S3E1: Season 3 Premiere: Unlocking Domestic Flights with Points & Miles

WEBVTT

00:00:09.252 --> 00:00:12.156
<v Speaker 1>I'm excited to be back for Season 3 of the podcast today.

00:00:12.156 --> 00:00:21.111
<v Speaker 1>Today, we're going to start talking about different ways to book flights with points, how to find sweet spots and where we'll be heading with Season 3.

00:00:21.111 --> 00:00:24.028
<v Speaker 1>Welcome back to Points for Normal People.

00:00:24.028 --> 00:00:32.920
<v Speaker 1>I'm Katie and I'm here because I know that travel costs add up, especially for a family, but I believe travel isn't just for the rich.

00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:50.356
<v Speaker 1>That's why, on Points for Normal People, I share the tips and tricks that our family has been using for over a decade to help you use your everyday expenses and credit card welcome offers to supercharge your travel points so that you can pay for entire vacations every year.

00:00:50.356 --> 00:00:54.771
<v Speaker 1>Season three is going to be a little bit of a shift for the podcast.

00:00:54.771 --> 00:00:59.951
<v Speaker 1>We're going to start covering some more intermediate topics and some more intermediate redemptions.

00:00:59.951 --> 00:01:20.594
<v Speaker 1>If you're a beginner, you're always welcome here, but this information will make the most sense if you've listened to season one and two of the podcast first, especially season one, not only have I been using points for a long time, but I've also been teaching other people how to use points since I started my blog in 2018.

00:01:20.594 --> 00:01:22.606
<v Speaker 1>So for over seven years now.

00:01:22.606 --> 00:01:27.361
<v Speaker 1>In that time, I'm finding I get better and better at teaching newcomers.

00:01:27.361 --> 00:01:43.933
<v Speaker 1>I have so many positive reviews for the podcast and I think that's really because if you start with season one, episode one, all the info I'm sharing gradually builds upon itself in 15 to 20 minute increments, so you're able to learn it in a more linear way.

00:01:43.933 --> 00:01:59.963
<v Speaker 1>So if you're new, or if you've learned about points in a scattered way and you feel confused, and if what I'm covering in season three ever starts to feel confusing, I'd encourage you to go back to season one, episode one to make sure the basics are really solid.

00:01:59.963 --> 00:02:00.403
<v Speaker 1>First.

00:02:00.403 --> 00:02:08.949
<v Speaker 1>I teach this same information, but in a slightly different order, in my free course and you can always find that at learnkatiestraveltrickscom.

00:02:09.530 --> 00:02:14.411
<v Speaker 1>With season three, we're going to dive into the best ways to use your points to book domestic flights.

00:02:14.411 --> 00:02:26.862
<v Speaker 1>Now, in season two, I already covered my favorite way to do that and that's by earning a Southwest companion pass and just really focusing in on getting the best prices on Southwest and using that companion pass.

00:02:26.862 --> 00:02:37.274
<v Speaker 1>That's our personal strategy and since 2012, after hundreds of flights, that's what we've used for the vast majority of our flights domestically anyway.

00:02:37.274 --> 00:02:41.247
<v Speaker 1>I like it because it's really easy to make changes to our flights.

00:02:41.247 --> 00:02:43.694
<v Speaker 1>It's also easy to follow a strategy to keep earning Southwest points and a companion pass every year.

00:02:43.694 --> 00:02:47.729
<v Speaker 1>It's also easy to follow a strategy to keep earning Southwest points and a companion pass every year.

00:02:47.729 --> 00:02:51.281
<v Speaker 1>You don't need to worry about transferring points or weighing options.

00:02:51.281 --> 00:02:55.210
<v Speaker 1>If Southwest flies from your home airport to where you want to go.

00:02:55.210 --> 00:03:03.621
<v Speaker 1>You can just follow those best practices I shared in season two for getting good prices with Southwest over and over again Again.

00:03:03.621 --> 00:03:12.631
<v Speaker 1>I went over all of that in season two, but for some home airports or some destinations, southwest doesn't have those routes that you need.

00:03:12.631 --> 00:03:27.885
<v Speaker 1>Even if you, like me, plan to fly Southwest 95% of the time, it's still good to know about the other options out there, and all the general principles behind what I'll be teaching in season three also apply to international flights as well.

00:03:28.867 --> 00:03:36.151
<v Speaker 1>I think the main reason that booking flights with points can feel so overwhelming is that there are often so many different options.

00:03:36.151 --> 00:03:43.582
<v Speaker 1>Now, within the US, for domestic flights, you have a handful of major airlines and then a number of smaller, regional or discount airlines.

00:03:43.582 --> 00:03:50.153
<v Speaker 1>But it's not just all the different airlines that makes this hard to determine which method is best.

00:03:50.153 --> 00:04:06.472
<v Speaker 1>It's that for any given flight on United or American, for instance, there might be a dozen different ways that you can use different kinds of points to book those flights, but sometimes the only way is also directly, only through United or American.

00:04:06.472 --> 00:04:15.787
<v Speaker 1>So it's kind of like a tree branching out with all these different options, which can lead to analysis, paralysis or confusion or wasted time.

00:04:16.809 --> 00:04:28.569
<v Speaker 1>This season of the podcast I hope to help you understand the principles of award flights so that you can go through the process of booking a domestic flight between any two destinations with the least stress.

00:04:28.569 --> 00:04:41.651
<v Speaker 1>I'm also going to spend a number of episodes really diving into specific sweet spots and how to maximize those specific sweet spots, how to earn the points for those, how to search for those, how to book those.

00:04:41.651 --> 00:04:46.980
<v Speaker 1>Now, the disadvantage to talking about specific sweet spots is that they can change.

00:04:46.980 --> 00:04:54.245
<v Speaker 1>In preparation for this season, I've been researching and reviewing to make sure I'm giving the most up-to-date info that I can.

00:04:54.245 --> 00:05:09.036
<v Speaker 1>It's possible that in one month or one year these specifics might change, but I still think it's worth going into specifics of sweet spots even if info can change, because, again, the principles usually stay the same.

00:05:09.036 --> 00:05:21.391
<v Speaker 1>I will also spend at least an episode or two talking about when it makes sense to use a bank travel portal to book flights, as well as strategies for booking budget airlines like Allegiant or Frontier or Spirit.

00:05:21.391 --> 00:05:24.766
<v Speaker 1>Today we're going to start with the background information that you need to know.

00:05:24.766 --> 00:05:29.336
<v Speaker 1>Going into season three Now, airlines all have their own currencies.

00:05:30.038 --> 00:05:49.894
<v Speaker 1>Sometimes they're called miles, sometimes they're called points, sometimes they're called avios Generally I will use the term miles and points interchangeably and every airline allows you to use their own point systems to book flights on their own and usually on some select routes with other airlines.

00:05:49.894 --> 00:06:00.774
<v Speaker 1>Most people understand that big idea, but the way airlines price the award flights or the flights you pay for with points, can vary from airline to airline.

00:06:00.774 --> 00:06:06.321
<v Speaker 1>The first way airlines might price award flights is to connect it to the cash price.

00:06:06.321 --> 00:06:10.452
<v Speaker 1>In fact, I think this pricing model is the absolute easiest to understand.

00:06:10.452 --> 00:06:15.869
<v Speaker 1>I think most everyone understands that booking airline tickets and paying in cash is unpredictable.

00:06:15.869 --> 00:06:24.541
<v Speaker 1>Prices go up and down according to supply and demand and whatever complicated algorithms that airlines are using to maximize profits.

00:06:24.541 --> 00:06:30.127
<v Speaker 1>But airlines like Southwest and JetBlue just use this same system to price their award tickets.

00:06:30.127 --> 00:06:34.672
<v Speaker 1>They just tie the award price to the cash price at a certain ratio.

00:06:34.672 --> 00:06:39.696
<v Speaker 1>So while it isn't predictable, it's easy to wrap your brain around how that works.

00:06:39.696 --> 00:06:48.576
<v Speaker 1>One of the advantages to pricing like this is that for both of those airlines, you can use your points to fly on pretty much any flight they have.

00:06:48.576 --> 00:06:51.805
<v Speaker 1>There aren't any blackout dates or limited awards.

00:06:51.805 --> 00:06:55.273
<v Speaker 1>It just might cost a lot or it might cost very little.

00:06:55.939 --> 00:07:11.961
<v Speaker 1>In contrast, it used to be that the major airlines like United and Delta and American they all used to have award charts to price their award flights, and Delta and American they all used to have award charts to price their award flights, and these charts were based on zones.

00:07:11.961 --> 00:07:15.389
<v Speaker 1>You could look up different regions or zones and know exactly how much it would cost in points to fly between those two regions.

00:07:15.389 --> 00:07:25.149
<v Speaker 1>For many years, the standard pricing from anywhere in the US to anywhere in the US was around 12,500 points each way or 25,000 points round trip.

00:07:25.149 --> 00:07:30.091
<v Speaker 1>Now, alaska and some international airlines don't use zone-based pricing.

00:07:30.091 --> 00:07:37.833
<v Speaker 1>They use a slightly different model of pricing Still a chart, though which is based on distance between your departure and arrival city.

00:07:37.833 --> 00:07:46.663
<v Speaker 1>This can lead to some very specific sweet spots, because sometimes cities aren't too far apart in distance, but the flights between them are pricey.

00:07:46.663 --> 00:07:52.242
<v Speaker 1>Zone or distance-based pricing is nice in some ways because it made it easy to budget, for.

00:07:52.242 --> 00:07:54.949
<v Speaker 1>You can plan out how much a ticket would cost.

00:07:55.610 --> 00:07:59.997
<v Speaker 1>But what's not nice is that it's more limited when airlines use an award chart.

00:07:59.997 --> 00:08:10.997
<v Speaker 1>Usually they earmark only a certain number of seats that are bookable with points, and if that number of seats gets booked with points, there isn't really a way to book onto that flight with points anymore.

00:08:10.997 --> 00:08:18.024
<v Speaker 1>Now if someone cancels, sometimes those seats open back up to be bookable by someone else with their points.

00:08:18.024 --> 00:08:20.550
<v Speaker 1>And sometimes, if a flight is empty, an airline might earmark some more seats to be bookable by someone else with their points.

00:08:20.550 --> 00:08:26.201
<v Speaker 1>And sometimes, if a flight is empty, an airline might earmark some more seats to be bookable with points just to get them full.

00:08:26.201 --> 00:08:29.321
<v Speaker 1>And that could even happen really close into departure.

00:08:29.321 --> 00:08:40.335
<v Speaker 1>And the relative value of using points for these flights can vary a lot because it could cost the same number of points between two places, no matter if you're flying at a peak time or a low season.

00:08:40.335 --> 00:08:46.465
<v Speaker 1>American, delta and United have all switched to a much more dynamic pricing model for award charts.

00:08:46.465 --> 00:08:54.773
<v Speaker 1>This is what makes those award bookings start to feel even murkier.

00:08:54.793 --> 00:08:54.854
<v Speaker 1>Now.

00:08:54.854 --> 00:08:56.476
<v Speaker 1>These airlines all still have what they call saver level awards.

00:08:56.476 --> 00:09:01.639
<v Speaker 1>These typically are the awards that match the old zone-based award charts that they've now gotten rid of.

00:09:01.639 --> 00:09:06.601
<v Speaker 1>But they don't guarantee that every flight will have saver-level awards available.

00:09:06.601 --> 00:09:14.203
<v Speaker 1>Even if you book a year in advance, you can't guarantee that you'll get an award seat on a particular route at a low price.

00:09:14.203 --> 00:09:21.222
<v Speaker 1>Instead, they keep selling award seats on their flights, but just raise the prices according to supply and demand.

00:09:21.222 --> 00:09:26.241
<v Speaker 1>This can make it a lot more expensive to book desirable nonstop routes.

00:09:26.241 --> 00:09:34.659
<v Speaker 1>It also means that planning way ahead doesn't necessarily help you, but what can help you is being flexible with your schedule.

00:09:35.649 --> 00:09:38.460
<v Speaker 1>Now, this is also true for the pricing model that Southwest uses.

00:09:38.460 --> 00:09:50.263
<v Speaker 1>So, for instance, when I was browsing United flights from Chicago to Maui over spring break, if I could leave on a Tuesday, it would cost me only 25,000 United miles for the nonstop to Maui.

00:09:50.263 --> 00:09:56.883
<v Speaker 1>But if I wanted to leave two days earlier, on a Sunday, it would cost me 90,000 United miles.

00:09:56.883 --> 00:09:59.557
<v Speaker 1>That's a big difference for just two days.

00:09:59.557 --> 00:10:03.253
<v Speaker 1>90,000 United Miles, that's a big difference for just two days.

00:10:03.253 --> 00:10:13.066
<v Speaker 1>This change to dynamic pricing isn't all bad, because sometimes we do see flight sales that are really good, where the price in points it's even lower than it ever used to be, but those sales aren't predictable.

00:10:13.066 --> 00:10:13.849
<v Speaker 1>Now.

00:10:13.849 --> 00:10:25.158
<v Speaker 1>Delta, I think, has the most dynamic award pricing of the major US airlines and you have to watch out with Delta because their lowest priced awards are also basic economy, which is very bare bones.

00:10:25.158 --> 00:10:32.770
<v Speaker 1>But overall, again, dynamic pricing means that when there are fair sales for award tickets, sometimes they're really great.

00:10:33.453 --> 00:10:41.155
<v Speaker 1>So that's the first bit of background information that there are these different methodologies airlines are going to use to price award flights.

00:10:41.155 --> 00:10:51.745
<v Speaker 1>It might be tied to cash prices, it might be based on zones, it might be based on the distance that you are going and it might be dynamic and largely unpredictable.

00:10:51.745 --> 00:11:02.823
<v Speaker 1>As I go forward in future episodes to discuss certain sweet spots, I will always tell you what kind of pricing model that airline is using, and now you have this background information that will help that make sense.

00:11:02.823 --> 00:11:17.062
<v Speaker 1>The next crucial piece of background info you have to understand is that airlines have partnerships with other airlines and those partnerships allow you to use their points to book onto some flights with their partner airlines.

00:11:17.062 --> 00:11:22.434
<v Speaker 1>Overall, this is positive because it leads to more sweet spots and gives you some more options.

00:11:22.434 --> 00:11:29.154
<v Speaker 1>Some airlines even charge fewer miles on the exact same route than a partner airline and that's great.

00:11:29.154 --> 00:11:37.761
<v Speaker 1>But it also means that this makes our decision tree a little more complicated again, because there are more options to wade through.

00:11:38.269 --> 00:11:42.721
<v Speaker 1>Now there are three major airline alliances, which are the broad airline partnerships.

00:11:42.721 --> 00:11:48.643
<v Speaker 1>All of these include one or two US airlines and then a whole bunch of internationally based airlines.

00:11:48.643 --> 00:11:53.302
<v Speaker 1>There's the Star Alliance, which includes United as the major US airline.

00:11:53.302 --> 00:12:00.038
<v Speaker 1>There is the One World, which includes American and Alaska Airlines, and there's SkyTeam, which includes Delta.

00:12:00.038 --> 00:12:04.201
<v Speaker 1>Some airlines have additional partners beyond their alliance partners.

00:12:04.201 --> 00:12:08.880
<v Speaker 1>Even Southwest is getting airline partners this year, starting with Iceland Air.

00:12:08.880 --> 00:12:16.898
<v Speaker 1>We anticipate eventually we'll be able to use our Southwest points to book onto Iceland Air flights but not be able to use our companion pass.

00:12:16.898 --> 00:12:23.496
<v Speaker 1>But United, for example, is in the Star Alliance but also partners with Aer Lingus, which is in the One World Alliance.

00:12:23.496 --> 00:12:34.215
<v Speaker 1>Alaska Airlines is part of the One World Alliance but also partners directly with Singapore Chris Flyer, which otherwise Singapore is in the Star Alliance.

00:12:34.215 --> 00:12:41.270
<v Speaker 1>So again, sometimes it's those overlaps that can make it powerful again, more powerful but also more confusing.

00:12:42.374 --> 00:12:45.220
<v Speaker 1>The good news here is that you don't need to memorize all of this.

00:12:45.220 --> 00:12:53.176
<v Speaker 1>As long as you understand the principles, you can look up the precise information and charts and partners and pricing when you need it.

00:12:53.176 --> 00:13:10.982
<v Speaker 1>Now that you understand the basics of how airlines might price a ticket in points, as well as the idea that airlines partner with other airlines, the last key piece of background info is simply this Sometimes, using a partner to book onto those US airlines will give you the best deal.

00:13:10.982 --> 00:13:33.571
<v Speaker 1>Now, this, again, it's actually great news, because it's generally easier to earn points with internationally based airlines in many ways, as you've learned from previous episodes and previous seasons, there are a lot of bank cards that give you the option to transfer those points to a whole lot of different airlines, but most of those airlines aren't familiar US-based airlines.

00:13:33.571 --> 00:13:47.153
<v Speaker 1>If you look at the transfer partners for Chase, yes, it has United and JetBlue and Southwest, but if you look at that list and you know you want to fly an American, you might be thinking, shoot, I can't fly American because I can't transfer to them.

00:13:47.153 --> 00:13:49.317
<v Speaker 1>But in fact, you might be able to.

00:13:49.317 --> 00:14:00.558
<v Speaker 1>Now you can't necessarily book onto every American flight, but you can leverage transfer partners and alliances to get a good deal and fly anywhere in North America.

00:14:00.558 --> 00:14:07.173
<v Speaker 1>It does take a few steps and it's a little bit annoying, but it's possible and I really think you can learn how to do it.

00:14:07.173 --> 00:14:15.336
<v Speaker 1>Chase, citi, american Express, capital One they all have different airlines you can transfer to, but there's some overlap too.

00:14:16.339 --> 00:14:21.038
<v Speaker 1>Now, with a few exceptions, most bank points transfer to airlines at a one-to-one ratio.

00:14:21.038 --> 00:14:28.078
<v Speaker 1>But what's even better is that sometimes the banks run transfer bonuses, which means you can stretch your points even further.

00:14:28.078 --> 00:14:36.408
<v Speaker 1>So typically if I transfer 1,000 chase points to Aeroplan, which is Air Canada's program, I would end up with 1,000 Aeroplan miles.

00:14:36.408 --> 00:14:41.022
<v Speaker 1>But three times last year there was a promo with a 20% transfer bonus.

00:14:41.022 --> 00:14:48.530
<v Speaker 1>That means that if I transferred 1,000 chase points, I ended up with 1,200 in my airplane account.

00:14:48.530 --> 00:14:53.363
<v Speaker 1>Now we rarely see transfer bonuses to US-based partners like United or Hyatt.

00:14:53.363 --> 00:14:57.364
<v Speaker 1>It's much more common to see them to these foreign-based airlines.

00:14:57.364 --> 00:15:03.118
<v Speaker 1>So if you can tap into a sweet spot and a transfer bonus, you'll really see your points go further.

00:15:03.118 --> 00:15:05.417
<v Speaker 1>It all sounds very exciting, right?

00:15:05.417 --> 00:15:06.734
<v Speaker 1>That's because it is.

00:15:06.734 --> 00:15:13.035
<v Speaker 1>Yes, it's a few extra steps, but if it keeps points and money in your pocket, it can be well worth it.

00:15:14.153 --> 00:15:21.298
<v Speaker 1>I'll give a quick few caveats that there are some limitations to these point transfers, especially to foreign-based airlines.

00:15:21.298 --> 00:15:30.778
<v Speaker 1>Transfers are not reversible, so as soon as you move your points from Chase over to Aeroplan, they are now stuck in the Aeroplan system.

00:15:30.778 --> 00:15:35.131
<v Speaker 1>You can't take it back and then decide to transfer them over to Hyatt.

00:15:35.131 --> 00:15:40.822
<v Speaker 1>Instead, you have to really make sure your flight is available before you transfer them.

00:15:41.443 --> 00:15:51.219
<v Speaker 1>A few years ago we transferred a bunch of Amex membership rewards over to ANA, which is a Japanese airline, to book a very specific sweet spot, which is an around the world ticket.

00:15:51.219 --> 00:16:03.423
<v Speaker 1>We were planning to take a three month long trip and we did book it, but then for a number of reasons mostly because it felt like we were trying to see too much and moving too fast for our liking we decided to cancel that trip.

00:16:03.423 --> 00:16:08.743
<v Speaker 1>So we were left with a bunch of ANA miles that were going to expire in about three years.

00:16:08.743 --> 00:16:13.309
<v Speaker 1>So we had to find other ways to use them instead of letting them just go to waste.

00:16:13.309 --> 00:16:18.543
<v Speaker 1>We couldn't reverse that transfer and put them back into our Amex account just because we'd changed plans.

00:16:18.543 --> 00:16:20.697
<v Speaker 1>We lost a fair amount of flexibility.

00:16:20.697 --> 00:16:26.121
<v Speaker 1>In case you're wondering, we used them twice to fly round-trip to Europe as a family.

00:16:26.121 --> 00:16:37.741
<v Speaker 1>It wasn't necessarily the highest value or the best use of our points per se, but it meant that those points were used and both times we were able to get creative and use routing to visit multiple countries.

00:16:38.370 --> 00:16:42.895
<v Speaker 1>Another caveat is that taxes and fees vary by airline and destination.

00:16:42.895 --> 00:16:49.513
<v Speaker 1>Now, within the US, most US airlines will only charge $5.60 each way in taxes.

00:16:49.513 --> 00:17:00.078
<v Speaker 1>That's negligible, but when I was pricing Air Canada Aeroplan to book a United flight, it was showing about $55 in fees, so you just will have to pay attention to that.

00:17:00.078 --> 00:17:08.781
<v Speaker 1>This will be even more pronounced on international flights, which is why all of the destination flight guides we have on our site always compare taxes and fees.

00:17:08.781 --> 00:17:14.563
<v Speaker 1>And then the last thing to note is that you need to be aware that transferring points won't always be the best deal.

00:17:14.563 --> 00:17:17.638
<v Speaker 1>I see a lot of people saying that don't make this mistake.

00:17:17.638 --> 00:17:19.336
<v Speaker 1>Don't forget to transfer your points.

00:17:19.336 --> 00:17:28.421
<v Speaker 1>The fact is there are plenty of times when transferring points might cost more than other methods of covering flights, like booking in a bank travel portal.

00:17:28.421 --> 00:17:36.699
<v Speaker 1>It's not a mistake to not transfer, but it can be a mistake to not consider transferring, and that's what I'll be walking through in Season 3.

00:17:36.699 --> 00:17:39.479
<v Speaker 1>How to consider what your best option is.

00:17:40.289 --> 00:17:46.660
<v Speaker 1>Another disadvantage I think that doesn't get enough airtime is that the cancellation fees for a lot of the international airlines can be high.

00:17:46.660 --> 00:17:54.877
<v Speaker 1>All the big US airlines Delta, united, american, southwest they've all done away with cancellation fees for award tickets.

00:17:54.877 --> 00:18:01.117
<v Speaker 1>So if you're like me and you book trips and change plans, it's really nice to have that flexibility to cancel with no fee.

00:18:01.117 --> 00:18:12.300
<v Speaker 1>But the cancellation fees for some of these partner airlines starts around $50 per person and can go up to $150 per person or more, and that can really add up if you're a family.

00:18:12.300 --> 00:18:25.701
<v Speaker 1>And up until the day of travel you also have to deal with the customer service of the airline you booked through, and sometimes that's more challenging, like if your flight has a schedule change or you need to make a schedule change or you have more questions.

00:18:25.701 --> 00:18:30.474
<v Speaker 1>Now it's not a deal breaker per se, but again it's just things to be aware of.

00:18:30.474 --> 00:18:44.863
<v Speaker 1>Booking through an airline partner adds a middleman and because of the weird world of award travel and sweet spots, sometimes adding a middleman can save you some serious points, but it's still a middleman and can sometimes make it a bit more complicated.

00:18:45.471 --> 00:18:56.320
<v Speaker 1>As I go through each of the specific sweet spots this season, I will give the specific pros and cons of that airline program too the cancellation fees, the booking process, the pricing, all of that.

00:18:56.320 --> 00:19:00.421
<v Speaker 1>I'm really excited to share some of the specific sweet spots I have.

00:19:00.421 --> 00:19:06.339
<v Speaker 1>There's one in particular that's hardly talked about and it's a great way to book American flights all over North America.

00:19:06.339 --> 00:19:09.259
<v Speaker 1>We'll get to those details in episode three of this season.

00:19:09.259 --> 00:19:16.863
<v Speaker 1>I also want to admit that this season is going to include a lot more theoretical knowledge for me than hard-earned experience knowledge.

00:19:17.871 --> 00:19:25.417
<v Speaker 1>I have only twice used a foreign airline and alliance partner to book domestic flights in the US, because we're always flying on Southwest.

00:19:25.417 --> 00:19:30.862
<v Speaker 1>In 2013, I used British Airways Avios to book a flight from Chicago to New Orleans.

00:19:30.862 --> 00:19:37.242
<v Speaker 1>In 2018, we booked a United flight to Hawaii using Singapore Air Chris Flyer Miles.

00:19:37.242 --> 00:19:39.997
<v Speaker 1>We've had two other times.

00:19:39.997 --> 00:19:49.343
<v Speaker 1>We've used US airline airline miles, like Hawaiian miles, to book inter-island flights and Delta miles to fly a very specific route from Denver to Minneapolis one year.

00:19:49.343 --> 00:19:58.061
<v Speaker 1>But we happen to live at a Southwest hub Chicago and, as I've said before, we just really focus on Southwest for our domestic flights.

00:19:58.061 --> 00:20:10.414
<v Speaker 1>So, while I won't have my own personal anecdotes to talk about the process of booking through Turkish Airways or Finnair, for instance, I have done test bookings and my own research to share these sweet spots.

00:20:11.057 --> 00:20:16.117
<v Speaker 1>This season also probably won't have as many action steps, but I'll include them when I can For this week.

00:20:16.157 --> 00:20:21.577
<v Speaker 1>For action steps, I'd encourage you to grab my free Travel Points 201 guide, which is available in the show notes.

00:20:21.577 --> 00:20:28.534
<v Speaker 1>This goes over the basics of transfer partners and includes a cheat sheet that shows the major banks and who they transfer their points to.

00:20:28.534 --> 00:20:37.807
<v Speaker 1>It's a good reference chart to have, and now, if you have points scattered across a lot of programs, this is a good time to at least take stock of what you have.

00:20:37.807 --> 00:20:50.450
<v Speaker 1>I mentioned in season one that I personally use Award Wallet to track my points, but if you don't want to connect your loyalty accounts to one central location, there are a lot of people who just use a simple spreadsheet to do the same thing.

00:20:50.450 --> 00:20:54.190
<v Speaker 1>So in that case, you could manually update that periodically.

00:20:54.190 --> 00:21:04.333
<v Speaker 1>And, as I mentioned before, if you're just tuning in for the first time with season three, I'd encourage you to go back and start with season one, episode one, to really learn in a linear way.

00:21:04.333 --> 00:21:11.601
<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much for being here again with me for season three and I look forward to unlocking more of these secrets of travel points together.