Award Travel 101

BREAKING news from our partners at Thrifty Traveler!

Starting right now through Thursday, June 20th at 11:59PM Eastern, NEW subscribers can get 50% off their first year of their Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal alerts by entering promo code FIFTY  which can be customized from more than 200 US and Canadian cities.

You can even opt-in for INSTANT TEXT Alerts for special “mistake” fares or the rarest “Unicorn deals.” In the last month alone, Thrifty Traveler Premium has sent over 3 alerts per day for:

• R/T domestic flights under $200 (some even under $100)
• An ultra-low $135 r/t to Dublin
• Skymiles flash sales to Mexico, Central America, and even the Caribbean for 16K R/T

Other aspirational award alerts Thrifty Traveler Premium has delivered include:

•  QSuites to the middle east and beyond
• Emirates First class
• Air France/Flying Blue to Europe (even during Olympics)
• United Polaris to Europe and Australia
• American Flagship routes to Europe

All of these awards were in lie-flat seats. In fact, Joe just returned recently from Rome in business class on ITA’s newest plane (just 3 months old) c/o one of these alerts from Thrifty Traveler Premium for just 54K flexible points, and next month he's traveling to Tokyo in business class on JAL’s newest A350-1000, courtesy of an alert and 60K AAdvantage miles.

Again, with this is a limited-time offer from Thrifty Traveler Premium runs through Thursday, June 20th at 11:59PM and NEW subscribers can get 50% off their first year of their Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal alerts by entering promo code FIFTY. Now, get these customized alerts sent directly to your inbox for 50% off. That’s $49.99 for an investment into the next year of your Award Travel future!

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Where to Find Us
For questions, you can join us in the free 110,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
2. You can also email us at [email protected]
3. Our next meetup is located in SEATTLE on AUGUST 16–18, 2024. For more details and to purchase tickets, visit "Out to SEA" on the award.travel website.

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This week Angie talks with newest Award Travel 101 moderator Randy Clinton. Randy talks about his background, what got him started in travel rewards and loyalty programs. Randy talks about some of the aspirational products he has flown and how he booked them. He also shares some of his tips for one of his favorite ways to travel, cruises and how to status match for the most benefits.

Links to topics discussed:

• Emirates slashed economy partner award pricing by up to 20%
• Hilton Surpass 130K + Free Night Award
• Cruise Status Matches
  • Carnival
  • Virgin Voyages
  • MSC

Where to Find Us

1. The Award Travel 101 Facebook Community.
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at [email protected]
4. Buy your Award Travel 101 Merch here
5. Reserve tickets to our April 2027 Meetup in Nashville now. award.travel/bna2027

Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions!

Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card!

Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.  

Joe is off cruising the Mediterranean so Mike and Angie are on this week. We talk about some news such as AA rolling back their unpopular changes to how loyalty points would be earned. Finally we ponder quirks in the award travel world that makes us grumpy from restrictive bank rules to the CPP Police. 

Links to topics discussed:

• Targeted World of Hyatt Promos
• The return of a popular welcome offer on the Bonvoy Business Card
• Hilton cards are back with elevated bonuses
• Cents Per Point (CPP) calculations
• Obsession over Chase 5/24
• Citi Strata Premier

Where to Find Us

1. The Award Travel 101 Facebook Community.
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at [email protected]
4. Buy your Award Travel 101 Merch here
5. Reserve tickets to our April 2027 Meetup in Nashville now. award.travel/bna2027

Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions!

Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card!

Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.  

Joe talks with Gunnar Olson of Thrifty Traveler on how award travel has helped enrich his travels with his Player 2), and they've created fond memories flying some incredible products, by way of his work at Thrifty Traveler.

Joe and Gunnar also discuss how the past 6 months have probably been more brutal than what we’ve seen in any other past period with award price hikes and no-notice changes from many of our favorite programs such as United, Turkish, Virgin Atlantic and World of Hyatt.

Also listen in for Gunnar's tip of the week; the old adage, "Book early, book often!" 

Where to Find Us

1. The Award Travel 101 Facebook Community.
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at [email protected]
4. Buy your Award Travel 101 Merch here
5. Reserve tickets to our April 2027 Meetup in Nashville now. award.travel/bna2027

Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions!

Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card!

Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.  

This week Joe and Angie discuss lots of news such as the rebranded Citi Strata Premier, Virgin Red Cruise deal, some SLH properties rejoining World of Hyatt via Mr & Mrs Smith and more.

Then then as the summer of travel heats up they discuss the their tips for getting ready for a trip. Something hopefully everyone we be doing soon and often this summer.

Where to Find Us

1. The Award Travel 101 Facebook Community.
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at [email protected]
4. Buy your Award Travel 101 Merch here
5. Reserve tickets to our April 2027 Meetup in Nashville now. award.travel/bna2027

Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions!

Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card!

Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.  

The 14th annual Chicago Seminars has a long and storied history. In Episode 64: The Most Powerful Tool in Award Travel, we had two of the event's organizers sharing the announcement of this year's event changes.

In this episode, Angie is joined by two more of this year's organizers, Chris Moss and Marty Paz who share more details on the variety of speakers for each level and what attendees can expect.

Links to topics Discussed

• New Qatar Privileges Credit card
• Bilt Changes
  • Pay Condo Fees
  • New Hotel Transfer Partner - but don't do it!
• New Amex Transfer Bonus
• Capital One Removes Restaurant Benefit
• Enhanced Sapphire Card offer - will she get approved?
• Business Platinum application - can she get another?
• Alaska Airlines
  • Companion Certificate to the rescue
  • Gold Guest Upgrades

Where to Find Us

1. The Award Travel 101 Facebook Community.
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at [email protected]
4. Buy your Award Travel 101 Merch here
5. Reserve tickets to our April 2027 Meetup in Nashville now. award.travel/bna2027

Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions!

Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card!

Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.  

Award Travel 101 Community members probably know which cards to start with - Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve, Ultimate Rewards' earning Ink (Preferred, Unlimited, Cash) cards, Amex Gold and Platinum (consumer and business) cards. But what happens when you can't get new cards? Many of us have been in that boat where we can’t open new cards for a while. What's next?

Links to Topics Discussed

• Should You Get the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card?
• United Skyrockets Business Class Partner Award Pricing by up to 200%
• 15K Award Flights to Europe
• Qatar Airways 30% Transfer Bonus From Citi
• 31+ Promos Ending Soon
• Wyndham Points save the day

Where to Find Us

1. The Award Travel 101 Facebook Community.
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at [email protected]
4. Buy your Award Travel 101 Merch here
5. Reserve tickets to our April 2027 Meetup in Nashville now. award.travel/bna2027

Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions!

Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card!

Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.  

We just returned from our meetup in San Antonio for Fiesta. There were over 150 Award Travel 101 and members from the Award Travel 201 communities in attendance. We had a great group of speakers who shared their stories and tips:

• Justin Vacula (Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast) blew everybody’s minds with creative ways to hit minimum spend and earn status (Podcast Episode 43)
• Toni Perkins-Southam (Forbes Advisor) shared deals over the years as well as the one most important aspects of the Award Travel (Podcast Episode 51)
• Logan Robinson (Aligned Incentives) discussed how to simplify meeting minimum spends
• Ryan Smith (AwardWallet) shared some under-the-radar card perks and benefits (Podcast Episode 48)

Links to Other Topics Discussed

• Elevated American Express Business Platinum offer
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith is now bookable with Hyatt points
• Lufthansa First class bookable with LifeMiles
• New rules/laws/protections

Where to Find Us

1. The Award Travel 101 Facebook Community.
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at [email protected]
4. Buy your Award Travel 101 Merch here
5. Reserve tickets to our April 2027 Meetup in Nashville now. award.travel/bna2027

Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions!

Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card!

Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.  

We came across an interesting diagram ranking the top 20 hotel programs throughout the world.  Do you know which is largest? (Hint: it's not US-based)

Some are less familiar, so we ranked the six we most frequently discuss in the Award Travel 101 Facebook community:

• #2 Wyndham - 9,280 properties
• #3 Marriott- 8,484 properties
• #6 Choice - 7,500 properties
• #7 Hilton - 7,165 properties
• #8 IHG - 6,164 properties
• #16 Hyatt - 1,200 properties  

Link to Topics Discussed

• Hilton/Small Luxury Hotels (Updates)
• Choice Sweet Spots
•  New Citi AAdvantage Business offer

Where to Find Us

1. The Award Travel 101 Facebook Community.
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at [email protected]
4. Buy your Award Travel 101 Merch here
5. Reserve tickets to our April 2027 Meetup in Nashville now. award.travel/bna2027

Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions!

Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card!

Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.  

How does one weed out the noise to find what's most useful for your Award Travel strategies?  In-person events will provide opportunities for attendees to speak with and listen to experts in the field which help fine-tune their strategies. We encourage you to attend, engage, explore, learn, and ask questions.

Chicago Seminars organizers Jackie and JT join Joe to discuss the next event in September.

Links to Topics Discussed

• 14th Annual Chicago Seminars
• AwardWallet’s Roundup of Airline and Hotel Program Sweet Spots
• One Credit Card Issuer Just Increased Its Global Entry Benefit. Will Others Follow?
• Credit Card Welcome Offers of 100,000 Points (or More!)

Where to Find Us

1. The Award Travel 101 Facebook Community.
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at [email protected]
4. Buy your Award Travel 101 Merch here
5. Reserve tickets to our April 2027 Meetup in Nashville now. award.travel/bna2027

Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions!

Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card!

Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.