We know, we know: The flight prices have gotten rough out there, travelers … but not everywhere. So on this week’s pod, Gunnar and Kyle devote the show to spelling out the quintessential steps to take to find cheaper fares this summer, fall, and beyond. Plus, some exciting news about our (now officially award-winning!!!) show, an update on Hyatt’s dastardly deeds, and perhaps the strangest hotel-restaurant collab nobody asked for. Thanks to Cozy Earth for sponsoring this episode! Head to https://cozyearth.com and use code THRIFTY for up to 20% off!
We know, we know: The flight prices have gotten rough out there, travelers … but not everywhere. So on this week’s pod, Gunnar and Kyle devote the show to spelling out the quintessential steps to take to find cheaper fares this summer, fall, and beyond. Plus, some exciting news about our (now officially award-winning!!!) show, an update on Hyatt’s dastardly deeds, and perhaps the strangest hotel-restaurant collab nobody asked for.
Thanks to Cozy Earth for sponsoring this episode! Head to https://cozyearth.com and use code THRIFTY for up to 20% off!
Watch us on YouTube!
01:02 - Are the guys still gettin’ booksy?
03:54 - Michelle welcomes us back from Taipei!
04:30 - Something Hot: We won the Shorty Award + live show updates!
10:15 - Something Cold: Hyatt drops the hammer
15:29 - Something Stupid: Room service … from Applebees?
18:29 - A word from our sponsor, Cozy Earth
22:41 - Why Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Saturdays are key
19:28 - The Extra Mile: How we’re finding cheaper fares now
20:25 - The #1 tool to save on travel: Be flexible with your dates
23:43 - Why Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Saturdays are key
25:45 - #2: Use those points!
27:59 - #3: & use partner award programs for big savings
29:56 - #4: Do some inventory & maximize your travel card credits
33:10 - #5: Follow the deal, use Google Flights Explore & “unplan” your trip
36:03 - #6: Book earlier (or much later) than normal
40:32 - Heelys in the airport & the “Bevledge” on the plane
43:00 - A listener asks about when positioning flights go wrong
46:03 - Kyle’s on the spot about his upcoming trip to Tokyo
Produced and edited by Sylvia Thomas
Video editing by Kyle Thomas
Show music: “All That” by Benjamin Tissot
This episode of the Thrifty Traveler podcast is brought to you by Cozy Earth. Look, I think one of those top 10 feelings is coming home from a long trip and getting to sleep in your own bed again. We love staying at nice hotels and vacation rentals when we're on the road, but when you get back home, that's when you remember what comfortable actually feels like, especially when you have Cozy Earth waiting there for you. I've been using Cozy Earth bamboo sheets and pajamas lately, and the biggest thing is just how soft and breathable everything is. The sheets actually stay cool all the way through the night, which is crucial for someone like me who's a hot sleeper. And the pajamas, they're lightweight and really comfy, so I'm never waking up halfway through the night too hot or too cold. When it comes to travel, we love ourselves a good upgrade, whether it's a first class seat or a hotel suite, but this is one of those upgrades I didn't know I needed until I found it. If you wanna try it for yourself, Cozy Earth has a 100-night sleep trial and a 10-year warranty, so there's really no risk to try. Head to cozyearth.com and use code THRIFTY for up to 20% off, 'cause home isn't just where you live, it's how you feel. Comfort lives here, Cozy Earth. Yo, welcome to the show. I'm your host, Gunnar Olsen, just mere minutes away from going on vacation, Kyle, which means that my co-host, editor, and boss across the table from me, the aforementioned Kyle Potter, is gonna have to pick up even more of my slack than usual this week. So would you prefer- Having me go on vacation so you don't have to deal with my voice in the office, or would you prefer having me stay back so you don't have to do all my work while I'm gone? How about you answer that question? I would prefer to be on vacation. No, no, on my behalf. Oh, on your behalf. I think I would rather just do all the work than have to listen to me over and over again. This podcast never stops. You guys just get the one hour a week on mic. We were, we were on, in a meeting, like, a couple of weeks ago, and you said something, and somebody across the table goes, "Oh, so you're just podcasting all the time now?" I was like, "Yep. Nope, this is, this is literally just who we are." No, I... You should go on vacation. You have earned it. Everybody listening to this will agree. We will miss you. Thank you, Kyle. That's very nice. Okay, today we are doing what I'm calling a, a toolbox episode. Um, travel's really expensive right now. It just is. Uh, as the busy summer travel season begins, we wanted to give everybody out there a glimpse into our toolboxes, show them what we're doing to avoid rising costs. So I guess to find something out, Kyle, uh, are you still booking travel as flight prices rise, as the cost of travel is rising all over? I just can't quit it, right? I don't think anyone here can. Yeah, I am. Um, you know, just recently, last week in fact, I, I finally booked something that I've wanted to do, that I've talked about doing, that I've have tried over and over again, and in fact had on the books and had to cancel 'cause I couldn't figure out a way home. Uh, just a quick trip to Tokyo for the first time in a few years to do a couple of things. Stay at the Park Hyatt Tokyo, booking that before Hyatt absolutely nukes its program and that property gets way too expensive to book using points. Flying Japan Airlines business class there. It cost a little bit more than it would've cost had I booked that, uh, you know, a couple of months ago before gestures broadly at the world. A- and then I'm still... I try every year to take a quick domestic trip to go to a concert that I wanna see, and usually the concert just jumps right out at me. Uh, I haven't found it yet, so I haven't... I started, like, looking. I'm like, "Well, I could go to Louisville. I could go back to Denver. Maybe there's something in Las Vegas," but I haven't zeroed in on one yet. So follow back up with me after, after you get back from vacation on that one. So, so you have booked and you're also still in the weeds of, of concocting the next trip. That's kind of a good place to be to, to show people what's going on in your toolbox. All right, today on the show we are talking Hyatt, we're talking Minneapolis, and we're talking how to book travel when things get expensive. All that and more. Hi. This is Michelle on spring break in Taipei, Taiwan. Welcome back to The Thrifty Traveler. Okay, introducing the show today was Michelle in front of the Taipei skyline. She, uh, sent that to us a few weeks ago while she was on spring break. It continues to blow me away that someone like Michelle would take eight seconds from her spring break to do my job for me and introduce the show. Uh, you're unbelievable, Michelle. Thank you so much to you and to everybody who sent these in. Uh, these videos are so much fun. All right, let's get into something hot and something cold. Look at the good and the bad news out there for travelers this week, and we'll start with something hot. This week, Kyle, something hot is us, and it's not my haircut. Thanks for noticing, by the way. You haven't said one thing this morning. There's a first time for everything. It's us being hot, not your haircut. Your haircut is nice. Um, the reason why we are something hot this week is yesterday it was announced that this humble podcast won a Shorty Award. Uh, we are really honored. We're mostly really grateful to all of you listeners who took the time to vote for us, who have been writing into the show and engaging with the show and making it so interactive and fun. Just you and me sitting across the table from each other is not enough to, to make for an award-winning show. It's the community that really did this. We couldn't have done it without you all. Two white boys does not a podcast make- ... I believe is the saying. I think so. Um, so yeah, thank you to everybody who, who helped us, uh, get across the finish line and win that award. We are very excited to be an award-winning show. How's that sound? We're gonna have to get... We're gonna have to make some room on the shelf for whatever it is they send us, if they send us something. I don't know. We are. We're gonna have to either remove the novelty beer or the novelty olive oil, uh, or one of the novelty planes. Uh, w- the novelty, novelty beer definitely stays. That's, like, a part of the personality, clearly. Okay, that's good. Um, we will make room on the, the trophy shelf for this trophy and then many, many more. Um, okay, the other reason why we are something hot is we are three weeks away from the first ever Thrifty Traveler podcast live show here in Minneapolis at the Parkway Theater. Tickets are on sale now at thriftytraveler.com/live. Premium members, you've already received a code for $10 off your ticket, too. Um- We both love the Parkway Theater. We've both been many times. We actually got to go tour it again last week. It is so cool and historic. It's got just a lot of buzz. I, I love it. It... They have excellent cocktails there, and mocktails, and drink options. Uh, you're gonna love the menu. We've got a special, uh, a podcast-themed menu coming for everybody, too. Um, we've heard from a ton of people who are flying in, traveling in to Minneapolis to come see the show. Uh, so I thought for something hot this week, Kyle, we'd do a little travel guide to our hometown. What should people do when they get to Minneapolis for the show? Straight to the Mall of America. The world's second largest, I believe. Now, there's, there's so much to do around the city, and especially if you turn it into, you know, maybe a longer weekend. Come in on either on Thursday or Friday and stay through the weekend and go home whenever is gonna make sense. There's, there's a lot to do. I mean, if you wanna stay within city limits or, or hit Minneapolis and St. Paul, I mean, spending some time on either the Mississippi River, which connects those two cities, or going even a little bit further east and seeing the St. Croix, going out to a place like Stillwater. If you wanna stay closer, um, I mean, there are so many amazing lakes just in s- within city limits of Minneapolis. The lake that I live near, Nokomis, is my personal favorite, but there's also Lake Harriet, Bde Maka Ska, um, and a handful of others, Lake of the Isles. I don't... There's... It, it, it really depends on how much time you have here, but the... You can fill so many days by, you know, spending a couple hours at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, then walking across the bridge and getting an amazing meal at a place like Dinoy in Loring Park. Um, you know, if you do have a lot of time, going up the North Shore or going over to Wisconsin, um, and Hudson and, um, River Falls and that area where there's some amazing hiking. There's so much to do here. We just, we haven't and we cannot spend enough time evangelizing our city. Yeah. Okay, my, my recommendations, I already said this one, uh, a few months ago, but, uh, St. Louis Cardinals are in town to play the Twins. It's a 1:00 game on Saturday, so after the podcast is over, you, you know, you pick up the pieces Saturday morning. You head down to Target Field, $2 beers before first pitch. It's a new promotion the Twins are doing 'cause the Twins are god-awful. Um, the World Cup's gonna be going on. During the live show? Is it? Yes. So on- News to me ... yeah, on Saturday, head to Brit's Pub in, uh, Downtown Minneapolis, one of the coolest bars in the city. It's a, a, a, an English pub, and they are famous for showing soccer games on the big screen, especially during the World Cup. You can also reserve, uh, some lawn bowling lanes and get outside and enjoy it. They have a cool courtyard there. It's one of the, one of the coolest bars, I think, in the city. That is gonna be a hotter ticket than The Thrifty Traveler Podcast Live- It might be ... I bet. It might be. Getting, getting in for lawn bowling at Brit's Pub during the, the World Cup. Uh, if you want an awesome park, Minnehaha Park, uh, is in my neighborhood. It's really close to where I live. Sea Salt Eatery there is one of my favorites. Uh, there might be a long line, so go during off-peak times, but I love Sea Salt Eatery in Minnehaha Park. They are open for the season too. And then finally, if you wanna have a nice meal and kind of an avgeek special, go to Holman's Table in St. Paul. It's at the St. Paul Airport. That's, uh, right off Downtown St. Paul. Um, you can have your cocktails or your meal while you're sitting on the patio watching planes land and helicopters take off. It is very cool, very avgeek. Uh, people love that place. A little on the fancier side, but they do a good brunch and some dinner on the weekends too. So, those are my recommendations, enough for you to do in a weekend here in Minneapolis or more. If you're, if you're not up for a fancy dinner, my favorite place maybe in, in, in the entire city is Bull's Horn in, uh, Southeast Minneapolis. Um, grab a burger there and a beer. Uh, if you need another beer, head over. It's literally across the block, basically, Venn Brewing, um, one of my favorite breweries in the city, some of the best beer in town. Awesome. All right. You have plenty to do when you're here in Minneapolis. Thank you to everybody who's gonna come join us, and, uh, we will see you on Friday, June 12th. All right, let's pivot to something cold. Uh, yesterday, Hyatt changed the award categories of 136 hotels across its network and introduced a new five-tier award chart that will, uh, allow them to raise the rates of nights booked with World of Hyatt points by as much as 67%. So the highest Category 8 Hyatts, like those Park Hyatts you see all over the world, could be as high as 75,000 points a night thanks to this change. That was just 45,000 points a night two days ago. Um, this new tiered pricing with higher rates will apply across Hyatt's entire portfolio, including suites, uh, including its all-inclusives, and the kinda ultra-luxe Miraval wellness resorts as well. As always, there was some reshuffling of properties in, uh, Hyatt's program. Some went up. More than 100 of them went up, including the Park Hyatt London, the Hyatt Regency Aruba, the Alila Mayakoba, which is in Mexico. Did you know that? Mm. The Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, the Beekman in New York City, and the Andaz Fifth Avenue in New York City. Um, any of these stand out to you, or just your broad take on Hyatt's big, big changes? It's just pain. Yeah. It is just pain. And, you know, I think w- so we are recording this a couple hours, literally, before these changes go live. And my concern is less on this kind of annual reshuffling of moving properties up and down from category seven to eight or vice versa. That's what we see every year. The bigger change here is, you know, this new expansion from three award pricing tiers from off-peak to standard to peak to five, with huge ranges where, you know, today the top tier category eight properties top out at 45,000 points per night. That's gonna go to 75,000 points per night. And so the question is: How much do properties have the freedom to charge the very top end band of the busiest times? Because what Hyatt has said is that they're not gonna control this themselves. It's gonna be up to the properties. That could be really, really bad. So I, I, there's no way to spin this as anything other th- than not just bad, but terrible news for, for Hyatt points, which really had been kind of the last bastion of reliable hotel redemptions, but it could be even uglier than we think. So we may have to follow up on this after, you know, these changes have, have settled in and we get a sense of just how much, you know, these top-end properties, and even the lower-end properties, are charging the highest amounts of the range that they can charge. Because if they go hard on this, it's gonna get really bad really fast. Yeah. I just, I do not love that the hotels themselves are going to be deciding, uh, kind of when their tiers are. Um, Nick, when Nick was on the podcast a few weeks ago, was talking about how, you know, he doesn't know if Chase is the king of travel rewards anymore and, and was talking about how, um, you know, built Has kinda changed his calculus about Chase being essential. And, um, you and I talked about, uh, our coworker Jackson Newman's take on the website, where he said, you know, he might just be souring on hotel loyalty altogether. And it's, you know, you mentioned Hyatt was kind of the, the last holdout of, you know, we're gonna, we're setting these award prices. We're not really gonna fluctuate them that much, and, uh, we're giving people just a lot of bang for their point. And, uh, unfortunately, they're kind of falling back into the, the rest of the pack, into the peloton, if you will. So, uh, it's just sad to see. I don't know if I have anything else on that. Yeah. I, the, the bigger picture is, is what's maybe more troubling is just that this didn't happen in a vacuum, that, you know, we've ripped Hilton for not one, not two, but three, and arguably four different devaluations to their award program, where, you know, the cost of a free night has gone from as much as 150,000 points to 250,000 points in the space of basically less than a year. And I have to think that Hyatt looked at that and said, "Well, if they can do it, we probably should too." And that Marriott and IHG, and to a lesser extent some of the smaller hotel chains had, had already been doing some version of this, of just pushing the envelope of how much they can charge for the worse for their top-end properties in particular. There's still value here, you know, I think especially for, you know, your, your everyday trips. Um, you know, being able to piece together a trip where you need, um, a random hotel stay here or there. That, I think Hyatt is still really gonna shine for those kinds of things. But this is, this is really tough, and I do think it's not the end of the world. I do think everybody needs to step back and do the math of how much they really truly do care about Hyatt and what that means for the points that they earn, whether that's something like Bilt or Chase, or whether they just go full bore into something like Capital One and Amex, where, you know, you're focusing more, more largely on flight redemptions and less on the hotel side. It, regardless, there's no right or wrong answer here. I think everybody does need to step back and make that analysis for themselves. Yeah, definitely. A well-deserved something cold from World of Hyatt this week. Uh, we have a something stupid this week, Kyle. Are you ready? Oh, don't we always? Oh, yeah, we do. All right. This is a special one. Um, there's something stupid in, like, the derogatory sense. Like, I hate this. This is dumb. This is stupid. And then there's something stupid in kind of the lovable way, and this is certainly the latter, okay? Kyle, let me ask you this. Have you ever been sitting in your mid-tier hotel room and thought to yourself, "I really wanna order food from a budget-friendly, famously mediocre American restaurant chain, but I don't wanna pay those pesky delivery fees"? You ever thought that, Kyle? Well, you're in luck. Look at, look at my face. What is, what is the answer? Well, you're in luck, Kyle. I will quote directly from the press release we received yesterday. "Applebee's and Wyndham Rewards announced an industry-first collaboration that's turning the Wyndham mobile app into a digital room service menu. Starting May 19th, Wyndham Rewards members staying at any of the brand's 8,300-plus hotels can get Applebee's delivered directly to their room with zero delivery fees." Wow, the news that we all needed to hear this week. There's, there's the, the real walk of shame, but in some ways there's the worst walk of shame, which is going down to the hotel lobby and getting your to-go bag of Applebee's and bringing it back to your room. So if nothing else, it does save you, uh, on delivery fees and that particularly shameful walk. Yeah, but the, the most shameful of the walks is across the parking lot from your Wyndham to Applebee's, and you're just taking that away from people. I- you need that walk. You need those steps. Yeah, you gotta- You might need those steps before and after Applebee's. Yeah, you gotta walk off your seven Miller Lites that you just had at the Applebee's bar on the way back to your Wyndham Hotel. Speak for yourself. Um, Kyle, did you know from the press release there are more than 1,000 Applebee's within five miles of a Wyndham Hotel? I did not. I did, however, check after this press release came through. There is no longer an Applebee's within the city limits of Minneapolis. Wow. Including, because they took away my, probably the last Applebee's I went to on the University of Minnesota campus, where half off apps was, it just kept me going. I, the, it was almost a weekly occurrence during college, so RIP to the, uh, Stadium Village Applebee's. Uh, the promotion offers free delivery on orders of $15 or more, and you can also earn 10X Wyndham points on your Applebee's orders, and you can do it all from the Wyndham app. This is the beauty of this partnership. Plus, Kyle, Club Applebee's members get 2,500 bonus Wyndham points when they sign up for a Wyndham account. How's, how's your, uh, Club Applebee's account looking these days? It's seen better days. Yeah? Yeah. Okay. If I had, if, oh, I would've been stacking Club Applebee's points back in college, let me tell you. I think they're a Bilt transfer partner now. Everybody else is. Okay. Uh, when we come back, we are gonna talk about how we are saving on travel right now. You're gonna get a glimpse into our toolboxes. We'll be right back. I think one of those top 10 feelings is coming home from a long trip and sleeping in your own bed again. We love staying in nice hotels and vacation rentals when we're traveling the world, but when you get back home, that's when you remember what comfortable actually feels like, especially when you have Cozy Earth waiting for you when you get there. I've been using Cozy Earth bamboo sheets and pajamas lately, and the biggest thing is just how soft and breathable everything is. The sheets actually stay cool through the night, which is crucial for someone like me who's a hot sleeper. And the pajamas are lightweight and really comfy, so I'm never waking up halfway through the night too hot or too cold. But when it comes to travel, we love ourselves an upgrade, whether it's a first class seat or a hotel suite. But this one is one of those upgrades I didn't know I needed until I tried it. If you wanna try for yourself, Cozy Earth has 100-night sleep trial and a 10-year warranty, so there's really no risk in trying. Head to cozyearth.com and use code THRIFTY for up to 20% off, 'cause home isn't just where you live, it's how you feel. Comfort lives here. Cozy Earth. Back to the show. All right, it's time for the Extra Mile, where we dig a little deeper into an important travel topic, and this week we're dealing with expensive travel as we head into the summer travel season. Um, Kyle, whenever we talk about our tools for saving on travel, you and I have a crutch word, and that word is flexibility. So I wanna just propose a, a drinking game for everyone out there. If you're driving, please don't play. The drinking game is every time we use the word flexibility, you take a drink, or do we, do we flip this and say we only each get to say the word three times in this segment? No, I- How do, how do you wanna do this? I say we do the drinking game because I love the idea of somebody waking up at 5:15 AM listening to the podcast and be like, "Well, Gunner says I need to grab a beer, so here we go." Yeah. W- yeah, someone walks into the living room and you're sitting there at 6:00 AM on Thursday morning watching the podcasts and you're having a beer and you're like, "Well, honey, it's the podcast. We have to." Gunner said. Gunner said we had to. Okay. Um, Kyle, what's first? What's, what's on that kinda top deck of your toolbox? You know the one with all the, the really accessible tools that you use all the time. Do you have one of those? The kinda two-tiered toolboxes. Yep. I don't know what you'd call that. That's how good I am at tools. A, a tray? A tray. A tray. We could go with tray. What's in the tray of your toolbox for saving on travel as prices go up right now? Well, first of all, there's flexibility. Eh, I, I joke to get people to start drinking. But that's, that's the honest thing right now, is it is Number one with a bullet, the, the number one way to save a- at any time, but especially right now when prices across the board are, generally speaking, rougher than they've been in years, you have to be flexible in order to get a better deal. That includes travel dates, um, I would say especially travel dates, so being able to depart on a Wednesday instead of on a Monday or on a Tuesday instead of on a Sunday or whatever, just by a day, sometimes two. Returning a day later or a day earlier than what your preferred travel dates would've been. I mean, these are the things that can literally save you hundreds of dollars per ticket. If you're talking about trying to book a family trip for the summer, you could easily save $1,000 just in plane tickets alone by being flexible with the days that you actually get on the plane. That is the number one thing, and I think the, the number one principle to have in mind going into anything that you haven't booked yet for the rest of the year and into 2027. Now's the time to start opening your mind to booking your flights first, following the flight first rule, so that before you do anything, before you request time off of work, before you book a hotel or a rental car, you look at your flight so that you can take advantage of those days when there are, in fact, savings, because they are out there. If you don't have flexibility, that's two, you-- you're, you're not gonna be able to take advantage of it Yeah. I, for some of the stuff that I'm looking at, I was told... I was, uh, my wife actually the other day said, um, "Where are we traveling for our anniversary this year?" Our anniversary's at the end of August, and, uh, it was news to me that that was an expectation at this point, but- Husband of the year. Yeah, we have been traveling on our anniversary, for all of them so far, so I was like, "Oh no, I need to plan something." And I was looking just, you know, i- if we wanted to leave on a Thursday and come back on a Sunday, i- if we left Saturday and came back Tuesday, it's half price everywhere across the board. Um, a- and that includes lodging especially. I mean, this is something that, you know, we, we usually focus on flights 'cause flights are first and it's the most volatility priced part of most trips. Um, but when I look at the lodging, if you check in on Sunday night and check out on Tuesday morning, the rate is, you know, uh, half that it would be if you checked in Friday night and checked out Sunday. So, um, we've just been looking at that and just kinda shifting our expectations of what the timing of our trips would be. And plus, that allows you to fly on Saturday, which is almost always cheaper and very casual and relaxed. Uh, flying, flying on Sunday is going to be where you get burned on this the most. Flying on Sunday is always the most expensive. If, if any part of your round trip touches a Sunday, you're in for it. So I would just recommend avoiding Sundays at all costs. Look for the middle-of-the-week flights, um, and, uh, do what you can there. But adjusting your travel and stay dates will save you so much right now. Can we take a quick detour for a theory of what's happening with travel right now? Sure. And why, why things are shaking out the way they are? I'll try to make this quick. Okay, so we talked last week about, um, how travel numbers are, aren't down, despite the fact it seems like people are more price sensitive, that people are, you know, steering clear of travel, and yet TSA numbers daily are roughly in line with where they've been, you know, for, through the start of the year, where they were at last year, if not up a little bit. So my theory is that a lot of people are in fact not traveling the way that they used to, the way that they were last year, but those people are being replaced by more business travelers who are less price sensitive, which means two things. That gives airlines the room to raise fares higher because those people don't care what they pay. Their corporate accounts are paying for them anyway. And two, it makes the peak and off-peak travel days more peaky and more troughy. Troughy's definitely not a word- ... but we're going with it. Um, because it's m- becoming more, um, dependent on those business travelers, which means that those off-peak days of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday Are gonna be cheaper than they've been, at least compared to the base price of a Sunday or a Monday. Uh, the difference is gonna be larger because it's being driven so much by those business travelers. Yeah, no, I think you're absolutely right. Um, peaky and troughy aside, which I can't, now has just blown my brain. I forgot w- what my train of thought was going to be 'cause peaky and troughy are just two words that need to be in my vocabulary. But I think you're right. It's, if you're willing to travel on those, on those troughy times, you're gonna get the best rates, and we see it all the time. And go, just pull up any Google Flights Explorer or, and then click on any dates and, and destinations, and you'll just look at the calendar and see where those, those green numbers, those lowest fares are gonna be, and it's always Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday. Addendum to the drinking game, uh, you have to take a shot of tequila after every use of troughy. All right, Kyle, let's, let's, uh, go further. Next level of the toolbox, and I think this is just an obvious one, uh, if you've listened to the show or follow Thrifty Traveler or are a premium subscriber. This is the moment you've been earning your points and miles for. The points and miles rates are not going up with the cash rates right now. Um, this, your points and miles have never been more valuable, even as we talk about, you know, like unfortunate devaluations at Hyatt and at other places and things like that. Because the cash rates are so high, your points are the most valuable they've ever been maybe. We, we have one true maxim for, for using points, which we've said again and again, and I'll say it now. The best use of your points is for a trip you otherwise couldn't take or couldn't afford. I think that that's true. But I would add to that, the best use of your points is always right now. And I think a lot of people are probably in this head space of, "Well, I've got a lot of points, but, you know, using them for a quick domestic trip or, you know, a round trip to Europe in economy isn't what I was saving them for. I was saving them for some big bucket list trip to the Middle East or to Asia in business or first class m- in 2027 or 2028. And I'm used to just paying cash for all of these things." And I think especially right now, that's the wrong attitude. You can always earn more points, but the points that you have right now are never gonna be more valuable than they are today. Because what will inevitably happen is that by the time 2027 or 2028 rolls around and you're ready to book that trip you've been saving those points for The airlines are gonna do something. They're gonna raise award rates, they're gonna tack on a ton of taxes and fees, they're gonna just eliminate that redemption option altogether, and you're gonna be back to square one. So I would much rather people who are on the fence about travel right now because of the price use the points and miles that they have today to book that trip for later this year, this summer, this fall, even early 2027, to make use of them, get the most out of them that you can, knowing that the conditions are ripe to really maximize them at a time when travel is more expensive. Yeah. I think you're absolutely right. Um, I would add on to just this, this points and miles discussion that especially partner awards, um, using airline partners to book, so, you know, for instance, using Flying Blue to book Delta flights, using Air Canada to book United flights, using, um, Alaska or Cathay Pacific or Avios to book American flights, these are the ways that you're going to save because usually all of those awards are in award charts. They're fixed rates, so when that cash rate goes up to, uh, $600 one way, the Avios rate for that short American flight might still just be 9,000 Avios. So that's where you're really gonna find the best value. It's why it's important to, to know your airline partnerships and know your alliances. More on that in the future. Yeah. I would, I would also just add, you know, not only does this make a lot of sense for domestic, but I think it in some ways makes even more sense for a big international redemption because we have seen a couple of airlines raise fuel surcharges, and some of them pass the entirety of that cost onto award tickets that you book using miles. So for example, Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways have all announced that they've raised their fuel surcharges, and so that means that you pay more to book an award ticket with any of those programs than you did just a couple of months ago. But especially for the major US air- US programs and, and some of the other big ones that we talk about like, um, Air Canada Aeroplan, Avianca Lifemiles, a handful of others, you're not gonna pay fuel surcharges whatsoever, which means You know, you get to escape what, you know, many airlines probably added $200, $300 or more to the cost of a round-trip economy ticket to Europe. You don't have to worry about paying that at all when you use your miles. You're just gonna pay the government taxes and fees and maybe an additional smaller surcharge or two, but n- nothing like what they're charging on those cash fares. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, um, the next tool, so, you know, we're, we're talking about points and miles and, and we're mostly earning these things because of some of these travel credit cards that many of us hold. All of these cards have some, you know, laundry list of benefits, and a lot of them now include, you know, uh, either just an overall all-encompassing travel credit or some of them are specifically hotel credits. Um, you know, for some of the hotel credit cards you get free night awards. Uh, now is the time to take full inventory of what you have. Whatever credit cards you have, go take full inventory of all of those credits, and now is the time to use them. Um, I've just been going through this as I, as I plan this, uh, surprise to me trip for my anniversary in August, and I'm just thinking, "How can I, you know, use that, that, um, you know, hotel credit I get with my SkyMiles Platinum Card?" That's gonna help me with a night somewhere that I need it, right? And then I have this Bilt card now, which comes with its own new hotel credit, and that's a two-night stay. So I've been taking inventory of all of these, uh, hotel credits to see, you know, what I can piece together in terms of a stay, but I think the, the key is getting organized and understanding what you have, right? Yeah, I, I think you put it well, just doing the inventory using the spreadsheet that we put together, which we'll link in the show notes, um, to just make sure you know, "Oh yeah, I forgot about this benefit on my Delta Sky Miles Platinum Card or on my Amex Platinum Card. Did I use, you know, both annual hotel credits?" You get one from January through June and another from July onwards through the end of the year. I, in normal times, I, I get a little bit upset, not upset, I get frustrated by these credits, not just because there's so much to keep track of, but m- more so because it becomes something where it's, it's a chore to use it, and you wind up using it in ways that don't organically fit into your travels. There, it's very rare where you're like, "Well, I'm taking this trip to Dallas," or, "I'm taking this trip to Miami, and then I just check, and it's, oh, you know, this hotel that I wanted to stay at is eligible to use this credit, so I'm gonna use that," especially as we've seen, you know, cards like the Amex Platinum, the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and the Bilt Palladium Card really lean into that kind of structure. That has gotten much harder and harder. But right now, it's a really good starting point to actually build your trip around using some of those benefits so that you can go into it covering as much of the cost as you can. Yeah, yeah. Follow, follow the deal in these cases, too. This will Help you quite a bit. Um, but yeah, just make sure that you understand what you've got in your wallet. Um, it's hard, I know, uh, especially if you're, if you're opening multiple cards like s- many of us are. If you just have a few, just make sure you're using them. And a reminder that some of these credits happen semi-annually, which means you have until the end of June to use that kinda first round of it. Uh, so that is for the Amex Platinum, that's how it works, and I believe this Bilt Palladium card too is also a semi-annually, uh, distributed credit. So, um, you have until mid-June to make that booking, which will help you for a summer trip if you're looking to put one on the books. Um, Kyle, my next tool in the toolbox is letting the deal be your guide. Uh, I just mentioned, you know, following the deal for a hotel, but, uh, I'm, I'm gonna urge everybody if, if they're stuck on what to do, un-plan your trip, is how I'm gonna put it this way. Use Google Flights Explore, which is, if, if you haven't used it before, it's just you go to Google Flights, you put in your home airport in, uh, the origin, and the destination you leave blank. And then you put in the dates that you'd like to travel, and then it'll pop up a map with the prices to everywhere that you'd wanna go. Use that map to follow the deal to where your next vacation should be. Uh, if you have something in mind and you need to go there Thursday to Sunday, if you lack that flexibility, Kyle, uh, that's how you're going to get fleeced. That's how you're gonna end up paying $950. So I would say use Google Flights Explore, plan your trip around that. Or if you want us to do the work for you, wait for a Thrifty Traveler Premium deal to guide you as well. I mean, that's quite simply the easiest way to do it. But let the deal be your guide, and then plan from there. Do you agree? Yeah, totally. I, Google Flights Explore I think is, for as much as we have and will continue to talk about it, I do still think it is probably the single most powerful tool to find cheap flights because it builds in all of that flexibility. And it builds in options, whether it's the travel date or the destination especially, that you might otherwise not think of. So I l- literally as you were talking about this, singing its praises, I pulled up Google Flights Explore from Minneapolis. You can enter specific travel dates if you know there are specific dates, but better yet, you can do like one weekend in August or one weekend in October, whatever your travel period is. And so just looking at the map for nonstop flights from Minneapolis, you know, if I were set on going to Boston this, late this summer, the best fare apparently for a one-week trip to Boston in August is $399. But I can also get to Las Vegas for $219, Phoenix for $261 Austin for $197 round trip. Austin in August sounds miserable. You would melt, so don't do that. Um, or Denver for $120 round trip. You can filter it down to make sure, you know, are some of those fares on, like, Frontier, which you may or may not wanna fly. You can eliminate that if you want to. Uh, there's just, there's so much value in starting your trip-planning process with this tool. If you haven't used it yet, if you haven't used our premium service to get the deals just delivered to your inbox, the best of the best that our team finds from your home airport, either one is gonna set you up for success this summer and beyond. Yep. I, I, I'll reiterate, just un-plan your trip. Let, let, uh, the deal be your guide this summer, especially as fares are so high. Um, okay. Th- this, this last tip from me, Kyle, the last tip in my toolbox is, uh, just booking early or booking late right now, I think is kind of the, the two sweet spots for getting the best fare. So bookings way out in advance of your travel, eight to 10 months in advance, uh, especially if you're using points and miles, uh, are gonna be there. Right now, I mean, the last few months we've seen really good flight prices during next winter down to the Caribbean or down to the South Pacific. Uh, we've seen, you know, basically what are standard rates at that time of year. Uh, the airlines, those flights that are way out in the future, they're saying, "We're just gonna sell those as normal." Uh, and then flight prices at the last minute, so I'm talking, like, three to six weeks out, are also in some cases pretty good. We're seeing, like, some relatively cheap June fares right now, especially domestically, um, and, uh, you know, to Mexico and Canada and things like that. Uh- It's this, what we used to call the Goldilocks zone, the kinda middle of the road when the fares drop, that I think things are just really stingy right now. Uh, the, the, you know, mid to late summer and then into the early fall, airfare is really high. Um, and I'm seeing a little bit in my own anecdotal searches, uh, for lodging as well. But what do you think about my theory that kinda booking way out in advance or kinda in that almost last-minute window? Yeah. I, I've definitely noticed the three to six-month window. I would say on the booking far in advance, um, just a word of caution. You can still get fleeced on that, which I think just means especially for those, book a main cabin economy ticket. If you're flying domestically, it's gonna be worth paying an extra $75, $80 round trip per ticket because it gives you flexibility to change plans if something better pops up or if in fact the price of that ticket drops after you book. Then you can go rebook it, pocket the difference as a voucher to put towards a future trip. The odds that that's gonna happen with a, with a fare that you book within three to six weeks of departure are, are generally speaking much slimmer. It can and does happen, but it's less likely that prices are gonna drop versus if you're booking eight to 10 months in advance. You know, while, while we do in fact see plenty of more decent looking fares l- looking that far in advance, it is still quite possible that fares are gonna drop after you book. So protect yourself with a main cabin booking. Yeah. I'd say always protect yourself if you can. If, unless you're flying, you know, three weeks from now and you're certain you're gonna go, you can go ahead and get that basic economy rate. But, um, I, I mean, booking main cabin just protects you in so many ways, so I'd, I'll pretty much always recommend it. Um, any other tips for people? Anything left in your toolbox? Uh, if, if your toolbox is anything like mine, it's, it's a mess. There's just stuff everywhere and I'm just, I'm trying to get it organized as we go into the summer. It, it... My toolbox is very disorganized, but there's a lot of good stuff in there, and I think, I think we covered a lot. I mean, I want the message to be that, that travel headlines have been pretty rough for the last let's call it two months, and I think that's been reflected in our podcast. But that doesn't mean that we're down on travel. We're still trying to plan this stuff. We're still booking things, and we're going to be booking more because of, you know, our open-mindedness to different destinations, of going where there is a good deal, of following that Thrifty Traveler Premium Flight Deal or pulling up Google Flights Explore, knowing that we can get a good deal Either booking the best fare that we can find using cash or especially using points, and that we can make that deal better over time. Because at some point things are gonna change. Is it gonna change in time for a trip in July or August? I don't know. Is it gonna change for a trip in time for, you know, uh, March or April of 2027? I hope so. Yeah, definitely. I- w- we're not out on travel. We're still booking stuff. Kyle's definitely still booking stuff. I'm traveling tonight, and, uh, I think we're, we're, we're both kinda emptying the toolboxes to make sure. Actually, the word should have been toolbox and not, uh, flexibility for the drinking game, but- If, if we did both, people would be on the floor. Uh, you know what? Restart the pod. Uh, play it again, every toolbox and flexibility mention, and we'll see if you can make it to this here listener question. And the tequila for trophy, don't forget that. Tequila for trophy. All right, um, before a listener question, uh, we have some feedback from Kim, who wrote to us after the travel gear bonus episode. She said, "I was cracking up when you talked about Heelys. My seven-year-old daughter saw someone in the airport with them zooming around and immediately was begging for a pair. I pushed it off for a year, but she wouldn't let it go, so we are now proud owners of Heelys that she rarely wears except when we go to the airport, she has to wear them." Uh, this is awesome, Kim. Also, Kim mentioned, "Just wanted to mention the cup holder thing that goes on the window," it's called the Bevledge. We talked about this in the, the travel gear episode. "Seems ridiculous, but when you're traveling alone with two kids and all you... And..." Sorry. "And you all have a drink and then some kid needs to pee, being able to have a place to set the drinks while you put up the tray tables is life-changing." So an endorsement, a, a true endorsement of the Bevledge from Kim. I, I think the Bevledge was the f- the runaway winner when we did this story a couple of years ago of, like, five strange travel accessories. So Kim, Kim is another plus one. All right. The Bevledge, go get one. Um, that's not... No free ads, Bevledge. You need to come get us if you wanna sponsor the show. Um, okay, so, so Kim talked about Heelys. When we recorded this episode, Kyle, you and I had a horrible realization. Uh, just less than two hours after we finished recording our gear episode where I talked about how I would like a pair of Heelys even as an adult, uh, Roger Adams, the founder of Heelys, passed away at 71. Uh, his New York Times obituary published right after we finished recording. Kyle and I couldn't believe it. We, we sent the link back and forth to each other being like, "Oh my gosh, we, we were just talking about Heelys. I haven't talked about Heelys in 10 years, and then this happened." Um, according to his New York Times obit, his parents owned a roller rink growing up, which is such a cool story that he went on and invented this, like, shoe that just- Swept the nation for a few years there, and apparently is still- Yes high in the minds of, of the youth today, because, like, Kim's seven-year-old daughter is Heelying around airports as we speak. And 30-something men. So- And 30-something men. But, uh, just wanted to say, uh, long live Roger Adams, long live Heelys. Um, we're, we're so sorry that we talked about you right before your obit got published, but what a cool career, what a cool guy. Um- I hope you bought a pair in tribute to Roger. I need to buy a pair. I didn't buy them for my Italy trip. Uh, Megan spiked that idea. Didn't love it. Don't work great on cobblestone streets, I bet. Okay, now let's get to a question from Angela. Uh, Angela says, "I'm relatively new to the points game. I booked a repositioning flight for a flight booked with points to Europe. My question is, what happens if we're delayed on that repositioning flight and realize we're going to miss our flight to Europe that we booked on Swiss with United points? Do we cancel the reward flight in the hope of getting our points and taxes and fees refunded, then try to rebook immediately with points? Our repositioning flight is also on United. Not sure if that would help in this event." Kyle, what happens to Angela if she misses her flight because of positioning delays? Ooh, this is, this is rough territory. I mean, this is why you always give yourself as long of a buffer as you can deal with. Now, whether that's just a couple of hours... I mean, I would say, you know, especially ahead of a long-haul international trip, four hours should generally speaking be the minimum. Something like six is maybe a little bit better, and if it's a really important trip, flying in the night before and paying for a hotel n- a cheap hotel night to be, make sure you get to where you need to go with plenty of room to spare. That's why we talk about this stuff, because it's so important. If you're really cutting it close, I would, I would do two things. I would contact the airline that you booked with, so in this case, United, and see if they can get you on a, a different flight, because an agent with that airline may have more, more options to get you on the next possible flight than, um, you would have just searching yourself. It's not a guarantee, but it's possible and it's worth exploring. I think once you get really close, I mean, we're talking like boarding is about to begin in 10, 15 minutes, then it's probably better to cut your losses with the distinct possibility, if not likelihood That there's not gonna be a way to get you where you need to go easily. So I would really exhaust all your options to try to have the airline fix it for you. Suggest a couple of flights like, "Hey, there's a Swiss departure that leaves an hour later. Could we do that instead?" "Oh, there's something from New York and I'm at J- or from Newark and I'm at JFK. The Newark flart- flight departs in three hours. Could we do that instead?" Any of these possibilities, suggest them to an agent, see if there's any way to make it work, and if you can't, cut and run. Yeah. Like, like you said, I'll, I'll just reiterate, plan yourself a good chunky layover in, in these cases. I always do. This is why I put, um, a, you know, this is why I value lounge access so much, is 'cause I do this all the time with these- Mm-hmm these, uh, unprotected connections. Um, and just, you know, give yourself extra time, and if it does get close, get on the phone with somebody. If you don't think the agent's gonna be able to do the job for you, hang up and call again, go try and get a new agent. Do everything you can, and then if, you know, like, like you said, Kyle, if, if you get down really to the end of things, boarding has already started, then maybe just cancel your flight and see what else you can do. Um, if you want us to answer your questions on the podcast or if you have any feedback for us, hit us up at podcast@thriftytraveler.com. We might feature your question on next week's show. To close the show as always, we go on the spot, and I'm putting you on the spot this week. You ready? Mm-hmm. Okay, the trip you mentioned that you booked, uh, in the very first section of the show, you're going to Japan. You are flying Japan Airlines new business class on the A350. You are staying at the Park Hyatt Tokyo, and you are flying Delta One Suites home. Is that correct? That is right. Okay. Start bench cut those three. Oh. Um- And then we're gonna do this again when you're back- Okay ... and see, and see what you think. And we'll compare. Yeah. Uh, cut Delta One Suites. Okay. Uh, in, in large part because I've flown it before. That's not a knock against it. It's, it's a great flight, but I, I've done it before. I do also very firmly believe that, uh, Japan Airlines business class, especially on their new A350s, is, is gonna be, uh, m- many big steps above that. So I'm really excited for that. Oh, I, I tend to be averse to big cities. Um, I don't know why. It just, it doesn't scratch my travel itch as much as, you know, getting off the beaten path, going to a smaller town. A- any version of that, but Tokyo just does something for me, so I'm gonna start the Park Hyatt Tokyo because then that means I'm in the city. I'm in one of the coolest, most electric cities in the world, and I get to spend a couple of days exploring. And so then that means I need to bench, uh, the Japan Airlines A350 business class, which is no slight against them, it's just it had to go somewhere. I think, uh, you might be the, the authority I trust the most on what is the best- business class in the world, and I, I just wonder if, if you're gonna have a new number one after this trip because of this Japan Airlines flight. It- I think it'll be close. Yeah. I think, uh, it's gonna be, uh, you know, high expectations could, could be the death of this thing, but I think it'll probably be right there in the running with both Qatar Qsuites and ANA's The Room. Um, the Park Hyatt Tokyo, I stayed there in, like, it was, like, two months before they closed for this renovation, and now that it's open with the renovation, I'm really excited to see what you think of it, and, uh, we, we should compare notes, maybe, uh, do a little podcast segment comparing before and after the reno. Are you gonna try and recreate that, that legendary photo, uh, from Lost in Translation- ... of you, you sitting on the bed in the bathrobe? Oh, you know I am. It's happening. I gotta find that bathrobe somehow, so I hope they still, they still stock it in the rooms. Uh, that's gonna be an amazing trip. I'm really excited to hear all about it, especially that business class product and the new Park Hyatt Tokyo, perhaps my favorite hotel in the world, uh, and that was before the renovation. So okay, that's all for this week. Thank you so much for listening to the Thrifty Traveler podcast. Rate us five stars in your podcast platform of choice, and like and subscribe to the show on YouTube. Send this episode to someone you know who needs a vacation. If you have feedback for us, send me a note at podcast@thriftytraveler.com. We'd love to hear from you there. Kyle, tell us about the team. This episode was produced by your favorite host, who the only thing he loves more than flexibility is trophy, Gunnar Olsen. It was produced and edited by Sylvia Thomas and edited by Kyle Thomas. Our theme music is by Benjamin Tissot. See you next week. See ya.