Gunnar's still enjoying the new life of a girldad, so Kyle brought our first-ever special guest on the show: Max Do - better known as MaxMilesPoints. As one of the biggest and best social media creators covering points and miles, Max is uniquely qualified to explain the rise of travel influencers - both the good and the bad - while sharing his own story of how he left his 9-to-5 job (it involves a $10,000 deal with a hotel brand). Plus, Kyle and Max talk through the big news from Chase and American Express ... and place their bets on just how high the Platinum Card's annual fee may go.
Gunnar's still enjoying the new life of a girldad, so Kyle brought our first-ever special guest on the show: Max Do - better known as MaxMilesPoints. As one of the biggest and best social media creators covering points and miles, Max is uniquely qualified to explain the rise of travel influencers - both the good and the bad - while sharing his own story of how he left his 9-to-5 job (it involves a $10,000 deal with a hotel brand). Plus, Kyle and Max talk through the big news from Chase and American Express ... and place their bets on just how high the Platinum Card's annual fee may go.
0:00 - Introducing our first-ever guest: MaxMilesPoints!
01:43 - Something Hot: The new JFK Capital One Lounge (ft. a cheesemonger and bagel bar)
08:15 - Something Cold(ish): Chase & Amex’s top travel cards are getting even pricier
16:43 - A word from our sponsor (us … and our flight deal service that even Max uses)
18:30 - The Extra Mile: Why Max fell in love with travel and started MaxMilesPoints
22:18 - 10,000 reasons why Max left his full-time job to become a full-time social media creator
24:27 - The positives and negatives behind the explosion of travel influencers
30:30 - Sharing a cocktail & slowing down your travels
33:14 - Rapid fire questions with Max (& the time he went to the wrong airport)
40:02 - Listener question: Which cities to visit in Vietnam?
43:01 - On the spot: The one thing Max would change in award travel
Produced by Kyle Potter & Long Tran
Edited by David Strutt
Show music: “All That” by Benjamin Tissot
Yo. I'm Kyle, and I'm doing my best Gunnar Olsen impression today. He's still out on paternity. But more importantly, we have a special guest on the show today. He's a a man who who really needs no introduction to travel obsessed weirdos who listen to this, all dozen of you, but he's gonna get one anyway.
He's one of the biggest names in this crazy growing ecosystem of points and miles social media influencers whose knack for awesome visuals and clear explanations made him the top choice for our must follows in a recent episode. And he loves Southwest Airlines so much, he dresses his newborn son in a Southwest onesie. To the world, he's Max Miles points. To us, he's just Max. Max, thanks for being here.
Yeah. For sure. Glad to be here. Alright. So, Max, as we always do, I need to find something out from you.
So how does it feel to be the first guest on our podcast that is not on Thrifty Traveler payroll? It I'm very honored. I mean, I did do some work with Thrifty Traveler way back when, and so Kyle and I kinda go way back, editing some YouTube videos and stuff like that. But, totally honored that I'm the one of the first guests here on the Thrifty Traveler podcast. Well, don't say that.
It's too early to be honored by anything. We don't know how this is gonna turn out. You know? Today on the show, we're gonna talk with Max about getting started in travel, where the wild world of travel influencers is at right now and where it's going. And then, Max, you're gonna help us break down some big news from Chase, American Express, and Capital One.
Welcome back to the Thrifty Traveler podcast. Okay. Let's jump into something hot and something cold where we look at the good and the bad news in the travel world, and let's start with something hot. So, Max, when you hear the words airport lounge alongside bodega and cheesemonger, what do you think? Is that a good thing?
I just hope it's not crowded. Right? That's the biggest problem with, like, these airport lounges now these days is that they're so crowded. But the new JFK Lounge is what you're referring to. Right?
Right. Yeah. So, today, as people are listening to this, Thursday, June 19, the Capital One lounge at JFK in Terminal 4 is opening its doors. And, yeah, that is the elephant in the room with any new lounge is how many people are gonna be inside and how long is it gonna take to get in. Because, you know, no matter how many cool amenities there are, how great the decor is, it really hinges on a good airport experience really hinges on how many people are there and, you know, whether you're actually truly rubbing elbows with people.
What do you expect? Yeah. I mean, it's JFK. It's open twenty four hours. It's the biggest Capital One lounge, right, based off the press release.
And so it sounds like it's, like, a ton of great amenities, local inspired food, local inspired cocktails, local inspired design, which is not that new, for the Capital One, like, lounge, network. And so a lot of lounges are doing all the local stuff now. And so you can cram as many amenities as you can into a lounge, but it comes down to if you can get into it. And so, I mean, I'm super looking forward to visiting the JFK one, and I think, opening being open twenty four hours is a great perk and benefit. And so it might not be as crowded when you're flying out at midnight or 01:00 in the morning, but, I guess, peak times, it can get I I expect it to be pretty crazy.
And, I mean, the new lounge changes of the guest access, coming in February 2026 might help with the reducing that crowding at, the Capital One lounges, but, but, yeah, we'll have to see. And from, like, what we've been seeing with the American Express Platinum, they kinda took the same approach, and that those lounges are still pretty crowded. So I don't expect anything different even though this is the new Capital One Lounge at JFK. It's gonna be, it's gonna be pretty backed. Yeah.
Yeah. No question. I do think, just in my experience, and I'm curious if you feel this too, that Capital One has done a much better job than many of its competitors, I would say, especially American Express with Centurion lounges, at getting capacity limits right at how many people that they let into the lounge at one time so that, you know, not only is it taking, you know, twenty, thirty, forty minutes an hour to get in the door, but by the time you're actually there, you have to circle the lounge three times in order to find an empty seat, let alone two. I just personally haven't had that experience with Capital One. And when you layer in the fact that they have a digital wait list so you can join it join the wait list remotely from your phone or from your computer, it's not to say that it's gonna be a breeze getting in or that everything you're gonna have the lounge to yourself.
I don't think that's the case, but, I mean, I generally think that the experience with Capital One lounges is better on average than some of their competitors. What's been your experience? Yeah. I recently visited the Denver Capital One like, a week ago, when I was flying over to New York with the layover in Denver. And that was one of the first things I noticed is, like, it was a bummer that I showed up and I had to wait thirty minutes to get in.
But once I got in and checked in at the front desk, easily found a seat, quickly found my food, quickly got a cocktail, and I was in and out of there in, like, thirty, forty minutes. I wasn't, like, taking a long time to kind of get all that stuff together and having to fight over seats and having to, like, kinda just stand and eat. And so that's happened before. And so I think, in my YouTube video that's gonna I'm gonna be posting soon. That's one of the things I mentioned while I was in the lounge was that they do a good job of kind of keeping it not too overly crowded.
And so even though those are wait list, I went inside pretty not, not super crowded, not as crowded as I expect it to be. One, one thing I've noticed at Denver in particular though, you know, I imagine they do it elsewhere too, is they take this to the next level with larger groups where, you know, it's one thing to go as a solo traveler and find a a spot to sit that even if the lounge is at its absolute busiest, that tends to be much easier. But if you, you know, you're a traveling family with four, let alone six people, finding a place is really, really difficult. And in the Denver Capital One lounge, they actually reserve seating areas of the larger tables. And then when you check into a lounge with one of those bigger groups of travelers, they escort you to one of those reserved tables to make sure you can actually find a place for your party, which is really, really cool.
Kind of one of those next level things that lounge operators and, you know, these credit card companies can do to make sure that, again, there's gonna be a wait. There's always gonna be a wait. Now there are just far too many cardholders to fit into these relatively small places inside of airports. But the fact that they are carving out spaces to make sure that larger groups can find a place to sit and enjoy the space is really cool. Yeah.
Definitely agree. I definitely noticed that as well at the Denver Lounge. And so I think that makes things run a little bit smoother, especially, like, there's nothing, like, more annoying than it's, like, if you're a single traveler and you see a single traveler sitting at a four top or a five top and taking up the entire table, I guess that's, that can cause some of the overcrowding and the the wait list, the long wait list issues as well. I did notice another thing when I was at the Denver Capital 1 Lounge or trying to get myself on the wait list at the Denver Capital 1 Lounge was that, I was on the flight, had WiFi trying to add myself to the wait list, and that wait list button wasn't available until the lounge was the status said it was at capacity. So I don't know if you ever experienced that, or not, but, yeah, the button wasn't available until it was like it said, like, lounge status, very busy and busy, but that the wait list button didn't show up until, the lounge status was at capacity.
Which is either a good or a bad thing or maybe both. It depends on how far away you are, you know, from your gate to the lounge. Right? Because, I mean, it just in a snap, you know, that could change to at capacity, and all of a sudden, there's 10 people out the door and, you know, you could have potentially joined that wait list sooner. But, yeah, just an interesting wrinkle.
I hadn't heard that or seen that myself. Yeah. So, hopefully, maybe someone, in your community, can comment below on their experience of adding themselves to the wait list because I was super excited to join the wait list, while I was on the flight. And so once I land, I can just go over to the lounge, but that was not the case. Alright.
Let's, let's talk about something cold or maybe it's something lukewarm. Maybe it's even something red hot. I don't really know what to call this. We're breaking the rules on this week's podcast with you, Max. All I know for sure is that there is an absolute arms race between the big banks to level up and charge more for their premium travel credit cards.
So earlier this week after, I mean, the just the worst kept secret in all things travel, Chase finally unveiled its new and maybe improved depending on who you ask, Sapphire Reserve card, their top tier premium travel card. They loaded it up with new benefits like $500 a year towards premium hotels and $300 a year towards dining while pushing up the annual fee from $550 a year to $795 a year. But before that, American Express practically fell over itself trying to beat Chase to the punch, announcing that American Express two is going to revamp its top tier, platinum card from American Express. We don't know what that means yet for American Express. They haven't shed any details on what they're changing while we obviously know what's happening with the Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
But let's start with Chase. You and I were at an event last week with Chase talking with executives from the bank about what they're changing and why and asking a lot of questions. And I'm just curious what stands out to you most about what they're changing, good or bad or maybe both? Yeah. What stands out to me the most is that it seems like the card at first, it was like like, at the $5.50 annual fee, the older version of the Chase Sapphire Reserve was primarily a travel card.
It's all around travel card. Now it's kind of shifting towards that lifestyle kind of type of card with it's a lifestyle card with travel benefits. And so with all the new lifestyle perks and, credits that they're offering, to me, that's what it kinda feels like. And American Express Platinum is kind of already on that track of being the lifestyle credit card, and the lifestyle credit card that just happens to have travel benefits. And so I think that's the trend and especially with, like, this new updated Chase Sapphire Reserve, I think, a lot of the top tier credit cards are kind of shifting towards that.
Yeah. And, I mean, it's, they didn't have to stray far to find a playbook for this. Right? I mean, like you said, the American Express platinum card has really been doing this for, you know, half a decade, maybe even longer, depending on how far back you look. And, you know, I think there are a couple of reasons for that.
First and foremost, if you need to push up an annual fee on these cards, which every bank needs to, their mission is to make money for their shareholders. It's not to make you and I happy. Right? But the easiest way to do that is to add benefits, and the cheaper benefits that you can get is by partnering with companies like DoorDash or like Lyft or Uber or whatever. And, you know, that means that, sure, you're getting a $120 a year split up into $10 monthly credits for Lyft or Uber.
But I guarantee you, American Express and and now Chase are not paying those rideshare companies a $120 per card per cardholder to do this. Yeah. For sure. And, I mean, that's what they're looking for is breakage. Right?
And so, like, they wanna offer all of these coupons or these credits that you have to use in order to kinda, like, reearn your annual feedback. And so at the beginning of the year, you're prepaying for all of these perks and benefits. And then throughout the year, you have to do the mental gymnastics and do the keep track of all these credits and use them in order to kind of earn back your annual fee. And so that's the thing with, like, some of these cards is that some for some people that live in, like, major cities, these credits might really speak to them. They might be spending money on Lyft and Ubers anyways, but people living in rural areas, like, Equinox credit might not be useful or, like, they might not be taking Lyft or Ubers.
And so that's where it's, like, they're kinda separating out their audience of, who has the cards. So we were in this event in New York, and I, for the first time, saw an Equinox gym in person in my life. And my only thought was, oh, that's where I could spend a $300 credit from my American Express Platinum card that I will never, ever in my life use. Yeah. Same here.
It's like there's an Equinox in San Diego, but I don't know where it is. So it's something that I wouldn't use. But, yeah, it's like it's some of those credits are kind of challenging to use. And so for me, it's like the new StubHub credit with the Chase Sapphire Reserve would be something that's gonna be pretty challenging for me to use because I don't go to concerts often. Or if I do go to concerts, I might not be through StubHub.
It might through might be through another vendor. And so, yeah, it really just depends on, like, what credits these cards offer, and a lot of them don't speak to most people, I think, just in my opinion. Well and there's just no universe in which they speak to everybody, and that's the point is, you know, to to load things up and hit you know, the number that Chase started touting was we've got 2,700 worth of value on this card, But who is actually going to get $2,700 worth of value? And if you do, how much of your personal time does it take? I mean, Max, you and I, like, we talk about this stuff too much.
Our wives probably hate us for it. But the fact that you and I, of all people are sitting here talking about how annoying that it can be to keep track of all of these things in the name of, you know, coming out ahead on an annual fee, I think really says a lot about what banks are trying to get out of consumers, let alone people like us who are not normal consumers. Yeah. And so it's always funny whenever I post on, like, Instagram or TikTok of the like, how the American Express Platinum is not the card for most people. And the comments are always like, there's always, like, people are comments like, oh, you're getting $2,000 worth of value.
If you use this credit, this credit, this credit, this credit, it's like, that's a lot of credits to use, and most people aren't using those credits. And so, yeah, it's, it's it's always it's always kind of interesting when I post about the American Express Platinum and, like, how effective those credits are and, like, it's it's there's not much value to those credits if you don't use them or if you don't find value in them or if we don't organically spend money using those credits anyways. And I think if nothing else, this makes it really obvious what direction American Express is gonna go into when whenever they make it official, what they're changing with the platinum card and the business platinum card that it's going to continue down this path of more credits, probably harder to use credits, AmEx gonna AmEx. Right? You know, rather than waste each other's time speculating on what that looks like, I'm I'm just gonna ask you to to place a bet.
I have a have a track record on our show of placing ill informed bets, losing, and then owing people a drink. So what's your bet on what the annual fee on the platinum card from American Express is gonna get to once, this comes out sometime this fall? I'm thinking it's gonna be $8.50, just so that they can just edge a little bit higher than Chase and kind of push and see how far people would go. And so I think, historically, we've seen that even the annual fee increases, people are still willing to pay for the card. And so it's pretty crazy.
Right? It's like the lounges are even busier than ever. Even though they have those lounge restrictions, the annual fee keeps increasing. But people are willing to pay for the annual fee. And, I think, like, everybody's always up in arms, like, whenever it's announced. But when it comes down to it, I think people are just willing to just continually renew the card.
I would say I don't get it, but who am I kidding? I'm gonna renew the card anyway. Just Yeah. Amex knows it too. And this is the thing.
They know that they know that I'm gonna say this. So I just look like an idiot, which is not the case. But for us, it's a little different. For us, it's a little different. We can call it product research because we have to have the card to kinda understand, right, how how the person benefits work.
It's just a tax write off. Who cares? No. Okay. So you're at 08:50.
I could be the most annoying person in the world and do the prices right and say $8.51. But the number I'm not gonna do that, Max. But the number that I've been thinking about is $8.95. I think it's gotta say south of a thousand dollars. I think the first bank to cross that thousand dollar threshold on a kind of broad mass consumer travel card, even at the top tier of premium travel credit cards, that's gonna be a really tough threshold to break.
But I could easily see this getting to 900 ish. So I'm gonna go at $895. Alright. Let's take a quick break. I've said it before, but I'm gonna say it again.
If you want flight deals, you need our Thrifty Traveler premium flight deal alert service. 247365, our team, John, Peter, Katie, Gunner, are sending out the cheapest flights and the hardest to book business class deals bookable with points. Max, you recently booked one of our deals. Tell us about it. Yeah.
And so it was like 05:30 in the morning Pacific time, and I was feeding a newborn, baby that we have, named Oliver, and I got a Thrifty Traveler premium notification about Starlux award availability from, LA or Ontario over to Taipei, And I knew that, this, order availability was pretty rare, so I booked it immediately while I was feeding, baby Oliver. And, yeah. It's, it's always one of those things where it's like it's fun and exciting to get one of those notifications in your inbox, and it's something that you're interested in, in buying. And so especially in business class and, booked it right there and then on my phone with one hand and the bottle on the other hand. So that was a fun, exhilarating morning.
He does it all. Look, guys. I promise 05:30AM emails only happen if you are on the West Coast. Max is a San Diego resident. We're not sending 05:30AM eastern time emails to members.
247. Right? You're right. You caught me, Max. Alright.
Whatever. Yes. 247365. Alright. Sign up today at thriftytraveler.com/premium as a special treat.
Our podcast listeners can use the promo code t t pod for $20 off your first year of flight deal alerts. That's thriftytraveler.com/ premium promo code t t pod five letters all one word for $20 off your first year. Alright. Back to the show. Alright.
It's time for the extra mile where we dig a little bit deeper in travel. And this week, we're digging in with Max about his life in travel, his career, the wide wild world of social media and travel that has really just exploded within the last half decade or so. So, Max, to start, tell me about how you got here because, obviously, you know, as you alluded to earlier, we've worked together in the past for through Thrifty. But I don't I don't I honestly don't really know how you kind of started a love affair with travel and ended up making it your career. Yeah.
For sure. And so, my previous nine to five, was, I was in graphics, and so I worked on an in house design team for a big health insurance company. And health insurance, as we know, super complicated. And I took a lot of the skills that I learned of taking complicated topics and subject and applying graphics and visuals to it. And so miles and points, complicated.
I applied my visual and graphics experience to that as well. And it started off on Instagram at first, with carousels, and so those slides that you swipe through. And, and so that was before reels were a thing. And so that's where I started with, like, breaking down complicated miles and points redemptions or subjects and applying my graphics experience and visual experience to that. And the reason why I started the Instagram channel was that, I went on an a and a around the world ticket, and I was like, this is really awesome.
I have to tell people about this and have to teach people how to do this. And so that's where I kind of started the Instagram and started posting about that. And that kind of led to, it being my full time, and I've been doing this full time since 2023, until May, I think, or somewhere around there, or was it 2022? So I've been doing this full time for, like, two to three years now. But, yeah, that's kinda how Maximal's point started.
You are the only person that I've actually talked to and met in the flesh that has actually booked an ANA around the world ticket. It's like one of these things that occupies all of this brain space in people who talk about what we do, but it's something that few people have actually done. So I'm a little bit caught off guard. I kind of honestly thought that there were maybe, like, 12 people in the world that have actually done this. So the fact that I'm talking to one of them is, it's pretty cool.
So it sounds like that ANA around the world ticket was kind of a light bulb moment for you of kind of really investing deeper in travel. I think we've talked on the show whether it's me or Gunnar or John who runs our premium team about, you know, our moments. What was your moment when, you know, you realized not just that, you know, travel was gonna be a big part of your life, but that you could turn this Instagram channel into your career? Was there a specific thing that you did, or just kinda seeing where the industry was heading and deciding, you know what? I can really do this?
I can leave my nine to five and make this a full time thing. Yeah. And so, I think, leaving your nine to five requires money. And so and so that's where it's like the Instagram channel was a hobby, not expecting to make any money from it, just expecting to just, like, just create content just for fun as a hobby. And I think, that's where it kind of took a turn when kind of reels got introduced, and I jumped on reels pretty, quickly.
And, and then one Southwest Reel really took off, and and then that's where it's like it kind of just kinda progressed from there and eventually led to some brand deals. And these brand deals, like, one of the first couple brand deals were, a decent chunk of change. And so that's where it's like, I could be making this sort of money posting on social media. And so that's where I kind of, like, left the nine to five at a point, when I was ready to, kind of pursue maximum points full time. So I don't expect you to, like, open up your QuickBooks account and tell us all the details.
But what is a good chunk of change? I don't know. I don't have any visibility into this world because, like, the last thing that you want from me, the last thing that I wanna do is, like, be on camera every single day doing reels every single day. So what is a good chunk of change where you, like, see that money and you're like, oh, yeah, if I can do this, you know, on a monthly, weekly basis, you know that this is, you know, feasible to do full time. Yeah.
And so that good chunk of change so the thing with, like, pricing for content creators, it's so, so it varies so much. And so some creators undervalue themselves and some creators overvalue themselves and kinda have to kinda figure out what kinda fits for you. And one of the first brand deals I did with a big hotel chain was, it was a $10,000 deal. And so this $10,000 deal was, like, that turning point of, like, alright. Well, it also happened to be during the time of performance reviews at my nine to five as well.
And I asked my boss. I was like, hey. Can I get an extra $10,000, raise? And he was like, oh, you have to write up a report. Why do you deserve this raise?
We have to get it approved by the senior vice president and all this stuff. And I was thinking in the back of my head, I was like, I can just get a brand deal, make a post, and they'll deposit $10,000 into my account. And so that was, like, one of the tipping points or one of the one of the one of the milestones of, like, alright, I probably should quit my nine to five and pursue this max miles points thing full time. There's a bunch of other things of, like, my boss not me not being very happy with my boss and having to do things I don't wanna do. And then that was kind of, like, when I was, like, yeah, I need to quit my nine to five and, kinda try this max miles points thing full time and see kinda where it goes because I would totally regret it if I didn't, at least try for a couple years.
And so it's been, like, three years now. So, so, yeah, it's, the first six months or so doing this whole time is always nerve wracking. And it's like, alright. Well, what if things change? Or, like, what could possibly happen?
But so far, so good for the last couple years here. Kind of the undercurrent of what we're talking about here is that there are from my perspective and tell me if I'm wrong. I promise you can tell me if I'm wrong. You won't be the first. There are so many more travel content creators on Instagram, on TikTok than even last year, let alone five years ago.
And that has really turned some of the things that we talk about, which, you know, ten years ago, you know, people the only people who were, you know, talking about, you know, award travel redemptions and and, you know, all of the nitty gritty of of the things that we talk about online on a daily basis now. It was confined to the corners of the Internet, like flyertalk and a couple of burgeoning blogs. And all of the sudden, it feels to me like this is really mainstream, in large part because of how often it's being talked about in reels that go viral. And so this is probably a more nuanced answer, but I wanna ask and see what you think. Is that a good or a bad thing?
I think it's a good thing that miles of points are more accessible to a lot more people, and so a lot more enabling people to travel more, travel better, and travel for less money. I think that is the overall good side of it. The bad side of it is that there tends to be a lot of, inaccuracies or wrong information that's being spread. And especially it's like some of these posts that go viral, like, they don't always have the right information. And so I think that's the challenge of, like, so many creators in this space.
And a lot of it is driven by money as well. And so a lot of people are now realizing that they can make money on social media. And whether it's affiliate links or brand deals and getting paid by TikTok just to post for the ad revenue and making YouTube videos and stuff, I think that is, it's always money driven. And sometimes it's not always the best intentions and sometimes it's not always the most accurate information that they put out there. So that's the challenge with, like, more creators when they're, you know, just sometimes it's just it feels a little bit too oversaturated.
But also, we kinda are in our own bubble, you know, and so, like, we're so into the miles of points and the travel stuff. And so that's all our feeds are is the miles, points, and travel stuff. But when it comes down to it, I think we're just still a very small percentage of maximizers. And the number of people that actually take action on some of these posts of, like, posting about, like, Turkish Airlines business class award availability, the number of people that actually take action and actually end up booking business class award space, for that Turkish flight tends to be very small in my opinion from what I've seen in the past. Yeah.
No. That's a really good point. Sometimes I have to remind myself that while a lot of the things that we talk about feel like a game of cat and mouse where, you know, we're the mice and we're trying to beat the big bad cat at their games and, you know, the cat is raising award rates and, you know, pulling a partner award inventory to make this stuff harder to book. Ultimately, as you said, like, we are just a tiny fraction of the people that these banks and airlines and hotel companies and and everybody else really cares about. I mean, the thing that I always remind myself of is, you know, there's this crazy mistake award mistake fair through Air France KLM flying blue, like, a year and a half ago where they briefly sold one way business class tickets from, Canada to, you know, a couple of destinations in Europe, particularly France for as low as $1,500 1,500 miles, excuse me, each way.
And it felt like the biggest thing that had ever happened to a lot of the people like you and I who do this stuff. And then, Brian Sumers, who writes the Airline Observer, wrote a newsletter, like, a couple of weeks later and said that less than 2,500 tickets were booked. That's not a lot of people. Those = aren't the numbers that, like, make airlines, and loyalty companies make their decisions. Yeah.
Yeah. And so it's, it's always surprising. It's like yeah. It's like I mentioned, it's like we're kind of stuck in our own little bubble and, like, I continually get fed miles and points content on TikTok and Instagram and stuff like that. But, there's a lot more people out there and a bigger travel space out there.
It's just we get continually fed based off the algorithm the same content. And so we probably get similar content all the time, when it comes to some of these social media platforms. So other than, I wanna leave my nine to five job and a hotel company is offering me $10,000, how do you, how do you consider what kind of brands that you work with, when they approach you? Whether it's just for access and something that you wanna cover and make a reel about or the kind of sponsored content that has, again, I would say, feels like it's become more prevalent. Not I'm not just talking about, you know, max miles points, but across the entire ecosystem of, you know, social media.
Yeah. And so I think a lot of people would say, like, oh, they'll first look at see if the brand fits their content and whether they wanna collaborate with that specific brand. But I think it's a three way thing. It's the fit, it's the collaboration, it's also the money. And so that's the thing.
It's like, there's some brands that they can pay me a ton of money and I would never wanna partner with them because I just don't feel like the fit would be right or the collaboration would be good. And so comes down to the money, what they're paying, and then also how they fit within the content that I post. And also, the third option the third thing is collaboration aspect. And so are they gonna be a pain to work with? Because they can pay me, but if it's gonna go through, like, 20 rounds of revisions, it's gonna be a waste, not worth my time.
And so that's the, I guess, the three pronged approach when it comes to some of these brand deals for me. There are brands that I like it's like in the past, I've learned a couple times, from the creator, like, side of things. It's like you've you you think the brand is a good fit, you think the pay is good, and you think it's gonna be a good collaboration. And once you go through the process and you post it, it's like, oh, yeah. I'dprobably would never work with them again.
I totally regret it. So switching gears, you and your wife, Tiffany, and I met a few years ago in Tokyo. We just happened to be in Tokyo at the same time, and we decided to meet up for cocktails. And you said something about your trip, but just kind of general how you think about travel that really, has stuck with me. And, you know, you talked about how you were kinda taking it slow in in Tokyo because that when you have, you know, spent as much time to learn the ins and outs of cheap travel and accruing points and learning how to redeem them, that nothing really needs to be a one and done and that it takes a lot of pressure off of, like, having that checklist of things you need to rush through in order to do it.
And I don't know if I really have a have a question for you other than just saying that I think that's a really cool viewpoint. I mean, how has that I guess the question is, how has that changed how you travel, and the kinds of trips that you take and how often you travel, I guess. Yeah. So that's the great thing about miles and points is that it unlocks so many doors to more affordable travel. And so as long as miles and points are still a thing, which I hope for the long term, it is still a thing, it's like it's it's you can it's for the next ten, twenty, thirty years, you can continue to travel and sometimes you overlap on some of the destinations that you go to.
And and so Tokyo, Japan, Seoul, and then also Vietnam is one of the things one of the places or some of the places that, that we often visit, and it's kinda led to us doing slower travel. And so instead of spending, like, two to three days on the ANA around the world ticket, like, we spent, like, two to three nights at each location, we went to we maxed out the entire thing. So we did full eight destinations, 12 legs, but we stayed, like, two to three nights, at each destination. And looking back, like, I was like looking back, it's like I I could probably never do that again, because that was really intense. And so now, like, that notion of, like, we can always visit this place again later.
Whether it's two to three years later or, like, maybe it's within the same year, it's kinda led to slower travel and kind of enjoying the travel a little bit more. And I think, there's, there's that saying of, like, the difference between travel and vacation. I think it's what typically most people say. And we're kind of, like, instead of just go go go travel, we're kind of, like, just enjoying our vacation and enjoying time away from work. And then also well, as a content creator, work never really stops when I'm traveling, especially a travel content creator.
But, but yeah. Nobody's gonna sympathize with you on that part, Max. Sorry. Yeah. I know.
But, but yeah. So it's slower travel, enjoying it, exploring smaller neighborhoods, exploring things that are kinda, like, a little bit off the beaten path a little bit more, and just, yeah, just enjoying our travel our vacation a little bit more. You ready for a couple rapid fire questions? Yeah. Let's do it.
What's the biggest mistake that you've made in travel, whether it's something you did on the ground or in booking something? Yeah. I haven't even posted about this, because I don't have, like, visual content, for it and I still trying to figure out like The shame was too deep to to pull out your camera. Exactly. Exactly.
And so yeah. I got like two clips of, of, of the mistake. But, but yeah. And so we're in Tokyo and, there was a monsoon that was going through. And so a lot of trains were canceled and things like that.
So I had to shuffle around some travel. And, so we're sitting at the Hyatt Centric, in Tokyo, and I was like, the entire time, I was like, oh, we're flying Haneda. We're flying Haneda. Because my original flight was at Haneda. And so comes to checking out of the hotel.
We hop on the train. We're headed to Haneda. I was like, this is gonna be great. We're gonna do some duty free shopping and then pick up some Tokyo banana to pick up some, some milk crackers and all the good stuff, and then just hop on the plane and it'll just be a business class flight home. It'll be perfect.
Well, we get to Haneda and, and you can probably guess what happens. It's like, I'm looking and I was like, oh, what terminal are we supposed to be in? And I was like, wait, this this feels wrong. This just feels really wrong. And I look at the reservation again.
It's like, oh, we're supposed to be in Narita. And so that was the sinking moment of, like, oh, no. What are we gonna do? So we first thing we do is hop on the train that before it left the station, and so it heads back into the city. And, and the entire time, we're trying to figure out a route to get to Narita.
And good thing we left early enough because, we left, like, the hotel, like, four hours before our flight. And, and so yeah. And so we didn't have a ton of time because, like, going from Haneda to Narita, it's like you can take a cab, which is, like, an hour and a half maybe, two hours, it'd be super expensive. Or you can take the train, at least the trains are always on time there. And so we're trying to figure out our routes and stuff like that.
And eventually, we're like, I mean, the cutoff time for the checked bags, and we're trying to figure out that. And then also, like, mapping out Narita. And so, like, how can we run get off the train, run through the the train station at Narita and get on the elevator and get up to the check-in counter. And eventually, everything worked out. Thank goodness everything worked out.
By the ingenuity of Japanese infrastructure, you made it. Yes. Yes. And so at least, like, trains were running on time, but everything worked out. But, yeah, it was one of those mistakes where it's just like, I can't believe, like, I've I've flown so many different miles.
I've flown to Tokyo so many different times, but, but, yeah, that was devastating. Oh, I'm well, I'm glad you made it. So what's something simple that elevates your travel? And I think the word simple isn't in the eye of the beholder. Yeah.
Simple for me would be to simplify all my luggage and simplify all of the stuff that I carry. And so I'm, like, I'm always trying to maximize, like, alright. What's the best backpack to use? What's the best suitcase to use? I have one that's like I bought another one down here, and it's brand new that I haven't unboxed yet.
And, and this, like, how can I simplify my travel? Because luggage is something that you have to carry with you, drag it along with you. And so the simpler that it’s out of your way, the more it's out of your way. And so, I'm always trying to simplify what I carry and then how I carry it so that, it's not an annoying thing when I'm traveling because it's with you the entire trip.
What's your white whale award redemption?
The thing that you really wanna do but haven't done yet. So I might be different from a lot of the typical miles and points people out there and content creators out there is that I don't think I really have anything. And so interesting fact is that I've never flown international first class before. And so I've been doing this for, what, nine years now, and international first class has just not been something that I am super interested in or has never worked out for me schedule wise. And so I kinda just go with the flow and see.
It's like, if I get a Thrifty Traveler premium notification, and I kinda just kinda figure out, it's like, is it gonna be a lot of effort to make this work? And so I'm not gonna go out of my way to go find first class or Emirates first class or Cathay Pacific first class. I just kind of figure out, like, how does this award availability fit into my schedule and how does it fit into how I wanna travel, and that's how I end up booking my travel. So, really, I don't have a white whale. It was the ANA around the world ticket, which is unfortunately ending soon, and it was going to New Zealand, but kind of all checked that off, those checked those boxes.
And so there's really nothing out there that I'm dying to fight or redeem my points for. That's a really good answer. I don't know that I expected that. I think I feel like everybody I talk to has that one that they haven't been able to do, but that's cool. Alright.
Last one. You have a newborn son, Oliver. Other than booking star lux award tickets with one hand as you're, you know, rocking him trying to rock him back to sleep with the other arm, how has being a father changed how you think about and plan travel so far? So we haven't taken him on a trip yet or, like, just small trips here and there, around here, going visit up the parents, going up to visit the parents, and stuff like that. But, it's so far, like, it takes a lot more planning.
It's definitely slower travel, a lot more planning. And in my mind, I'm trying to think of, like, alright, what's the worst that could possibly happen and what's the best possible situation? And thinking about, like, alright, within those situations, like, what can I do or what do I have to do? And so it's like if he's crying nonstop for three or four hours on a flight, like, what do I have to do or what can I do to prevent that from happening? And so I think there's a lot more to think about and a lot more to kind of mentally think about and go through before you kind of travel with the newborn.
And I'm just trying to read up on as many guides and YouTube videos as much as possible. But from what I'm learning is that, as being a first time parent, you can plan things and you can, and you can have the set schedule and all this stuff, but it's really dependent on your baby. And Oliver, kinda determines that schedule. And so I think that's where it's like it's I'm gonna have to let go a little bit more when it comes to some of this travel and kinda just go with the flow. And so it's like, if he's if he's not feeling good or if he's being fussy, then maybe we stay in and we order takeout at a local restaurant or something and not go to the restaurant down the street.
We still get the local experience of eating at a restaurant nearby, but maybe we don't go out. And so, so, yeah, it's gonna be a challenge, and it's gonna be a good learning experience. I know Gunnar is listening to this answer at home with his newborn daughter trying to get some intel. So thank you. Alright.
The last question is a listener question, which I think you are uniquely suited to help me answer. So Catherine wrote in, I just booked award availability on Vietnam Airlines flying nonstop from San Francisco to Ho Chi Minh City for next March, and I am in decision paralysis to figure out where to go. I have eight nights total. I don't wanna fly too much in country, and I'm going mainly to try as much food as possible. Any itinerary ideas?
What comes to mind for you, Max? Yeah. I would split it between the three major cities. I think this is a pretty pretty straightforward answer. It's like Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon, spend a couple days there, and the food varies so much from different regions.
And so, down south, you'd be in Ho Chi Minh City, try the food there, go to Da Nang, which is the central part of Vietnam, and there's special dishes there as well. And then go to Hanoi, which is the furthest north, and try the different dishes there. And so you'll notice that the dishes change. Also, the accent changes as well. And so it's always fun and interesting.
So that's where I would kinda look up, like, what are the specialty dishes in each of those cities. And then, Da Nang is the coastal city, and then Hanoi is also a major city, and then, Ho Chi Minh is also a major city. So you get a major city, a coastal city in the center, and then also a major city up north as well. Yeah. I think I would probably lean this same way.
I would say if, you know, those three intercountry flights feel like too much even, my my first recommendation for somebody making their first trip would be probably to cut out Da Nang and do Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi and maybe try to do at least an overnight trip out to Long Bay from Hanoi, which is pretty easy to do in just, you know, basically a full, probably thirty six hours. So you're burning a day and change in Hanoi. But, Yeah. I disagree with you on that, though. Well, let's hash it out here on the podcast, Max.
Well, let's it's, like, also because, like, I look at Vietnam from a different lens because I'm also Vietnamese, and, going back to Vietnam every summer with my parents to visit family. So just just so we're clear, if you're gonna listen to anybody on this, it should be Max and not me. Yeah. And so I think, well, I'm also slightly biased because my dad is from Da Nang and so that coastal part of the country is kinda nostalgic for me. And then also some great resorts, oceanside and beachside up in Da Nang, and so you get kind of get the coastal aspect of Vietnam.
But also when you're in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City, you get the city aspect of it. And so if you had to do two, I think, those two would be my choices. So that way you kinda experience, some of the beachy vibes, ocean vibes of Ho Chi Minh City, and also the city vibes of Ho Chi Minh City. Alright. I think you did, Catherine, well.
I'm not sure I did, so I'm gonna shut up now. If you want us to answer your question, shoot us an email at podcast@thriftytraveler.com, and we might feature it on the next week's show. Alright, Max. I get to put you on the spot. You don't you have not prepared for this.
I have not prepared you for it, but I'm handing you a magic phone or email or whatever. Who cares? Anyway, you can use this to demand one change from an airline or a bank or a hotel chain. The biggest pain point that you have that you want to have solved. So to put you on the spot, what change are you demanding?
Oh, man. See, I told you, we don't prepare for this. So just so you know, the last time we did this, Gunnar asked John and I what he thought of him as an employee. So we did a performance review live on the air of the Thrifty Podcast. That's how twisted this gets.
Okay. So what I would change would be I think, this is a pretty big change, would be dynamic pricing. And so does that count as one? Is that Yes. Hey.
Okay. Yeah. And so dynamic pricing, I think, makes it much harder to kinda predict how many points you need to redeem for your redemption. And so I don't it's like if points redemption rates kinda kinda creep up a little higher, I think I'm okay with that. But dynamic redemptions, dynamic award pricing makes it challenging, especially, like, I have since I have a son now, it's like, as soon as he's gonna be in school, it's gonna be hard to kinda predict how many points it's gonna cost to get some of these higher peak, like, summer travel or, like, spring break travel and things like that.
And so I think also, like, dynamic award pricing throws people off a lot as well. And so especially when it comes across, like, my content of, like, oh, hey. I found this award availability for 4,500 Virgin Atlantic miles to London Heathrow. And then, like, people jump on. They're like, oh, it's not 400 and it's not 4,500 miles.
It's 100,000 miles. Like, what's going on? It's like and it kinda makes miles and points kinda feel like a scam, I guess, and which it's not. It's just people are it's dynamic award pricing. Some dates are cheap.
Some dates are expensive. And so I think I'd rather have it say no award availability and then, or have the award availability at the advertised price. That way people have an easier understanding of award availability and Booking Saver award space and booking award flights.
You know, I tend to fall into the camp of, I think, dynamic award availability can be more of a good thing than it is a bad thing, but I do definitely agree that it can be kind of a hindrance for trying to understand this more when you feel like it's supposed to be one thing and then you get there and and it's no longer there. And I think if I had to pick one to put myself on the spot, which I also didn't prepare myself for this, Max, nor did you prepare me for it, I would say I think that basic economy award tickets on Delta when you're redeeming SkyMiles is one of the worst things to happen in award travel, especially for the people out there that have SkyMiles in a really, really long time.
And if I could call Ed Bastian, he's not taking my call. But if he was, I would tell him, get rid of those basic economy award tickets. Do a main cabin ticket like you like every other airline does. Yeah. And so I think, like, that's the challenge with some of this basic economy stuff, especially with Southwest just rolled out their basic economy as well, is that the rules vary so much between different basic economies.
And I think generally, like, main cabin kind of essentially is the same across most airlines, but basic economy can vary carry on, no carry on, seat selection, no seat selection, earning points, not earning points. And so I think, yeah, I mean, it can be challenging. So that maybe that's the reason why they have that is that so you don't book basic economy. That is why. I just wish that it wasn't even there.
Alright, Max. Thanks for doing this with us. I appreciate it. This has been super fun. Yeah, for sure.
Thanks for having me. It was a lot of fun. Alright, everybody. Thanks for listening to the Thrifty Traveler Podcast. Be sure to rate us five stars on your podcast platform of choice, and like and subscribe to Thrifty Traveler on YouTube.
Send this episode to somebody you know who needs a vacation. If you have feedback, send a note to Gunnar, not me, Gunnar is the one who reads it, at podcast@thriftytraveler.com. We'd love to hear from you. This episode was produced by yours truly and our resident hotel expert, Long Tran. It was edited by David Strutt, and our theme music is by Benjamin Tissot.
See you next time, Max. Yeah. See you.