May 15, 2025 • 32 mins
What happens when a veteran broadcast journalist with a passion for travel lands his dream job? Clint Henderson, Managing Editor at The Points Guy, takes us on a fascinating journey through his career transition from major news networks to the world of travel journalism.
Having worked across ABC News, Fox, MSNBC and more, Clint brings a unique perspective to his role at The Points Guy. He shares how his broadcast writing skills—crafting short, punchy sentences for television—unexpectedly prepared him for digital content creation. With remarkable candor, he reflects on career decisions that shaped his path, including staying too long at Fox News despite growing personal discomfort with the blurring lines between news and opinion.
The conversation shifts to practical travel wisdom as Clint reveals insider strategies that make travel accessible to everyone. From maximizing Google Flights' underutilized features to scoring Delta One business class to Australia for under 80,000 miles, his tips demonstrate how points and miles can transform travel experiences without breaking the bank. Particularly valuable is his insight into current market conditions, predicting "the summer of deals" with flights to Europe available for under $500 round trip.
Beyond tactics, Clint offers philosophical reflections on travel itself. Having visited all 50 states and 60 countries, he acknowledges the bittersweet reality that there's never enough time to see everything: "Sometimes you just have to take a breath and say it's okay, I'm not going to be able to see everything in this world in this lifetime, and that's okay." This perspective from someone who's flown 88,000 miles already this year carries particular weight.
Follow Clint's journey and insider tips by subscribing to The Points Guy newsletter or connecting with him on Instagram (@ClintPage1) and X (@ClintPHenderson).
Check out the tools he mentions in this episode:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Angela Tuell (00:05):
Welcome to Media in Minutes.
This is your host, Angela Tuell.
This podcast features in-depthinterviews with those who report
on the world around us.
They share everything fromtheir favorite stories to what
happened behind the lens andgive us a glimpse into their
world From our studio here atCommunications Redefined.
This is Media in Minutes.
On today's episode, we aretalking with managing editor of
(00:32):
the Points, guy Clint Henderson.
Clint worked in broadcast newsfor more than two decades,
including stints at ABC, news,fox and MSNBC, before landing
his dream job at the Points Guyin 2019.
He was raised in California andMontana, but has called New
York home.
For more than 20 years, clinthas been featured on ABC, cbs,
cnn, bloomberg, fox, nbc News,msnbc, news Nation and in print,
(00:57):
in Axios, consumer Reports, theWall Street Journal, the New
York Post, yahoo Finance andmany more.
He flies 100,000 miles a yearand has written stories about
numerous destinations, includingBelize, brazil, colombia,
denmark, france and the UnitedKingdom.
His goal is to travel to everycountry on the planet, but he
can only claim 60 so far.
(01:19):
Hi Clint, how are you?
Clint Henderson (01:22):
I'm well.
Thanks for having me on today.
Angela Tuell (01:24):
Yes, I'm looking forward to speaking with you.
I would love if you couldbriefly walk us through your
career.
I know you started in broadcast.
Did you always want to be inthe journalism field?
Clint Henderson (01:36):
So I did.
I actually I went to somepolitical summer schools in high
school Junior Statesman was oneof them and I got to go to a
White House press briefing anddo a pretend press conference,
and so that really got mecatching the bug for journalism
and so I actually wanted to be aprint reporter by the time I
(02:00):
graduated college, thoughnewspapers were already on a
really steep decline.
Yeah, I could not find a job,but the good news is I had been
working at the local nbcaffiliate while I was in college
, which was, uh, cron and whichwas an nbc affiliate in san
francisco at the time.
Okay, and I worked for theirsort of sort of like their
version of new york, one whichis called was called bay tv, and
(02:23):
I started as a intern there andthen I was a production
assistant and sort of worked myway up there and, yeah, out of
college.
That launched my journalismcareer.
And then I ended up as areporter and anchor at the
country's first streamingbusiness news network.
It was called On 24.
Okay, nobody had broadband.
(02:44):
So once thecom crash happened,uh, I was laid off with
everybody else in the newsroomand, um, I was freelancing in TV
news again at um, cron, okayand uh, and then I was like I
could probably do this in NewYork, so I moved to New York
without a job.
Angela Tuell (03:02):
Wow.
Clint Henderson (03:03):
Cousin had a rent-controlled apartment in the
village and he said you can payme $500 a month, and so I moved
to New York and then I ended upat MSNBC and worked at MSNBC
and then ABC News and then Fox 5in New York and then Fox News
Channel and then back to MSNBCand then PIX11 and then
eventually WABC, before I got mydream job at the Points Guy.
Angela Tuell (03:25):
Okay, you were all over the place in broadcast.
Besides moving to New York,what were some significant
moments that shaped that journey?
Clint Henderson (03:35):
So I think really just loving news was
really what really launched meinto the business, and the other
thing that I got to do was tocover national politics through
several elections, so that wasreally fun.
I helped launch Megyn Kellyinto her broadcast career at Fox
(03:57):
and helped get a new showcalled America's Newsroom off
the ground.
That's now one of the mostsuccessful shows on TV and there
was a lot of turmoil at Foxover the years and so, yeah,
I've seen a lot.
I've seen you know, when Istarted in the business we were
pulling scripts off of printersand carrying scripts.
Angela Tuell (04:19):
Was it tape-to-tape editing, like when
I was in it?
Clint Henderson (04:23):
And you know cassettes and then the advent of
digital and you know you'vejust seen the steady erosion of
journalism jobs over the years.
So that's been anotherchallenge.
And then what was really funfor me is I became obsessed with
travel in my 30s and then gotto know points and miles and
loyalty programs and elitestatus and learn the ins and
(04:45):
outs, because I was poor andbroke and I wanted to travel and
that turned into really a loveaffair for all things travel and
that led to the job at thepoints guy.
They were hiring a news editor.
Angela Tuell (04:57):
Okay.
Clint Henderson (04:57):
Role and I was like, oh my gosh, this is the
perfect combination of sort ofmy journalism background and
also travel, travel writing.
So then to transition intodigital news was, uh, was a new,
a new thing for me too.
So I had the newspaper umbackground, and then broadcast
background, and then streamingbackground and background.
(05:19):
So, and now it's social media,a lot of social media.
Angela Tuell (05:22):
So it's a wild ride, yeah, so what surprised?
Clint Henderson (05:23):
you a wild ride .
Angela Tuell (05:24):
Yeah, so what surprised you to learn once you
went to the points guy?
Clint Henderson (05:30):
Well, I think that the fact that the broadcast
writing skills you know, I waswriting teases, I was writing
intros, I had been a segmentproducer at MSNBC for a long
time so the realization thatthat kind of writing, that short
burst, sort of declarativewriting that you do in broadcast
(05:50):
news, could transfer over to alonger form.
And I think you know, when Ifirst got into TV news I'll
never forget, they told me I hadto write shorter, that I was
writing too long because I'd hadseen a newspaper writer and so.
But then when I went intodigital media it was the
opposite.
It was actually like it reallyhelped me because I think, you
(06:12):
know, it just helps to write inshort declarative sentences in
general, no matter who you'rewriting or producing for.
Angela Tuell (06:19):
Right, right.
Going back to those networksjust a little bit, you worked at
almost all the major networksand some of them were very
different Fox, msnbc.
Did the culture and approachdiffer between these?
You know how did it feelinternally?
Clint Henderson (06:46):
when I started at Fox there was more of a hard
line between between the newsside and the opinion side and I
I do feel like over the yearsthat started to blur more and so
I was increasinglyuncomfortable there and uh, so
that's when I jumped back toMSNBC and it was.
It was quite a swing of thependulum, um, but it was
interesting and I think you knowfor the most part, even though
the sort of political leaningsof the network might be,
(07:10):
networks might be one way or theother, in general there's a lot
of really good journalists, nomatter where you are.
Angela Tuell (07:15):
Yes.
Clint Henderson (07:16):
And the sort of stratification of cable news
that we've seen.
It didn't.
It didn't.
When I got into it it wasn'tlike that at all.
It was much more like we're alltrying to just be straight down
the line.
But no matter which side of theaisle the network may be
leaning more into or not,there's always great journalists
behind the scenes and you know,I think you've seen that in the
(07:39):
sort of the ranks of the formerFox folks who are out at the
major networks, at all thenetworks and all the newspapers
now.
So that funnel works both ways,I think, which is really
interesting.
Angela Tuell (07:52):
Before we jump into the points, Guy, looking
back, is there anything youwould have done differently in
your career path?
Clint Henderson (07:59):
Yeah, I can honestly say and this is the
advice I give to folks who'veasked me I stayed too long at
Fox.
You know, I learned so muchthere.
I started as a writer producerthere and I worked my way up to
executive producing a two hourlive news show for years and
years and I shouldn't have beenafraid to leave.
(08:21):
It was such a great, secure jobwith great benefits that I
think I stayed too long.
And I think that's the advicethat I would give to folks,
especially in the TV newsbusiness, that, um, you know,
don't get stale and don't beafraid to to move around, Cause
that's really how you're goingto make the most money too.
Angela Tuell (08:40):
Yes.
Clint Henderson (08:41):
Is to jump um to other networks, and that
that's the biggest regret that Ihave.
But at the same time, you know,my path eventually led to this
job where I am now, which isreally like the job of my dreams
, and it's been such a gift.
So I wouldn't necessarilychange it.
(09:02):
I just, you know, I think I wasunhappy for several years at
the end of my time there.
Angela Tuell (09:07):
So that's, that's probably what I would have
changed the end of my time there, so that's probably what I
would have changed.
Yeah, that's great insight too.
So for those who are notintimately familiar, I know
everyone's heard of the PointsGuy right.
But for those who are notintimately familiar, please tell
us a little bit more about it.
Your audience, staff stories.
You like to focus on anythingnew?
Clint Henderson (09:27):
Yeah, so the Points Guy, we really cover
everything travel.
But the goal for for us as asjournalists working every day,
is to help people travel more,travel better and travel cheaper
in better ways.
What was a little travel bloginto a major outlet and it's
(09:54):
been remarkable to be part ofthat journey and to see what
he's been able to do with thecompany.
But we cover everything thattouches travel basically.
And you know, when I was hired,I was hired so we could cover
more breaking news and it endedup being really good timing
because it was right beforeCOVID hit.
So when COVID hit, it was goodthat the Points Guy had someone
with breaking news experience tohelp guide the coverage.
Angela Tuell (10:16):
Yes.
Clint Henderson (10:17):
But what we really do and what we're really
clued into is how people can usepoints and miles and credit
cards to make their lives better, and I think people don't
realize.
I think people see credit cardsor they see the world of points
and miles and they getoverwhelmed and they get scared
and they just shy away from it.
But there there is so manypaths to traveling better and to
(10:40):
extending your, your budgetthat that that is what is that
trying to do every day is teachpeople that it doesn't have to
be scary, that you know there'sentry levels into entry level
ways into the world of pointsand miles that that can really
make make your life better.
Angela Tuell (11:00):
Yes.
So what is a typical day like?
I'm sure there's not a typical.
Clint Henderson (11:03):
I go through all the big papers and all the
news sites that I follow, likethe New Times, the Wall Street
Journal, san Francisco Chronicle, you name it, and I probably
(11:24):
have looked at it in the morningand then obviously, the other
Points and Miles blogs.
I look through our competitors'sites to see if there's
anything new, and then I lookthrough my email box to see if
there's any press releases fromairlines, hotels, you know PR
firms that are looking forcoverage.
And then we all meet.
We have a morning editorialmeeting where we all come with
(11:46):
some of our ideas for the dayand what we're working on, and
we've got various teams that allsort of cross-pollinate from
social media to aviation, tohotels, to points and miles.
So we have that morning meetingthat helps us decide what we're
going to cover and help assignout stories.
(12:07):
And then my day, a lot of timesspent, uh, writing stories, uh,
looking again for news, editingstories, um, making sure we're
covering everything.
And then I also do a lot of.
I end up doing a lot of press.
So, um, you know I I could becalled like.
This week has been especiallycrazy because real id launching
(12:28):
and you've got air trafficcontrol problems at Newark, so
there's been a lot of mediarequests.
So I've been doing a lot ofthat recently as well.
And then obviously we travel alot, so I'm on the road.
I think I've already flown88,000 miles this year.
Angela Tuell (12:44):
How do you fit all that in?
Clint Henderson (12:47):
It's a good thing I can work remotely and
I'm good at working on in planesand in hotel rooms, because
otherwise I wouldn't get half ofwhat I'm what I've gotten been
able to get done yeah.
Angela Tuell (12:59):
And and you know how do you do all that and
manage a work-life balance, oris there really no such thing?
Clint Henderson (13:06):
I'm probably not the best person about a
work-life balance.
No, I do.
I do see my family quite a bit.
But you know, just to bebrutally honest, it probably
does help that I don't have kidsthat are depending on me to be
home, because it's just the lifeof a travel editor or reporter
(13:30):
is not super conducive to um, tohome life, so um, but there are
plenty of people at the pointsguy who make it work.
Uh, bless them.
Angela Tuell (13:41):
So uh, yeah, I know I always, I always don't
like that saying if you can haveit all, cause I you know, you
can have all that you want,maybe, but to have it all is
almost impossible.
Clint Henderson (13:53):
I would feel like I had a dog.
He passed away recently.
I had him for 13 years and itwas hard to leave him.
So let me imagine what it'slike for families leaving their
kids to hit the road.
I think most people at thepoint of skate don't travel as
much as a few of us, so it's notso extreme, but it's important.
(14:15):
I try to get in some kind ofexercise every day.
I try to take a littlemeditation break in the
afternoons just because I'mstaring at a computer for so
long.
So it's really important andyou don't want to run yourself
ragged.
But also, you know, especiallythose of us with a background in
breaking news, a lot of us arereally adrenaline junkies and so
(14:37):
we enjoy being workaholics, butit's not for everybody for sure
.
Angela Tuell (14:42):
Yes, I feel you there Talking a little bit more
about the points guy, who is atypical reader.
You mentioned a little bit andhas that changed over time?
Clint Henderson (14:52):
Yeah, so we are increasingly trying to speak to
a broader audience.
But our core, our core base ispeople who collect miles and
points, who are maybe loyal toan airline or a cruise company
or a hotel program.
A lot of our readers loveprograms like American Airlines,
(15:14):
advantage or World of Hyatt,marriott, bonvoy, those kind of
things, the big hotel chains,the big US airlines.
Obviously, we've reallyexpanded into cruise coverage
over the years.
Our man on the sea is GeneSloan, who's constantly on a
boat, travels more than I do, Ithink, which is pretty
(15:37):
remarkable.
So we've got that as our realcore base.
As I mentioned, get into theworld of Points and Miles and
make it a little more broadlyappealing, because I think
anyone can benefit from thispretty much from what we cover
(15:58):
at the Points Guy and so we'reincreasingly looking for those
folks and increasingly ouraudience is on social media.
You know that wasn't as big apiece as our audience in the
past and our newslettersubscribers are so important to
us.
In the age of Google algorithmsshowing you or not showing you
(16:22):
on a particular day, it's reallygood to be directly in touch
with an audience.
And so our newslettersubscribers we're increasingly
giving them exclusive access tothings, deal alerts, things that
they won't see anywhere else,so we can have more of a
relationship with our core users.
Angela Tuell (16:38):
Yeah, I love those when they hit my inbox and
they're so easy to read and scanand get some great information
on.
Clint Henderson (16:44):
Yeah, and we've really I mean, we've had some.
You know I don't like to comeand talk too much about credit
cards, but we've had someamazing offers from credit card
companies who are just trying toget new customers and they're
really offering very, verygenerous sign-up bonuses right
now, especially a few of them.
So don't sleep on that kind ofthing, because that's a lot more
(17:07):
accessible than you may think.
Angela Tuell (17:08):
Which ones stand out just quickly.
Clint Henderson (17:11):
So there's a Chase Sapphire preferred offer
right now for 100,000 points andthat's only a $95 annual fee.
They give you a $50 hotelstatement credit and then those
points can transfer to programslike British Airways or to Hyatt
.
So you're not locked into oneprogram, but you've got all
these transfer partners that youcan transfer that currency and
(17:32):
make it even more valuable too.
So, um, you know that thatoffers worth quite a bit of of
cold hard cash and we're allspending money anyway.
You might as well put it on acredit card where you're getting
something back.
That's my, that's my take on it, and for me I'm able to.
You know a lot of people say,well, I'm just going to use a 2%
cash back card.
That's fine, and I think a lotof people are just fine doing
(17:54):
that.
But I know I can take thepoints that I'm getting instead
and turn that into businessclass seats around the world.
So for me that's a better valuethan 2% cash back.
Angela Tuell (18:06):
Definitely, definitely.
What are the most challengingand the most rewarding parts of
your job?
Clint Henderson (18:12):
Yeah, I think the most challenging parts of
the job is just not havingenough time.
There's just not enough hoursin the day.
There's so many stories to telland there's so many adventures
to write.
I was just looking through myphoto album because I'm writing
a couple of stories for oursocial media feed.
(18:33):
I look at my phone.
I'm like, oh, I forgot aboutthat trip.
I should do something on that.
I should do something on that.
Like I want to share myadventures with the world and
there's only so much time in aday, so that's that's
challenging.
Uh, that's challenging.
So I think you know.
Also, it's it's challenginggetting people to engage like
they used to.
They used to read a uh, youknow, a 10,000 word story on a
(18:56):
hotel and our fans have justshrunk down.
So you have to find new ways ofstorytelling 50 words.
And we're trying to come up withnew ways to tell stories, that
if someone gets overwhelmed.
But when they open a story andit says it's going to take 12
minutes to read it, we don'twant to lose those folks.
Angela Tuell (19:19):
Yes, what are some stories that you've written,
that you know, even recently,that stand out to you?
Clint Henderson (19:26):
So I there's some really great hacks out
there I was able to use Deltamiles to fly to Australia for
under 80,000 miles in Delta one.
So it's a really fun story thatI got to tell about, you know,
flying in one of Delta's bestplanes, their A350 all the way
from Mexico city to LAX and thenon to Brisbane.
(19:47):
And you know you can pay 80,000to fly to Memphis from New York
.
So to fly a business class on a14 hour flight with that is
pretty cool.
So you know, if you readstories like that the points guy
you'll learn how you canpotentially do that for yourself
, and that's sort of the goal.
Some of the other stories thatI've loved over the years are
just I, when I was at homeduring COVID, some of the I
(20:12):
ended up at my father's ranch inMontana and some of the first
trips I was able to do were roadtrips and I wanted to sort of
talk about hitting all 50 states, and so I was able to check off
several of those states with aroad trip from Montana.
So I wrote about the GreatAmerican Road Trip and how that
can be fun, and so, yeah,there's been so many fun stories
(20:35):
over the years that I've beenable to tell, and you know I am
a prolific writer, so I writeprobably more than I even should
be, but it's really fun.
Angela Tuell (20:49):
Yeah, that's how you're great at what you do.
How do you measure the success?
Clint Henderson (20:54):
of a story.
Well, we get reader emails isone is one way.
I know I'm I've struck a chordif I get, you know, four emails
from readers who've who want toweigh in on a story.
We have the metrics that showhow many people read a story, so
that's always a good guide.
And then you know, obviously,if it's led to people signing up
(21:21):
for the newsletter or to read,to read other stories.
That's another good indicationthat the stories touched a chord
with the audience.
Angela Tuell (21:25):
Okay, and PR professionals are a large part
of our audience for this podcast.
What advice do you have forthem about pitching stories and
working with the points guy?
Clint Henderson (21:35):
I think one of the one of the things that
happens with PR pitches issometimes you'll get two of the
same pitch from an agency andyou're on a list on multiple
lists of theirs maybe.
And so I think PR companiesshould really make that a
priority of making sure thatyou're not bombarding sources
(21:57):
with multiple emails on the sametopic.
And then I think a littlepersonalization goes a long way.
Like, instead of a blast to athousand people, maybe you send
that pitch to 10 people thatyou've worked with or that you
have relationship with or youknow would be a story that they
would like to tell.
So a little morepersonalization is really
(22:17):
important and you know,important.
Um, and you know, I think Ithink some, some journalists
would say don't send me followup emails.
But the truth is we get so manyemails that sometimes you don't
see the first iteration of it.
So I don't mind a follow up andyou know, even if it's just a
little note that says hey, justuh, just a quick follow here, I
(22:38):
think it'd be great for you.
Here's maybe why a little morecurated outreach, I think, is
helpful.
Angela Tuell (22:45):
Yes, that's a big, decisive one.
We have lists that are like donot follow up and follow up,
because some are very much solike do not follow up with me,
and then some are yeah.
Clint Henderson (22:56):
I'm happy, I feel so bad for PR folks because
it's not an easy job to getsomeone to engage and then you
know, I think it's just it'stough, it's tough, it's tough on
both sides.
Angela Tuell (23:08):
So yeah, yeah, both sides, definitely.
And then you have so manyemails that you can't even see
them all because of the amountof.
Clint Henderson (23:15):
Sometimes I'll go back through my emails and
I'll realize, oh my God, this PRperson offered to take send me
on a trip to some amazingdestination.
I didn't even reply and I just,you know you feel terrible, but
we all just get so distractedsometimes.
So I do try to go back throughmy emails and make sure I'm
(23:35):
following up with folks,especially folks I've worked
with before, but it is tough.
Angela Tuell (23:42):
Yes, completely get it.
You mentioned a little bitabout what 88,000 miles already
this year.
Are there any?
I will not ask you a favoritedestination, because I know
that's an awful question to aska travel writer, but are there
any destinations that changedyour worldview or surprised you?
Clint Henderson (24:00):
So I think one of the things you, when you
travel a lot, you realize therethe more you travel, the more
you realize that there are somany other places to see.
So it's almost like a, it'salmost overwhelming, because so
I went to Vienna, austria, andthat opened a whole world to me.
Because you've got, vienna wasthe capital of the
(24:22):
Austro-Hungarian Empire, soyou've got this amazing capital
city that you don't really thinkof as a capital city because
it's the capital of Austria, butit was the capital of a big
chunk of Europe at one point.
And so you've got these great.
It's sort of like a quieterParis to me and I loved Vienna.
But you go to a place likeVienna and then you realize, oh
(24:43):
my God, there's Strasbourg,there's the, there's the
mountains you could go to, likethere's it.
Just like there's so much inthe world to see and there's so
little time.
Like I told you, I've been nowto every 50 states, all 50
states, and I really wanted togo to every country, but there's
193 countries and some of themwon't even let Americans in,
(25:07):
like North Korea, and so I youknow I'm starting to run out of
time I've been to 60, which is alot for most Americans.
But right, you know, that's athird of the countries only, so
there's so much more to see.
And then I go to a place likeJapan and I'm like, okay, so now
I've been to Tokyo and I'vebeen to Kyoto, and now I've been
to Okinawa.
(25:27):
But now I'm like, oh my God, Ihaven't really spent time in
Hokkaido.
There's Osaka I've never beento, like you.
Just, you know, there's notenough time to do everything,
and so sometimes you just haveto take a breath and say, yeah,
it's okay, I'm not going to beable to see everything in this
world in this lifetime, andthat's okay.
Angela Tuell (25:45):
Oh, I feel you and I'm so bad about you.
Know, we travel four or fivetimes a year with our, you know,
my kids and my husband, whichis a little bit more than some
people do too, but still.
But, and every time it's only aweek because of school and work
and that sort of thing, and wetry to fit in the whole country
and that's not possible.
Clint Henderson (26:05):
Yeah, you can't do it all that is hard for me.
Angela Tuell (26:07):
I pack the itineraries and then try to cut
out some things, but I feel youthere.
Do you have any favorite?
You mentioned the credit cardand the miles.
Do you have any other favoritetravel hacks?
Clint Henderson (26:18):
Oh my God, I've got so many.
We could talk for an hour aboutit, but I'll just give you a
couple of the highlights.
So the first one I would say topeople is Google Flights is so
underrated.
You can put in what flights youwant to take and you can set
flight alerts, which is amazing.
It gives you historical pricingso you can see whether you're
(26:39):
getting a good deal or not.
It will email you when pricesdrop or prices go up for flights
that you've alerted.
And then Google Flights hasthis page called Explore, where
you just put in your homeairport and, in a rough outline
of when you want to go, it willshow you the cheapest
destination you can go to.
So it will help you findamazing deals all over the world
.
(27:06):
I just looked from New York andjust for fun to look in July
what it was showing.
It was showing Cancun under$300 round trip, orlando for
under $200 round trip.
It was showing Europe for under$500 round trip, and this is
the peak summer travel date, soyou can find some extraordinary
deals that way.
Airline vacation packages, sodelta vacations, aavacationscom
when you combine airline uhprices and hotels together, book
(27:29):
them together, you can save alot of times like 40 percent
that way, so remarkable savings,um.
And then I sign up for theairlines I like to fly the most
Alaska, american Delta.
I sign up for their newsletterand you get a lot of times
you'll get flash salenotifications before anyone else
, so that's a great little hackthat you can do.
I also sign up for forsubscription deal alert services
(27:54):
, so there's one called Going.
That I love.
Angela Tuell (27:56):
Yes, I love them too.
Clint Henderson (27:58):
Yeah, thrifty Traveler is another one that's
really good and they will sendyou deal alerts.
And then there's all kinds ofum new websites for finding um
points and miles deals.
So one of the ones we love atthe points guy is points path Um
, but there's all kinds of newones to seatsarrow all kinds of
new ones too seatsaero all kindsof really interesting tools
(28:19):
that you can use to find reallyamazing flight deals.
And the final tip I would justsay is follow a few of those
accounts on social media.
You'd be surprised how manydeals you'll find now on social
media.
The problem with social mediais that they end up the deals
die so quickly because, uh, somany people see them and scoop
them up.
Angela Tuell (28:39):
But right there too, on instagram, or which one
do you suggest?
Clint Henderson (28:44):
yeah, instagram , and also um x, formerly known
as twitter.
Okay, yeah, you know going andthrifty traveler, follow the
points guy.
And then our newsletter too.
You know the points guynewsletter.
Like I mentioned, we actuallysend subscribers deals that are
not accessible anywhere else.
Angela Tuell (29:00):
Yeah, that's great .
What trends are you seeing inthe travel tourism world right
now?
Clint Henderson (29:07):
So it's interesting.
I'm seeing pretty bigreductions in pricing for
airline tickets.
So I think it's going to be thesummer of deals, for basically,
since we've come out of theworst of the pandemic it has
been demand has been over thetop, so much so that things have
gotten really expensive, andthis is the first year I'm
(29:28):
seeing year over year pricedeclines and actually a lot of
deals.
In the primetime summer travelseason, airlines are reducing
capacity because they have seena fall off in demand, but that
capacity reduction is nothappening until the fall, so
they've still got the samenumber of seats available for
the summertime.
So I think we're going to see alot of deals.
Angela Tuell (29:47):
Awesome.
So if you want to travel in thefall, should you buy those now
or wait till?
Clint Henderson (29:53):
So we're basically in the best booking
window.
It's usually one to two monthsahead of time for domestic
travel, but usually I tellpeople to book a little ahead of
time for international.
But this summer, as I mentioned, I'm seeing regularly on the
major airlines under $500 roundtrip to Europe, so pretty good
(30:14):
deals out there.
Angela Tuell (30:15):
That's great.
Before we go, I need to askwhat are your goals for the
future professionally?
Clint Henderson (30:21):
So I just got promoted, actually, to principal
spokesperson at the Point SkyCongratulations, yeah.
And we're doing a lot moreoriginal research.
So we're actually working withthe Harris Poll Company to do
polls of traveler sentiment.
So we're trying to find, youknow, what?
Are our travelers cutting backon travel now because of the
economic headwinds?
Are they?
Are they still going to spendas much as they were last year?
(30:43):
Are they afraid of flying rightnow?
Things like that.
So we're doing more originalresearch.
So that's where my um, my, myattention is focused.
Right now.
I'm going to be working with umthe points path to come up with
uh pricing trends.
So we have our own uh data onthat, which will be really
interesting as far as best timesto book and um when to book for
(31:05):
the best deals and that kind ofthing, cause I want us to have
our own uh owned data on thatkind of stuff.
I think it would be really goodfor the company.
And then you know, continuingto get the word out about the
points guy, um in in the mediaand um, I, I think I did 200
press interviews last year.
So let's see, let's see if Ican top that this year.
Angela Tuell (31:23):
Yes, you're all over broadcast and and uh, print
and digital too.
Well, we will.
We will link to everything inour show notes.
And how can listeners connectwith you online?
Clint Henderson (31:32):
Yeah, so um, you can find my byline all over
at the points, Guy, and you canalso follow me on Instagram at
ClintPage1.
Page is my middle name.
Okay, clint P Henderson on X.
Angela Tuell (31:45):
Perfect.
Thank you so much for your time, Clint.
Clint Henderson (31:48):
Thank you.
Angela Tuell (31:50):
That's all for this episode of Media in Minutes
, a podcast by CommunicationsRedefined.
Take a moment to rate, reviewand subscribe to our show.
We'd love to hear what youthink you can find more at
communicationsredefinedcom slashpodcast.
I'm your Angela Tuell.
Talk to you next time.
Welcome to Media in Minutes.
This is your host, Angela Tuell.
This podcast features in-depthinterviews with those who report
on the world around us.
They share everything fromtheir favorite stories to what
happened behind the lens andgive us a glimpse into their
world From our studio here atCommunications Redefined.
This is Media in Minutes.
On today's episode, we aretalking with managing editor of
(00:32):
the Points, guy Clint Henderson.
Clint worked in broadcast newsfor more than two decades,
including stints at ABC, news,fox and MSNBC, before landing
his dream job at the Points Guyin 2019.
He was raised in California andMontana, but has called New
York home.
For more than 20 years, clinthas been featured on ABC, cbs,
cnn, bloomberg, fox, nbc News,msnbc, news Nation and in print,
(00:57):
in Axios, consumer Reports, theWall Street Journal, the New
York Post, yahoo Finance andmany more.
He flies 100,000 miles a yearand has written stories about
numerous destinations, includingBelize, brazil, colombia,
denmark, france and the UnitedKingdom.
His goal is to travel to everycountry on the planet, but he
can only claim 60 so far.
(01:19):
Hi Clint, how are you?
Clint Henderson (01:22):
I'm well.
Thanks for having me on today.
Angela Tuell (01:24):
Yes, I'm looking forward to speaking with you.
I would love if you couldbriefly walk us through your
career.
I know you started in broadcast.
Did you always want to be inthe journalism field?
Clint Henderson (01:36):
So I did.
I actually I went to somepolitical summer schools in high
school Junior Statesman was oneof them and I got to go to a
White House press briefing anddo a pretend press conference,
and so that really got mecatching the bug for journalism
and so I actually wanted to be aprint reporter by the time I
(02:00):
graduated college, thoughnewspapers were already on a
really steep decline.
Yeah, I could not find a job,but the good news is I had been
working at the local nbcaffiliate while I was in college
, which was, uh, cron and whichwas an nbc affiliate in san
francisco at the time.
Okay, and I worked for theirsort of sort of like their
version of new york, one whichis called was called bay tv, and
(02:23):
I started as a intern there andthen I was a production
assistant and sort of worked myway up there and, yeah, out of
college.
That launched my journalismcareer.
And then I ended up as areporter and anchor at the
country's first streamingbusiness news network.
It was called On 24.
Okay, nobody had broadband.
(02:44):
So once thecom crash happened,uh, I was laid off with
everybody else in the newsroomand, um, I was freelancing in TV
news again at um, cron, okayand uh, and then I was like I
could probably do this in NewYork, so I moved to New York
without a job.
Angela Tuell (03:02):
Wow.
Clint Henderson (03:03):
Cousin had a rent-controlled apartment in the
village and he said you can payme $500 a month, and so I moved
to New York and then I ended upat MSNBC and worked at MSNBC
and then ABC News and then Fox 5in New York and then Fox News
Channel and then back to MSNBCand then PIX11 and then
eventually WABC, before I got mydream job at the Points Guy.
Angela Tuell (03:25):
Okay, you were all over the place in broadcast.
Besides moving to New York,what were some significant
moments that shaped that journey?
Clint Henderson (03:35):
So I think really just loving news was
really what really launched meinto the business, and the other
thing that I got to do was tocover national politics through
several elections, so that wasreally fun.
I helped launch Megyn Kellyinto her broadcast career at Fox
(03:57):
and helped get a new showcalled America's Newsroom off
the ground.
That's now one of the mostsuccessful shows on TV and there
was a lot of turmoil at Foxover the years and so, yeah,
I've seen a lot.
I've seen you know, when Istarted in the business we were
pulling scripts off of printersand carrying scripts.
Angela Tuell (04:19):
Was it tape-to-tape editing, like when
I was in it?
Clint Henderson (04:23):
And you know cassettes and then the advent of
digital and you know you'vejust seen the steady erosion of
journalism jobs over the years.
So that's been anotherchallenge.
And then what was really funfor me is I became obsessed with
travel in my 30s and then gotto know points and miles and
loyalty programs and elitestatus and learn the ins and
(04:45):
outs, because I was poor andbroke and I wanted to travel and
that turned into really a loveaffair for all things travel and
that led to the job at thepoints guy.
They were hiring a news editor.
Angela Tuell (04:57):
Okay.
Clint Henderson (04:57):
Role and I was like, oh my gosh, this is the
perfect combination of sort ofmy journalism background and
also travel, travel writing.
So then to transition intodigital news was, uh, was a new,
a new thing for me too.
So I had the newspaper umbackground, and then broadcast
background, and then streamingbackground and background.
(05:19):
So, and now it's social media,a lot of social media.
Angela Tuell (05:22):
So it's a wild ride, yeah, so what surprised?
Clint Henderson (05:23):
you a wild ride .
Angela Tuell (05:24):
Yeah, so what surprised you to learn once you
went to the points guy?
Clint Henderson (05:30):
Well, I think that the fact that the broadcast
writing skills you know, I waswriting teases, I was writing
intros, I had been a segmentproducer at MSNBC for a long
time so the realization thatthat kind of writing, that short
burst, sort of declarativewriting that you do in broadcast
(05:50):
news, could transfer over to alonger form.
And I think you know, when Ifirst got into TV news I'll
never forget, they told me I hadto write shorter, that I was
writing too long because I'd hadseen a newspaper writer and so.
But then when I went intodigital media it was the
opposite.
It was actually like it reallyhelped me because I think, you
(06:12):
know, it just helps to write inshort declarative sentences in
general, no matter who you'rewriting or producing for.
Angela Tuell (06:19):
Right, right.
Going back to those networksjust a little bit, you worked at
almost all the major networksand some of them were very
different Fox, msnbc.
Did the culture and approachdiffer between these?
You know how did it feelinternally?
Clint Henderson (06:46):
when I started at Fox there was more of a hard
line between between the newsside and the opinion side and I
I do feel like over the yearsthat started to blur more and so
I was increasinglyuncomfortable there and uh, so
that's when I jumped back toMSNBC and it was.
It was quite a swing of thependulum, um, but it was
interesting and I think you knowfor the most part, even though
the sort of political leaningsof the network might be,
(07:10):
networks might be one way or theother, in general there's a lot
of really good journalists, nomatter where you are.
Angela Tuell (07:15):
Yes.
Clint Henderson (07:16):
And the sort of stratification of cable news
that we've seen.
It didn't.
It didn't.
When I got into it it wasn'tlike that at all.
It was much more like we're alltrying to just be straight down
the line.
But no matter which side of theaisle the network may be
leaning more into or not,there's always great journalists
behind the scenes and you know,I think you've seen that in the
(07:39):
sort of the ranks of the formerFox folks who are out at the
major networks, at all thenetworks and all the newspapers
now.
So that funnel works both ways,I think, which is really
interesting.
Angela Tuell (07:52):
Before we jump into the points, Guy, looking
back, is there anything youwould have done differently in
your career path?
Clint Henderson (07:59):
Yeah, I can honestly say and this is the
advice I give to folks who'veasked me I stayed too long at
Fox.
You know, I learned so muchthere.
I started as a writer producerthere and I worked my way up to
executive producing a two hourlive news show for years and
years and I shouldn't have beenafraid to leave.
(08:21):
It was such a great, secure jobwith great benefits that I
think I stayed too long.
And I think that's the advicethat I would give to folks,
especially in the TV newsbusiness, that, um, you know,
don't get stale and don't beafraid to to move around, Cause
that's really how you're goingto make the most money too.
Angela Tuell (08:40):
Yes.
Clint Henderson (08:41):
Is to jump um to other networks, and that
that's the biggest regret that Ihave.
But at the same time, you know,my path eventually led to this
job where I am now, which isreally like the job of my dreams
, and it's been such a gift.
So I wouldn't necessarilychange it.
(09:02):
I just, you know, I think I wasunhappy for several years at
the end of my time there.
Angela Tuell (09:07):
So that's, that's probably what I would have
changed the end of my time there, so that's probably what I
would have changed.
Yeah, that's great insight too.
So for those who are notintimately familiar, I know
everyone's heard of the PointsGuy right.
But for those who are notintimately familiar, please tell
us a little bit more about it.
Your audience, staff stories.
You like to focus on anythingnew?
Clint Henderson (09:27):
Yeah, so the Points Guy, we really cover
everything travel.
But the goal for for us as asjournalists working every day,
is to help people travel more,travel better and travel cheaper
in better ways.
What was a little travel bloginto a major outlet and it's
(09:54):
been remarkable to be part ofthat journey and to see what
he's been able to do with thecompany.
But we cover everything thattouches travel basically.
And you know, when I was hired,I was hired so we could cover
more breaking news and it endedup being really good timing
because it was right beforeCOVID hit.
So when COVID hit, it was goodthat the Points Guy had someone
with breaking news experience tohelp guide the coverage.
Angela Tuell (10:16):
Yes.
Clint Henderson (10:17):
But what we really do and what we're really
clued into is how people can usepoints and miles and credit
cards to make their lives better, and I think people don't
realize.
I think people see credit cardsor they see the world of points
and miles and they getoverwhelmed and they get scared
and they just shy away from it.
But there there is so manypaths to traveling better and to
(10:40):
extending your, your budgetthat that that is what is that
trying to do every day is teachpeople that it doesn't have to
be scary, that you know there'sentry levels into entry level
ways into the world of pointsand miles that that can really
make make your life better.
Angela Tuell (11:00):
Yes.
So what is a typical day like?
I'm sure there's not a typical.
Clint Henderson (11:03):
I go through all the big papers and all the
news sites that I follow, likethe New Times, the Wall Street
Journal, san Francisco Chronicle, you name it, and I probably
(11:24):
have looked at it in the morningand then obviously, the other
Points and Miles blogs.
I look through our competitors'sites to see if there's
anything new, and then I lookthrough my email box to see if
there's any press releases fromairlines, hotels, you know PR
firms that are looking forcoverage.
And then we all meet.
We have a morning editorialmeeting where we all come with
(11:46):
some of our ideas for the dayand what we're working on, and
we've got various teams that allsort of cross-pollinate from
social media to aviation, tohotels, to points and miles.
So we have that morning meetingthat helps us decide what we're
going to cover and help assignout stories.
(12:07):
And then my day, a lot of timesspent, uh, writing stories, uh,
looking again for news, editingstories, um, making sure we're
covering everything.
And then I also do a lot of.
I end up doing a lot of press.
So, um, you know I I could becalled like.
This week has been especiallycrazy because real id launching
(12:28):
and you've got air trafficcontrol problems at Newark, so
there's been a lot of mediarequests.
So I've been doing a lot ofthat recently as well.
And then obviously we travel alot, so I'm on the road.
I think I've already flown88,000 miles this year.
Angela Tuell (12:44):
How do you fit all that in?
Clint Henderson (12:47):
It's a good thing I can work remotely and
I'm good at working on in planesand in hotel rooms, because
otherwise I wouldn't get half ofwhat I'm what I've gotten been
able to get done yeah.
Angela Tuell (12:59):
And and you know how do you do all that and
manage a work-life balance, oris there really no such thing?
Clint Henderson (13:06):
I'm probably not the best person about a
work-life balance.
No, I do.
I do see my family quite a bit.
But you know, just to bebrutally honest, it probably
does help that I don't have kidsthat are depending on me to be
home, because it's just the lifeof a travel editor or reporter
(13:30):
is not super conducive to um, tohome life, so um, but there are
plenty of people at the pointsguy who make it work.
Uh, bless them.
Angela Tuell (13:41):
So uh, yeah, I know I always, I always don't
like that saying if you can haveit all, cause I you know, you
can have all that you want,maybe, but to have it all is
almost impossible.
Clint Henderson (13:53):
I would feel like I had a dog.
He passed away recently.
I had him for 13 years and itwas hard to leave him.
So let me imagine what it'slike for families leaving their
kids to hit the road.
I think most people at thepoint of skate don't travel as
much as a few of us, so it's notso extreme, but it's important.
(14:15):
I try to get in some kind ofexercise every day.
I try to take a littlemeditation break in the
afternoons just because I'mstaring at a computer for so
long.
So it's really important andyou don't want to run yourself
ragged.
But also, you know, especiallythose of us with a background in
breaking news, a lot of us arereally adrenaline junkies and so
(14:37):
we enjoy being workaholics, butit's not for everybody for sure
.
Angela Tuell (14:42):
Yes, I feel you there Talking a little bit more
about the points guy, who is atypical reader.
You mentioned a little bit andhas that changed over time?
Clint Henderson (14:52):
Yeah, so we are increasingly trying to speak to
a broader audience.
But our core, our core base ispeople who collect miles and
points, who are maybe loyal toan airline or a cruise company
or a hotel program.
A lot of our readers loveprograms like American Airlines,
(15:14):
advantage or World of Hyatt,marriott, bonvoy, those kind of
things, the big hotel chains,the big US airlines.
Obviously, we've reallyexpanded into cruise coverage
over the years.
Our man on the sea is GeneSloan, who's constantly on a
boat, travels more than I do, Ithink, which is pretty
(15:37):
remarkable.
So we've got that as our realcore base.
As I mentioned, get into theworld of Points and Miles and
make it a little more broadlyappealing, because I think
anyone can benefit from thispretty much from what we cover
(15:58):
at the Points Guy and so we'reincreasingly looking for those
folks and increasingly ouraudience is on social media.
You know that wasn't as big apiece as our audience in the
past and our newslettersubscribers are so important to
us.
In the age of Google algorithmsshowing you or not showing you
(16:22):
on a particular day, it's reallygood to be directly in touch
with an audience.
And so our newslettersubscribers we're increasingly
giving them exclusive access tothings, deal alerts, things that
they won't see anywhere else,so we can have more of a
relationship with our core users.
Angela Tuell (16:38):
Yeah, I love those when they hit my inbox and
they're so easy to read and scanand get some great information
on.
Clint Henderson (16:44):
Yeah, and we've really I mean, we've had some.
You know I don't like to comeand talk too much about credit
cards, but we've had someamazing offers from credit card
companies who are just trying toget new customers and they're
really offering very, verygenerous sign-up bonuses right
now, especially a few of them.
So don't sleep on that kind ofthing, because that's a lot more
(17:07):
accessible than you may think.
Angela Tuell (17:08):
Which ones stand out just quickly.
Clint Henderson (17:11):
So there's a Chase Sapphire preferred offer
right now for 100,000 points andthat's only a $95 annual fee.
They give you a $50 hotelstatement credit and then those
points can transfer to programslike British Airways or to Hyatt
.
So you're not locked into oneprogram, but you've got all
these transfer partners that youcan transfer that currency and
(17:32):
make it even more valuable too.
So, um, you know that thatoffers worth quite a bit of of
cold hard cash and we're allspending money anyway.
You might as well put it on acredit card where you're getting
something back.
That's my, that's my take on it, and for me I'm able to.
You know a lot of people say,well, I'm just going to use a 2%
cash back card.
That's fine, and I think a lotof people are just fine doing
(17:54):
that.
But I know I can take thepoints that I'm getting instead
and turn that into businessclass seats around the world.
So for me that's a better valuethan 2% cash back.
Angela Tuell (18:06):
Definitely, definitely.
What are the most challengingand the most rewarding parts of
your job?
Clint Henderson (18:12):
Yeah, I think the most challenging parts of
the job is just not havingenough time.
There's just not enough hoursin the day.
There's so many stories to telland there's so many adventures
to write.
I was just looking through myphoto album because I'm writing
a couple of stories for oursocial media feed.
(18:33):
I look at my phone.
I'm like, oh, I forgot aboutthat trip.
I should do something on that.
I should do something on that.
Like I want to share myadventures with the world and
there's only so much time in aday, so that's that's
challenging.
Uh, that's challenging.
So I think you know.
Also, it's it's challenginggetting people to engage like
they used to.
They used to read a uh, youknow, a 10,000 word story on a
(18:56):
hotel and our fans have justshrunk down.
So you have to find new ways ofstorytelling 50 words.
And we're trying to come up withnew ways to tell stories, that
if someone gets overwhelmed.
But when they open a story andit says it's going to take 12
minutes to read it, we don'twant to lose those folks.
Angela Tuell (19:19):
Yes, what are some stories that you've written,
that you know, even recently,that stand out to you?
Clint Henderson (19:26):
So I there's some really great hacks out
there I was able to use Deltamiles to fly to Australia for
under 80,000 miles in Delta one.
So it's a really fun story thatI got to tell about, you know,
flying in one of Delta's bestplanes, their A350 all the way
from Mexico city to LAX and thenon to Brisbane.
(19:47):
And you know you can pay 80,000to fly to Memphis from New York
.
So to fly a business class on a14 hour flight with that is
pretty cool.
So you know, if you readstories like that the points guy
you'll learn how you canpotentially do that for yourself
, and that's sort of the goal.
Some of the other stories thatI've loved over the years are
just I, when I was at homeduring COVID, some of the I
(20:12):
ended up at my father's ranch inMontana and some of the first
trips I was able to do were roadtrips and I wanted to sort of
talk about hitting all 50 states, and so I was able to check off
several of those states with aroad trip from Montana.
So I wrote about the GreatAmerican Road Trip and how that
can be fun, and so, yeah,there's been so many fun stories
(20:35):
over the years that I've beenable to tell, and you know I am
a prolific writer, so I writeprobably more than I even should
be, but it's really fun.
Angela Tuell (20:49):
Yeah, that's how you're great at what you do.
How do you measure the success?
Clint Henderson (20:54):
of a story.
Well, we get reader emails isone is one way.
I know I'm I've struck a chordif I get, you know, four emails
from readers who've who want toweigh in on a story.
We have the metrics that showhow many people read a story, so
that's always a good guide.
And then you know, obviously,if it's led to people signing up
(21:21):
for the newsletter or to read,to read other stories.
That's another good indicationthat the stories touched a chord
with the audience.
Angela Tuell (21:25):
Okay, and PR professionals are a large part
of our audience for this podcast.
What advice do you have forthem about pitching stories and
working with the points guy?
Clint Henderson (21:35):
I think one of the one of the things that
happens with PR pitches issometimes you'll get two of the
same pitch from an agency andyou're on a list on multiple
lists of theirs maybe.
And so I think PR companiesshould really make that a
priority of making sure thatyou're not bombarding sources
(21:57):
with multiple emails on the sametopic.
And then I think a littlepersonalization goes a long way.
Like, instead of a blast to athousand people, maybe you send
that pitch to 10 people thatyou've worked with or that you
have relationship with or youknow would be a story that they
would like to tell.
So a little morepersonalization is really
(22:17):
important and you know,important.
Um, and you know, I think Ithink some, some journalists
would say don't send me followup emails.
But the truth is we get so manyemails that sometimes you don't
see the first iteration of it.
So I don't mind a follow up andyou know, even if it's just a
little note that says hey, justuh, just a quick follow here, I
(22:38):
think it'd be great for you.
Here's maybe why a little morecurated outreach, I think, is
helpful.
Angela Tuell (22:45):
Yes, that's a big, decisive one.
We have lists that are like donot follow up and follow up,
because some are very much solike do not follow up with me,
and then some are yeah.
Clint Henderson (22:56):
I'm happy, I feel so bad for PR folks because
it's not an easy job to getsomeone to engage and then you
know, I think it's just it'stough, it's tough, it's tough on
both sides.
Angela Tuell (23:08):
So yeah, yeah, both sides, definitely.
And then you have so manyemails that you can't even see
them all because of the amountof.
Clint Henderson (23:15):
Sometimes I'll go back through my emails and
I'll realize, oh my God, this PRperson offered to take send me
on a trip to some amazingdestination.
I didn't even reply and I just,you know you feel terrible, but
we all just get so distractedsometimes.
So I do try to go back throughmy emails and make sure I'm
(23:35):
following up with folks,especially folks I've worked
with before, but it is tough.
Angela Tuell (23:42):
Yes, completely get it.
You mentioned a little bitabout what 88,000 miles already
this year.
Are there any?
I will not ask you a favoritedestination, because I know
that's an awful question to aska travel writer, but are there
any destinations that changedyour worldview or surprised you?
Clint Henderson (24:00):
So I think one of the things you, when you
travel a lot, you realize therethe more you travel, the more
you realize that there are somany other places to see.
So it's almost like a, it'salmost overwhelming, because so
I went to Vienna, austria, andthat opened a whole world to me.
Because you've got, vienna wasthe capital of the
(24:22):
Austro-Hungarian Empire, soyou've got this amazing capital
city that you don't really thinkof as a capital city because
it's the capital of Austria, butit was the capital of a big
chunk of Europe at one point.
And so you've got these great.
It's sort of like a quieterParis to me and I loved Vienna.
But you go to a place likeVienna and then you realize, oh
(24:43):
my God, there's Strasbourg,there's the, there's the
mountains you could go to, likethere's it.
Just like there's so much inthe world to see and there's so
little time.
Like I told you, I've been nowto every 50 states, all 50
states, and I really wanted togo to every country, but there's
193 countries and some of themwon't even let Americans in,
(25:07):
like North Korea, and so I youknow I'm starting to run out of
time I've been to 60, which is alot for most Americans.
But right, you know, that's athird of the countries only, so
there's so much more to see.
And then I go to a place likeJapan and I'm like, okay, so now
I've been to Tokyo and I'vebeen to Kyoto, and now I've been
to Okinawa.
(25:27):
But now I'm like, oh my God, Ihaven't really spent time in
Hokkaido.
There's Osaka I've never beento, like you.
Just, you know, there's notenough time to do everything,
and so sometimes you just haveto take a breath and say, yeah,
it's okay, I'm not going to beable to see everything in this
world in this lifetime, andthat's okay.
Angela Tuell (25:45):
Oh, I feel you and I'm so bad about you.
Know, we travel four or fivetimes a year with our, you know,
my kids and my husband, whichis a little bit more than some
people do too, but still.
But, and every time it's only aweek because of school and work
and that sort of thing, and wetry to fit in the whole country
and that's not possible.
Clint Henderson (26:05):
Yeah, you can't do it all that is hard for me.
Angela Tuell (26:07):
I pack the itineraries and then try to cut
out some things, but I feel youthere.
Do you have any favorite?
You mentioned the credit cardand the miles.
Do you have any other favoritetravel hacks?
Clint Henderson (26:18):
Oh my God, I've got so many.
We could talk for an hour aboutit, but I'll just give you a
couple of the highlights.
So the first one I would say topeople is Google Flights is so
underrated.
You can put in what flights youwant to take and you can set
flight alerts, which is amazing.
It gives you historical pricingso you can see whether you're
(26:39):
getting a good deal or not.
It will email you when pricesdrop or prices go up for flights
that you've alerted.
And then Google Flights hasthis page called Explore, where
you just put in your homeairport and, in a rough outline
of when you want to go, it willshow you the cheapest
destination you can go to.
So it will help you findamazing deals all over the world
.
(27:06):
I just looked from New York andjust for fun to look in July
what it was showing.
It was showing Cancun under$300 round trip, orlando for
under $200 round trip.
It was showing Europe for under$500 round trip, and this is
the peak summer travel date, soyou can find some extraordinary
deals that way.
Airline vacation packages, sodelta vacations, aavacationscom
when you combine airline uhprices and hotels together, book
(27:29):
them together, you can save alot of times like 40 percent
that way, so remarkable savings,um.
And then I sign up for theairlines I like to fly the most
Alaska, american Delta.
I sign up for their newsletterand you get a lot of times
you'll get flash salenotifications before anyone else
, so that's a great little hackthat you can do.
I also sign up for forsubscription deal alert services
(27:54):
, so there's one called Going.
That I love.
Angela Tuell (27:56):
Yes, I love them too.
Clint Henderson (27:58):
Yeah, thrifty Traveler is another one that's
really good and they will sendyou deal alerts.
And then there's all kinds ofum new websites for finding um
points and miles deals.
So one of the ones we love atthe points guy is points path Um
, but there's all kinds of newones to seatsarrow all kinds of
new ones too seatsaero all kindsof really interesting tools
(28:19):
that you can use to find reallyamazing flight deals.
And the final tip I would justsay is follow a few of those
accounts on social media.
You'd be surprised how manydeals you'll find now on social
media.
The problem with social mediais that they end up the deals
die so quickly because, uh, somany people see them and scoop
them up.
Angela Tuell (28:39):
But right there too, on instagram, or which one
do you suggest?
Clint Henderson (28:44):
yeah, instagram , and also um x, formerly known
as twitter.
Okay, yeah, you know going andthrifty traveler, follow the
points guy.
And then our newsletter too.
You know the points guynewsletter.
Like I mentioned, we actuallysend subscribers deals that are
not accessible anywhere else.
Angela Tuell (29:00):
Yeah, that's great .
What trends are you seeing inthe travel tourism world right
now?
Clint Henderson (29:07):
So it's interesting.
I'm seeing pretty bigreductions in pricing for
airline tickets.
So I think it's going to be thesummer of deals, for basically,
since we've come out of theworst of the pandemic it has
been demand has been over thetop, so much so that things have
gotten really expensive, andthis is the first year I'm
(29:28):
seeing year over year pricedeclines and actually a lot of
deals.
In the primetime summer travelseason, airlines are reducing
capacity because they have seena fall off in demand, but that
capacity reduction is nothappening until the fall, so
they've still got the samenumber of seats available for
the summertime.
So I think we're going to see alot of deals.
Angela Tuell (29:47):
Awesome.
So if you want to travel in thefall, should you buy those now
or wait till?
Clint Henderson (29:53):
So we're basically in the best booking
window.
It's usually one to two monthsahead of time for domestic
travel, but usually I tellpeople to book a little ahead of
time for international.
But this summer, as I mentioned, I'm seeing regularly on the
major airlines under $500 roundtrip to Europe, so pretty good
(30:14):
deals out there.
Angela Tuell (30:15):
That's great.
Before we go, I need to askwhat are your goals for the
future professionally?
Clint Henderson (30:21):
So I just got promoted, actually, to principal
spokesperson at the Point SkyCongratulations, yeah.
And we're doing a lot moreoriginal research.
So we're actually working withthe Harris Poll Company to do
polls of traveler sentiment.
So we're trying to find, youknow, what?
Are our travelers cutting backon travel now because of the
economic headwinds?
Are they?
Are they still going to spendas much as they were last year?
(30:43):
Are they afraid of flying rightnow?
Things like that.
So we're doing more originalresearch.
So that's where my um, my, myattention is focused.
Right now.
I'm going to be working with umthe points path to come up with
uh pricing trends.
So we have our own uh data onthat, which will be really
interesting as far as best timesto book and um when to book for
(31:05):
the best deals and that kind ofthing, cause I want us to have
our own uh owned data on thatkind of stuff.
I think it would be really goodfor the company.
And then you know, continuingto get the word out about the
points guy, um in in the mediaand um, I, I think I did 200
press interviews last year.
So let's see, let's see if Ican top that this year.
Angela Tuell (31:23):
Yes, you're all over broadcast and and uh, print
and digital too.
Well, we will.
We will link to everything inour show notes.
And how can listeners connectwith you online?
Clint Henderson (31:32):
Yeah, so um, you can find my byline all over
at the points, Guy, and you canalso follow me on Instagram at
ClintPage1.
Page is my middle name.
Okay, clint P Henderson on X.
Angela Tuell (31:45):
Perfect.
Thank you so much for your time, Clint.
Clint Henderson (31:48):
Thank you.
Angela Tuell (31:50):
That's all for this episode of Media in Minutes
, a podcast by CommunicationsRedefined.
Take a moment to rate, reviewand subscribe to our show.
We'd love to hear what youthink you can find more at
communicationsredefinedcom slashpodcast.
I'm your Angela Tuell.
Talk to you next time.
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