The Award Travel 101 Podcast is brought to you in part by Thrifty Traveler Premium. Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT10” for $10 off your first year. Recent finds include:

• OW Business Class to New Zealand for 50K
• RT to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for 40K
• RT Premium Economy to Europe for 56K

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium

Post of the week

Charlie Hagadorn a feature in the paid version of seats.aero one of the award search tools called rooms.aero saves big bucks!

News

• 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

Trip updates

• Angie
  • Return flight from India
  • Updating Southwest Companion
• Joe
  • New Hilton on Clearwater - may use Free Night Award

What bonuses did we get?

• Angie
  • Authorized User card offers
  • Hilton Free Night Awards have been deposited
• Joe
  • Working on 10X bonus on Business Gold for 14X

Highlight Feature: Nice to Meetcha!

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.

Speakers:

• 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)
• Several of the Chicago Seminars' organizers were there to share updates AND a nice discount for attendees (Podcast Episode 64)

Tip of the week
Angie's story to check what cards are saved in your Uber/Lyft wallets.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Chase Freedom Flex

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

The Award Travel 101 Podcast is brought to you in part by Thrifty Traveler Premium. Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Recent finds include:

• Business Class to Paris for 40K
• Premium Economy to Taipei for $1,994 R/T
• Business class to Seoul on Korean (Rare find) for 75K

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium

Post of the week

Andrew “Bacon” Goodman - Disney for $375 INCLUDING PARK TICKETS!?

News

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

Trip updates

• Joe
  • Girl's night & Boy's night without spending $675!

What bonuses did we get?

• Angie
  • Two Free Hilton Nights
• Joe
  • 20K Referral
  • 14X spend Amex Business Gold
  • Almost done with wife's Citi AAdvantage Card

Highlight Feature: 20 Largest Hotel Chains & the Six We're Focusing On

We came across an interesting diagram ranking the top 20 hotel programs throughout the world. Do you know which is largest?

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 from Days Inn all the way up to Wyndham Grand.
• #3 Marriott- One of the largest footprints with 8,484 properties a wide range of price points from Springhill Suites up to Ritz Carlton and St. Regis luxury hotels.
• #6 Choice - with 7,500 properties domestically, Choice is not known for being great. They start with low level properties like Comfort Inn’s and Quality Inn’s but their Ascend and Cambria properties look great.
• #7 Hilton - counting 7,165 properties in their portfolio, Hilton is similar to Marriott with a fairly sizable footprint with a wide range of price points from Hampton Inn to Waldorf Astoria.
• #8 IHG - With 1,000 less (6,164) properties, another one that families on a budget may opt for is Holiday Inn Express and their tasty cinnamon rolls. IHG starts with Holiday Inn’s and has upper level Kimptons.
• #16 Hyatt - With 1,200 properties (Hyatt says 1,300+ today), World of Hyatt is markedly smaller. They start at Hyatt Place and their flagship properties fall under Park Hyatt.

TIP OF THE WEEK:

Have a good backup plan for using your credit cards. Tune in to hear Angie's fail.

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community

The Award Travel 101 Podcast is brought to you in part by Thrifty Traveler Premium. Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT10” for $10 off your first year. Recent finds include:

• Business Class to Switzerland for 60K
• Japan for 55K R/T
• Business Class to Europe starting at 45K

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium

Post of the week

Jennifer Jacobs - A tale of caution - vacation club/time-share presentations

News

• 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!)

What bonuses did we get?

• Jackie
  • Enhanced United Business card welcome offer
• JT
  • Spending toward World of Hyatt card Free Night Award and elite night credits
  • Wyndham Business Card - how will this be maximized (hint: Angie and I discussed this last week)
• Joe
  • Referral from Amex Business Gold - why is that so important (14X Dining)?
    • Tip for Double dipping this referral in Award Travel 201 (must be a member - $90 per year & includes AwardWallet Plus)
  • Received 2nd Hyatt Cat 1-4 certificate and swapped out a two night stay at a Category 4 peak night pricing (from this card) to get 36,000 points back

Highlight Feature: The Most Powerful Tool in Award Travel

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.

In the podcast, I mentioned that early on, I didn't know how to complete a minimum spend. Here are some tips that might help you avoid that same situation. Had I attended an event back then, I would have understood my options.

To learn more:

• 14th Annual Chicago Seminars
• Taco 'Bout a Fiesta

Tip of the week

Make the most out of schedule changes. Hear how all three of us have used these recently to improve our schedules and/or save in the process.

Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community.

1. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com.

Support the AT101 Podcast/Community