It’s the news every points and miles aficionado has been waiting for: After years of pain, award travel is, in fact, getting easier. Alongside an undeniable trend in red-hot cheap airfare, outstanding deals keep popping up to redeem your points, whether you’re on the hunt for a discounted economy deal or a notoriously hard-to-book lie-flat award ticket.
So Gunnar and Kyle dig into what’s driving this lovely new trend and, most importantly, the dozen or so deals that have us thinking that award travel has finally turned a corner. We’re calling it (working title) “Hot Flight Summer.” Come for Hot Flight Summer, stay for Gunnar’s hot fireworks take, a revelation about Kyle’s reality TV viewing habits, and why Virgin Atlantic really ticked us off this week.
Tune in now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts! Be sure to subscribe to get each new episode every Thursday morning.
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Show Notes
- 00:00 – Introducing … “Hot Flight Summer”
- 03:16 – Something Hot: Cash airfare continues to drop (think sub-$300 roundtrip flights to Europe!)
- 08:45 – Something Cold: Virgin doubled taxes and fees on biz class awards
- 13:50 – A word from our sponsor (us, and our Thrifty Traveler Premium service that’s finding more deals than ever!)
- 15:43 – The Extra Mile: Hot Flight Summer, or why we think award travel is (finally) getting easier
- 21:00 – The rise of the elusive “Unicorn Alert” (even if Emirates hates us)
- 24:30 – Business class award deals to Australia and across the Pacific are back!
- 29:15 – Gunnar gushes about the Cathay’s The Pier First Class Lounge
- 34:45 – Booking partner awards – including the rare Delta One redemptions
- 36:00 – And don’t forget about economy flights, too!
- 40:15 – The exceptions: Star Alliance, Iberia’s biz class devaluation, and Amex transfers to Emirates
- 43:15 – Listener Questions: How to fly to Australia/New Zealand using points and miles, in biz class or economy
- 48:45 – On the Spot: A listener checks in from Kyle’s favorite hotel in the world while Kyle taps into his Love Island fandom to couple up with – and dump from the island – two recent deals
Produced by Gunnar Olson & Jackson Newman
Edited by David Strutt
Show music: “All That” by Benjamin Tissot
We loved Oban. We went to Oban by train from Glasgow. We took a boat tour to Mull, Iona, Staffa, and Lunga. We went during puffin nesting season and saw so many puffins. I highly recommend this tour company.
https://westcoasttours.co.uk/tours/tour-mull-iona-and-staffa/
Fellow travel enthusiast from the Midwest here!
Just wanted to share my travel social media username/handle – @TravelSizeBudget on Facebook and Instagram. I attended Thrifty Traveler University a few years ago regularly follow TT’s amazing content. I started @TravelSizeBudget last year to offer my own unique spin on travel – from the usual (points and miles, affordable fares) to the less common (savings and convenience on food, souvenirs and more). Thanks for continuing to inspire me, Thrifty Traveler!
Great podcast! Thanks for all the great information.
Hello Gunnar,
I am enjoying and appreciating all you travel savings information. Would you please help us finding an appropriate venue to get results form lost bag by United? In June last yWe re senior citizens 1K United. Last year in June we checked 6 bags from LAX to HNL. One of the bags never arrived and we filled a claim at HNL. There was lack or no communication from United including corporate. We provided photos and invoices for 4 pro racing high end OZONE kites $12,500.00. The bag never made it “downstairs” after being check at 1K counter at LAX. I wrote countless letters , got a lots of lying and contradicting run around or no responses. Now we found out someone is selling our stolen kites on E-Bay because they all have serial numbers and person who bought one of the kites very ‘cheap” called Ozone co. to ask why is someone selling a $4,000.OO kite for $1,500.00 and the company contacted us since they have record of us paying a full price. E-Bay is not taking any responsibility. Now United finally e-mailed us claiming they do not cover “sports equipment”. Our bags were handed to United employees and they should be responsible. Would you have any suggestions how can we recover our losses? I would appreciate any suggestion you could provide. I know its not what you are about but since you have lots of travel experience maybe you know something that can help us. Keep up the good work.