let’s Get Crafty - Crafting a Credit Card Strategy

The basic strategy is the same for every situation. 

• Do you have a Player Two?
• Evaluate any upcoming trips or desired trips

Scenario 1: Two player mode, both people can get business cards

• Number one recommended starter card
• Best business cards
• Specific branded cards
• 5/24 Status

Scenario 2: Two player mode, only one person can get business cards

Similar to Scenario 1 but you can’t refer each other on business cards

Scenario 3: Two player mode, no business cards

This is when looking long term is very important

Scenario 4: Single player mode, no business card

This is the most challenging way to play the game. 

Tip of the week

An Award Travel 101 member who goes by FindFlightsforMe on IG - how to buy Flying Blue miles (for less).

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

The Award Travel 101 Podcast is brought to you in part by Thrifty Traveler Premium. Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT10” for $10 off your first year. Recent finds include:

• Starlux Business Class to Taipei for 75K miles
• Business Class to South America for 39K points
• Roundtrip to Hawaii for under $500

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium

How did your passion for travel begin?

• "I used to watch planes from the airport. I would ask my mom where each plane was going, and she would make up a place. 🤣"

Why? Most teens are not into learning about travel rewards programs

• Like many in the space, it started with saving money.

Favorite airline, hotel, credit card programs (and does status play a role in any of your travels)?

• Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards

Where are you heading next?

• Queenstown, NZ
• Study abroad in Japan

Travel Style -

• Mostly economy. 

Best deal you’ve received?

• San Francisco (SFO) to Lisbon (LIS) for $300 round trip
• SFO to LIS that was only $90

Highlight Feature - Different Ways to Approach Budget Travel

• Schedule changes
• Frontier 50K/Platinum
• Spirit Gold
• Ticket counter bookings 
• Southwest A-List
• Delta SkyMiles
• Southwest
• American
• Virgin Atlantic
  • KLM nonstop and Virgin
  • Virgin offers an underrated companion fare
• British Airways
  • Solid amount of award space from Vegas - high surcharges. 

Other Things to Know

• Frontier 100K/Diamond
  • free checked, carry-on bag, early boarding, and other perks
• JetBlue True Blue 
• Southwest Rapid Rewards
• United 
• Aeroplan awards under 500 miles 
• Lifemiles 
• Turkish - used to be 7.5K, but is now 10K for economy. Business was 12.5K, but is now 15K per person
• American - last minute awards
• British Airways - see the updated award chart
• Etihad Guest - starts at 6K for awards under under 500 miles
• Delta - Compare
• Virgin Atlantic - start at 8.5K - see updated chart
• Flying Blue - 

Where to Find John

John is active in the Award Travel 101/201 community and writes for Bougie Miles. To reach him:

• john.ryan@fora.travel
• @vegasteenager on twitter

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

 The Award Travel 101 Podcast is brought to you in part by Thrifty Traveler Premium. Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT10” for $10 off your first year. Recent finds include:

• Qatar First Class "Nerd Alert" to Australia for 100,000 points
• JetBlue Mint to London, England for $1,856 round-trip
• Business Class to Paris for 50,000 miles

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium 

Marianne Michalek Shovan - Why is my car rental more expensive with Amex Discount Code than without?

News

• Air France–KLM Flying Blue Award Sweet Spots
• Amex Adds ‘Family’ Restrictions to the American Express® Green Card
• Book Now: Turkish Airlines to Devalue Miles & Smiles, Introduce New Award Charts
• 683 United Award Routes That You Can Book for Just 6,000 Aeroplan Points

Trip updates

• Angie
  • nothing new (again)
• Joe
  • Used 5.5K Virgin miles (per person) to fly Seoul to Jeju Island on Korean (KE) saving over $310 each way. It totaled 13,000 points total for 3 of us (16,5000 with 30% speculative transfer bonus) each way.  25,385 Membership Rewards converted to 33,000 Virgin Flying Club Points to save $620 on our travels.
  • Should I use points or cash for Hyatt hotels in S. Korea?
  • Applied Suite Upgrade Awards to Grand Hyatt Jeju and Grand Hyatt Seoul

What bonuses did we get?

• Angie
  • Waiting for Wyndham offer to post.
  • Waiting for Amex Business checking bonus.
  • Approved for Bank of America Alaska card
  • P2 not denied for Venture X Business
  • So putting spend on 0% apr cards for right now
• Joe
  • Nearly done with Player Two's Chase Ink Business Preferred offer
  • Working on World of Hyatt Business card to retain elite status

Highlight feature: Transferable Over Fixed Points

• Back to Basics: An Introduction to the Types of Reward Points
  • Fixed Value Rewards
  • Cashback
  • Travel Statement
  • When to Use
  • Travel Portals
  • Fixed-Value Airline Miles
  • Branded Airline Miles and Hotel Points
  • Flexible Awards
• AT101 Transfer Partner Chart

Tip of the week

Be flexible with your card strategy and don’t take denials personally. It happens to everybody at some point in this hobby so be prepared to pivot to a new card or your existing portfolio.

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details and check out their Google Flights guide. Recent finds include:

• ANA First Class "NERD ALERT" for 73K
• Business Class for $2,627 round-trip to India
• Business Class to Istanbul and beyond for 45K

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium

Post of the Week

Zee Stacy received a 1099 from Chase and was quite concerned. Is this normal?

News

• Delta card changes - are the changes all bad?
• Marriott promo - promo runs February 13 - April 29

Trip Updates

• Angie
  • Boys trip?
  • Montana?
  • Canada or San Diego?
  • Slovenia and Croatia
• Mike
  • New Orleans - used World of Hyatt points and AAdvantage miles
  • Pancake Run canceled
  • Australia!
  • Work travel - Capital One Vs Centurion Lounge.

What bonuses did we get?

• Angie
  • Wyndham Rewards Business Earner - 
  • Denied Capital One Venture X Business and P2 got Amex popup (meaning no welcome offer) on Amex Business Gold
  • Could the Bank of America Alaska card do the trick? 
  • If not I’ll use my 0% APR cards and my Amex Hilton Business to earn a FNC for my upcoming large spend
• Mike
  • Amex Business Checking - 
  • Capital One Venture X - 
  • Chase Ink Cash - always a perennial favorite in the Award Travel 101 community
  • Next card… Bonvoy Brilliant?

Highlight feature: Getting Player Two (P2) Into Award Travel

• What is a P2? Do you have to be married?
• Keep it simple! Mike started card labeling for P2 and she still struggled, so now strategy is KISS (Chase Freedom Unlimited and Chase Ink Unlimited)
• Keep P2 in the loop
• Set a dollar threshold
• Teach shopping portals
• Suggestions from our P2’s: “tell me which card to use”

Tip of the week

Marry a P1 (kidding). Shopping portal strategy for valentines day presents. 

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details and check out their Google Flights guide. Recent finds include:

• Round-trip business class to Japan for $1,925 (or 125,000 points)
• Business class to Hawaii for 55,000 miles
• Business class to Germany for 55,000 points

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium.

Award Travel 101 Podcast Episode 53 Show Notes

We're changing up this week's format, with our very first member interview. Award Travel 101 community member Allison Tackette joins us with tips she's learned over 10 years in the space.

Background

Allison is a former teacher who wanted to get out and see the world, but her time off in the summer often resulted in finding peak season pricing. Travel CAN be expensive if you're always paying cash, but pushing people to the brink helps them get creative!

Introduction to travel rewards and loyalty programs

Is it as simple as asking how to travel for free? In 2013, information was far more scarce than it is today. Now we have tons of resources and the Award Travel 101 Facebook community where you can ask questions and get instant answers.  

Places You Could Return Over and Over

While she enjoys traveling the world, check out why she thinks Japan is the place she could never lose interest in.

Travel style

Allison travels primarily as a solo traveler, but she does travel with family on occasion too.

Deals

Is there anything better than First Class for your first significant redemption? Can you believe that the redemption she made years and years ago, is still the same cost today?

Highlight Feature - Can I book travel inside 60 days (or less)?

Which programs offer you the greatest flexibility? Use these to set yourself up and keep looking as you get close-in. Some of the most aspirational flights and airlines might be found inside 14 days or less including:

• Lufthansa
• ANA
• JAL
• Emirates
• Not airline specific, but unsold business/first flights to Australia and New Zealand often open up around a week out.

Tip of the week

Use tools like seats.aero or point.me to simplify your searches. Check out Episode 19 "The Tools We Use"

Where  You Can Find Allison

Instagram: @luckytictac
awardtravelvacations.com

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details and check out their Google Flights guide. Recent finds include:

• Business Class to Europe for 55K points
• Premium Economy to Singapore for $1,249 R/T
• Business Class to Portugal for 45K miles

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium

Post of the week

Beth Hanes Product changing gone wrong - Why does Chase hate me?
John Buchan - Is there an over-emphasis on the Chase Ink sign ups?

News

• Alaska cancels 20% of their flights
• United Offers (Outrageous) Premier Elite Status Buy-Up Offers
• New Alaska Consumer & Business cards as well as  Hyatt Consumer & Business offers
• Did Marriott just #Bonvoy MGM
• New Lounge opening - who can get in?

Trip updates

• Angie -
  • Tulip girls coming to Tampa for Gasparilla
  • Keeps checking for flights to "Taco 'Bout a Fiesta" San Antonio meetup
  • Looking at flights for Montana-would love to piggyback a trip with P2
  • P2 mentioned he’d love to do a cruise
• Joe -
  • Booked a trip to Japan and Korea trip as a result of a “missed” Thrifty Traveler Premium alert that retails for $31K for less than $250

What bonuses did we get?

• Angie
  • Finished Minimum Spending Requirement (MSR) on Ink Cash
  • Applied for Wyndham Business and eventually approved approved! 
• Joe
  • Finished MSR on the Wyndham Business Earner card
  • Shared a tip on how I plan to get 25% off an $1,800 purchase
  • P2 -100K Ink Preferred
  • 40K referral

Highlight feature: Strategies for Building Healthy Credit and Better Offers

• Guide to Building Healthy Credit
• Credit Card Strategy
• Application Rules of 4 Major Issuers

Tip of the week

Don’t sleep on lesser known partner programs. I provided an example of how you can use Etihad Guest miles for less in Award Travel 201. FULL DISCLOSURE - it is a subscription group, and runs from $9.99 monthly to $89.99 annually AND provides complimentary AwardWallet Plus.

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details and check out their Google Flights guide. Recent finds include:

• Delta One Business Class to Europe for 50K points
• Cathay Pacific First class to SE Asia starting at 125K points
• Business Class to Hawaii 40K points

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium

Award Travel 101 Podcast Episode 51 Show Notes

Joe is joined by the most frequent guest of the podcast, Toni Perkins-Southam. Many of you may remember Toni as the longest-running Award Travel 101 moderator and community admin.

Toni spent almost five years in the community (two years as a community manager) before taking a position with Forbes Advisor. Toni shares how she got her start writing with AwardWallet and continued her journey. Are you interested in writing about travel topics too? Fill out this form to put in your application.

Award Travel 101 from 2017–2022: Longest active mod/admin

• 2020–2022 craziness
• 2022 and beyond
• Fear of Flying Season 1 Episode 4 + Season 2 Episode 13
  updates?
  • Paul Borish Traveler's Psych

What you’ve been up to since leaving

• Trips
  • Favorite places
  • Wishlist

New Cards

• Favorite award currencies
• How you’re earning points today
  • Welcome offers/sign-up bonuses
  • Buyer's groups
  • Shortcuts

Taco ‘Bout A Fiesta: Presenters

• • Toni Perkins-Southam
  • Ryan Smith
  • Justin Vacula

Tip of the week

If you are already going crazy, might as well do it someplace cool!

Where To Find Toni

• @tonisoutham on Instagram
• Toni Perkins-Southam Forbes advisor profile
• tperkins@forbesadvisor.com

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details and check out their Google Flights guide. Recent finds include:

• Business Class to Ireland for 50,000 points
• Aruba in Mint (lie-flat) for 35,000 points
• Business Class to Spain for 34,000 miles

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium

Post of the week

Either Tom Coumaris - disappearing in-room coffee makers. How do you get your morning brew?

News

• Updates on the 737-Max9 - is it safe?
• Top 10 Card offers of 2024
• DONT MISS OUT ON THE 90,000 ENHANCED INK OFFERS BEFORE THEY EXPIRE - 7AM on 1/18/2024
• Now Live - Hyatt Milestone Rewards Offer Expanded Choices This Year
• The Best Business Class Award Sweet Spots for Flights to Europe

Trip updates

• Angie - Focusing more on earning right now while preparing for a move
• Joe -Decided against NZ. Trying to figure out a winter get-away.

What bonuses did we get?

• Angie - Working on Minimum Spend Requirement on Ink Cash. Considering a Venture X Business.
• Joe - Barclays Wyndham Business card arrived - why did I get this card?

Highlight feature: 2023 Trip Recaps

• Angie: 12 new cards (6 and 6) 8 biz, 4 personal
  • SUB (Sign Up Bonuses/Welcome Offers) = 1,435K points
  • Referrals = 390K
  • One checking account bonus for P1 (Player one - her husband)
  • Points used = 1,200K with net increase of 575K points.
  • Doesn’t include normal spend. Loads of Southwest flights and used several Free Night Award
• Joe: 14 new cards (10 P1 & 4 P2), 43 total
  • SUBs = 1,476K + HH FNA
  • Referrals = 500K
  • 100K from spend
  • 100K from shopping portals
  • $8K in annual fees - $1,500 positive in perks vs annual fees
  • Saves me around $2,700

Tip of the week

It's a new year,  with new credits. We mentioned this back in Episode 45, so use all your credits and perks. Don’t wait!

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details and check out their Google Flights guide. Recent finds include:

• Round-trip to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, etc...) starting at 68,000 points
• Business class to Switzerland for 50,000 points
• Round-trip to Punta Cana for 16,000 miles

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium.

Post of the week

 Ira Serkes  asks, "How many trips do you take each year, and what is your longest trip in 2023?"

News

• Book Hilton Free Night Awards via Chat
• Amex Adds Family Language to Marriott cards
• Changes to Bilt Rewards Status

Trip updates

• Angie
  • Can you believe that she only has one trip planned?
• Joe
  • Stayed at the Ritz Carlton for New Year's Eve
  • NZ with help from seats.aero

What bonuses did we get?

• Angie
  • Just received the bonus for an Amex Business Platinum
  • Working toward an Chase Ink Business card bonus
• Joe
  • Failed NLL application
  •  Barclay's Wyndham Business card (for opportunities like this)
  • Upgraded to Bonvoy Brilliant
  • Transferred 200K Amex MR to Virgin Atlantic with 30% Bonus

Highlight feature: 2024 (Award Travel) Resolutions

• Angie -
  • Update and use all/more features of Award Wallet
  • Clean up Google Photos
  • Clean up multiple email accounts
  • Create a spreadsheet of all my cards
  • Explore casino matching for free cruises
• Joe - Here are some other things I need to work on
  • Citi/Barclays AA companion certs - never use
  • (4) UA Club passes - making sure to use
  • (2) Gold monthly Dining credits - I rarely use these
  • (2) Amex Platinum Streaming credits with only one in use and (4) Walmart Plus subscription credits with one in use

Tip of the week

Take some time to look at all the cards and ensure you’re using all of your credits and benefits and see if your strategy should be tweaked.

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details and check out their Google Flights guide. Recent finds include:

• R/T Business class to Lima for $1,620
• R/T Emirates Business class to Milan for 108K
• O/W Business class to Australia/New Zealand for 63K

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium.

The Award Travel 101 Community needs your help

If you have an interest in applying, we're looking for a few good moderators. You'll hear Ryan discuss how he got his start in this episode, so to get more information, check out our application form here.

Award Travel 101 Podcast Episode 48 Show Notes

 To provide listeners with more depth, we've included some questions and answers we didn't have time to explore further in the podcast episode. You can also check out the day Ryan completed the journey here.

Background -

• How did your passion for travel begin?
• When did you start chasing countries (and how long has it taken)?
• Why?

Introduction to travel rewards/loyalty programs -

• Do you remember when you realized the power of Award Travel?
• First Credit Card? 
• How many cards do you pick up every year? 
• Any cards you’re working on bonuses for right now?
• Favorite airline, hotel, credit card programs (and does status play a role in any of your travels)? This has evolved with needs. I’ll give a few examples, but also Hyatt and Marriott status, no airline status, losing Hilton status

Highlights - Off the beaten path

• Is there a place that blew you away that would surprise listeners? 
• Where would be the first place you’d return? 
• Is there somewhere you believe once was more than enough and you’d never return?
• Where are you heading next?

Travel Style 

Solo/Family/Couple?
Slow/fast?
Economy/Business/First?

Deals

Pandemic pricing was incredible. As travel was rebounding, we booked everything we could before prices exploded. 

How best can podcast listeners follow in your footsteps or is that even possible today?

More than one passport? US and Brazil
Is it possible to do this on an US Passport? With the exception of North Korea, yes, but there are delays with some visas

Tip of the week

Don’t forget to reprice your bookings. This saves us a ton of money and points every year.

Where To Find Ryan

To follow Ryan throughout his travels, you can find him on X (Twitter) at @RyanSmithTravel

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

 Welcome back to the Award Travel 101 Podcast — from the original Facebook community created for miles and points enthusiasts. Angie, Allison, and Joe jump on the pod to share the 100K Member Celebration Winner, their newest cards, trip updates, and to bring you an Airing of (2023) Grievances!

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details. Recent finds include:

• Business class to Hawaii for 31K
• Business class to Tokyo for 60K
• Business class to Europe for 32K

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium.

Post of the week

We polled the Award Travel 101 community to see which of the 25 Program Devaluations hit you the hardest.

News

The Grand Prize Winner for our 100K Member Celebration

Trip updates

• Angie - nothing
• Allison - getting ready for Gasparilla
• Joe - What to do about Australia - it’s only 90 days away. Is it worth doing for two days?

What bonuses did we get?

• Angie - Business Platinum, Bank Bonus, and Ink Unlimited
• Allison - nothing
• Joe - Business Platinum, but maybe another Business Platinum too?

Highlight feature: Festivus Airing of Grievances 2023

Festivus was created as an alternative to the pressures and commercialism of the Christmas holiday season. The sitcom Seinfeld put their own spin on it, including the airing of the grievances, which consists of each person lashing out at others and the world about how they have been disappointed in the past year. "I got a lotta problems with you people, and now you're going to hear about it!" 

We’ve had a lot of negative changes in the Award Travel world in 2023 (25 to be exact), but here are the program updates that impacted the community most:

1.  MGM and Hyatt announce Breakup
2.  British Airways Hikes Avios Awards on American and Alaska & United Makes Major Award Chart Devaluation
3.  Citi Executive Card Changes (Higher fee, reduced AU benefit)

To see the full list of all 25 Program Changes, check out the AwardWallet Blog at 7PM Eastern/4PM Pacific.

Tip of the Week

Don’t procrastinate. As you can see from our review of 2023, things change all the time!! Earn and Burn baby!

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Allison and Jackie take over the pod to discuss the news and to share more about their recent trip to Rio de Janeiro to see Taylor Swift in concert.

The Award Travel 101 Podcast is brought to you in part by Thrifty Traveler Premium. Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Recent finds include:

• Business Class to London for 49,000 miles
• Business Class to Seoul for 61,000 points
• Round-trip to Mexico for 11,000 points

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium.

Post of the week

Alicia Carroll shared that her miles were stolen by hackers. Use unique passwords, Two-Factor Authorization (2FA), and AwardWallet.

News

• American Airlines Adjusts How Card Spending Counts Toward AAdvantage Status
• British Airways Hikes Avios Awards on American and Alaska
• You Can Now Redeem Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Miles Online for Aeromexico Flights
• Credit Card Perks You Can Gift for the Holidays

Highlight feature:

• Jackie’s flights - Entire trip report
• Allison - 
  • AA economy down DFW-GRU
  • How's economy on Latam
  • Cheap AA award for GOL
  •  AA Business Class GRU-DFW (55,000 AAdvantage miles, topped off with BILT Rewards)
    • Traffic in Sao Paulo is deceiving
• Hilton Copacabana - A+ views of the beach, 50k and 5th night free
• Taylor Time - making friendship bracelets (with friends from Award Travel 201) presidential suite, extreme heat alert day and concert postponement
• Other Rio things - Christ the Redeemer, Brent’s meat map, caipirinhas, parrot pet, Escadaria Selarón and best $1 caipirinhas (2000 tiles from 60 countries)
• Paraty
• Brazil Visa requirement beginning Jan 10, 2024
  • $80, electronic visa submission
  • a flight reservation showing arrival and departure
  • two free visa pages
  • a bank statement showing a balance of at least $2,000 and the most recent 30 days of transactions

Tip of the week

Passport turnaround times are short right now! Great time to get or renew yours, turnaround within a few weeks.

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details and check out their Google Flights guide. Recent finds include:

• R/T to Hawaii for 24K miles
• R/T to Japan starting at 35K points
• R/T Business class to S. America for 41K points

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium.

Post of the week

Duane Rice posted about his “low roller” trip. This is a perfect example of many ways you can play the "game" and still be winning.

News

• World of Hyatt Updates
• Guest of Honor Perk
• 37 different promos
• Alaska purchases Hawaiian

Trip updates

• Angie - nothing
• Joe -
  • Park Hyatt St. Kitts
  • How to Book a Premium Suite
  • Toys for Tots 
  • Southwest on Christmas

What bonuses did we get?

• Angie
  • Amex Business Platinum card PLUS checking account offer
  • Chase Ink Business card (Update)
  • Amex Authorized User (AU) bonuses
• Joe
  • Amex Business Platinum (Update)
  • Buy AA miles for ONE cent each AND earn Loyalty Points (this is in our Premium Award Travel 201 Community)

Highlight feature: 2023 Trip Recaps

Angie:

• Safari: points paid for flights and post safari hotels, cash for safari itself
  • Part One
  • Part Two
• AT101 meetups 
• Bali/Singapore: points paid for flights and hotels
• Family trip: Travel funds + Companion Pass
• IN/KY family/work trip

Joe:
For the full rundown, check out the post on AwardWallet. A few favorites:

• Daddy/Daughter Trip
• Huge 1st Class trip with my dad
• Mexico - First International Family Trip

Tip of the week

It’s December, so make certain you’ve used all your credits and perks. Don’t wait until the end of the month in case they don’t post in time!

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details and check out their Google Flights guide. Recent finds include:

• Business class to Paris for 40K
• Business class to New Zealand for 63K
• Business class to India and Middle East for 68K

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium.

Post/s of the week
Chelsea Elizabeth

News

• Southwest bookable through Chase travel portal
• Lifelock at 95% Rakuten
• Black Friday 
• Huge Qatar award dump
• Condor and Emirates partner
• Alaska changes

Trip updates

• Angie
  • Montana trip
  • P2 doesn’t want to safari.
  • Australia??
• Joe
  • Breeze credits/points
  • Hyatt VIP Suite for P2 & me

Short-notice meetup

Toys for Tots drive on Monday, December 4, 2023 from 6 to 9 p.m. Joe will be joining. To get your free tickets.

What bonuses did we get?

• Angie
  • Business Gold
  • Another Ink
• Joe
  • Targeted Business Platinum + checking offer

Highlight feature: Lingo

Feel like you are learning a new language? We often get folks saying “please spell out these acronyms” but when it’s the same word over and over again, you need shorthand. Some examples include 5/24, CSR, SUB, and P2.

Airline codes

Check out our world-famous Award Travel 101 Transfer Partner Matrix.

Airport codes

It's necessary when for searching for award flights that you know where you're going. 

Class of Service codes

For simplicity these are boiled down to 3 major:

• F - First
• J - Business
• Y - Economy

General terms

There are so many more, and you can find those on this FlyerTalk message board post.

Tip of the week

Use Award Wallet. Once you have a bunch of cards it’s hard to keep track of all the credits and benefits! Angie received an email from AwardWallet that she hasn't used the $75 credit on the WN Priority card! Keeping track of how you used a FNA can add value.

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Justin fell into travel rewards programs accidentally as he was working his way through various casino programs. Listen as he and Joe discuss some of the dead deals of the past to learn more about what you can look for in the future.

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. For Black Friday (11/24/2023) ONLY Use promo code “THANKS” for HALF off your first year of alerts. Head to Thrifty Traveler Premium alerts for more details. Recent finds include:

• United’s Polaris Business class for just 45K points
• British Airways Club Suites 5th Freedom for 15K (Nerd Alert)
• Air France/KLM Business Class to North Africa for 30K

Again, you can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium. 

Award Travel 101 Podcast Episode 43 Show Notes

If you want to hear Part One of this discussion, where Justin interviews me, check out the Hurdy Gurdy Podcast. In this particular episode Justin shares how online poker led him to into travel rewards and loyalty programs. Justin will be speaking at our Spring Meetup in San Antonio on how to use programs most don't discuss to generate more rewards. We'll cover:

• Background
• Introduction to travel rewards/loyalty programs
• Highlights
• Favorite airline, hotel, credit card programs
• Deals - "phone army?"
• The “War on happiness.”

To join Justin's Greater Philadelphia Miles & Points monthly meetups. You can find some interesting takes on casino rewards, miles & points, and Dave Ramsey on the Hurdy Gurdy Travel YouTube Channel. For everything else, check out the Hurdy Gurdy Travel website.

Tip of the week

Check out our instructional video on how to use CardPointers with the Company's founder, Emmanuel Crouvisier. Through Travel Tuesday 11/28/23, Save 50% off CardPointers during their Holiday Special. That means you can get one year for just $30 or a LIFETIME subscription for $100. 

Short-notice meetup

Boarding Area's bloggers Le Chic Geek (a.k.a. Jeanne) and Pizza in Motion (a.k.a. Ed) are pairing up with Trevor from Tagging Miles to do a Toys for Tots drive on Monday 12/4/2023 from 6-9PM. You can find them at

Bar Bao

3100 Clarendon Blvd
Arlington, VA 22201-5301

Joe will be joining the fun, so if you wish to ask for travel advice, meet other travelers, or just come to share the holiday spirit, get your free tickets or check out their Facebook event page for more details.

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Angie's back to catch up on all of the news and to discuss how we can better manage all of our award programs.

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details and check out their Google Flights guide. Recent finds include:

• Business Class to Italy for 58K
• United Polaris to Australia for 75K
• R/T to Europe under $500

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium

Post of the week

Joseph Petrovic - 100K Celebration

News

• Earn Up to 90,000 Bonus Miles new United Offers
• Avoid Delta’s High Partner Award Rates
• British Airways Restricting Award Availability (non-issue for most)
• 30% Transfer Bonus Hilton Honors
• Bilt Rewards new Transfer Partner
• Qatar Airways (was 30% - now 25%) Transfer Bonus
• New: Redeem Qatar Airways Avios for JetBlue Flights
• But Was it All Just a Dream?
• Marriott Changing Suite Night Awards
• 12 Hilton Honors Redemptions
• 12 Marriott Bonvoy Redemptions
• Earn 75,000 Points New Southwest Offers
• Although Southwest To Devalue Rapid Rewards

Highlight feature: How Do You Track All of Your Rewards?

Get your FREE AwardWallet

• trip itineraries, flight delays, flight check in reminders
• tracking balances and credits, free night certs, expiration of points
• store passport info, password and loyalty program login info
• track store loyalty programs

Use #AwardWalletProTips in the community to see more

Tip of the week

AwardWallet can really simplify your life. Take the time to set up a free AwardWallet account and add your travel documents. We all make mistakes:

• Joe missing out on a deal
• Angie with kid needing passport info but she was out of town and it was locked in a safe

You can also get AwardWallet Plus.  AwardWallet Plus is included with an AWARD TRAVEL 201 subscription.

Short-Notice Meetup - Toys for Tots Drive
Get your FREE TICKETS here.

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Award Travel 101 Podcast partner and founder of Thrifty Traveler Premium, Jared Kamrowski, joins Joe to discuss how Award Travel fundamentally changed his life and experiences.

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details and check out their Google Flights guide. Recent finds include:

• JetBlue Mint to Europe starting at 30K
• Business class to Australia starting at 120K R/T
• Emirates business class to Athens for 62K (5th Freedom)
• Singapore business class (longest flight in the world) to Singapore for 88K

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium.

Highlight feature: Let's Get Thrifty!

Meet Jared. Starting as a broke college student, Jared became a road warrior who learned techniques to improve his travel experiences for less. He and his wife wanted to travel more in their personal lives, so like many of us, he dug more into credit cards and reward programs that helped boost his ability to accomplish many of their goals. Eventually, he started his own site, Thrifty Traveler, sharing some of the tips he'd learned. The blog grew quickly, and he left his job to develop the business further, He hasn't looked back, and has grown the business into a 25 member team who scour the web looking for the best cash and award fares for you. We'll cover:

• His background
• How he was introduced to travel rewards/loyalty programs
• Where the space is headed in the next 12 months (Is Award Travel dead?)
• Highlights from his travels
• His general travel style (Family/Solo travel)
• Strengths
• Favorite airline, hotel, credit card programs

Jared's Thrifty Tip of the week

Simplify your life and use the tools that are available to you. We discussed several of them in the Award Travel 101 Podcast Episode 19. Some are free and some require an annual or monthly fee. While you don't need to spend as much as Joe does, it could benefit you to find a few that return the most value for your needs.

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details and check out their Google Flights guide. Recent finds include:

• Business Class to Europe and North Africa for 30K
• Round-trip to Europe in Economy for 27K
• Business Class to New Zealand for 49K
• Business Class to Tokyo for 60K

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium.

Post of the week

Kevin Wilson - another reminder of what Award Travel is about 

News

• Year-end Strategies for Top Hotel Elite Status
• Best Miles and Points for flights to Hawaii
• Air Canada Aeroplan Sues seats.aero
• Hyatt Sweet Spots

Trip updates

• Mike
  • Labor Day Niagara Falls
  • Rebooked Flights to Sydney for 3rd Time AA Flagship Business saver awards for 60K each
  • AA Flagship Business from JFK for 32k each
  • Austin/San Antonio - Beer BBQ, Buc-EEs + Driverless Car
• Joe
  • How I saved 47K miles United miles
  • Still working on father/son trip with dad
  • Booked vacation rental - stacked with UA through VRBO to earn miles

What bonuses did we get?

• Mike
  • Ink Preferred + received 3 referral bonuses (120k)
  • Citi AA Business Card
  • Finished $15k spend on Hilton Business Card for the Uncapped Free Night Award
• Joe
  • earned 175K Loyalty Points (earning a Milestone Choice Benefit) and I’m deciding if I should push to 250K. What would you do?

Highlight feature: Unique Flights

Alaska Pancake Run - CLE-PIT-SEA-CLE one member referred to it as a domestic “5th Freedom.”

• $500 for two (with companion fare)
• Alaska lounge access via our Citi AA Executive cards
• Check off Hyatt brand explorer. Hyatt at Olive 8.
• The Museum of Flight holds one of the largest air and space collections in the US

Tip of the week

How I Saved more money with CardPointers. If you want to start saving more using the cards you already hold, check out CardPointers today.

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Head to ThriftyTraveler.com for more details and check out their Google Flights guide. Recent finds include:

• Delta One Business Class to Europe for 39K
• First Class to Australia for 109K
• JetBlue Mint for for under $2K R/T to Europe

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium.

Post of the week

Angie Sparks - another reminder as to why I love having a cache of points

News

• Delta Elite status changes
• MGM Marriott updates
• Transfer Bonuses Flying Blue & Lifemiles
• How I Traveled (with my son) Using Awards & $54
• Hilton Surpass & Aspire changes
• Incredible MINIMUM 3X Everywhere up to 10X Freedom Unlimited

Trip updates

• Angie - Took First Flight as a Spirit Gold member
• Joe - Booked framework for Father/Son trip in 2024
  • 20K United miles in economy (CLE-IAD)
  • 98K Avios (70K Membership Rewards transferred from British Airways) for Iberia business IAD-MAD-VCE (hear how this nearly prevented me from booking)
  • 30K Hyatt Centric Murano (2 days) - see 5 Reasons to get the World of Hyatt card
  • cruise
  • 80K Hilton points and a Free Night Award for two nights at the Waldorf Astoria Rome Cavalieri
  • 150K Virgin Atlantic points (104K MR & 4K UR) for ITA business class FCO-JFK C/O Thrifty Traveler Premium
  • 15K BA Avios (11K MR) for economy JFK-CLE
  • Canceled one Etihad First flight to get 230K AA miles back

What bonuses did we get?

• Angie - P2 applied for Amex Business Gold but need to call for reconsideration
• Joe - P2 Amex Business Gold approval
  • Saved $500 with CardPointers

Highlight feature: It's Meetup Week (Angie at Chicago Seminars & Joe at Zorkfest in Lake Tahoe)

Angie and Joe both met for the first time as Joe was traveling to Angie's hometown, so they both love meetups. Angie went to Chicago Seminars, Joe went out west for Zorkfest. 

Tip of the week

Pay attention to what benefits you are entitled to from your status. Angie learned something she didn't know. 

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.
4. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024, and we’ve opened up a few more tickets for members! To learn more visit Taco 'Bout A Fiesta! on Eventbrite

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community