This week, we go in-depth on Delta One business class from a person who is too young to know this much about flying Delta’s premier product around the world. Thrifty Traveler’s Kyle Thomas joins the show to talk about how he earned more than a million points and miles as a college student. We break down all the best Delta One deals, how to book them, and also touch on some news about credit card offers and wonder why it is we got so wistful about Spirit’s demise?
This week, we go in-depth on Delta One business class from a person who is too young to know this much about flying Delta’s premier product around the world. Thrifty Traveler’s Kyle Thomas joins the show to talk about how he earned more than a million points and miles as a college student. We break down all the best Delta One deals, how to book them, and also touch on some news about credit card offers and wonder why it is we got so wistful about Spirit’s demise?
Thanks to Cozy Earth for sponsoring today's episode! Head to https://cozyearth.com and use code THRIFTY for up to 20% off!
00:00 - Cool Kyle earning a million points as a college student
02:17 - Kyle welcomes us back from the Great Barrier Reef!
03:30 - Start, Bench, Cut: 3 new credit card offers to know
10:20 - Getting wistful about the official end of Spirit Airlines
15:13 - Thanks to our sponsor Cozy Earth!
16:10 - Flying Delta One to Tokyo, Seoul, Paris, Brisbane, and more
17:15 - The Delta One experience at check-in & the lounge
18:50 - Making sense of Delta’s different Delta One seats (Always use Aerolopa)
23:15 - Delta’s new suites are coming and other upgrades
26:20 - What it’s like onboard Delta One – meals & service
32:10 - The best ways to book Delta One
36:40 - Are Delta One bookings through partners officially dead?
38:30 - The Best Delta Skymiles deals we’ve sent in 2026 (so far!)
41:00 - Thrifty Traveler Premium Destination Filters
43:20 - How to earn a million points as a college student
51:15 - Kyle’s Australia trip: Qantas, scuba certification, and more
54:00 - Helping worried listeners with their Europe trips
58:00 - Kyle’s 23 countries in 23 years adventure
59:20 - What would Gunnar do with a million miles?
Catch Kyle’s brand new Delta One Review to Brisbane on YouTube!
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 Gunner, that's Kyle. Today, we're talking all about Delta One, including how to book it, where to find deals. We're gonna give you a look at what it's like after some recent flights, plus we're gonna show you how to earn enough points to actually fly Delta One.
But first, if you're watching on YouTube, you'll have noticed by now that Kyle looks really different. Way better than usual. And that's because Kyle Potter, who we now call Old Kyle to avoid confusion in the office, is on vacation, and he's being replaced by the one we call Cool Kyle. It's our award travel content creator and the video editor for this episode of the Thrifty Traveler podcast in every episode, it's Kyle Thomas.
Kyle, welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me.
Dude, we're really excited to have you. Um, to start the show today, I wanna find something out. I wanna find two things out. How old are you, and how many points did you earn as a college student?
Is this an HR violation?
Actually, yeah, I don't know if I'm allowed to ask you that.
Just between friends, how old are you and how many points did you earn as a college student?
Yeah, I just graduated college a few years ago. I am 22, and in college and i- in the time since then, I have earned one million points and miles.
Okay. So this is a stat that I, I knew the answer to, and I, I, I'm sure some of you are shocked right now to hear that a college student can earn one million points and miles, considering when I was in college, I earned zero points and miles in four years, uh, as a debit card swiper.
Um, okay, do you know other college students who are into this too, or are you a, a certain kind of sicko? Uh, w- like, do you know other people who are into this ecosystem that are your age?
I'm sure there's people out there. You know, who nev- there's, there's a lot of people out there, but I definitely would consider myself a sicko.
Um, never, when I, when I started on my credit card journey, I never would've thought that I would've ended up in this place, but It's actually, it's a, it's a fun, uh, I mean, we call it a game, but not really a game, but it's a, it's a f- a fun, uh, fun stat to, uh, to point out
It is. And I wanna get, later in the show, we're gonna get all into how to earn a million points, especially as a college student or a young person, but we've got some other stuff to get into first.
So today on the show, we're talking about Delta One, we're talking about some interesting new credit card offers, we say one final goodbye to Spirit Airlines, and then Kyle's gonna show us how to earn a million points. All that and more.
It's your favorite video editor coming to you live from the Great Barrier Reef.
Welcome back to The Thrifty Traveler podcast. Woo.
All right, welcome back, Kyle. That was you from a few weeks ago at the Great Barrier Reef. Um, we're gonna talk hopefully a little bit more about that trip at the end of the episode here. But before we get into the news, what's the coolest thing you saw under the sea?
Oh, so many great things. Um, yeah, I got my scuba diving certification when I was down in Australia.
Um, so many incredible things in the Great Barrier Reef, filled with marine life. I think the coolest one, though, uh, we got to a place, I think it was called Flynn Reef, and they're like, "All right, guys, today we're gonna see Brian." Brian is this, I don't even know how old he is, but he, he's bigger than ... He's, he's a sea turtle, and he is bigger than this table.
Like, he is two meters long. And they're like, "Yep, Brian's gonna be here today. Um, can't miss him. Huge sea turtle." Uh, sure enough, Brian was there. Um, but you know, sharks, uh, clownfish, all those other things that you'd expect to find in the Great Barrier Reef. Um, just absolutely incredible experience.
Oh, that's so cool.
All right, I want to, uh, show everybody, uh, later in the episode how we can book an experience like that, too. All right, let's get into something hot and something cold to look at the good and the bad news in travel this week, and we'll start with something hot. So there are three credit card sign-up bonus offers that I think everybody should be aware of.
So Kyle, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go through them all here, and then you're gonna give me your bench start cut of these three offers. Sound good?
Let's do it.
Okay. Um, I wanna start by reiterating, credit cards are serious business. Uh, you should not be opening cards willy-nilly, spending money on them you can't pay off.
Uh, credit card debt is a serious problem, and caution is always the best strategy when it comes to this stuff. We've talked about it a million times, but it's always worth reiterating. If you're in a stable place and you're looking to rack up some travel rewards Take a look at these three offers. All right, I'm gonna start with the, uh, the American Express Gold Card update.
For its 60th anniversary, Amex made some changes to the Gold Card. One is negative. Uh, you now have to spend $8,000 to get the signup bonus, which can be as high as 100,000 Amex Membership Rewards. That's a jump of 2,000 from the previous spending requirement, which is annoying. Um, quite a bit of money.
The positive offers, or the positive parts of this however, are, uh, some really fun, like, Amex offers, including a free year of Uber One, which is great. Uh, nearly $100 towards Clear Concierge, which, uh, I'm hoping to use at some point, especially now that I have to drag a, a baby through the airport all the time.
Having Clear Concierge sounds like a nice little, uh, you know, Uber straight to my gate, um, you know, uh, travel companion there. They also increased some earnings, earning 5X on hotels and 2X on rental cars and cruises when you book through Amex Travel, Hertz Five Star status, and then maybe the most important one, Kyle, uh, rarely do, does, does news in this industry bring a tear to my eye, but you can now use your $10 a month dining credit at Buffalo Wild Wings.
This was huge, monumental in my household. Um, that's the American Express Gold Card. The Chase Sapphire Reserve also has a new offer out. Uh, the bottom line here is 150,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards after spending $6,000 in three months. That is, uh, much higher than its usual offer of 125,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Uh, importantly, Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders are now eligible to earn the bonus and hold the card, which is something that's new. When CSR came out with its recent update, we were a little peeved that people with the CSP weren't able to earn that bonus, and now you can. Uh, all the other perks are the same as when they refreshed the card last year.
It's $795 a year, so it's a big, chunky annual fee, but you get lots of stuff with it. Uh, and then finally, the third offer is actually a, a trio of cards. Uh, Alaska, uh, all of its Atmos credit cards have limited time bonuses, too. You can earn up to 100,000 Alaska Atmos and a 25,000 point global companion award with the Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite card...
Jesus, that's a terrible name. After spending $6,500 within the first 90 days of holding the card. Um, the Ascent Visa Signature card gets you an 80,000 bonus point offer, and then the business card also gets you an 80,000 bonus point offer. Okay, lot of information at you right there, but between the Amex Gold, the Alaska card offers, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve offers, give me a start bench cut, Kyle.
What are your thoughts?
Yeah, I went back and forth with a lot of these. Uh, a lot of great offers out right now, especially for me, trying to shake up what my credit card game is. Um, but- To, to start, I gotta go with those Alaska offers. Um, I first got into the Alaska ecosystem last year, um, and I made my first redemption.
That's how I got back from Australia, using Atmos Rewards. Um, so that up to 100,000 Alaska Atmos, and that 25,000, uh, point Global Companion Award, um, and that, plus that 50% discount on a, on a ticket. What an easy way to save, especially when we talk about rising airfare. And Alaska's really trying to change the game right now for what they're doing, so I think I'm gonna go with Alaska for my start.
Uh, next for my bench, I kinda went back and forth on this, but, uh, my bench is gonna be that CSR all-time high offer of 150,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards. Um, I've got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card right now, and I've been considering switching to the Reserve partly because I lost my lounge access, uh, that Priority Pass lounge access when Capital One changed up their rules.
Um, and we now have three, uh, Priority Pass lounges at MSP. That's right. Uh, so I don't have access to any of them anymore. Um, but huge piece to consider, that card has that, you know, almost $800 annual fee, so if you're even thinking about getting this card, uh, you gotta make sure that that annual fee is worth it.
Take some serious time to consider the, the credits and the benefits that come with it 'cause otherwise, uh, I'd, I'd say no. Um, but also, the fact that they recently changed that language, that if you had a Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can now get that Chase Sapphire Reserve. Um, so, uh, a lot, lot more people are eligible for this welcome offer, um, so now's a great time to consider.
Uh, if it's worth that price tag, I think this all-time high offer is pretty hard to beat. Um, that then leaves my cut as the Amex Gold, uh, my first credit card love. Uh, it pains me to kinda say this, but, uh That, uh, increased spending and some of these changes, they don't really move the needle for me, um, in a way that I find valuable compared to some of the other cards.
But that, that Amex Buffalo Wild Wings adding it to their, their monthly dining credit options, uh, $9.99 unlimited appetizers, I'm listening. Uh, they also added that Hertz Five Star status. I, I feel like every credit card now comes with, you know, some sort of status. Um, I... Fun fact, I had Hertz President Circle status, their highest tier, when I was 20.
You can't even open a Hertz account until you're 21.
That's crazy. So you were, you had the highest level of Hertz status before you had an account.
Before I could even create an account, you know? And then, you know, I'm still considered a young driver to them- ... so then I get tacked on with all the other fees and stuff, and rental car companies hate people like me.
They do. They really do.
Um, they also changed up some of those other credits. Um, with that dining credit, they added a, a platform called Wonder. Uh, I was looking into it, but it's only available in a handful of markets. It's mainly, like, the East Coast in cities like Boston, Philly. That credit, not, uh, really beneficial to me.
Um, then I will also note, I tried getting a retention offer for my Gold card this year because I didn't find value in some of those changes, but I got nothing. So I think that's why this is, uh, a cut for me.
All right, so you're starting the Alaska Atmos card offers. You have benched the Chase Sapphire Reserve offer, and the Amex Gold offer gets cut.
Thank you for indulging in my little game. All right, let's move on. Let's go from the Amex Gold to something cold. Did you write that in my rundown?
I did.
If you put it in the prompter, Ron Burgundy's gonna read it. All right? That's really nice. You're good. You're... Maybe you might be better at podcasting than I am.
Uh, don't tell the bosses. Okay, uh, I saw a quote, "Spirit guests should not go to the airport." End quote. That is on the top of Spirit Airlines website on Saturday morning. Um, honestly, that was always my advice to anybody flying the famous yellow airline, and now it's what their own website says, and it's, uh, it's pretty sad.
Spirit is now gone. They've ceased operations after years of bankruptcies, months of worrying, and days of watching them wind it all down. Uh, they're no longer flying airplanes for passengers. Um, Tuesday would have been Spirit's 34th birthday, leaving the airline stuck at merely 33 and a half years old.
On Saturday morning, the last flight landed at Dallas. There was some, uh, some people found the air traffic control, um, who was kinda giving them a, a best of luck and a thanks for everything on their way out. It was kind of a, a, a little teary, uh A moment there on air traffic control, but their last airplane landed in Dallas.
Uh, every other airline has jumped in with these rescue fares to help Spirit customers whose reservations got canceled. Um, a lot of other airlines have pretty coldly and callously just moved right in and filled up their gates and filled up their routes. Uh, the body's not even cold yet, and the, the airlines are pouncing.
So, um, Spirit says it's going to process refunds for everybody whose flights were canceled. Often in liquidation scenarios like this, you might not see that money. Uh, as we've seen in the past, you might be better off with a credit card chargeback, so you can just tell the bank that Spirit never provided you the service that you bought, and you can get your money back in that way if you paid with a credit card.
Um, ultimately though, Spirit does say that they're, they are gonna try and give everybody their refunds back. So just wait a few days before you do any chargebacks or anything like that. Uh, Kyle, I'll admit I kind of found myself a little wistful about Spirit after it dissolved on Saturday. I mean, I've, I've been on the news a few times in the last few days, and everyone's talking about this, but Spirit revolutionized cheap travel in the US, something that's, like, really core to what we do at Thrifty Traveler.
Um, they created just, like, this cutthroat competition that forced other airlines to lower their fares all over the country. I'll never forgive them for making a- all these other airlines introduce basic economy fares. Uh, and I will never miss flying Spirit Airlines. I was at a bachelor party on Friday night, and I mentioned that Spirit was going under a- as we all sat there, and everybody went around the table and gave their one time they flew Spirit story, which I think is so indicative of, of, like, what, what was wrong with Spirit.
Like, everybody was like, "Yeah, I flew them once and never again." Um, but did you ever fly Spirit, and, and how do you feel now that they're gone?
Yeah, no, I never flew Spirit. I was always told growing up, "Friends don't let friends fly Spirit." Um, and I, I think that was before I truly understood the importance of what Spirit brings to the table, um, and that truly they weren't just a cheap airline, but they made other airlines cheaper, and that benefited you and me for, you know, or other people who never stepped foot on a Spirit plane.
Um, and, uh, it's, you know, kinda sad to see them go, to, uh, to know that higher airfare is coming. Uh, I mean, Cirium released data from when Spirit ent- or exited markets, uh, earlier in the year when they, you know, when they exited Minneapolis and Detroit and other places. Um- Airfare rose about 23% after, uh, Spirit exited those markets because they're just, there isn't as much competition, and so there's less pressure from the bigger airlines to keep fares down.
Uh, so real blow for, for people, but, uh, it, it was hard to see 'em go because y- you know, no matter how much money was thrown at Spirit or, you know, if, if they did go through with that government bailout, they're, they're just gonna r- blow through that cash anyways still.
Yeah. I mean, I, I, you know, Spirit by the end was just such a, a punchline and, and a punching bag in the industry and, but, you know, people forget that, you know, 20, 30 years ago they really revolutionized how things were in air travel, for the better in a lot of cases.
Um, but, you know, uh, how many jokes on, uh, SNL's Weekend Update ended with a Spirit punchline over the years? I mean, they probably averaged one a month. And, uh, now they're gonna have to find a new punching bag for the airline industry. I'm not gonna nominate anybody. I'll, I'll let their reputations do it for themselves.
Uh, anything else on Spirit?
I'll, um, rest in peace. Can, can we have a moment of silence?
We can. We can. This one's for Spirit. All right, when we get back, we're talking Delta One, the opposite of Spirit Airlines. Kyle's gonna tell us all about it and how to book it, but first we're gonna take a quick break. 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 on an important travel topic, and this week we are diving into the mind of young Kyle Thomas, who is already the best traveler at the company Uh, which is super annoying, honestly.
Uh, I'm pretty bitter about it. We're gonna start with Delta One, Kyle, and, and then I want to get into how you earned a million points. Um, and then we'll save a few minutes to talk about Australia at the end. But first, Kyle, where has Delta One taken you? What flights and destinations have you flown Delta One?
Yeah, my very first, uh, time I got to fly Delta One, uh, was going from Minneapolis to Tokyo. Uh, that was my very first points and miles redemption. Uh, but since then, I've also flown to places like Seoul, Paris, Madrid, London, Athens, and then most recently Brisbane. Uh, quite an extensive list. Um-
This makes me sick, man
I, I kinda hate you. I'm sure some people out there feel that way as well, but, um, so tell me, when someone flies Delta One, what should they expect? Take us from the curb, the curb to curb, right? Like, check-in to when you land. What is the Delta One experience like?
Yeah, there's, and there's actually kind of a new Delta One experience over the last few months, especially if you're flying Delta, um, out, out of a Delta hub, and if es- particularly if you're starting there, like here at MSP.
Um, but each Delta hub now has a dedicated Delta One check-in that they, um, it's like a, a pr- a private area that, you know, only Delta One passengers can go in. Super private, you know, no lines. Um, you know, there's snacks and drinks waiting for you. Um, you know, some of their, their best staff are typically at those check-in gates.
Um, so really nice, really convenient. Uh, then you, uh, with that, you get, uh, Sky Priority access, so priority bags, which Sky Priority bags to me are still debatable. Like, I always feel like they either come out first or they're the last ones to come out. Like-
It's really a crapshoot. It de- depends on the airport, but Sky Priority baggage tags mean almost nothing.
Yeah, it's, it's kind of a joke. I, I'm not gonna lie. Um, but no, and then, uh, you get access to the Delta Sky Club with, uh, s- uh, your Delta One ticket. Um, or if you are flying out of JFK, LAX, Boston, or Seattle, you have access to the Delta One lounges there. Um, the other, uh, main Delta hubs will be getting Delta One lounges soon.
We just got word a few months ago that MSP will most likely be getting one in the next few years, so excited to, uh, to see that come to our home. Um, you know, then on board, uh, this is one of the things that I think Delta struggles with the most, and that's consistency in their seats, in that you don't fully know what you're going to be getting, um, unless you truly take the time to look at, you know, what the plane type is.
Um, Delta has six different configurations of their Delta One suites. Some of them, uh, like on their A350s Very awesome. Others, you know, on their 767-300s, and even they still have some 757s running with Delta One, those seats are woefully outdated and just-
Yeah ...
sad.
Yeah, I- so it's, like, prehistoric in terms of business class seats.
Um, I'll just, I'll reiterate here because we have a full guide to this on our website. It's called Delta One Seats Ranked, and I'll just say the Delta One suites are the nicest ones, and you've flown all of those, I believe. The new A350, the A330-900neo, and the 767-400s have also nice Delta One, but the 767s don't have a closing door.
Uh, the planes you should avoid for Delta One seats are the A330-300, the A330-200, the 767-300, and there are also a few old A350s leased from LATAM that have, like, a 2-3-2 Delta One setup, but they're v- that's very rare. I, I doubt you'd find that. Yeah,
those, uh, those planes were actually recently phased out.
Oh,
okay, they are.
They're gone now officially. Um, so you don't have to worry about those. I know actually some people like them because some people say that if, when you're in those suites, and especially when the doors are closed, it kinda feels, like, very tight. Little
boxed in.
Um- Yeah ... and those other ones were very open and a little more spacious, but then, you know, lack of privacy and, you know, y- if you're, if you have a window seat, you don't have direct aisle access, which is a big, uh, uh, disappointment, especially, you know, if you're like me, when a lot of these times I'm traveling all by myself.
Right. And so you don't wanna crawl over a stranger.
So I would say if, if, uh, you just got dizzy with all the letters and numbers there on the airplanes, just go to AeroLopa. AeroLopa is always gonna be your friend here. Uh, just aerolopa.com. You can search for your flight number now, uh, and you could see the setup that you're looking at flying.
I always go to AeroLopa before I book anything just to make sure I can see what's actually on the seat map. The seat map that the airlines give you when you're booking does not always show exactly what it's gonna look like on there.
I think it's gotten a little bit better, especially if you are booking, uh, Delta One on a desktop, not the mobile app.
Mm-hmm, yeah. Like, the mobile app, it just shows, like, a square and y- it, it won't show you the actual picture of what it looks like. Uh, but on desktop it shows you a little bit more of what it looks like. Um, it'll at least show you the stagger of, you know, what seats are closer to the window or what seats are closer to the aisle, but then again, using tools like that and looking at what that plane type is up at the top of the, the seat chart- Yeah
that'll help determine what, uh, what plane type you'll be sitting on. Actually, I don't mind those old A330s. They're not Terrible- Yeah ... I would say. Um, th- I mean, they're still spacious. Obviously the, the, you know, the seat backs are old and, um, not as nice compared to some of the other ones, but luckily I have not flown on those ancient 767s, and I don't plan on doing that anytime soon.
I would rather not spend my money or my miles on that incredibly old experience, but those planes are still flying into the 2030s, so-
Yeah ...
we'll see.
I, I don't wanna f- sound, like, elitist, like you should only look for your Delta One suite. Delta One in any capacity is going to be very comfortable, and way more comfortable than anything that you'll find behind that on the plane.
I- we're just saying in terms of the very best value for your points or your cash, you should try and look for those best planes. Um, and if, you know, i- if you- if there's two planes flying on the same day for the same price, just make sure that you pick the best one, right?
Absolutely, and I mean, you know, for those listening that are like, "What is this 22-year-old doing flying Delta One all, you know, all the time?"
And, like, I, I'm just incredibly grateful to, to have a position where I can, you know, do these things and to have these kinds of experiences. You know, just e- even to fly and go places in general is a, is a privilege. But, um, to be able to, to have these kinds of experiences are really cool, and, um, to be able to make sure that other people are getting the most out of their experiences is, is a f- is a cool experience, too.
Yeah, for sure. Um, I wanna get back to the review and just, but I, but first, while we're talking about the seats, um, we've got some exciting new seats coming, uh, with Delta One. Uh, they have a new A350. The A350-1000 will get these brand-new suites. It's a whole new redesign. What can you tell me about these?
Yeah, 10 years since, uh, the, these, uh, current Delta One suites came out, Delta has, uh, a plan for their next generation. Uh, overall fairly similar, um, but these w- uh, seats will look more like their A330s in the, the reverse herringbone, uh, layout. That just- That just
means that the seat faces the aisle.
Yeah, um, which, uh, not gonna lie, I like having my seat straight on- Mm-hmm
um, versus that kind of angled, um, seat. But with these angled seats, they now do get three extra inches of leg room, which these A350-1000s are going to be for those ultra long-haul routes. Um, and so to have extra space on, you know, those 14-, 15-, 16-, 17-hour flights, that's, that's gonna be very nice. And, um, uh, you know, I'm 6'2" and I find that there's pretty good leg room in those Delta One suites, but, you know, those extra few inches of leg room make all the difference, I'd say.
I'm gonna need you to be at least 6'4" or 6'5". If I'm gonna lie and say that I'm 6'1", I need you, I need you to pump those numbers up for me. Okay? Uh, Kyle, um, a retrofit is coming for the A330s, too, those ones that I told you to avoid, the A330-300s and 200s. Those ancient seats are getting- Something that looks like these new suites, right?
Yeah, they're, uh, I mean, they're gonna look kinda more like the, uh, the current generation, um, in that they're facing, uh, straight on, not that reverse herringbone situation. But I am really excited for this retrofit, um, these new black interiors. I think everybody is doing these kinda, like, black or, like, you know, muted interiors, and I think everybody just looks the same now.
I wonder if it's because they don't look as dirty or a- like, they age a little better
maybe? That, that could be the case, you know- Yeah ... with, uh, the, the walls on the Delta One suites are white- Yeah ... and so they can really easily pick up scuffs and marks, and it's, it's really easy to tell- Yeah ... when they're dirty.
When I'm smashing my Away bag into the side of it and scuffing them up and, yeah. Uh- Mash- bashing the stroller in there, it helps to have a dark, dark interior.
But yeah, no, these, uh, these, uh, A330s will actually be, uh, have some nicer seats than the current A350s. Um, all seats are being upgraded with larger 4K seat back screens.
Right now they just have, you know, standard HD. Um, even economy is getting larger 4K screens, so it's not just Delta One. You know, we're not for- we're not gonna forget about the people in the back. I, you, you will find me back there on, uh, on my, on other flights. I, I'm not ex- flying exclusively Delta One. I don't, I don't have a trust fund or anything.
Um, then, uh, you also get, uh, some extra storage for your shoes. Um, and, uh, Delta says that by 2030, 90% of their long-haul fleet will have these new Delta One suites, or have suites in general. So it's a, a much needed, um, update to hopefully have a little bit more consistency with, uh, their product, especially if they wanna call it premium.
Nice. Okay, let's go back to the review. So you're, you're, uh, through your Delta One check-in, you're through the Delta One lounge or your Delta Sky Club, and you're heading on board. Um, what is your, uh, your boarding drink of choice? I know you're not, like, a big booze bag like I am. You're, you're more health-conscious.
Yeah, no. Um, I don't, I don't drink alcohol, but, uh, so I always get the orange juice when I hop on board. I remember the first time, um, that I flew Delta One, I spilled the orange juice right away- ... and I was like, "Ugh, I don't belong here."
That's okay. That's okay. I'm sure you're not the first person to spill their orange juice. Oh,
no, absolutely not. I'm
sure you weren't the only person- Um ... on the flight to spill the orange
juice. No, but then, uh, you know, you also, uh, with that, you, uh, get to pre-select a meal beforehand if you'd like. Um, I would recommend that you pre-select a meal 'cause sometimes they also come with additional options, and depending on where you're seated in the Delta One cabin, uh, you can actually- they'll actually run out of your preferred- Yeah
food choice. And so if you have, if you have the chance, uh, try to pre-select that meal. Um-
Yep, always. That's any business class flight. If they allow you to order ahead, always do it- Yeah ... or try and sit in the first row.
Definitely. Um, no, and then, you know, also on board you get other amenity kits. Delta currently has a partnership with Missoni, um, so they have a Missoni amenity kit.
You know, it's just standard toothbrush, socks, toothpaste. Um, nothing real special. Um, but then they also have Missoni bedding, which I think their bedding is fairly comfortable. I'm excited to see on these new A350s, they say that they're going to have more of a plush memory foam. On the current Delta One suites, uh, they say that, some people say that the seats are kinda hard, especially, you know, after you're sitting for 14 hours.
And so they say that these new, um, cloth seats with extra memory foam will be softer and a, a, a better experience for, uh, for passengers.
Yeah. Did you... I know I've heard that thing that the Delta One seats as they are currently constituted can get a little hard. Did you feel that on the way to Australia?
Uh, actually, not really. Okay. I mean, I also... That was s- one of the, the, uh, it was, let's see, a 14-and-a-half-hour flight. That's the second-longest flight that I've taken. Um, but I was, I mean, we left at- midnight- Okay ... uh, uh, LA time, so that's, you know, 2:00 AM here. And so at that point I was just exhausted, 'cause then we also went through a full meal service, and I just knocked out.
And like, I felt like it was very comfy. Slept pretty much the entire time. Um, yeah, yeah. I, I, I like 'em.
Nice. Good. Okay. Um, so you said the bed, the bed was very comfortable to you. Maybe anything would've been comfortable to you at that point, but you like the, in your other experiences flying to Delta One, like when you flew to Europe, you know, that's a short bedtime.
It's kind of like a quick get down to bed and sleep as much as you can. How did you find it that time?
Yeah, honestly, I don't even know if Delta One is worth it on routes like that because the, I feel like the flight attendants are trying to rush you to get you your meal, which I don't blame them at all.
Like, you know, there's some people that, like, they just wanna sleep or, like, they'll even skip the meal so that they can prioritize sleep. But even if you are getting a full meal and, um, then, you know, you're getting through it all quick, you only have, like, really, like, what, three, maybe four hours-
Right ...
to sleep, and then, you know, you're landing in Europe in the morning, and no matter what, you're still gonna be tired.
Um, so depending on your situation, I don't know if I would say it would be worth it. You know, maybe, um, if you're looking to splurge, just do Premium Select. Um, I think that might be a better, uh, bang for your buck. Um, but, uh, yeah, it's a, it's a little bit harder to compare on those ones.
All right. Save your Sky Miles for the ultra long hauls- Exactly
says, says Kyle Thomas. Um, anything else on board that, that, uh, stuck out at you? Any, you know, special things with the meal or anything? Uh,
I, I mean, one of my favorite things on board are those ice cream sundaes. Oh, yeah. Uh, I, I'm, I, I'm sad because th- on my last few flights they, um, usually they bring out the dessert cart, and they make it right in front of you.
And it's just like, it, it's a super cool experience to have a ice cream sundae made for you on a plane. Um, but the last few times they just say, "Oh, do you want the ice cream sundae?" They ask you what toppings you want, and then they go back and make it. Oh. Um, and so it's just, it's not as novel. Seriously.
First, first world things to complain about right here, right?
Kyle's done with Delta One after his most recent ice cream experience. No, that's, that's a good one. I, I have heard that the, the ice cream sundaes are awesome. Anything else about, uh, the whole experience? Anything else that you wanna add to your review before we tell people how to book it?
I, I think one of the, the coolest things, and I mean, just with, uh, how I've been able to book them with such cheap points and miles, um, one of the people that was sitting behind me in Delta One wa- and I, I didn't even realize this until I got off the plane, 'cause, you know, th- they got, you, you got your walls.
You're in your own little cubicle. You don't know who else is there. Uh, but- The second most followed person on TikTok, Charli D'Amelio, she's got over 150 million followers, was sitting just a few rows behind me. I had... And on that same flight, uh, an Olympic medalist figure skater was also sitting on there.
And then on my flight back from Australia, I had an NBA player sitting a few rows behind me. And then there's just, you know, little old me. And it's, it's super cool to be able to say that, you know, while these people are spending thousands and thousands of dollars on this experience, I'm just using my points and miles.
Yeah.
And I have a strategy that allows me to spend a lot less miles than other people would, and I get that exact same experience as other people. So I think that's kinda cool.
Yeah, I, that is the coolest part about, uh, flying in business class is just knowing, looking around and being like, "Man, somebody paid six grand to be here, and I'm out of pocket $5.60 and some points and miles."
So-
Exactly All
right, let's, let's talk about how to book Delta One. Um, this Australia one, what did it cost you? How'd you book it?
Yeah. Um- I actually, uh, I rebooked this flight. I initially booked it for 160,000 Delta SkyMiles, which I actually thought was an incredible deal.
And this was MSP-LAX-Brisbane?
Correct. Okay.
Yeah. Um, which, uh, we, we've, we've kinda been saying this, that some of these newer routes that Delta or other carriers are operating, those are some of the best spots to find good availability in business class or even just points and miles in general at much cheaper rates because they're new routes, they wanna fill these seats, they want to, you know, show people that your miles have value.
And so this was actually a great place. I loved Brisbane. A super fun city. It had access to all the other cities, the Gold Coast, Byron Bay, and then going up north to go to the Great Barrier Reef. Um, so it ended up working out really well for me in my itinerary. Um-
And then so you rebooked it, you said.
You- Yeah ... 160K the first time, and then what'd you get it for eventually?
Yeah, so f- first off, usually these SkyMile rates are, you know, going for 400,000 SkyMiles. Yeah. Incredibly outrageous, and Delta knows that they can charge that because there are people who are willing to pay that. Um, and that's what most people see.
Um, but then we got, uh, or we had a Thrifty Traveler premium alert here, um, that, uh, the lowest, for the lowest SkyMiles rate to Australia we've seen in years, as low as 102,000 SkyMiles directly from LA. Um, and so immediately I get on the phone with Delta, and I kid you not, within 30 seconds they rebooked me And they redeposited, uh, almost 45,000 Delta SkyMiles into my account because, um, when you're booking with SkyMiles and it's not basic economy, you have that free change and cancellation, uh, policy.
Uh, so I was able to get it from 160 down to just 114,000 SkyMiles, which included that first class connection from Minneapolis to LA.
Yeah, that's such, such a good deal, and really smart to just stay on top of it. That was a, uh, a Premium, a Thrifty Traveler Premium alert that we sent for that one when the price went down.
I remember you, you had just started here, I think, when, when this happened. You were-
Yeah, no, and I, I was, I was telling our Premium team, I was like, "I'm going to Australia. Help me find business class." "I don't, I, I would rather, I would, I have the miles for it. Let, p- I just need to find a good deal." And then they sent this out, and I was like, "Oh my God, it's happening."
Yeah, it's, it's important to note, like, uh, almost all of these cases, and I'm sure your other Delta One bookings were probably because of Delta SkyMiles flash sales, which, which seemingly pop up at random. There's usually a little rhyme or reason. Like you said, new routes where they're trying to fill seats, they, they often do this.
Um, you can usually find, like, some shoulder season, so l- you know, the not peak summer, and not spring break, and, you know, the, not, uh, holidays, like those peak travel times. You can usually find some SkyMiles flash sales, but when they happen, they kinda happen all at once and then not again for a few months.
So if you're, if you're looking at these same routes that Kyle's talking about and you're seeing 400,000 each way and you might be thinking, "This guy's a fool. What are, what are you seeing?" It's because these flash sales do kinda happen. They pop up almost at random.
Yeah, no, and like we, uh, we have videos on our social media that are talking about these exact things, and we get comments all the time that people are like, "This never happens," or, you know, "This is BS," uh, like, or, "This is phantom availability."
Like, "What you're, you're telling people is not true." And I'm like, "Do you, here's m- here's my receipt." Yeah. "Here you go 'cause I'm, I'm telling you, it's, it's happening, but Delta's just not telling you about it, and so they're gonna keep conditioning you to believe that that's what the price is." Yeah.
So we're not talking, like, the standard rates here.
W- let's talk about some of the flash sale rates. So some of the other places that you've flown, what rates and SkyMiles did you get them at?
Yeah, so n- my first Delta One redemption to Tokyo, uh, I booked that at 170,000 SkyMiles round trip. Uh, I think Seoul, uh, I paid about the same price. Um, and then, uh, for some of my other ones, I actually didn't use SkyMiles.
I used Delta's partner, Flying Blue, uh, to book, uh, my flights to Paris and Madrid. Those were 60,000 Flying Blue points each way. So, you know, when you, when we say that 114,000 Delta SkyMiles is a really great value- You can book it on a partner for 60,000 if that availability is there. Key caveat, that availability is harder to find, especially today.
Yeah.
Um, and usually those taxes and fees are a little bit higher, but, um-
Let's, let's talk about that quickly because, you know, it used to be the gold standard of a Delta One booking was, uh, booking with Virgin Atlantic, you could get Delta One for 50,000 points to Europe. Um, that cooled off over the years, both in terms of it was devalued, now that, that rate is much higher, the taxes and fees are much higher, but also the availability just stopped popping up.
Kinda right at the same time that Delta started to run these big flash sales. They decided, "Let's just keep all these customers in-house. Let's not send these people over to Flying Blue to book our stuff for, uh, a third of the price," a 10th of the price in some cases. Um, but, you know, we haven't sent an alert for availability bookable with Virgin or Air France fl- KL on Flying Blue this year.
Um, is this, d- are we, are we, uh, calling it, uh, time of death? Uh, is it, are we dead here? Is this redemption dead, or are you holding out hope?
I, I don't wanna say this is Spirit and that- ... you know, it's, uh, we're, we're, we're just waiting for it to die. But, um, I mean, especially in our deals, we, you know, really try to make sure that we're finding wide availability for two-plus passengers, um, because not everybody, like me, is just traveling solo or, um, so you need to have multiple seats on those routes.
Um, so availability definitely is still there, but it's definitely more, uh, scarce and, you know, you're often gonna find maybe just one, maybe two seats. Um, and so definitely requires a little bit more work, uh, to book, but if you can find it, uh, it, it generally is a, a pretty good value.
Very good. Um, so I, I think you and I would both agree, and I know Kyle's, Kyle Potter, old Kyle, um, uh, vacation Kyle whatever you wanna call him, uh, he, he also agrees that SkyMiles are now the best way to book Delta One.
And, you know, you kinda gotta earn a lot of them, which we're gonna talk about how to do that in a minute. But, um, I just wanted to give everybody kind of a frame of reference on what we're looking at with SkyMiles rates right now. So, so far in 2026, we sent our Thrifty Traveler premium subscribers the following deals.
Uh, we had JFK to Malta from 84K SkyMiles each way. Uh, that included peak summer. Um, that's an awesome deal, uh, on the brand new route there from JFK to Malta. We had a deal to Seoul from 89,000 SkyMiles each way, and that these were both with the 15% off discount built in. That's the discount you get when you hold a Delta SkyMiles credit card.
Um, Tokyo from 127,000 SkyMiles each way. That included peak cherry blossom season too, which is an amazing deal. We also had one to Santiago, Chile from 146,000 SkyMiles round trip. That was kind of a shoulder season deal right, right off of their peak summer down in Chile. And then we actually had a cash deal this year too.
Uh, we had one to Quito, Ecuador, um, flying on the route from Atlanta to Quito and with connections from all over the US from $1,999 round trip. Uh, that also was shoulder season flying. But some really good deals there to give you kind of a frame of reference on, you know, what you should look for for a really good Europe flash sale.
That's the Malta deal at 84,000 SkyMiles. It's, you know, closer to 100, 120 from most cities. Um, and then, you know, Seoul, Tokyo, Santiago, and Ecuador, so it kinda gets you all over the world. You're pretty much never gonna find a SkyMiles flash sale to Cape Town or Johannesburg, at least in Delta One.
That's the one that I'm waiting for, like- That's the one everyone's
waiting for
Delta, if you're listening if you really wanna say that SkyMiles have value drop that, drop that price. I, I will be, I, I have the miles ready. I'm, let me book it.
This is a good test of your clout right now. We're gonna, we're gonna see if Delta's really listening to you.
How, how much power do I have? Can I, can I bend my words to a, to a CEO- Um
of one of the world's largest airlines?
By the way, you are working on, and, and it should be published by the time this episode comes out, but a Delta One review YouTube video that, uh, is really well done. I'm, I'm excited to, to see the finished product. But, um, we'll be putting in a little bit of, uh, video in here as well just to show people what Kyle's been looking at and booking.
Um- So for the, these SkyMiles rates, uh, right now when you're a Thrifty Traveler Premium subscriber and you subscribe to the All Business Class list, you can see every single deal that we set. You, you would've gotten every single one of these Delta One deals. Um, as you listen to this though, this week we have launched a brand-new filter for destinations.
We've been hearing from people for such a long time about destination filters, like, "I don't wanna see deals to Asia, I just wanna see Europe and North America and the Caribbean and Central America and things like that." Uh, we're really excited to announce that we have actually implemented this now. Um, our tech team has been working really hard, and now in your, in your premium settings when you log in, you can actually filter out where you don't wanna go.
You can just keep your deals on all cities like I do, uh, for the real sickos out there who just wanna see every single deal. Um, that's actually my favorite way and the best way, but if you really know, like, "Hey, I... Look, I don't wanna go to South America. I don't wanna, I don't wanna see domestic deals. I can find those myself," or whatever, you can filter all these things out.
Uh, so we're really excited to, uh, launch this filter. So log into your account if you're a premium member and you can see all of that stuff there. Um, any other notes on how to book Delta One? Any strategies you've used over the years?
Yeah. Uh, the other one that I've done, um, if I don't wanna use the miles or there's an, you know, not availability, is sometimes they will throw you a cheap cash upgrade.
Um, and so, uh, this one I, uh, also ca- kinda call myself a sicko because, you know, once or twice a day I will log into my Delta account and see what that upgrade offer is. Um, and uh, so like when I flew to London and when I came home from Greece, um, I was given cash upgrades for about 1,000 bucks. Um, and uh, so, you know, sometimes you'll, you'll find a, a ch- a cheap cash upgrade.
You know, other times you'll see 3, 4, 5, $6,000 to upgrade to Delta One. Um, and so it's sometimes worth looking at that. I'm looking at my upcoming flights to Europe like a hawk. Waiting for them, uh, to drop some stuff. I wanna, I wanna try out Premium Select this time. Yeah. Right now the upgrade offers are sitting at, like, 1,400 bucks, but I know sometimes Delta offers, um, upgrades for, like, 3, $400.
And so I'm just waiting for when, uh, for when those open up. If they do, otherwise I'll be, uh, stuck back in economy.
Always stalk your flights, make sure that, that you're getting the best offer. I mean, checking twice a day is probably overkill, but at, at least, you know, once a week I would say just go in through all your reservations, check 'em out and see what you got in there.
'Cause sometimes you get these awesome offers and they sometimes don't last long. Yeah. Someone might beat you to it.
Definitely.
Um, okay. You don't need a million points to fly Delta One. You need 100,000 or more, maybe closer to 200,000. But having a million points definitely helps. How do you earn a million points, Kyle Thomas?
Yeah. Uh, this was actually one of the very first stories that I wrote, uh, when I joined Thrifty Traveler. Um, and there's kind of a few different ways that, uh, that I, that I earn my points. Uh, the, the first and most obvious would be flying. Um, and in this case, the more you fly, uh, the more you earn, especially if you have status.
Um, I am now at, uh, a point where I was, uh, flying so much that I got Silver Medallion status, and last year was Gold Medallion status, and now this year I have Platinum status with Delta. Um, and you earn more miles as a bonus. And so if you're a regular SkyMiles member, you earn five miles per dollar you spend.
Um, but now it goes up to seven, and then eight, and now I'm currently at nine miles per dollar spent. So I earn SkyMiles at a rate almost twice of what a regular SkyMiles member would earn. So the more you, uh, the more you fly, the more you earn, and the faster that you earn. Um, then also, uh, the other big one, welcome offers on credit cards are king.
Um, strategically opening credit cards, um, in a way that fits my portfolio, fits what I'm looking for. Um, and in this case, if you're looking at getting SkyMiles or booking Delta one, you're particularly looking at Amex, and then Amex and their, uh, partnership with Delta for the co-branded credit cards. Or if you're looking at, uh, their, their partners like Flying Blue, you can book with Chase or in Capital One, and you have a lot more options there.
Um, but mainly looking at American Express, um, if you're, uh, getting there. Big thing to note, if you, uh, are getting a Delta SkyMiles credit card, start with those lower tier cards, like the Gold and then the Platinum, and then if you wanna go up to the Reserve. Um, 'cause if you start higher, you can't earn those welcome offers on those lower tiers.
Um, so you wanna make sure that you're earning as many p- miles as you can. You know, on some of those welcome offers, y- that's enough miles to fly Delta on one way if, uh, you're finding the right deal, uh, there. And then the next big one, the one where I think I really accelerate my miles earnings without spending thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars, um, is shopping portals.
And my favorite by far, we talk about it a lot, is Rakuten. Um, I consider myself a Rakuten fiend. Like, um, just yesterday they, uh, they were having some, some big, uh, sales, um, and offering... 'Cause I can, you can convert your Rakuten points into American Express points, which then I can convert into Delta SkyMiles.
Um, and so just in this last quarter, I earned 85,000 points, extra points on Rakuten. Uh, again, that's enough, almost en- uh, in some cases- In one quarter. In one quarter.
Yeah.
Um- And, uh, you know, it's, it's a really great way, especially, uh, you know, if you're wanting to do some shopping, kind of my strategy is I wait until I see a big bonus on Rakuten so that I can really get the most out of my miles.
Um, and then the other thing, kind of going back to credit cards, is business credit cards. Um, I run my own media business, uh, on the side. I, you know, I do a lot of stuff when I travel. And so, um, having access to business credit cards opens up yourself up to a whole nother suite of welcome offers, and, um, you know, business spending can add up very fast, especially when you're talking about camera gear.
Um, you know, I, I earned, uh, 60,000 points on a single purchase via Rakuten for, uh, just a camera lens, not even the camera body. Um, like, that, that spending can add up quick, but, um, uh, having access to business spending is another great way that, um, I supersized my points. And then the last one is just finding those little extra ways to earn points.
Uh, so on Delta, things like their bags on time policy, you can get up to 5,000 miles round trip if your, if your bags are more than 20 minutes late. Um, and then other promotions and, uh, um, sometimes even just asking for miles. Like, if, uh, you had a bad experience. Like, when I flew to Seoul, my Delta One suite was not cleaned, and there was, like, dirty slippers and it was, it was not good.
And so they gave me 20,000 miles, um, for it. And so sometimes just asking for it is a, is a good way to top up your miles.
That's awesome. I wanna, I wanna circle back on Rakuten 'cause I think, um- You, you are, I believe you called yourself a Rakuten fiend. I think you're a Rakuten monster. Uh, w- the, the things you do to earn points, and, I mean, earning, you know, 80,000-plus points in a quarter is, is wild.
And obviously not everybody has business spend, and not everybody wants to sign up for cards all the time. Um, Rakuten, I think, is just so simple, and it's something that everybody should do. Just on your browser, just download the Rakuten browser extension, make sure you set up a Rakuten account, and then make sure that you're not getting cash back.
Make sure you're getting membership rewards or bill rewards back when you sign up for the Rakuten shopping portal. And then whenever you're on a website, you know, I, every website I, I come upon, if they sell anything, usually there's a Rakuten pop-up that says, "Here, you can earn 2X points if you activate this right now."
And most importantly, you're not spending $80,000 a quarter. It's because these multipliers get so high. Like right now, this promotion that they're running on Rakuten, I believe it's still gonna be alive when the episode comes out, right?
Yeah, I think, uh, this, uh, they're calling it Big Give Week, uh, runs through May 11th.
Okay. Um, so take a look at Rakuten. Some great offers right now. Um- You can
get up to, like, 20X-
Yeah, like- ... points
per dollar
that you spend, so. Uh, like I w- I just, uh, restocked on, um, some, you know, essentials, and they had a 20X offer. And, you know, for a, what, $50 purchase, I'm earning 1,000 points. Like, it's kinda hard to beat.
And, you know, when you s- when you stack up those things, they add up fast. And, you know, I, I do not have the, the desire nor the ability to spend all of that money at my f- stage in life, yet here I am, still earning enough points to f- to fly Delta one, one to two to three times a year.
Yeah. It's awesome. The, I, I, I really, your Rakuten strategy has opened my eyes in, in a lot of ways too.
I've always, like, had Rakuten, but it's just kinda passively, like, using it when it, you know, whenever it just pops up on my browser. Like, that's the easy mode. And then there's also the hunting through Rakuten to make sure that every single dollar you spend, you're, you're, you know, 20X'ing sometimes your, uh, your points.
So it's a really, really good way, and a really simple way, free way to continue to earn on the spend you're already doing.
Yeah. And then I would say one last, uh, kinda day-to-day strategy that I use, uh, especially when I was in college, um, I would Uh, like especially if I'm in a group or, you know, we're at dinner, I would offer to, to pay for the entire bill on my credit card, and then other people would just Venmo me back or, um...
And, you know, if, uh, there's a group of 13 of us, and say the bill is $500, I'm not just earning, you know, points on the $30 that I spent, but I'm... And, uh, you know, when I combine that with my American Express Gold, that earns me 4X back on dining, that's 2,000 points right there. And so n- now basically my friends are just conditioned to say, "Do you wanna buy this with your credit card?
I'll just pay you back." Um, 'cause, like, they don't, they don't, um, they're not in a space that they want to get into credit cards yet. Yeah. Um, and so they're like, "Yeah, we'll help you out. We'll get you your points. Make, make Kyle happy."
Just make sure they're actually good friends, so you don't turn into- Oh, yeah
Kyle Thomas Collection Agency. No. Circling back on your friends.
Absolutely. You need to, you need to have, uh, a little, little trust with that. So far we've had, uh, good success.
A little intimidation goes a long way- Exactly ... when you're trying to get your money back. Um, let's do this really quickly, 'cause we, we spent a good amount of time, rightfully so, on Delta One and on how to earn a million points, but, uh, your Australia trip, you flew Delta One on the way there.
How'd you get back?
I flew Qantas on the way back, so I got to, to fly an American carrier on the way there, and, uh, uh, the Australian carrier on the way back, which I think that's a really great strategy, to fly the flag carrier out of the country. Some people say you wanna fly the flag carrier into the country, 'cause then, like, you're getting into the mood for where you're going, but if you can, I'd say fly them out because then you have, uh, better lounges, better experiences in general.
Um, and so I had a really fun experience on Qantas. Um, I got to fly on the A380 for, for the very first time, so now I've flown on both the A380 and the 747 on the upper decks, uh, which those planes are becoming increasingly rare, so crossing some stuff off my aviation bucket list. But, uh, for that one, I booked via Alaska Atmos, and I paid, uh, 85,000, um, Atmos, uh, for that flight from Sydney back to Los Angeles.
Uh, so yeah, super fun flight. A little bit cheaper than what those Delta Sky Mile rates are, but overall both of those flights, when you're flying 14-plus hours and you have a lie-flat bed, can't really complain.
Yeah. That's awesome. Um- How do you get scuba certified in the Great Barrier Reef briefly if, if someone's curious?
'Cause I'm sure there are people out there who would- who think that that's probably the coolest place in the world to get scuba certified.
Yeah. I had some Australians that were like, uh, that I met in the Philippines last year, and they're like, "Whatever you do, don't let the Great Barrier Reef be the first place you go scuba diving-
'cause other places just won't compare." Uh, which, yeah, kinda true, but, like, also now, like, my friend and I, we wanna go scuba diving everywhere. Uh, but no, we did a, a, a five-day, um, experience where the first two days you spend, uh, in the city of Cairns at the, the, the dive shop's pool. Um, and you do the courses there.
And then, uh, you spend three days and two nights on a liveaboard boat. Uh, you spend your, your first, uh, day doing, uh, your training dives. You gotta go through all the skills. My least favorite, the, uh, you're, you know, 30 feet underwater and they make you take your mask off and flood your mask, and then you have to, to, um, blow air through your nose to, to clear it all out.
Uh, it's not, it's not a fun skill, but- ... uh, very important 'cause, uh, scuba diving definitely has its dangers, but super fun experience. If you ever have the opportunity to, uh, to go scuba diving, uh, highly recommend it.
What was... Do, off the top of your head, do you remember what the outfit that did it for you was called?
Um, you have a plug for them, the company?
Oh, uh, ProDive Cairns. Uh, I had a, I had a great experience with them. Uh, special shout-out to my dive instructor, Olivia. Um, yeah.
ProDive Cairns. You can sponsor the show if you want. Um-
There is always that
option ... we're waiting, we're waiting for your call. All right.
Let's, uh... That, that trip sounds awesome. I'm super jealous. Let's help out a couple of listeners. Um, we have Aubrey who wrote in, and Violet, and they have similar questions. I'll read 'em both. Aubrey asks, "I think a lot of us out there are freaking out about our summer trips to Europe getting canceled due to jet fuel prices and availability.
Should we be worried?" And Violet similarly said, uh, I'll paraphrase, she has a trip planned and paid for in June. One leg of the trip is from Frankfurt to Rome on Lufthansa, and she read in the news that Lufthansa considered canceling some flights out of Frankfurt due to high jet fuel prices. She says, quote, "I'm worried that if I wait until my flight on June 3rd is canceled, it'll be too late to book somewhere else with another airline.
Not to mention, the cost of jet fuel will continue to rise and affect airfare prices. Should I book a backup flight? Should I just hope that my Lufthansa flight doesn't get canceled? What should we do?" Um, people out there seem to be a little nervous about their Euro trips this summer, Kyle, so let's help 'em out.
I, I would say my advice right off the bat is not to worry. I think that this is a little more limited than it sounds. You know, uh, Lufthansa made headlines. They announced 20,000 cancellations, which seems like a lot. Uh, and then you realize that they're flying still close to 162,000 Europe flights alone.
Um- Your Rome flight, uh, Violet, is not gonna be affected. It's not included in the cuts. That doesn't mean it couldn't be canceled for other reasons, but, uh, as of right now, Rome is not on their list, not on their chopping block. Um, they're only cutting two cities total, and they're actually increasing flights to their partner hubs.
So if your flight does get canceled, they're probably just gonna reroute you with a connection somewhere. Um, unless we get to a point where there's an actual fuel shortage and there's just not enough fuel to go around, I think the cuts are, for the summer especially, are gonna stay where they're at right now.
Um, so my advice to you would be if you have the points and miles, you have the money, and you're really nervous about it, go ahead and book a super flexible backup flight, um, either that refundable fare or a main cabin fare where you know you're gonna be able to use the credit later on, or better yet, use your points and miles.
Um, but I, I wouldn't be panicking about Europe flights right now. Um, if it gets to the point where there's a fuel shortage, that might just put, you know, everyone's travels in danger . So I, I just think there's no point in worrying right now. Any other thoughts?
Yeah, I mean, I've got two Europe flights coming up within the next two months.
Uh, and so I am not too worried. Uh, I would definitely say on her routes, uh, sh- uh, you know, those big routes, they're not gonna wanna cancel. They're moving a lot of people. It's moving a lot of money. Um, big things that I would say, uh, a lot of people say, "Ooh, can my travel insurance cover this?" Which I think in a lot of cases, uh, stuff like this actually is not covered.
Um, and so luckily, you know, if your flight gets canceled, you're gonna get refunded. Uh, then the, the issue becomes, uh, you know, those other non-refundable, your, your hotel bookings, your other activities, anything else that you did. Um, luckily, if you're flying to Europe or flying in through Europe, um, if cancellations and stuff like that happen, you're protected under the, the EU261 rules, which I've, uh, taken advantage of and gotten some compensation for.
Um, so you do have some coverage there, even if you're not covered through your credit card or your travel insurance. Um, so, and, uh, I think i- if this really gets to a point where, um, we're canceling more flights, I think we're gonna have some more serious conversations about, uh, what this, uh, whole situation is gonna look like because, uh, there's gonna be a, I mean, al- already we've had a lot of money lost in the global economy.
But I think that if this really is gonna scale up, there's gonna be some more serious conversations 'cause that money's gonna talk a little bit louder, and people are gonna wanna get things resolved a little bit sooner.
Yeah, you're spot on. Aubrey, Violet, I really hope your trips are gonna be fine. I think they will be just fine.
My advice would be not to panic quite yet. Um- We're gonna close the show with On the Spot as usual, and we both came up with On the Spot. So I'm gonna let you pick. Do you wanna go first or do you wanna be put on the spot first?
I'll, uh, let's see. I'll have, I'll have you go first.
Okay. All right. So you've been traveling like a madman in the last year, the last several years it sounds like.
Uh, I understand you have a big travel milestone coming up this year. Tell the people a little bit about what you're doing this summer.
Yeah. I, so a- as I said, I've got some, uh, some Europe trips coming up, but, uh, I will be landing in Copenhagen on my 23rd birthday. And, uh, Australia was my 19th country, and, uh, so I figured if I can get to three other countries by then, I can say that I landed in my 23rd country on my 23rd birthday, which I, I think then moving forward, you know, I'll be ahead of the pace.
So this would be the only time that I could say that. Um, and so I went out looking for cheap flights. Uh, where could I use my points and miles? Um, and so I was a- I able to find, uh, some, some cheap tickets in economy, uh, to, uh, to go travel Europe by myself, visit three more countries, and, uh, we'll accomplish that kinda cool novel goal.
That's so cool. It's like, uh, like shooting your age in golf, but, uh- ... visiting 23 countries by your 23rd birthday is, is a- Yeah ... wild one. I'm, I'm really, really jealous. That's really cool. All right. What do you have for me?
All right. Uh, so I have earned a million points and miles. My question f- for you would be, what would you do with a million miles?
Where would you, where and who would you fly? Where would you stay? If you had no restrictions, you can transfer to any airline, any hotel brand, how would you spend a million miles?
A million miles. I think, well, I, I honestly, I'd, I'd probably replicate a lot of your Australia trip. Um, I would love to take, you know, my wife and my daughter down to Australia.
My, my mother-in-law's a huge tennis fan, and I'm a big tennis fan, too. I'd love to go to Melbourne for the Aussie Open. That's been on my list for a long time. So taking the whole family down to Australia and New Zealand with points and miles, uh, and then you could do it, with a million miles, you could do it in the most style possible.
So I think that would be a fun way to do it. I mean, other than that, doing, doing like an around the world trip would be really fun. I, that's a trip that, you know, maybe I don't wanna bring my nearly one-year-old on. That sounds like not that much fun. Uh, but maybe taking my, my wife and I and going around the world with, uh, a million points, um, staying at some of the, the cool hotels.
Maybe the ones that, uh, you can't always book with points and miles, that you gotta use the portals for 'cause then, you know, you can use your miles on almost anything. So, um, yeah, other than that, I, I, I don't have like a I don't have an active bucket list right now. I've, I've, I've been doing pretty well with my travels, but there's still a lot of places I need to go see, and a million points would help me get there.
Definitely.
I like it. All right, Kyle, thank you for joining us, and thank you all for listening to the Thrifty Traveler podcast. Rate us five stars on your podcast platform of choice, like and subscribe to the show on YouTube. Send this episode to someone you know who needs a vacation. And if you have feedback for us, just send me a note at podcast@thriftytraveler.com.
We would love to hear from you there. Kyle, do you wanna credit yourself on the episode? It's kind of fun. Kyle, tell us about the team.
Yeah. This episode was produced and edited by Sylvia Thomas and edited by me. Uh, our theme music is by Benjamin Tisso.
See you next time.
Yeah. See ya.