Award Travel 101

Angie and Joe talk about creating memories through trips big and small. Angie is planning an African Safari (and making several rebookings) while Joe is taking a summer trip to Croatia with his almost 80 year old dad. Recently he also took a trip to Florida with daughter 

Links to news discussed

• Alaska Devalues award program 
• Amex Centurion Lounges limited to cardholder -
• IHG 175K Card Offer - 
• Ink 90K 
• Choice Hotels -  getting 2 Choice points for 1 Citi ThankYou Point AND booking awards (up to suites) all for the price of a standard award.

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.  

In this episode, we discuss Angie's upcoming trip to South Africa, how she booked (and rebooked), and the 5 Steps we use to find award flights:

1. Google Flights
2. Searching the Airline website
3. Using/checking the AT101 Transfer Matrix
4. Searching partner airlines
5. Searching Credit Card portals

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 two regular Award Travel 101 members became community managers of a 90,000 member Facebook community. 

Angie and Joe discuss how they got started in Award Travel and how they went from nearly no credit cards to ramping up and building their knowledge and maximization skills.

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're bring the Award Travel 101 Podcast back to life after a lengthy hiatus, and we're looking to share fun stories of how you can win in Travel & Loyalty by helping you do extraordinary things on ordinary money!

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.  

With over 64,000 members, there are lots of posts, comments and questions to sort out in the Facebook group. That's why we're so lucky to have such awesome moderators to help make sure Award Travel 101 is the best it can be. Now's your chance to get to know our moderators a bit better - to learn a little more about them than what you find out just chatting with them in the group.

Today, Jeff chats with Toni Perkins, a moderator who has been with Award Travel 101 since well before he even took over. Among other things, Toni talks about her early days clogging, why she's never had the Southwest Companion Pass, and her extended travels with her four kids.

Links

• Toni's blog - Nachos con Huevos
• Toni's Instagram

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.  

Sam Kemmis joins us today to talk about how NerdWallet is working to build up their travel rewards content and help people not only with their credit cards and finances but also with figuring out how to travel for less. We touch on his professional background which includes some pretty well-known comedy writing, a bit of time working remotely, and an unusual master's degree. Finally, we chat about a couple of our favorite flights and a place we both accidentally ended up flying to. Come join us for the fun!

Links:

• NerdWallet
• MyTravelNerd.com
• The Onion
• Woot.com

Twitter: @samsambutdif
Email: skemmis at nerdwallet dot com

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.  

Mark Ostermann from Miles to Memories joins us today to talk about a few recent posts of his that struck a nerve with his audience. FOMO - we all experience it and sometimes it makes us book silly trips. Mark and Jeff Talk about some of the crazy things they've booked and a few they are thinking about. Is it possible that they travel too much? Listen to this episode to find out. Finally, a big announcement about a February meetup in New Orleans. We hope to see some of you there!

Our Sponsor:
The Award Travel 101 podcast is brought to you by Fuel Rewards Pro. Drive a company car or rent a car for work? For a limited time only, get a personal sign up bonus of 25 cents per gallon after your first work fill up. Go to fuelrewards.com/pro to register for a free Fuel Rewards Pro account today.

Links:
Miles to Memories
Bougie Miles
Straight to the Points

MtM’s Miles, Points, Travel & Deals
Miles to Memories Podcast

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.  

Due to popular demand, here's a replay of Jeff's recent chat with Brandon Neth!

Coming to you from FinCon, Jeff is joined this week by Brandon Neth of Finance Buzz. He shares his story of how he and his wife travel the world on points and miles and how he ended up joining FinanceBuzz. As a community manager for their Facebook group, FinanceBuzz Elite, he and Jeff chat about what it's like to put on events and moderate group chats for a living.

Links

FinanceBuzz Elite - Travel and Points   https://www.facebook.com/groups/financebuzzelite/

FinCon Expo - https://finconexpo.com/

CardCon Expo - https://cardconexpo.com/

FlyerTalk - https://www.flyertalk.com//

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-neth-36a89b15a/

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 will be announced soon. Visit the Award Travel Meetups page for details once announced.

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

We're "live" from Prague - interviewing friends on the road as Jeff continues his adventures through Europe after Oktoberfest. Tune in to hear about how five folks all booked different ways using points and miles to get to the same place!

Links

• 
  
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/10xtravel/
• https://www.facebook.com/60SecondsWithStu/
• https://www.instagram.com/youreanyaway
• https://bougiemiles.com/

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's episode features a conversation with Award Travel 101 group member Kevin Lawler. He and Jeff chat about both growing up as picky eaters and how/what they eat has evolved with age and intertwined with their love of travel. Tune in to hear the story of how someone who was a picky eater ends up becoming a restaurant owner! Let alone, a food and travel blogger! Kevin shares some of his most memorable trips booked with points and miles and how he tracks the best places to eat around the world.

Links

Kevin's Blog: Feasting Flyer

Feasting Flyer on Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Kevin's Restaurant: Baker & Rose 

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.