We're 25 episodes into The Thrifty Traveler Podcast and counting, and now we need your help … in the form of your questions!
That's right: We're planning a good, ol' fashioned mailbag episode in the weeks to come dedicated to one thing and one thing only: answering your questions! From tips and tricks, what's in our wallets, our favorite (and least favorite) spots, to personal preferences and hot takes, no question is off limits.
If you want your question answered on the show, it's simple:
- Leave a comment here or
- Drop us a line at podcast (at) thrifty traveler dot com
That's it! Submit your questions now and stay tuned – we're planning to go through all of them in the next week or two on the show!
We kicked off the podcast in March and it's been an absolute blast. A few of my personal favorite episodes include:
- Our interviews with our founder Jared, flight deal guru Jon, and product manager Tracey for a look behind the curtain at all things Thrifty Traveler
- The only slightly blasphemous “10 Commandments of Points & Miles” episode
- The time when Gunnar & I recapped our safari trips, featuring me in a funny hat
- Our hilarious episode with TV & radio host Jason Matheson (including gems like “spiders the size of fourth graders” and “I'm a Delta philanderer”)
Make sure you're subscribed on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts for the next episode. And if you haven't already, drop us a rating and review to let us know what you think of the show!
Bottom Line
Leave your comments below (or shoot us an email) with your questions for our upcoming mailbag episode of The Thrifty Traveler Podcast now!
Credit score is excellent (825+) and retired income is 300k. No debt. Why would I be declined on a Cap One credit card. Also hold savings of 200k with them. Last Cap One Venture X card was 6 months – can this be the reason?
Hi. Here’s a question for your Podcast. For those of us who are loyal Delta flyers (regardless of whether or not it’s the “thriftiest” way to fly), how do you develop a strategy to find the thriftiest hotel rates? Is it possible to get the best hotel rates without using a hotel chain’s credit card or joining every major hotel chain’s loyalty program? What is your recommendation for the thriftiest hotel chain to book with? I look forward to your insight on these questions. Thank you!
Hey guys! Love the podcast and the recent news breaks lately. I have more of an investigative request than a question for you. I’m currently using points to book hotels for an upcoming trip to Croatia and am noticing that, depending on which card I’m using in the Chase portal, the cost in points will vary for the same hotel. Here’s the example – I pulled up Podstine Hotel in Hvar, Croatia on my account via my CSP and saw the hotel as 3 nights from May 26-29 for about 50k in total for the first room option and when I pulled up the same hotel on my husband’s account using his CSR Biz card, the same dates and room were showing now as 70k in points. I tried it again under his Freedom Flex and the points price changed again. Have you all experienced this? Reaching out to Chase next but wanted to flag for my favorite travel inequity investigators!
Please help us navigate what to do when an international award flight goes south. During the long drive to MPLS to fly on KLM (Flying Blue bus class) to AMS, then CDG, we learned that the 2nd leg of our flight was cancelled (threatened air traffic control strike at CDG), and thus KLM cancelled our entire trip, rebooking us for the same itinerary 48 hours later which was unacceptable because we had a river cruise to catch on the Seine. There is no KLM desk at MPLS, but at the Delta desk, the rub was that I had to call Flying Blue to release us before a Delta agent could rebook us, and that was an impossible task. After being on hold several times with Flying Blue and trying 2 different agents, their computer could not release us. Finally a Delta agent took pity on us I guess, and gave us Premium Economy seats on a later Delta flight to CDG which was satisfactory because we just needed to get there. Was there any other way to resolve this in the moment?
I would love a podcast dedicated to…how do I put this… Un-screwing myself with credit card choices? Like. Should I take my husband’s name off the account so he’s also eligible for offers and we alternate? Etc. Common mistakes people make and how to fix them. Because I’d like to get really good at points in the long run.
Oh and like the 5 year plan. Like when to close credit cards in order to re-open to get a bonus again.
I am planning for a family trip to Japan next summer. It is extremely difficult to find 4 business tickets even 11-12 months out from DFW. I have looked on seats.aero and American Airlines almost on a daily basis. I have also looked into LAX, SFO, and ORD. What is best the way to securing business class tickets or should I just settle for premium economy where there’s more availability?
Do you expect to continue seeing increases in US airlines presence in SE Asia (thinking United’s updates from earlier in 2025)? Selfishly hoping there gets to be a point of oversaturation and a stretch of slightly cheaper flights to places like Thailand and Vietnam comes out of it.
Thailand will be a trip likely in the next 3-4 years for me, given current offerings which airlines should I be targeting for transferrable points both in terms of cheapest flight (economy offerings) and best value (quality of experience/business classes)?
Here’s my question…and I think it’s a pretty stupid one, but I don’t think I’m the only person who doesn’t know.
During the recent Chase Preferred 100,000 point promotion, I applied for, received and was awarded the 100,000 points after meeting the spending threshold. Shortly after receiving the card, I added my wife as an additional cardholder.
Had she applied herself for a card, separate from me, would she have also been awarded the 100,000 points, assuming she met the spending threshold? (That wouldn’t have been a problem as we undertook a major home renovation and incurred several large bills.)
Secondly, can she now apply for her own card to be the primary cardholder? Or, since I added her to my account, did I screw up and miss the opportunity for her to become eligible for a current or future points bonus as a primary cardholder?
Love the podcast. Keep up the great work.
OH! We basically have the same concern.
With the ability to filter basic economy fares from Google flights, will TT allow us to filter out BE email alerts as well?
Yes, I want to second that question!