The NFL Draft is over. Our Airline Mileage Program Draft is here as Gunnar and Kyle each pick their top 5 frequent flyer programs. Which airline pulled a Shedeur Sanders and slid into a later round? And more importantly, who wins: Gunnar or Kyle? Oh, and the guys also talk about a crazy Delta SkyMiles sale, Tulum losing its luster, and getting to Italy for next year’s Winter Olympics.
The NFL Draft is over. Our Airline Mileage Program Draft is here as Gunnar and Kyle each pick their top 5 frequent flyer programs. Which airline pulled a Shedeur Sanders and slid into a later round? And more importantly, who wins: Gunnar or Kyle? Oh, and the guys also talk about a crazy Delta SkyMiles sale, Tulum losing its luster, and getting to Italy for next year’s Winter Olympics.
Be sure to vote in the comments
(00:00) - Is this going to be the best Olympics ever for travelers?
(04:30) - The best Delta SkyMiles sale we’ve ever seen to Asia: Just 25K roundtrip!
(09:08) - Has Tulum lost its buzz?
(12:20) - A word from our sponsor (us … and our flight deal service!)
(13:50) - Our 2025 Thrifty Traveler Airline Mileage Program Draft!
Make sure to cast your vote for the winner in the comments on YouTube, Twitter, or on the Thrifty Traveler Instagram
(34:50) - Listener Question: Best ways to travel around the school calendar when prices get high
(39:35) - Our favorite follows in travel and points & miles!
(@kpottermn, @gunnarsolson, @maxmilespoints, @claireandpeter, @travelmomsquad, @adventureparks, @raimeetravel, @ishrionaviation)
Produced by Gunnar Olson & Jackson Newman
Edited by David Strutt
Show music: “All That” by Benjamin Tissot
Yo. I'm Gunnar Olson here with Thrifty Traveler executive editor and your favorite editor's favorite editor. It's Kyle Potter. Who is your favorite editor? It's because it's certainly not me.
It's Jackson Newman, who's our producer on the show today. So Yeah. No. That tracks. Yeah.
He's my favorite editor and you're his favorite editor. Who's my favorite editor? I don't know. I don't know, Kyle. That's up to you, man.
It's not me. I can tell you that much? Alright, Kyle. Well, as a good editor, you're gonna have the answer to this question, I hope. And that's because I need to find something out about the twenty twenty six Winter Olympics, which are coming up next February.
Italy and Milan, Milan and Cortina, sorry, in Italy are hosting the games. And it's a very unique game, really big and spread out. But my question for you is, is this gonna be the best games ever to travel to? To travel to? I mean, I think quite possibly.
Are they gonna be the best games ever? I think that's up to the athletes. Right? But no. The I mean, I think the conditions are there to get there affordably probably, you know, better than we've seen in a while.
I mean, for first for to start, it's it's pretty off peak in the travel season. Not a ton of people are going to Europe in, February, So that's good. It's coming at a time as we talked about in one of the the latest episodes where travel demand seems to be waning a little bit. So then of the volume of people that may be looking to pull off this once or twice in a lifetime trip, may leave some seats to fill just because there are fewer people who are, you know, planning those really big bucket list trips right now. And then finally, you know, with Milan as kind of the epicenter of the games, I mean, that is a huge international airport with a ton of traffic.
But you wrote, I think, a really fantastic story for us just, last week, about all of the nuts and bolts of trying to pull together a trip like this. So I think the question is up to you. What do you think? Yeah. Thanks.
That story was, born out of pure selfish ambition, as most of my stories at thriftytraveler.com are. But I I wanted to look at it because it seems like an incredible opportunity. The Dolomites in the middle of winter are obviously intriguing to me as someone who loves to go ski, but, it's part of the world I haven't really explored and would love to, and the games are a great excuse to do so. But with all Olympic games, there are some challenges traveling wise, logistically. For instance, you know, we are strict adherence to the flight's first rule here at Thrifty Traveler.
Like, buy your flights first, plan the trip around that. In this case, and maybe in only this case, you kinda need to go get some lodging and some train tickets now, and then maybe piece together the rest. As always, book as refundable as you can when you're booking this far in advance. But, yeah, this is a really exciting winter games. And like you said, for all those reasons you mentioned, the demand environment may be such that things might just be priced appropriately until, all the way up until the games themselves.
So it's it's a pretty exciting opportunity. And, I know one member of our team, Tracy Birch, is heading over there with her family and was able to pull off some awesome bookings already. So she helped me with that story, and, I'm hoping maybe to replicate it for myself. We'll see. Replicate it for yourself and hopefully some of our listeners can pull it off themselves as well.
I mean, when we're seeing round trip Emirates business class from New York City to Milan and back for a 8,000 miles round trip bookable during you know, to get you there before the opening ceremony to be there for a week or two or maybe even more. I mean, we're right in the sweet spot now where, you know, people who have been had have had the Winter Olympics in the back of their mind. Now is the time to start making some moves. And I think as you pointed out, the flight first rule, while it is a rule for us, rules are made to be broken. This is a case where, yeah, definitely your hotels, train tickets, especially tickets for the events.
You gotta get booking those now and then after that turn to booking your flights. Kinda flip our our usual planning process in reverse for this one. Yeah. Hopefully, everybody can pull it off. I'll see you all at the, curling center.
First beer's on me, but the second three are on you. Four beers. Four beers. Four beers. We can do four beers.
I trust us. If I've learned anything from our first few episodes of our incessant talking about booze, I think we can do four beers. We'll be fine. Alright. Today on the show, we're gonna discuss the cheapest points and miles flights to Asia that we've ever seen and what's going on at the Tulum Airport.
And then in our featured segment called the extra mile, we're following the NFL, and we're putting together a draft of all of our favorite airline loyalty programs. Welcome back to the Thrifty Traveler podcast. Alright. Let's jump into something hot and something cold where we look at the good and the bad news out there for travelers from the last week. And we're gonna start with something hot as always.
This deal, Kyle, kinda melted our brains here at the Thrifty Traveler offices last week. Between 65,000 Delta SkyMiles round trip to Taipei, Taiwan on the new nonstop route from Seattle, flying Delta, of course. This one was from more than a hundred cities in Delta's network all over the country with the best availability being right in September. Crazily, you could book these one way for half the price as well. Really unusual that Delta does this.
I mean, we talk all the time about Delta SkyMiles flash sales, and although just kinda willy nilly slash award rates to half or less of what they usually charge. But to do that for one ways and not just round trips, so, you know, a 25,000 or so, sky miles round trip or a 12 and a half round trip, to do it one way and then find a different way back home from Taipei or or wherever else, throughout Asia. Pretty unusual for Delta to do this. Yeah. So this deal, obviously, incredibly hot.
It's a really good way to get to Asia whether or not Taipei is your final destination. But is this deal too good? Like, what's going on with this route? Or should we be worried about it? So we wrote a story which I think really holds up especially right now as we're talking about this that, Delta SkyMiles flash sales are the clearance meat of the airline industry, and that's what they're doing.
They are trying to offload seats that would otherwise go out empty. And this is what a lot of airlines do when they decide eventually, you know what? We'll let some folks book these seats with their points or with their miles when they normally wouldn't want to. But, you know, this Taipei route for Delta, which started, you know, not even a year ago, is clearly struggling, I think, in large part because there's just so much competition on this route. There are four airlines that are flying nonstop from Seattle to Taipei, and, you know, a handful of them, Delta and, Starlux, have added service just within the last year or so.
And then all of these airlines, Delta, Starlux, China Airlines, and EVA EVA have all added more flights despite the fact that this market is just completely oversaturated. So I think what we saw last week with this 25,000 sky mile sale for a route that typically cost more than a hundred thousand sky miles round trip is, is, two things. It's It's a little bit of desperation from Delta to fill some seats on planes that are clearly going out empty, and I think it's just the latest sign that none of these airlines wanna blink on this route. Everybody is waiting for somebody that, you know, kinda fold their cards, and nobody has done it yet. Yeah.
It's certainly clearance meat. That might have been one of your best headlines of all time in the history of thriftytraveler.com, by the way. I love that one. Another instance in which I pitched a story and all I got was just like, What are you what are you talking about? That's that's my bread and butter is just making people go like, what are you doing?
What are we doing here? Hey. But, it got through the editing process, and that's why you're the executive editor. Because I am the editing process. It's nice when you get to green light your own stories.
Yeah. But this is definitely an incredible deal. And like we said, these SkyMiles sales might be clearance meet, but you can protect yourself a little bit by getting a main cabin fare. And if something were to happen, you're getting refunded anyway. So, don't worry about these SkyMiles fares.
They're really good and take advantage of Delta's deals when they offer them to you. Yeah. And, you know, this was just the latest instance in which, you know, this was a a rare instance, I will say, in which Delta advertised this SkyMiles sale. They do this occasionally a couple of times a year, but the volume of unadvertised SkyMiles flash sales is so, so much bigger than what Delta puts on its website. But when Delta does this, when they advertise one of these sales, what we often find is that the sale is actually quite a bit better than what Delta tells its travelers about.
So I think in this case, they were advertising SkyMiles fares in the, you know, 37,000, 40 thousand, SkyMiles range for a round trip to Taiwan and back. You know, you factor in the, 15% discount that comes automatically if you have a Delta SkyMiles gold, platinum, or reserve card. And the fact that, you know, this was available not just nonstop from Seattle, not just, you know, from the West Coast, but really all across the country, even out in the East Coast for as low as 25,000 sky miles round trip. Delta wasn't telling people just how good this sale was. Yeah.
Pretty amazing one. Alright. Should we go on to something cold? Let's do it. Connor, what is going on in Tulum, and how could it possibly be colder than what we just talked about, which is just how much airlines are struggling to fill seats on this, route to Taiwan?
Yeah. What's going on in Tulum has been pretty interesting to me lately, actually. Last year last winter, the Tulum Airport opened, in December, and, airlines started flooding in there. All of The US carriers basically, planted a flag and picked out some gates at Tulum and said, we're offering nonstop service to the Tulum Airport so people can skip kind of the busier Cancun Airport. You know, Cancun and Tulum requires a little bit of a drive or or now a train ride, to get between the two.
So they thought, you know, maybe we'll, grab some people who are really tired of that Cancun Airport. And the airlines were, you know, falling over each other to get in there. The airport opened a huge fanfare. You know, Canadian airlines too jumped in. This year, however, every week, we're seeing more airlines kinda pull back and pull back a little further on the Tulum Airport, which is, code T Q 0, by the way.
According to Serium data, last winter, into this winter, there's a 23 decrease in available sea miles, which is just how we calculate capacity, to and from The US and Canada. And that's, you know, a loss of more than 200 total flights. So what, I guess was a very buzzy, opening of a brand new airport and a new way to travel to Mexico, we're seeing a bit of a right sizing, maybe at a bad time economically for Canada and The US. And all of a sudden, the demand at TQO is is just way, way less than we expected. Yeah.
You know, I I wonder if the opening of the Tulum Airport and airlines adding all of this nonstop service from The United States and Canada was just, like, two or three years too late that, you know, had had this started earlier. I mean, Tulum was one of the buzziest spots, not just in Mexico, but really up and down North America and Central America for a while. And I think maybe that just burned out a little bit faster than, than when airlines could get, Americans and Canadians there nonstop. And I think when you fact also factor in that, you know, this airport, while brand new and very efficient, is not exactly the most efficient way to get to Tulum proper because it's still a good forty five, fifty minute cab ride from the airport to, to the town itself and and the beach resorts as well. So while that's definitely I mean, that's about half as long as it takes to get, from the Cancun Airport, that is a long track from the Cancun Airport all the way down to Tulum.
It's still not maybe quite as convenient as people were maybe hoping for or counting on when they first learned, oh, you know, I can fly nonstop to Tulum now. So I'm honestly you know, when you talk about those factors and then also consider kind of the broader environment of of how airlines are talking about demand slowing down for travel. Airlines have to make some cuts, and they make some cuts in the places where they've got too much capacity and and you know I think it's looking like this is one of them. Alright, let's, cut for a break. I've said it before but I'm gonna say it again, if you want flight deals, you really need Thrifty Traveler Premium.
20365, our team is digging up the cheapest fares and the hardest to book points deals, sending them to our members inboxes every single day. And when I say good deals, I mean stuff like 25,000 SkyMiles round trip to Taipei and flying Qantas Business Class for fourteen plus hours to Sydney for a 9,000 points each way. Gunnar, why don't you pick out two recent flight deals that we sent to our premium members from the last week that stand out to you? Yeah. I think this one really stands out to me.
Aer Lingus business class to Ireland from 45,000 miles each way. These are all the Aer Lingus nonstop flights and its peak summer availability. June and July, this was an absolute gem that our team dug up for this one. And exactly when you wanna be in Dublin drinking. Yes.
Exactly. And then the other one I love is, Anchorage, Alaska under $3.99 round trip including some summer. This is a great deal. It includes a ton of different airports, getting up to Anchorage. Most of them non stop, all thanks to a big sale from Alaska we got going on this week.
If you want deal like these, sign up today at thriftytraveler.com/premium. As a special treat, our podcast listeners can use the promo code TTpod for $20 off your first year of flight deal alerts. That's thriftytraveler.com/premium. Use the promo code TTpod, five letters, all one word for $20 off your first year. Alright.
Back to the show. Alright. Good evening. Welcome to the Thrifty Traveler twenty twenty five airline loyalty program draft. The ground rules are simple.
We'll be drafting airline loyalty programs. There is no other criteria other than building the best possible roster of airline programs that you can use to fly around the country or around the world. And when we're done, we're gonna have you, the listeners, decide who has the better team. The loser will pay the winner $20,000. No.
How no. How about just a beer? I can do a beer. I cannot do $20,000. Okay.
One beer. One beer. The winner will get one beer from the loser. And, Kyle, what are the rules? You said there are no criteria, but there are there are some criteria.
We're gonna set some ground rules. So first of all, the ability to earn these miles is important. That's gonna be a factor in how Gunnar and I talk to decide which of these programs that we're individually going to draft. So we're focusing here on programs that here in The US, travelers can easily earn their miles either through flying or transferring credit card points or both, which means we're not gonna be talking about drafting Lufthansa miles and more or Korean Sky Pass. And availability is also really important, in deciding what you can do.
So while in theory, it's great that you can book, and a business class from the West Coast to Tokyo for 52,500 Virgin Atlantic flying club points, That's pretty hard to do. So in my book, maybe. I don't know. I'm not gonna tip my hand here. Maybe that means that Virgin Atlantic flying club points aren't as valuable and therefore aren't gonna be super high on my draft board.
But we'll see. And let's stress. You and I have not exchanged notes here. We each have our own individual notes, and our own, kind of fantasy draft order of how we're gonna do this. We're gonna get through the end of it.
We're gonna, draft our rosters. And then like Gunnar said, you, the listener, is gonna decide who did a better job drafting. Okay. Kyle Potter, you're on the clock. Should I do the NFL draft sound like the song?
Yes. Yes. Yes. We're into it. Yes.
That's a perfect way to start. And just just so we're clear, you are letting me go first for any particular reason? No. No. I just felt like you maybe needed a hand, to take me down in this draft.
So go ahead. I am happy to destroy you. Alright. Let's get on with the destruction. Number one, the number one overall pick in the 2025, Fantasy Airline draft.
I'm selecting British Airways Avios. K. They are a transfer partner from, you know, pretty much every major bank, Chase, Amex, Capital One built. You can do a lot with them. You can book short flights on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines.
You can fly out to Hawaii and back for 20,000 or 40,000 miles round trip. But most importantly, this is a five for one. So the general rule for airline miles is once you have miles in your airline account, you cannot send them to another airline, even to airline partners. But British Airways breaks this rule, which means that I can turn the Avios that I have from British Airways into Qatar Avios and book Qatar q suites for 70,000 miles each way. I can book, I can transfer them to either, keep them in British Airways or transfer them to Iberia and book a one way flight to Madrid for 17,000 miles or in business class for 34,000 miles.
The sleeper here for me, the real reason why I picked this one is Finnair. You can book, round trips, on, Alaska to Hawaii and back from anywhere in the nation, whether it's nonstop or has several connections for 27,000 miles round trip. Cathay Pacific for 85,000 miles, a flying business class from anywhere in The US to Hong Kong, and Finnair business class for 62,500 miles each way from The United States to Helsinki. This is, a five for one. It is the clear number one pick in my book.
Alright. I really like it. That's a great program. Obviously, the flexibility is just so insane, and that's why you probably took it number one. Is it my turn?
You're on the clock. Okay. My number one pick, I am taking Air Canada Aeroplan. I love the program from our neighbors to the North, the transfer partners from Chase, Amex, Capital One, and BILT. And I love Aeroplan for a few reasons.
One, you're able to book kinda short haul United flights than The US, so I can use that kinda as a utility just to get around the country if I need to. It also helps you book business class to Europe in a pretty clean and efficient way, often offering those connections to other US airports. So here at MSP, you know, we're not gonna get a ton of non stops over to Europe. But if you're gonna book through Aeroplan, you can usually get that same kinda 70,000 rate that includes the connection from Minneapolis. And that's, you know, to book any Star Alliance carrier or almost any Star Alliance carrier, including if I wanted to fly United Polaris, which I've used that for, if you wanted to fly Lufthansa business class, and or Air Canada itself.
So I love Air Canada's program. Also, their website, despite being very annoying to log into, once you're in there, it's actually pretty clean and easy to use, and everything's simple and makes sense. And that means a lot to me too. A soothing website deserves the number one pick. Alright, Kyle.
Number two? I will say I had Air Canada on my board, but I'm still confident I'm going to crush you, because with my second pick in the draft, I am selecting Air France KLM flying blue. I think importantly here, we, Gunnar and I, are sitting here in Minneapolis. This is a Delta hub. You need to be able to book Delta flights, in order to get around the country, really.
And in some cases, you know, travel internationally. And Air France KLM flying blue has emerged as the best way to book virtually any Delta flight. As long as there's a word space available, which, you know, is hit or miss, but I think in particular for domestic award space is pretty easy to do. You are going to be able to do this for the fewest amount of miles as possible using Air France miles. For years, Virgin Atlantic was the number one workaround, but after a handful of devaluations over the last few years by raising award rates, Air France is the cheapest way to go now.
And most importantly, when you use Air France miles to book, an award ticket operated by Delta, you are booking a main cabin ticket. So I get to select my seat for free. I can cancel that ticket for a pretty reasonable fee and get my miles back if my plans change. None of that is possible when booking, Delta SkyMiles ticket if you're booking the cheapest basic economy Delta SkyMiles fare. And then on top of all of that, there's some other great stuff that you can do.
You can book Etihad business class, from a handful of US cities over to Abu Dhabi or back for 87,000 miles each way. China Airlines flying to Taipei. We talked about this before with their Seattle route, but they China Airlines operates a handful of nonstops across The US. You can book for as low as 60,000 miles each way using Air France miles. And best of all, two more things, free stopovers.
You have to call in order to do this, but it's well worth it to, you know, fly over to Paris, stop for a few days and then connect onward, throughout Europe and do that for free. Only a handful of airline programs allow you to do that on one way award tickets. And most importantly, these are the easiest airline miles to earn in the world. They are transfer partners with all of the major banks and even some minor ones. So you stack all of those things together, and I am very happy to come out with Air France as my number two spot.
Alright. I like that pick a lot. That was high on my list, so I'm gonna have to do some shuffling. But for my number two, I am going to take Alaska. I knew we were going to, so I I moved it up to the top four.
In my first rough draft of my order. I had it at number two, and I'm really kicking myself here. Alaska mileage plan is so good. It's very helpful to book almost anything in one world. They also have some other unique, partners as well.
But, I mean, for instance, you can use Alaska miles to book that Dublin deal we talked about. We were talking about premium, to book Aer Lingus business class. You can use Alaska miles to book American Airlines business class when crossing the pond to Europe as well. They also have a lot of other fun partners like Condor, if you wanted to get to Germany and beyond, and some great rates in business class there. You can fly airlines like Fiji Airways, as well.
And, obviously, if you're based in, Seattle or out west, earning Alaska miles is pretty easy by just flying, but it's also a lot easier for all of us now, because of the Hawaiian merger and the AmEx transfer to Hawaiian. You can still, for probably a very limited time, get your AmEx points into your Alaska account, which makes them easier to earn than ever. So it's a a bit of a short term pick for me. I'm looking for a starter next year, not someone to develop on my bench with this Alaska mileage plan pick. Your metaphors are out of control.
Alright. My number three pick, I've got a one world airline, and I've got a SkyTeam airline, and I really need something from the star alliance. So for my number three pick, I'm going with ANA mileage plan. This is a little bit of a niche one. Only Amex, membership rewards points from cards like the Amex Gold and the platinum card can you transfer to a and a, and it takes twenty four or forty eight, sometimes even seventy two hours.
So it's a little bit annoying. And I would not have picked this had a and a not come out, just this within this last month and said, as of late June, you will be able to book one way award tickets using a and a miles. And that gives it some flexibility that it did not previously have because for many, many, many years, if you were using a and a miles, no matter whether you're using it to book a and a to fly to Japan or book a Star Alliance airline like Tap Air, Portugal or United, you would have to book a round trip. And that could be a little bit tough depending on what you're trying to do. But, you know, to be able to book one way to Japan flying in a economy for as low as 20,000 miles each way or 50,000 miles each way in business class to book United Polaris or Tap Air Portugal business class for just 50,000 miles each way over to Europe.
I mean, fly all the way to South Africa even with several connections, you in business class for 65,000 miles each way, which is one of the best rates that you can get from any airline program to get all the way to South Africa or to do that for just 35,000 miles each way in economy. The combination of these low rates, pretty reasonable fees on most carriers, not all, but most of them. And this newfound flexibility, which is coming, we don't have it yet, but it's coming soon to be able to book one way. I feel really good about getting a and a mileage plan at number three. Yeah.
That's a I think a really good kinda longer term pick. You're in the draft and develop process for my sports drafting metaphor. But I think, like, as soon as those one way rates are ready, I think a and a is one of those programs you're gonna end up seeing a lot in our deals going forward just because of, that kinda increased flexibility and all the amazing places it can take you. Yeah. And it's just it's such a powerful award program.
I feel very good about this prospect, to borrow your terrible metaphors. It's gonna develop quickly, I think. And despite its its ongoing quirks, especially with those transfer times, I mean, I would have no problem transferring a non insubstantial amount of my Amex points over to a and a just to have them parked there so that when this next deal pops up, I'm ready. Who do you got at number three? Alright.
Number three, I probably would have taken higher if you didn't poo poo them right out of the gate, but I'm gonna take Virgin Atlantic. It's the program I definitely use the most, of any points and miles program out there. We are here in a gloomy, rainy day in Minneapolis, but we are hub captives here in Minneapolis. And, sometimes the sky miles rates out of a city like ours are insane. And if, you wanna fly anywhere in the world from Minneapolis, it's gotta be on Delta pretty much.
So, Virgin Atlantic will help with that quite a bit. I use them all the time to book Delta flights, but you can use them to book all over the world too, especially some pretty solid rates over to Europe, although the, taxes and fees are much, much higher now. But to book Virgin's own metal to London, which is also very interesting to me, you can do that, for relatively cheap, sometimes in the 20 thousands each way, which is a pretty special deal as well. And most importantly, earning Virgin points is incredibly easy, maybe the easiest of any program. Chase, Amex, Capital One, Citi, BILT, and Wells Fargo are all transfer partners.
They allow everyone into the Virgin program. So I love Virgin Atlantic. That is my number three pick. Alright. My turn.
Oh, you're putting me on the spot here because you picked up a few that I would have kind of had in my fourth spot. So on the fly, I'm going, American Advantage for number four. This one, not as easy to earn. This might be, you know, more of a long term prospect, you know, with the inklings that we've seen that as American has signed an exclusive deal with Citibank that you may eventually be able to transfer Citi thank you points over to American. So I feel okay about that.
But even if that doesn't happen, Americans, you know, really reasonable award rates having, you know, pretty frequent discounts, especially on economy fares, as low as 5,000 miles each way in some cases, 10,000, 15 thousand very regularly round trip to either Mexico or The Caribbean. We just recently sent a deal to our premium subscribers for 38,000 Scott or 38,000 advantage miles round trip from basically every single airport in The United States to many, many, many airports over in Europe and back. And then American has some great partners too. I think in particular, maybe one weakness I need to solve in case any mileage plan award availability over to Japan doesn't pan out, having the ability to fly, Qatar Japan Airlines business class or economy using American advantage miles. It's not not a slam dunk, but relatively easy to come by, and I am always trying to get back to Japan.
So having that one in my back pocket, I think, is gonna come in handy. Yeah. Another excellent pick. I like it a lot. You've got a nice squad.
Not gonna lie. A little nervous about it. I know. You should be. Alright.
You're on the clock for number four. Okay. I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm testing the boundaries of our, there are no rules here. Can I take Qatar Avios? Yes.
Because I also badly want into this Avios ecosystem, and you did specify off the hop that you were picking British Airways Avios. So I was thinking, I still have a way in here if I wanna play with this program. You do. But let me just point out to our listeners who are gonna be voting on this, that it is much easier to move points into British Airways because they partner with all of the made almost all of the major transfer partners than it is to move them directly into Qatar Avios. You have fewer options to get those Qatar Avios than you do with British Airways.
So you go ahead and tell me why you pick the inferior Avios program. Because you picked the better one and I gave you the first pick. I know I did. You really screwed up by letting me do that. Just so we're clear.
Kyle already explained all the reasons why we love Avios so much, but I cannot build a roster that I'm happy with without having at least a foot in the door into the Avios program to book those one world flights, and specifically with Qatar to book, JetBlue Mitsuets, which is something I've always had my eye on. Have never booked it yet. You loved that seat, didn't you? Yeah. It's pretty incredible.
Yeah. It's a pretty good one. Alright. We'll move on to you because you've already gushed about obvious enough. Alright.
With my fifth and final selection in the twenty twenty five airline fantasy draft fantasy draft, weird phrase. Okay. Moving on. I'm gonna throw a curveball here, and I am going Delta SkyMiles. Woah.
I this probably isn't gonna be the most popular pick. SkyMiles, not the best reputation in the world of travel, but I think it's overlooked. I think it gets an unfair reputation based solely on this idea, which is, generally speaking, right, that they're terrible for booking business class. I've already got four airlines on my bench that are great for booking business class tickets. I don't need another one.
If it pops up, which we've seen a handful of times in particular on that, Taiwan route, but as well as flying to Seoul, that's great, you know, to be able to book that for as low as 85,000 SkyMiles each way. We've seen that a handful of times. But really what I'm picking Delta SkyMiles here for is just the everyday SkyMiles flash sales to be able to fly to Europe for 24,000 miles, round trip and do that in economy, that is just fine. I am happy to do that if it means I get there for 24,000 miles each way. I a lie flat seat is great, but especially over to Europe, I don't need it.
I don't think anybody really, really does. So having that in my back pocket for when those SkyMiles sales pop up, being able to use SkyMiles while award rates in United States and North America tend to be elevated if there isn't a SkyMiles flash sale. Award rates are stable and very reasonable once you're traveling outside of The United States. So, for example, to be able to fly within much of North Asia for 7,500 sky miles each way in economy to make a connection, for example, from Taiwan up to Japan or or to South Korea or to Hong Kong or to do it for 15,000 miles each way in business class using sky miles. That's great.
And if all else fails, I've got some SkyMiles sitting in my pocket for when I, you know, get into the SkyClub before my domestic Delta flight because that's really the only game in town here. And I use those SkyMiles to buy a bottle of champagne in the Delta SkyClub to start off my trip the right way. That's one of one of the most fun and unusual ways to redeem SkyMiles. They let you do that at the SkyClub. The booze bags are back.
If you were sick of the booze talk, I'm sorry. I don't know what to tell you. This isn't your episode. Find a new podcast. I think that's what we can tell you.
Alright. Alright. Number five. You're on the clock. Time for my last pick.
I'm I'm going a little off the wall here too, and it's pretty niche, but I see for myself in the future a lot of use in the Emirates Skywards, system. It's pretty much I'm doing this for two flights, which is which is kinda crazy to say, but there are two flights that I would love to take, that JFK to Milan route and the Newark to Athens route. Both of them offer really good rates, including economy rates at 17,000 miles each way, which is pretty amazing. And then, of course, that a 8,000, mile round trip rate. Emirates Skyward's also easy to earn.
Chase, AmEx, Capital One, City, and Built all transfer in there. I know this isn't gonna get me, you know, the Emirates Skyward's aren't gonna take you around the world at least for anything that's, affordable, I guess. And the taxes and fees when going through Dubai are brutal. But for those two fifth freedom routes, two places that I'd love to go that I haven't been, and particularly because I was already talking about the Olympics, at the top of the show, Those two are very interesting to me, and I just, you know, I'm I am allured by Emirates. I've never flown it, and it just seems, fancy and exciting.
And I'll I'm sure I could make use of my Emirates Skywards miles in that fifth spot. Good bench pick. Good. Yeah. Good bench pick.
I am, however, feeling more confident than I was at the start of this that I'm gonna I'm gonna win this one. So with that, Gunnar, why don't you run us through your five picks in the 2025 draft or remind our listeners before we ask them to vote? My five picks are Air Canada. I had Alaska with my second pick. I picked Virgin third, Qatar Avios fourth, and then Emirates Skywards in the fifth spot.
What's your team, Kyle? Alright. In number one, I've got British Airways. And just as a reminder, easier to earn than Qatar. Avios, you can transfer for more credit credit card programs and turn them into, to Avios and and for other major airlines.
Number two, Air France KLM flying blue. Number three, ANA mileage plan. Number four, I had American advantage miles. And number five, bringing up the rear in its rightful place, but a good place to be, Delta Sky, Miles. That's awesome.
Two good teams. You can't go wrong, but, of course, vote for the team that you like the most. We're gonna post them on social media, and you'll get to vote in the comments of those posts, and also on the YouTube. So, pick your favorite team. Let us know who won this draft, and we're gonna revisit next week and declare a winner for this first ever airline loyalty draft, Kyle.
This is fun. Let's do this again. Alright. Alright. It's time for the listener question of the week.
We get this question so often that we wanted to address it broadly because we can't say it came from one single listener. I think it came from, like, a half dozen at this point. So a undisclosed listener asks, I'm trying to travel over Christmas break, spring break, or holiday weekend because I'm tied to the school calendar, either as an educator or a family with students. Again, very common question from both of those crowds. And prices look crazy high.
What do you recommend we do? Gunnar, what do you recommend they do? So when it comes to booking around school calendars, it can be really tricky because the demand is all kinda wedged into one week. Right? So if you're thinking about spring break, for instance, and you're leaving from whichever airport you're at, everyone in your school district is trying to book flights more or less on the same day, maybe around the same times, and in a lot of cases, to some of the same destinations.
So the demand environment is such that, you know, you can either be the hammer or the nail in this case is how I like to put it. You can either start and create this demand environment by getting out ahead of it, ten, eleven months ahead of your trip and kinda setting the market, or you can react to the market that someone else has already set for you. And in a lot of cases, that's gonna mean that the price of your flight is gonna go way up. So I would just recommend the second that your dates are available to book, eleven months in advance, you should be right on it and taking a look at least taking a look. Because if the rates are good enough, at a rate you're comfortable booking, I would go ahead and book it main cabin so that it's flexible if you need to change it.
And most importantly, as soon as you make that booking, go set a price alert on Google Flights. If the cost of your flight goes down, you're just gonna rebook for a voucher anyway, and you're gonna be fine in the end. What's more likely to happen is as soon as you book, prices are gonna go way up, especially if you're booking for lots of people and people are doing the same thing as you. So other people are going to be reacting to those $1,200 flights down to Fort Lauderdale while you secured a $300 flight down to Fort Lauderdale. And it might not be the best rate of all time, but I would recommend getting way out ahead of it and setting a price alert.
And then the other strategy is, you know, if it's too late, maybe you missed that window, wait until kind of the last minute, like, six to eight weeks ahead of your trip. If those flights aren't selling, the airlines are just gonna slash the price, and you're gonna be able to get it at a nice rate as well. And if you booked initially for way, way more, you could rebook for a voucher as well. So this keeps you flexible. I would say just the two extremes of booking very, very early or kinda at the last minute are the best ways that you're gonna get cheap flights specifically.
I mean, we can't stress enough just how much it pays to plan ahead, especially for these busy, busy, busy travel stretches like spring break. I mean, you know, we've been talking to people. We get this question, I think, in particular, after spring break, when people feel like they got robbed with the airfare that they ended up paying, and they ask us afterward, how do I not pay $800 a ticket again? And the answer is, you start looking right now. You start looking before maybe you're even ready to start planning your summer travels, because this is the time when you can get in while the getting is in many cases quite good, but not lock yourself into a trip whether it means you know, paying $500 a ticket and maybe the price eventually decreases to 350.
And, you know, as long as you book that main cabin fare, you're able to rebook and pocket that as a voucher. Or, you know, maybe something pops up, whether it's, you know, three months out or three weeks out, four weeks out, that's to a different destination. And, again, as long as you booked that initial ticket at a higher price, either, you know, using, using cash, booking a a main cabin fare, which you can cancel without any penalties, or better yet using miles where you can, in many cases, cancel that for free or for a small fee and get all of your miles back into your airline account and then rebook something that's gonna work a little bit better for your budget or for your family's travels. Yeah. That's crucial advice.
The airlines do not know your school calendar. You do. So they're reacting to people buying fares. They're not going to charge more because it's spring break. They're charging more because people are gobbling up fares.
So if you're gonna go gobble up those first fares, you're gonna do well. I would say get way out ahead of it. And for spring break next year, you should be looking right now. Alright. Let's move on to on the spot.
But first, if you wanna answer your question next week, email us at podcast@thriftytraveler.com. We might feature it on next week's show. So, Kyle, for on the spot, are you ready? Let's do it. Okay.
K potter m n on Instagram, Twitter x, and blue sky is gonna answer a question for us. Through social media, you know, travelers all over have kinda access to more information than ever before, which I think is mostly a good thing. We've seen a lot of new perspectives and strategies and voices in this world of travel, all pop up more and more over the last couple of years. And because of all these new voices, there's kinda no one way to travel anymore or to use your points and miles, and I think that the whole kinda universe that we're in is better off for it. Of course, there is some bad info out there, especially on social media.
So I thought we'd round up, a few of your favorite follows in the travel world, Kyle. So you're on the spot. Who are some of your favorite follows out there? I mean, you're right. There is a lot to choose from this ecosystem of, I think, in particular on social media, people who are talking about travel, talking about points and miles, how to earn them and redeem them is bigger than ever.
I just think of the people that I I think personally do it best, bring the best perspective, do it in an interesting way that stands out. And to me, nobody stands out more than our guy, Max. Max Miles points. Really good at what he what he does. He's been doing this for years long before this big explosion, which, you know, that longevity isn't the reason why he's so good.
But, I mean, the visuals that he does, the way that he explains things, I think just really is different, among a crowd of many, you know, points and miles influencers, let's call them, that tend to do a lot of the same things, ourselves included. I wish I could do the things that Max does in such a great way, because it really does, as I say, stand out. And then, you know, there are so many people that are talking about points and miles and credit cards, and sometimes I just need a break from that. And, the the account of of two travelers, Claire and Peter, is just one of my favorite follows in the travel world because they do a little bit of that, but mostly they just focus on their trips. And maybe more importantly just on themselves and how much fun they seem to be having.
This is a couple that quit their jobs to travel the world for one year, together. And that was, I think, like, three or four years ago. So they've been doing this for a long time now. And for lack of a better word, a lot of the stuff that they do is kind of unhinged in the best way possible. I mean, it's maybe 85% Claire roasting her now fiance, Peter, for not proposing to her earlier.
They went to, like, a national puzzle competition recently and, you know, put out a bunch of reels and stuff about that. They're just so much fun, and I think they they capture a lot of the joy in travel, which I think we all need to be a little bit more focused on rather than just just solely the nuts and bolts of how to open a credit card and and book a flight for the fewest amount of points possible, which don't get me wrong. That's really fun. I just think there might be a little bit too much of that on the Internet right now. So having a break from Claire and Peter is really, really nice.
Yeah. Yeah. They're really funny. I I love the recent, Claire and Peter post where is that men used to go to war. Now they go to all inclusive inclusives.
And it's, Peter just playing in the pools at the all inclusive and Claire filming them. Very funny stuff. I really like their perspective as well. It's just the joy in travel is all right there and that account for sure. Can I offer one or two?
I know I put you on the spot, but You made clear that I am the editor. So, yes, you can. Okay. The editor says I am allowed to share with you guys what I like. So, one that I've followed recently, travel mom squad, all one word.
This crew does an awesome job doing the math about annual fees and credit cards and just kinda explaining it and laying it bare for everybody to see. It's also not you know, they're not running Excel sheets in front of you. It is very fun. They have a lot of fun, and, it's kinda just a they put everything in really easy to understand terms about, you know, signing up for cards and what they get you and how you can do, these big vacations for a lot less. Also, crucially to me right now, their family travel focus, has kinda taken a little bit of the edge off of, I guess my fear of what family travel is.
They make it look very easy and it's, obviously not always, but, there are some clean and easy ways to do it. So it's it's pretty a pretty good way, to kinda dip your foot into those waters too. That's a good one. I also really like the work of Adventure Parks. It's a couple out of Louisville who makes kinda these super informative videos and explainers.
Again, it's not kinda dry explainers. This stuff's really fun, and their travel is really impressive. But they do a lot more, like, hand holding kinda in a good way of showing people exactly what to do. You know, here's the bonus. Here are the points.
Here's how it got me to where we're going, and then here's the, of course, airplane seat to boot. So, they're yeah. Based in Louisville, they're also really good at kinda showcasing strategies on how to position and how to get award travel make award travel more accessible for people who are not in New York and LA and in major hubs. One more time. Say aloud that the airport at which they are based.
I I was really stressing about how I would pronounce Louisville. Alright. So adventure parks, Kyle and Ken's, get back to us with Gunnar's pronunciation of of of your town. I'm not gonna do it. This is about Gunnar.
It's not about me. And let us know how we how we did at at pronouncing your town. My my insane combination of Chicago accent, Minnesota accent, and just kinda, like, halfway hockey locker room, trying to say the word Louisville. I was nervous about it all day. So thanks for pointing it out, Kyle.
No problem. I actually asked a couple other members of our team, for some of their ideas on kinda some accounts that they like to follow as well. A couple of them said, Raimi Travel, r a I m e travel, all one word. A few members of our team mentioned Raimi. I I also follow her.
Content's really fun and helpful. Does a lot more than just points and miles, lots of destination guides and how tos. She had a great breakdown of why skiing in Japan is cheaper than skiing in The US, which I really loved as well. Music to your ears, which you you know firsthand, but hearing other people get it, you must feel like Tobias in that episode of the Arrested Development where he holds his corn dog up and goes, there are dozens of us. Dozens.
Dozens of us. Rami gets it. And then the other one we really like is Ishrion Aviation on Twitter. Not an Instagram follow, but, this user uses kind of, he breaks more route news than anybody, which obviously is super important to, people with points and miles who wanna find a word space. Always finding the most interesting kinda new route news in aviation all over the world.
Kinda less of an influencer, more of a news breaker, but a must follow for points and miles enthusiasts, especially all you nerds and sickos out there like Kyle and I. Yeah. Ishrion is great. The number of times when we send something that he's posted on social media, on Twitter, or on threads to each other and be like, oh, here's another one. It's it's it's it's honestly impressive.
Yeah. He's great. Alright. I think that's enough for today. So, I want to thank you guys all for listening and watching the Thrifty Traveler podcast.
If you would please rate us five stars on your podcast platform of choice, it would be much appreciated. Also, like and subscribe to Thrifty Traveler on YouTube and make sure you Also, like and subscribe to Thrifty Traveler on YouTube and make sure you go and vote for my I mean, the best team, that was drafted in this week's episode. And then, and then after you do that, send this episode to someone you know who, needs a vacation. We wanna help get them there. If you have feedback for us, send me a note at podcast@thriftytraveler.com.
I wanna hear from you there as well. Kyle, tell us about the Thrifty Traveler podcast team. This episode was produced by our senior editor, Jackson Newman, and your favorite runner-up in the inaugural twenty twenty five airline fantasy draft, Gunnar Olson. This is edited by David Strutt. Our theme music is by Benjamin Tissot.
Sell. See you next week. See you.