July 9, 2025 • 54 mins
What if luxury travel wasn’t just for the 1%? In this episode, travel rewards expert Spencer Howard reveals how everyday spending can unlock first-class flights, champagne service, and global adventures—without going into debt.
You’ll learn:
- The 3 strategic approaches to credit card rewards (and which one fits your lifestyle)
- How to maximize point value by avoiding the biggest rookie mistake
- Why premium cabins aren't just comfortable—they’re career-building
Whether you're a points newbie or a seasoned collector, Spencer breaks down exactly how to travel better, smarter, and often for (almost) free. This isn’t your average “use a travel card” advice—this is the real playbook.
Ready to upgrade your next trip? Press play and get started.
Watch this episode in video form on YouTube
To apply to be a guest on the show
You can email us at: thesugardaddypodcast@gmail.com
Be sure to connect with us on socials @thesugardaddypodcast we are most active on Instagram
Learn more about Brandon and schedule a free 30-minute introductory call with him
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review.
Notes from the show:
Follow Straight to the Points on Instagram
Connect with Spencer Howard on LinkedIn
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
no-transcript day.
That was from a blogger which Ikind of mocked because at the
time I was used to reading, likethe aviation journalist at the
wall street journal and so I waslike.
What does this blogger think?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
they know.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Um, he actually is super nice guy, friends with him
now and he's he's super smart.
But, um, I was poking around tosite and started to see these
things about like credit cardsand using the points you earned
the credit cards to fly placesand I was like, oh okay, um,
that's interesting.
Um, I never really cared aboutcredit cards until then.
And then I saw him postingabout like business and first
class flights and I was like, oh, I'm six, three, I could use
(01:09):
that I'll take like you write it, I'd like the space.
So yeah, that's a.
That's the long way of sayinghow I got into all of this sugar
teddy podcast.
Yo learn how to make thempockets grow.
Financial freedom's where we goSmart investments, money flow.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Hey babe, what are we talking about today?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Today we are diving back into one of our favorite
topics points and miles.
But we're going to do it alittle bit differently this time
, because today we are focusingon luxury.
We're going to be talking aboutbusiness class, first class,
using those points and miles tomake sure that we get that
lovely luxury experience whichyou know.
(01:52):
For me, it starts at theairport.
Give me my lounge, that's thefirst part, and then you know if
I can be in first class,business class, anything but
main cabin economy.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Which is funny, because I never flew first class
until you and I were together.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
And now do you want to go back?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
No, I'm not going to lie, you know, I'm not.
I wouldn't call myselfnecessarily a bougie person, but
I'm also not a small personeither.
So that extra leg roomdefinitely helps.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
It definitely helps.
Give me the big seat, give methe leg rooms, but we're here to
talk with Spencer Howard today.
He is going to help us diveinto all of the nuances of how
to get the most out of ourpoints and miles.
Spencer, thank you for beingwith us today.
We're excited about thisconversation.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Yeah, jessica Brandon , thanks so much for having me.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Absolutely.
So let's get into this bio soeverybody knows that they can
trust you in the things thatyou're going to say today,
please believe me Right inguiding them in the right way to
do points and miles.
Spencer Howard is a credit cardloyalty program and travel
rewards expert.
He's also the founder ofStraight to the Points, the
(02:59):
go-to resource for individualslooking to demystify credit card
points so they can experiencetraveling in luxury.
After helping family andfriends understand credit card
points for years, he launchedStraight to the Points in 2017
and has been offering memberscomplimentary and premium
content through his award alertnewsletter ever since.
(03:19):
His newsletter, read by over20,000 people, is the place to
get the most up-to-dateinformation on everything from
first and business class alertson flights to tutorials on how
to effectively book and secureflights using credit card points
.
Spencer has worked in thetravel writing industry for
nearly a decade and has beenfeatured in various news outlets
such as Forbes Advisor, cnbc,travel Leisure Asia, the
(03:43):
Washington Post, bloomberg andBusiness Insider.
Spencer believes that everyonedeserves to fly business class
at least once in their lifetime,and he is on a journey to make
that happen.
Since 2017, he's traveled forthree months of the year and
seen 60,000 countries.
Oh my gosh, I need anothercoffee.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
I've gone to other planets, exactly,000 countries.
Oh my gosh, I need anothercoffee.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I've gone to other planets, Exactly outer space, 60
plus countries.
He lives in Washington DC withhis family and recently became a
dad.
Congratulations for that.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Thank you for being with us, Spencer.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah, thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
All right, 60,000 countries, let's get into that
no, I'm just kidding.
Let's get into your first moneymemory.
I want to see if there's anyconnection to that and what
you're doing now with all thesepoints.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah, it's interesting, I think for me it
was probably making money doingnot even home repairs, like
helping tear down walls at ahouse that a friend's family was
uh redoing, uh, and that waslike the first time I think I'd
really gotten paid for work.
Uh, I was in high school, um,so that was just uh, that was a
(04:52):
new moment for me.
I was like, ah, I mean, youknow, when you're making, like
you know, 20, 40 bucks orwhatever, you're kind of like,
wow, all this money when you're,when you, when you go from not
having any.
But I think that was the firsttime that I really started
thinking about it and then kindof moved into like freshman year
of college.
During the summer I would, Idid another job and this was
like repairing houses and thingslike that and I again it was
(05:15):
just making a little bit more, alittle bit more Um, and that
was just kind of like okay, thisis useful Um, and it basically
working.
That summer funded an unpaidinternship the following summer,
so that was a really importantone for me, but you didn't want
to go into general contractingafter those repairs.
I had a good time, um, but yeah,I had other things that I
(05:39):
wanted to do and they didn't.
Working in politics, uh, incollege, they don't really pay
you, they just tell you getexperience, um.
And so I had to uh fund livingin DC for a summer when I was
interning, and that all camefrom, uh, the the year before,
um, so I've never really been abig spender, so it wasn't that
(05:59):
hard to save it.
It was just uh, yeah, it wasall, it was all.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
All a plan, I guess, is the best way to put it a lot
of internships don't pay you,regardless of what you know,
industry yeah I think some, somehave to now there's like new
rules, but back then it was justlike I'm doing the same job and
not getting.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah it's.
It's definitely interestingwhen you work on like political
campaigns as an intern.
You're like did I spend 80hours a week here and not get
paid at all?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Oh, yeah, but think about all that you learned right
and you're like, yeah, but Ican't even afford to eat
anything right now.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
So it's not important .
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Not important, did you?
When you were making money inhigh school and you started
these projects?
Did you have anybody at homekind of prompting you to save
money to you know?
Was there anybody giving youlife lessons on what to do with
your money once you startedearning it?
Speaker 1 (06:53):
That's interesting.
I don't think there was anylike specific lesson other than
just like don't spend more thanyou have.
But my dad also went throughlike he worked for a couple of
companies that went out ofbusiness um kind of pretty quick
succession when I was in go,kind of going into kindergarten
and then coming out, and so Ijust kind of like saw what it
was like to like be strugglingto find not that he was like
(07:16):
struggling, he, he did fine, butit was just losing a job sucks.
It's really stressful and youhave to really think about where
your money's going and beingyou know couponing and stuff
like that, and I remember mymom's like box of you know all
those paper coupons that you'dcut out.
Um, so I don't know, I justthink that was just kind of
always.
I'm just always aware of it.
Um, yeah, I think naturally I'mnot really into stuff as much.
(07:39):
All the little toys you see uphere are like souvenirs from
airlines, so it's not actuallythings that I'm just randomly
buying.
But yeah, but I think I wasjust kind of aware of the
situation is the best way to putit Just kind of like seeing
what that's like for yourparents.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
All right, real quick .
I want to speak to the personlistening who feels like they
can't work with a financialplanner yet because they're
carrying a lot of debt.
First of all, I see you and Ineed you to know.
You're not broken, you're notbehind.
You're just in a tough season.
I created something just foryou because I've had people
reach out who are serious aboutchanging their money story.
But the full financial planningpackage just wasn't the right
(08:22):
fit yet.
So I built a new service throughOak City Financial that's
focused completely on debtreduction no fluff, no shame.
You'll get a one-time planningsession, a personalized payoff
strategy, your own financialdashboard and monthly coaching.
If you want extra support whileyou climb out, it's $300 to get
started and $100 a month.
If you want that ongoingguidance, that's it.
(08:44):
This is about helping you getunst100 a month.
If you want that ongoingguidance, that's it.
This is about helping you getunstuck, not making you feel
like you failed.
If this sounds like what you'vebeen needing, go ahead and
schedule a call with me.
The link is in the show notes.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Let's take the first step together.
How did you transition from youknow growing up seeing your dad
face layoffs?
Um, you said you're not a bigspender.
How did you take that into?
Hey, let me maximize points andstart traveling the world Cause
that, I mean there's.
That seems like a pretty bigjump right.
I mean walk us through thattransition.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Yeah, so I think, well, first off, I worked in
politics, basically my sophomoreyear of college and then for
like 10 years from there, fromthen on and you don't get paid a
lot in most positions inpolitics If you work in the
nonprofit world, same thing, andI did that, like you don't get
paid a lot there.
Um and so that it was pairedwith the fact, the fact that
(09:44):
they really stressed work, don'ttake time off, there's
important things we're doinghere, we're helping people.
You need to work, and so you'rekind of always working.
I mean, some campaigns are like20 hours a day, seven days a
week absolutely insane it's gotto be against, like labor laws
or something right.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
What are those?
Speaker 1 (10:08):
It's um, but I think it think it was.
It was so it was coming out ofthat.
I got my last political job atthe us travel association um
kind of fitting.
But they, they kind of wanted tolive the mission and so they
would tell you to like take yourtime off, and that I thought it
was a joke.
At first I thought I was beingpranked by one of like the vps
there.
He's asking me where I wantedto go this year, and I was like,
oh I, oh, I'm good, I'm good,I'm just, I'm just working, um.
So that was kind of whatstarted me thinking about.
(10:31):
Travel, was like, oh, I cantake time off, um, and then from
there it was just like find thecheapest flights to wherever I
could go.
And then I stumbled onto anarticle in our press clips that
we would get each day.
That was from a blogger which Ikind of mocked because at the
time I was used to reading, likethe aviation journalist at the
wall street journal, and so Iwas like what does this blogger
(10:51):
think?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
they know.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Um, he actually is super nice guy, friends with him
now and he's he's super smart.
But, um, I was poking around tosite and started to see these
things about like credit cardsand using the points you earned
with the credit cards to flyplaces, and I was like, oh, okay
, um, that's interesting.
Um, I never really cared aboutcredit cards until then.
And then I saw him postingabout like business and first
class flights and I was like, oh, I'm six, three, I could use
(11:14):
that.
I'll take like you write it, I'dlike the space.
So yeah, that's a.
That's the long way of sayinghow I got into all of this how I
got into all of this.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Very nice, you said in your bio that you started
helping friends and family,which we've had so many people
on the podcast that all startwith like, hey, I was just
helping friends, I was helpingmy family members, and then you
know their spouse is like, hey,maybe you could actually make
some money doing this.
Like nudge, nudge.
What's your story with helpingfriends and family and getting
into like making it an actualbusiness?
Speaker 1 (11:49):
yeah, I'm somebody who's really intense about the
things they like, so I gotreally excited to share it with
everybody who is around me andtruly, I moved from like helping
friends and family to helpingpeople in Facebook groups within
the span of about like threemonths, of learning about points
.
I mean, I spent like four hoursa night for like six months
(12:10):
reading about all the creditcard fine print and airline
rules for their loyalty programsand as I was doing that, I was
just like, oh, I can help withthis question, and so I did that
in Facebook groups and withinabout six to nine months, I
started writing part-time aboutthis stuff.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
So, yeah, you became the blogger.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
It was real fast Wow.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
The progression came quickly.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, and so that was like part-time writing and then
another six months and I movedfull-time.
Wow, you know, you spend 10years building a career in one
field and then six months afterstarting a part-time gig, you're
just like I'm just gonna leavethat behind.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Was there, um any you know pushback from your partner
in any way of like, wait aminute.
You've been building your lifein politics and now you want to
be a blogger and talk aboutcredit card points.
I mean, that's a pretty bigpivot.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Also, what year approximately is this?
Because, like you were saying,with the blogging was, it sounds
like it was a new thingthroughout the time period.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
It wasn't, it was, I would say we were kind of in the
heyday of what I would callpoints and miles blogging.
Now it's a lot of it shifted tolike Instagram and Tik TOK and
things like that, youtube evenUm, but that was 2016 when I
started writing and then by theend of the year, I'd signed on
to do full-time writing.
(13:29):
Basically, I just had enoughfreelance that I had to pick one
or the other.
So, yeah, it worked out well.
I'm still here.
It's changed.
It's changed.
It's changed a lot more socialmedia content than before.
But, yeah, it's been a funjourney.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
So no pushback then on making this big pivot.
Not really, I think that'sgreat.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
My wife at the time girlfriend like saw how excited
I was about it, um, and she sawthat I was getting opportunities
to write and it was enough forme to make a living.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
So yeah, I'm sure she was probably hiding the
nervousness.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
So did you have like a writing background in regards
to some maybe the courses you?
Speaker 1 (14:10):
I was a poli-sci major, which is mostly just
research and writing.
So I was pretty well, honestly,like pretty well suited for
taking in a lot of informationand then trying to make it make
sense in a shorter form andunderstandable.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Yeah, see, at least your college degree still makes
sense.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
When I was in politics, I was like nobody in
politics cares if you studiedpoli, poli sci.
They just want you to be aninsanely hard worker and
passionate and like that's it.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
We don't care if you're an engineer, a lawyer,
whatever, just like come do thething, um, but yeah, this was
yeah, and this.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
this felt like the.
This actually feels like uh, mydegree applies more than it
used to.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Let's get into how to actually utilize points miles.
Can you if somebody islistening and I know a lot of
people are wanting right to usepoints and miles, and on our
podcast we've talked about thebenefits of you know if you can
use them responsibly using yourcredit cards on the things that
you would normally spend moneyon anyways?
(15:11):
Right, you are going to buy thediapers anyways, you might as
well get some points and milesor whatever for them.
Um, so if you can do thatresponsibly and you're looking
to dip your toe into this world,you're more on the luxury side.
Where do people get started?
What do you?
Speaker 1 (15:27):
suggest it's whether or not you're trying to fly
economy business first doesn'tmatter to me, like the concepts
are still the same.
You really just want to belining up your spend with credit
cards that have bonuscategories where you spend your
money.
Uh, so if you spend a lot atthe grocery store, at the gas
station, going out to eat,whatever our flights hell.
(15:47):
If you're a small businessowner, um, and you're booking
yourself flights to go to seeclients, whatever, like wherever
you're spending the money, justmake sure your credit cards
match that.
Uh, that's just like the verybasics, um, so it's, it's uh,
it's always a little bit of workupfront, but I think that's
like anything else we learn, um,but it's kind of doing those
front loading, I guess, will setyour set you up for success
(16:10):
later, so you don't have to kindof think about it on the fly as
much.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
That's one thing that Brandon and I don't do, and
I've talked about this on aprevious podcast is okay, use
this card for gas, use this cardfor that.
Mentally, I don't have thecapacity for it.
I would literally need to likeput a little sticky note and
tape it on my card which I know.
I mean it's like you have tokind of hack your own life in a
sense of like use this fordinner, use this for gas, use
(16:36):
this for groceries.
We're not, we're not doing thatand I know we're not maximizing
it, but we do like.
We had big purchases recently,so we both ordered, ordered,
opened new credit cards to getthe 75,000 bonus miles, so that
when we go to Jamaica forChristmas, boom, there's our
flights Right.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
So, we're.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
we're strategic, but I know that we're not maximizing
all that there is, so do youhave any tips or suggestions on?
How to do that without itfeeling like this is now what
you do for a living, likefiguring out which card to use
for which points and miles andbonuses what you do for a living
, like figuring out which cardto use for which points and
(17:17):
miles and bonuses.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah it's.
I mean it's a great question.
I think what I tell people isthere's three kind of basic
approaches to points.
Um, there's that keep it simple, like one to three cards,
you've got the bonus categoriesthat match your spending, and
you just never think about itagain.
Um, a step further, I call itkind of a.
It's a hub and supplement modelwhere it's like you build a hub
with, like we'll say, four tosix cards focused on the bonus
category still, but maybe alsosome benefits, kind of like
airport lounge access, and thenevery so often you'll get a new
(17:43):
card, kind of like the way youdid.
You're like, oh, I have a bigpurchase, let me get a signup
bonus, cause you're never goingto earn points faster than when
you get a signup bonus.
Um, so I think that's I.
I see a lot of people that startmaybe at the keep it simple and
then they migrate in to thelike let me just do a little bit
more, uh, once they kind ofhave a handle on it.
And then there's the maximalistapproach, if you get like
(18:05):
really obsessed, um, and that'sbasically like you get a new
card, you hit the sign, theminimum spend for the signup
bonus, and then you just repeatconstantly and you will earn
more points than the other twoapproaches by far, or at least
faster.
You're going to earn themfaster.
It's just more tracking.
So you have to keep in mind,like, okay, an annual fee is
(18:27):
hitting 12 months after I openthis card.
Now do you want to decide, like, is this a keeper or is it
something I'm getting rid of?
And so that one you just haveto, one you have to mark down on
your calendar.
Like, okay, this is when thisis coming up, is.
And then you have to think aboutit, like is this a card I'll
keep?
Is this a card I'll get rid of?
So it's, it's more effort butmore reward.
And it's again, there's noright way to do this.
(18:47):
It's a choose your ownadventure game.
Uh, the analogy I always use,even though I'm not a golfer I
have friends who go to thedriving range every week and
then they go the putting greenand they practice, and they go
play on the weekends and they'retrying to best their score.
And then I have other friendswho joined them, who just show
up on Saturday and drink beerand like have fun.
They both have a great time.
They are not going to get thesame like they're not going to
(19:08):
have the same score.
The guy who's just drinkingbeer does not expect to get.
What this guy practices everyweek is getting out of this.
But both are having fun andit's just a matter of like how
you choose to do that.
It's the same thing with points.
You kind of choose how muchtime or even interest you have,
so it's there's no pressure.
(19:29):
I think that's.
The big thing is like this isan addition to your life, not
the core.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
That's true I mean we definitely do, I would say some
aspects of more than just thebasic, because we definitely
have, you know, recentlydowngraded a card that we
weren't really using.
We kind of you know realizing.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
No, it's on the calendar for october to
downgrade well we downgraded oneof my cards.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Oh, you love calendars.
Yes, everything's on thecalendar and on the spreadsheet
we definitely downgraded one ofmy cards because it was, like
you know, the, like you said.
The annual fee was coming upand we weren't really going to
use it because we were usinganother card and the benefits
for that.
So we do have a hybrid approach, but yeah I definitely see
where there is a wide variety asfar as, like you could be kind
(20:11):
of the basic or you could putput the time and effort into
really maximize those benefits.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
And there's again, like I said, there's nothing
wrong with either.
I think I started probably inthe more maximalist, uh, end of
things, not the simple side,just because, again, I'm really
intense about what I'm learning,um.
But then over time it's likeokay, I've kind of set up my
system and figured things out,and so I've kind of kind.
But then over time it's likeokay, I've kind of set up my
(20:37):
system and figured things out,and so I've kind of come back
into this more like hub andsupplement model, where I'm like
ah, here and there, I'm notrushed, I've earned a lot of
points and I've got thingsmaximized so that I'm continuing
to earn points, both frompersonal spend, business spend.
I will say, if you have a smallbusiness that spends a decent
amount of money on credit cards,that's like the cheat code you
open yourself up to businesscards in addition to the
(20:57):
personal cards.
They have different bonuscategories that are sometimes
more lucrative.
I mean, I've had clients whospend $20 million a year on
credit cards for the business.
And it was just like you're juststocked with points all the
time.
I mean, they don't even have tothink about new cards.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
So it's like, if you have that, it doesn't even have
to be 20 million, but it's justlike the idea of like, if you
have a lot of spend for yourbusiness, why not?
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Um, so, that's one thing that we are looking into
for the podcast, because youknow we do, it's not 20 million.
I'll say that but it is one dayright, but it is, you know,
it's the subscriptions and thethis and the that and the
scheduling, I mean it all addsup.
And so I did tell Brandon,because he obviously has his own
financial planning business too.
(21:41):
But I said we need to open acard with whatever really great
bonus for the podcast this year,Like that's on the to do list
again to maximize, becausethere's also, like you said,
different perks, different bonusoffers and even insurance.
You know different kinds ofinsurance levels when you put
things on the card, which ishelpful.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
I know that when you're booking through, like the
airline portal, that is not theway to get the most out of your
points right.
If I go to Delta, yes, the bankportal so you can book through.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
like if you have chase ultimate rewards points,
you can book through the chaseultimate rewards portal versus
transferring your points to anairline.
So I always think about it aslike portal and transferring.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
So which one is better?
The portal, it depends.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
That's my favorite phrase.
It depends.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
It's a it's a context thing.
I would say if you want to flybusiness or first class,
generally transferring points toan airline partner is your best
bet, not always, but most ofthe time.
So let's take chase points, forexample.
You can transfer them to 10plus different airlines, as well
as Hyatt for hotel stays.
Then it becomes a game ofarbitrage, like which airline do
(22:57):
you transfer to that may allowsyou to book a flight for the
fewest points?
Um and so, it's just, it's agame.
So chase can transfer to airCanada aeroplan or United
mileage Plus.
They're both in star Alliance.
Since they're part of thatAlliance, they can book flights
within any of those partnerairlines.
It's the same, same alliance.
So those two airlines, like uh,united and Air Canada, can book
(23:19):
the many of the same flights.
But one has, uh, let's say, anaward rate of 60,000 points from
I don't know JFK to in New York, to Zurich and Switzerland or
something, and that's, you know,60,000 airplane points.
But United is going to require88,000.
It's a really obvious decisionwhen you're transferring points.
Now, sometimes it's a smallerdifference, but it's it's that.
(23:40):
That's where it becomes a game.
Um, you have to figure out howthese programs work and it's
different depending on whatroute you're flying.
All that and that's kind of funfor me, miserable for others.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
I was going to say it's.
I don't think it's fun.
It's so time consuming.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
It's and that I mean that's why I started the
newsletter, is why I postcontent on Instagram, like I'm
trying to make this process alot easier, cause it's.
It's actually kind of fun ifyou don't have to go through
learning all the ins and outs,um, and you have lives.
So like, why would you makethis a full-time job, like me,
if you're not doing it as afull-time?
Speaker 2 (24:13):
job.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
But that's, I think, the real core of what we try to
do.
There's some variation on liketaxes and fees, so you're always
going to pay the governmenttaxes or airport fees.
Those are the same.
But some airlines have what wecall carrier-imposed surcharges
and those get passed on on awardtickets as well.
So knowing that if I book withAeroplane or United they don't
pass on the surcharges, so likeI only have to pay the taxes,
(24:39):
that's a good thing to know ifthe surcharges are going to be
seven, eight, $900 for a one-wayticket.
Sometimes the surcharges are 200or 100.
So it's not as bad, so it'sjust again.
It's just, the more you do it,you start to become familiar
with it.
Or the more you read somebodydoing it or watch somebody doing
it, you just start to go ohokay, I remember that last time.
Um, it's, I mean trulyeverything builds on itself.
(25:01):
You just you start with thesekinds of foundational things and
as you go and learn, like abouta different airline program,
you start to notice thesimilarities with the last one
and the differences and it justit's not like, oh, I have to
learn everything today.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
I feel like you're.
I feel like you're in a similarboat to me when it comes to the
financial planning aspect,where, like for you, learning
all this information isself-serving on two fronts,
because obviously you can use itin your own personal life or
your own travel, but then also,on the other side, you get paid
for actually learning thisinformation.
We're saying for me you knowlearning more on all that I can
from a financial planningstandpoint.
(25:34):
We utilize in our personal lifewhen it comes to our own
planning, but then also I getpaid by doing that for other
people.
So most people are not going tobe able to do what you do and
what I do because they haveanother job that they have to
get paid from and that takes upa good bulk of their time.
So why not cut that downsignificantly from a time
standpoint in your own life byutilizing professional who knows
(25:55):
all the information already?
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, I have a quick startguide on my website where it's
like here are the, like thebasics of the basics.
You just have to know these,excuse me, um.
And then it's like, okay, Ihave some points and now, oh,
the newsletter will just tell mewhat dates I have to I can book
, and here's the different waysI can book them with the points.
And so, oh, I have these pointswith, like chase or Amex, and
(26:18):
this is the best way to usethose, those points, for this
particular flight.
And like that's what I'm herefor.
It's I'm just trying to kind ofmove you through the process
faster because, again, peopleare busy, like I think now more
than ever, people work insanehours They've on top of having
kids, even if you don't havekids, it's insane sometimes.
So it's just, yeah, why, whystress out trying to get into
(26:41):
the nitty gritty when there'sways to make it easier for
yourself?
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Yeah, and also so also the thing is too.
Is that like for individualswho are maybe listening, they're
like, you know, I just I don'treally care about my.
You know where I'm sitting onthe plane, I just want to get
there.
Yeah, trust me, once you tryyeah, more than economy.
It changes your viewpoint,because I had that viewpoint and
you know I'm six foot threealso, so I like space.
But I had the same viewpoint.
(27:05):
I was like, oh, I can deal withit.
Then once I sat in business uh,first class I was like it's
hard to go back.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Don't do it unless you can do it mostly regularly.
Because it's hard to go back,don't do it unless you can do it
mostly regularly.
It's hard to go back.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
We have our set where , like if the flight's going to
be a certain time or more, we'relike we got to do like at least
business, or first you know,just because yeah, it's.
I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
I was going to say the thing is too is for
individuals out there that maybeaspect of their job or they
want to move up in their career.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
From a networking standpoint, you'd be surprised
who you meet when you're sittingin business class and first
class.
So true, it's so fascinating.
Nothing crazy, it's just likeI've.
So I also have a luxury travelagency and so I do like hotel
bookings, cruises, luxury trainsin like europe, and that's
those are cash bookings.
This is unrelated to points,but flying with points and being
able to go to like not justlike an airport lounge you get
with your credit card, but likemaybe a nicer lounge that's only
(28:03):
accessible through eitherstatus or sometimes just flying
in a certain class of service,like I've met people and like
gotten new clients.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
It's so silly, right?
Yeah, it's a it's.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
I'm there for the flight review and the lounge
review, but also to pick upclients.
Now it's I mean, it's amazinghow that works.
Uh, I actually first noticedthat before I even got into
points like I can't, I wasflying home from a campaign,
actually, actually, and I justhappened to sit.
I think I got upgraded to likedomestic first class or
something, because I just hadstatus from flying quite a bit
(28:41):
for work and I sat next to waslike a VP from a bank and the
person in front of me who heardus talking, was interested in
our conversation, was like thisprominent journalist and started
talking with us.
And I'm sitting here, is like Ijust work on campaigns and I
was like, oh my God, you couldjust like network your way to
better and better careeropportunities just by sitting up
(29:01):
here.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
It's being in the right spaces.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
It's being in the right spaces.
I mean we a couple of years agowhen, uh, just as former
employer, we had the opportunityto go to the U S open and we
went strictly with the idea ofbeing in the room to network.
That was it we're not golfpeople and it paid off, you know
.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yeah, those the connections in that room.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
I mean that I'm still maintaining to this day,
Absolutely I just love the ideaof them being like what do you
think of that shot on the 17th?
And you're like the what?
Oh, we're at a match.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
We're completely honest, we were completely
honest and no one looked at usweird for like not being golf.
People were like, we're allabout an experience as well.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
They were all I mean yes, of course, if they're golf
people, then they're golf people.
But they totally understoodlike, no, we're here to like
network and have a goodafternoon and, yeah, have a good
time, and that's absolutely Imean that's kind of what it is
when you're going to the loungeor flying up front, like it's an
experience.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
It's not just like I've flown to asia, flown to
europe, sitting in the back ofthe plane with my knees in my
chest, brandon, you know um likebut it's it's like okay, I do
it, but it's different, that'slike you're dreading it.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
That's just a mode of transportation.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
It's a bit like all right, I'm getting on the bus
because that's how I get from ato b, it's not.
I'm getting you know into thisspacious experience where I'm
just going to relax and chilland, oh, a glass of champagne,
fine, um you know, twist my armthree glasses of champagne, fine
, um, but it's I don't know.
It's a completely differentexperience and you're right,
(30:33):
once you fly up front, it'sreally hard to go back.
My friends joke when they hearme talking to kind of new people
.
They're like don't listen tohim, he will ruin flying for you
.
Like you'll either go bankruptor you'll really figure out how
to use points like you're goingto make this a priority, um, and
that's, and that's what it is.
For me, it's just a priority.
I like I want to fly that way,and so that's why I put the
(30:55):
effort in and I'm trying to helpothers do is do that as much as
possible.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Also, the thing is too, is that you know if you're
going to take these tripsanyways?
Speaker 1 (31:19):
one.
Why not take to try thisamazing hotel?
Maybe it's a bucket list thing.
I know people now because ofwhite Lotus are talking about
the four seasons in Koh Samuiand it's like it's not a cheap
hotel.
So it's like if you're, if youget into the points world, it
doesn't necessarily mean thatyou are kind of ruined
financially.
In fact, to participate in ityou need a 700 plus credit score
, you need a good income to getthe cards you to earn the points
(31:41):
.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
You just have to kind of pay the $700 annual fee.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I mean, yeah, it's like if we're like I let's just
be candid it's it's not a gamefor people who are financially
struggling.
It's a game, it's an extra likeyou shouldn't be involved until
you've gotten to a place whereyou're state everything's stable
and kind of going well enoughand I just like this isn't
something I'd like to see peopleget into if they're worried
about hurting their credit orfinancial well-being.
(32:07):
This is it's not worth it.
But when you are at a certainpoint, a lot of people who earn
points have the budget to bookthe flights or to book nice
hotels.
This just gives you some extra.
On the other end, um, so if youhave a travel budget, you're
like, oh, I can go stay at thisreally nice hotel.
Doesn't mean you do it everytime, but maybe you know it's a
special trip, um, or you're justsomebody really likes, like
(32:27):
nice hotels.
More power to you.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
That's why I hate.
There's one very well-knownfinance guy who says that credit
cards are terrible, that wedon't ascribe to.
I know who it is.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
His name is Dave Ramsey.
I don't know why you don't sayhis name.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
I was like why are we saying the name?
Yeah, I don't know.
I was like can we do initials?
No, everybody say the name.
Yeah, I don't know.
I was like can we do initials?
No, everybody knows we'retalking about dave ramsey.
He's blocked friends of mine ontwitter for mentioning things
to him where he's missed things.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
So the thing is like credit cards and of himself are
not bad.
It's a matter of if you usethem improperly, that's when
it's bad because, in all honesty, if you use a credit card the
right way, it's great.
One from like well, we're atthe conversation we're having
about benefits, but then alsofrom a protection standpoint,
like it's, there's nothing elsethat can protect you.
The same way in regards tospending your money Right.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Oh yeah, I've seen people have their debit cards
hacked and the amount of hoopsthey have to desperately jump
through quickly to get the money, cause it's already gone it's
out of the bank account now andit's literally their money.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
I literally had somebody texting me the other
day.
That was, like you know, sayinglike hey, what should I do?
Someone hacked into my bankaccount.
I was like, oh, yeah, yeah,it's brutal.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
And so for me it's like I've had people steal any
number of my credit card numbers, because it just happens over
time, and a lot of the time theyjust send me a message.
When it happens, they're likehey, is this you?
Yeah, I'm like no, it's not.
And they're like and you say no, and they're like cool, we've
canceled your card and we'resending you a new one.
And I've had cards show up thenext day and it's like I've had
friends who've had the samething happen when they're abroad
(34:01):
and they send the card to themabroad and they get.
It's amazing.
This is, I mean it's.
I never thought I would lovecredit cards, but I do.
I didn't care about them untilI knew about points.
Before it was just like okay, Idon't spend more than I have,
why do I need this like money tospend that I can't pay off?
So to me, credit cards havealways just been debit cards in
(34:23):
a slightly different form.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
That was also how they were kind of put out to
people.
Like you know, don't get acredit card.
That was also how they werekind of put out to people like
you know, don't get a creditcard.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
It's going to get you in trouble and obviously that
narrative has changed.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
You do have to have the discipline.
Yeah, of course you do, you do.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
You also have that narrative from like, when you go
off to college and you have allthose credit card companies
sitting there first dayorientation, trying to sign new
18-year-olds up for credit cards, knowing that more than likely,
Are they still allowed to dothat.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
Um, I think things have changed.
Yeah, but um, you know we'reolder, so that was definitely a
thing.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
No, yeah, you would go through like the promenade
and all of a sudden, like it was, hey, get a free t-shirt, sign
up for this credit card.
And you had no idea what youwere signing up for for every
time you went to old navy, youknow, or victoria's secret or
anywhere.
It's like here, sign up forthis 30 percent apr credit card.
And save 42 cents on thispurchase, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
Yeah.
So for me I'm I'm interested incredit cards for the
protections and then the pointsand then even some of the
benefits um around, like notjust lounge access but the uh
like an examples the chase uhink preferred.
It's a business card.
If you pay your monthly cellphone bill and something happens
to your phone, they will coverup to like $800 to help replace
(35:33):
it.
Obviously there's some likecaveats you need to read the
terms.
But like that's a really nicething and as someone who just
recently broke a phone and hadto get a new one, You're like,
let me cash that in, please.
I had the phone for two and ahalf years.
We were on a good run, Even hadthe case on it.
I don't know what happened.
Somehow it hit just right and Iwas like great.
(35:54):
But I pay my monthly bill withit every month and so I'll just
file the insurance claim.
So there's a lot of funbenefits with credit cards, as
long as you're handling themresponsibly.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
But yeah, yeah, I was telling um Brandon, one of our
friends was mentioning that shehas rental properties and had to
replace, I think, a dryer andshe had an extended warranty
like an additional year from themanufacturer's warranty because
of the business credit card.
So again, you know that initself paid for the annual fee,
you know.
(36:28):
So, as long as you.
I think this is where thespreadsheet helps right when
it's like okay, don't miss outon this perk, these benefits,
these deadlines, you know thingslike that, because you do need
to make sure that you're gettingbare minimum the whatever
annual fee that you've spent.
you want to at least getyourself back to zero right and
get that benefit yeah, and it's.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
it's interesting too, like one of the ones I've used
in the past is like trip delay,so different cars if you're.
You know flights delayed orcanceled, say, six or twelve
hours is usually the time frame,uh, depending on the card for
the delay.
Like I use that once, threetimes in like four months.
That's, that's insane and itdoesn't usually happen that way,
but I mean it's really handy.
(37:11):
When I guess one of them was Iwas at New York, in New York, at
JFK, and I remember looking outthe window from the lounge,
thank you.
And then I like went to get foodand I came back and I couldn't
even see the plane in front ofme because it was raining so
hard, and so they canceled allthe flights out of there, out of
jfk, that night and I likeimmediately jumped on my phone,
(37:34):
went to maybe the hilton app andlike booked a room and there
was like there were like tworooms left and this was four
hundred dollars because it wastwo hundred two rooms left or
something, and the credit cardwill cover up to five hundred
dollars um of like reasonableexpenses including a hotel,
hotel room, food, localtransportation.
(37:54):
So even with the $400 hotel room, I was still able to like,
squeeze in Uber rides to andfrom the hotel and get some food
at the hotel, and it was allcovered after I filed the
insurance claim.
Meanwhile, if it's a weatherdelay and you don't book with a
credit card or trip delayprotection, you're on your own.
The airline's going to be likeoh sorry, not our fault, and
it's not, it's not their fault.
I get that, but doesn't meanthat it doesn't affect you.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Right yeah, such an inconvenience, no those are
things too.
I always forget about tripdelay, but it absolutely is
something where you can againmake that experience that now
stinks because you were lookingto get home to your family.
Maybe you've been traveling fordays.
You're just like exhausted.
Well, it's better to you know.
You're in the lounge, you'vegot a nice meal, you've got some
(38:37):
drinks.
Now you can go to a nice hotel,you know, and and you don't have
the added stress of oh, this isgoing to cost me an arm and a
leg, or I wasn't planning forthis expense so yeah absolutely
worth it.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Yeah, so that's fun.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
Spencer, for anybody listening and I know you're
going to say it depends, butjust come on, do me right here
Somebody starting out name twoof your favorite credit cards
for us.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
I like that you gave me the option for two.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
Thank you.
I'm being kind you are.
It was very nice of you.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Um, I would say along the lines of like, just keep it
simple.
Um, the capital one, venture X,is one of my favorites for
people who just like, don't wantto think about it.
Um, it earns two X on basicallyeverything.
Um, pretty, I mean everything.
But if you use their travelportal so functionally in your
day-to-day life, 2x oneverything.
I don't think you should haveone point per dollar on anything
(39:32):
, and so for me, some card likethat should always be a part of
your wallet anyway, because Ithink a lot of us do spend on
category or on products thatdon't fall into a bonus category
.
Not everything can be bought atthe grocery store, so that, to
me, is just like a really goodbase.
And the Venture X also comeswith some lounge access, so
that's nice.
And then, man, a second one Ifyou wanted to get we'll say
(39:58):
deeper into the points there'sthis kind of saying we have to
just start with Chase.
Chase has some restrictiverules on which cards you can get
after you've gotten so many.
So getting what you can fromChase at the beginning is a good
idea.
So, like the Chase, sapphirePreferred or Sapphire Reserve
are good options, especially ifyou go out to eat and travel a
(40:18):
decent bit.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Very nice.
Speaker 3 (40:20):
We have both of those cards.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (40:22):
The Chase and the Capital One.
There you go.
See, you guys are already onyour way.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Well, because again I can't mentally be like which
card to use for whichtransaction.
So the two times points isgreat.
Now we do look at you knowthose bonus kind of categories,
or every you know month theykind of change.
Like I ordered flowers forsomebody last month and on a
Capital One it was like 20 timesthe points.
So, yeah, I went with thatflower vendor so I got 20 times
(40:48):
the points on the $100 flowersthat I bought.
That just I mean, we'redefinitely doing things like
that, yeah, so like Capital Onehas the Capital One offers,
where you can get those bonuses.
Very easy.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
Chase and Amex have their own offer section.
Those are typically discounts.
Sometimes Amex does bonuspoints.
Yeah, there's all kinds ofthings, shopping portals you can
go through.
Um, so yeah it's similar, so sochase, with the ultimate
rewards uh program, has a portalfor shopping there.
(41:20):
Amex doesn't have a shoppingportal but if you have an Amex
membership rewards card you canlink it to Rakuten If you know
that shopping portal and you canlink it to Rakuten if you know
that shopping portal.
Yeah, and you can choose to bepaid in Amex membership rewards
points instead of cash back.
So basically, if you see 3%cash back and it's basically
three points per dollar insteadof 3%.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
Yeah, I just saw somebody else post about that
who had over 400,000 Amex pointsbecause of them shopping on.
Rakuten Again something we'renot tapping into, but probably
should.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
I'll add it to my list we've been using our amx so
yeah, yeah you know, what'sreally interesting about that
one to me is people loveshopping portals and I know they
earn so many points from them.
I just don't shop a lot and soyeah, for me.
I'm always like it's just notthat big a deal to me, um, but
when you do actually have tomake a big purchase and it's
like, oh, 5x or 10x or, if youget it lucky, a 15x like promo
(42:14):
and just wait till your kids getolder.
Speaker 3 (42:15):
That's the moment, yeah, it's, your child gets
older, more and more.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Oh no yeah, yeah, I actually know I have friends who
they buy a lot of stuff onamazon for like baby products or
whatever, and so they have likea credit card that earns 4X at
the grocery store and so they'llbuy Amazon gift cards for 4X
points at the grocery store andjust load up their Amazon
account knowing that they haveto spend it because they would
(42:42):
otherwise earn 2X on Amazon.
So they're just like, let mejust double the points I'm
getting paying for all thesekids.
Speaker 3 (42:49):
Maybe we need to tap into everything on.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
Amazon we do.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
It's so funny, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Okay, let's do a little bit of a rapid fire,
because we know that you'vetaken some incredible trips and
flights and lounge experiences.
So I want to you know, livevicariously through you.
Let's start simple aisle orwindow seat for you.
Both If you're flying up front,you can have both.
(43:16):
Okay, we haven't flown that farup front yet.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
Clearly you can if you fly business on an
international flight?
Yeah, it's just they usually dolike one two, one seating
arrangement.
Speaker 2 (43:23):
So as long as you're in that one, you gotta you get
both, you get both or if you'rein a very tiny plane or if
you're very, that's not theluxury I'm talking about.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
Yeah, just fly overseas, find those long haul
flights.
Yeah, because how can you turndown a window?
Speaker 3 (43:46):
I know you just need space.
Speaker 2 (43:48):
Always turn down the window, okay yeah he always
picks the aisle, but do you?
Speaker 1 (43:52):
yeah, I guess if you're sitting next to somebody,
I definitely get that.
It's when you're on your own,though, and there's nobody to
crawl over, um yeah, pick thewindow it's like, then it's nice
you're on your own, got alittle privacy yeah I'm somebody
who, like this is where I'mjust like a plane nerd, is like
I'll just watch the engine whileI'm like looking out the window
, like that's what fascinates me.
Speaker 3 (44:14):
I can say 100%.
I've never done that either.
Speaker 1 (44:17):
Yeah, just you have to think about like man.
You're actually up here allbecause of the you know.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Matt.
No, yeah, I love that.
You're like nerding out aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
Oh yeah, I love planes.
I'm that person, I'm thatperson.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
So what has been your most luxurious flight and where
were you going?
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Oh, that's a good question.
I don't.
I'm trying to think which onemaybe Singapore Suites Singapore
Airlines has on their A380.
It's a double-decker plane.
For those who are unfamiliar.
I really like their first class.
It's huge, like you have a seatplus a separate bed.
Your seat can rotate around.
(44:54):
It's pretty cool.
I've got a fun like if anybodysaw Austin Powers back in the
day, like Dr Evil, like video ofme turning around in the chair.
It's pretty great.
But the crews are just so nice,like they're so good at what
they do.
They serve really nicechampagne.
They have great food.
I mean, what's not to like?
So that was a flight from SydneySydney, yeah, sydney to
(45:16):
Singapore, and I did a stopoveras part of the award ticket, and
then it included another flight, same class of service, to Hong
Kong a few days later, so gotto see a couple cities out of it
.
That was awesome, but I've had aton of like.
Truly, I've been so fortunateto have just tried most of the
fun products out there Um, it's,uh, it's.
(45:36):
I'm not going to be mad aboutflying any of them, but that was
a special one, very nice.
What is your favorite loungeand where is it located?
That's a great question.
(46:03):
I don't know if I have afavorite one.
No, I think personally, it'scalled the pier.
It's in Hong Kong's airport forCathay Pacific first class.
I don't know.
There's just something about itthat's.
I've been to it a number oftimes.
It's just a special restaurant,you know, it's a whole thing.
You can look at planes from, um, from the seating area.
They also have little nap podsor like nap rooms where, again,
you can watch planes.
Um, notice the trend tarmacviews are the best.
If you have a lounge, you wantto be able to see the planes
take off and land, stuff likethat.
(46:24):
Um, but yeah, I'll give us anhonorable mention to uh, swiss,
uh uh.
In Zurich they have thebusiness and first class lounge,
have a terrace where you canstand outside, um, and just like
watch planes land and stufflike that.
Speaker 2 (46:39):
And it's you know it's like it's just.
Speaker 1 (46:41):
it's a beautiful place too, you know, I think
Switzerland is nice.
Speaker 3 (46:44):
That's how Atlanta's airport is as well.
The one lounge we were in has aterrace.
Speaker 1 (46:50):
You can go out down, oh the centurion.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
Yeah, yeah, they do have a terrace, you can go out
atlanta in the summer is justdifferent.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
It's where my dad's family's from, so it's like it's
not as easy to be like.
Ah, enjoy this like nice breezeand it's like, oh, it's 105 85
humidity.
You walked outside andimmediately were sweating.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
So that's not the same.
Speaker 3 (47:06):
Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it in the middle of
the summertime.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
Out of the non like luxury airlines for people who
are, you know, doing the DeltasUnited's Americans.
Do you have a favorite amongstkind of the standard?
Speaker 1 (47:20):
domestically.
I like Alaska Airlines, eventhough I'm on the East Coast.
I've had good experience withthem.
Speaker 2 (47:26):
Wait.
Who do they partner with what?
What partner?
Speaker 1 (47:29):
Their alliance is One World.
That's a more recentdevelopment.
Um, so American airlines is apartner of theirs?
Um, but yeah, they're.
I've, I've enjoyed them whenI'm flying out in the West coast
or to the West coast.
Um, yeah, that's a good one.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
Tell us, too, about you.
Have a complimentary portion ofyour newsletter and a upgraded
paid version.
Speaker 1 (47:52):
What do?
Speaker 2 (47:52):
you get in each for those listening who are?
Like, let Spencer do the workfor me.
Speaker 1 (47:57):
Yeah, so the basics of this all started around me
sending out award space forbusiness and first class flights
on international routes.
Specifically two or more seats,because those are the hardest
to find.
Specifically two or more seats,because those are the those are
the hardest to find.
Um, business in first class canbe tough to find for one person
, but two, four, six, when youstart getting into families, um,
(48:18):
that's where it's really tough.
So I'm always looking formultiple seats.
Um, so I basically send out theexact dates you can book, the
different programs you can useto book and how many points each
requires the taxes and feesyou'll have to pay.
And then I do have a sectionwhere I break down and explain,
like, why you would use oneprogram to book versus another.
(48:38):
Um, like I was mentioning, youcan book similar flights if you
are um with like air Canada orUnited's programs and just kind
of, hey, if you have thesepoints transferred to air Canada
, but if you have this, uh, ifyou're flying from this airport
and you have these pointstransferred, united stuff, like
that, I'm just kind of removingthe thought process for you and
just saying just follow thesesteps.
(48:59):
Um, cause it's and it'sdifferent because, uh, you know
you'll have times where Amex orchase will run a transfer bonus
to one of their partners, and soone program could be the best
option this time.
And then a transfer bonus toone of their partners, and so
one program could be the bestoption this time, and then a
transfer bonus pops up and nowit's another program.
So it's just a lot to keep upwith.
So I try to just explain thatas simply as possible.
Um, those, that kind ofexplanation.
(49:22):
You know the number of points,the taxes and fees, the
different uh banks you cantransfer points from and the
exact dates.
Those are like pay, that's thepaid version.
That's the premium version, sothe free version and the paid
version both get kind of a quicklike here's how to search for
the award space.
They get uh kind of a rundownof what the flight will be like,
(49:43):
but the free version only getslike the date range.
So I'll tell you it's likeJanuary to June of 2025.
Um, I'm not going to lay outall the dates for you and and
I'll tell you what airline, whatairline it is and what routes
you can fly and how many seatsyou can find, um, and then after
that it's kind of up to you todecide how you want to use your
points and find the space and um, yeah, so it's.
(50:06):
It's for people who are reallyreally good at it and don't need
the information, but I alsosend it out like 72 hours or
more later.
So if you're okay missingthings, that's also up to you.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
So if you want it early and want details, you've
got to go paid.
If you're okay with just kindof like the general information.
Speaker 1 (50:26):
You can stick with the complimentary I think that's
totally fair because, like yousaid, it's so much work that
you're putting into doing thesesearches and teeing everything
up and really making itbrainless.
Speaker 2 (50:36):
Right, you can look at everything and then go book.
I mean that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (50:40):
I have a few friends on the list who say that I idiot
.
Proof it for them yeah that'samazing.
Like that's a little strong,but I do try to make it just a
less time intensive and energyintensive process.
Um, I like to say it's apremium product, then yeah, it's
only $99 a year, so it's like Isay it's 27 cents a day.
Um, it's, it's really not thatbad.
(51:02):
Um, I still want it to beaccessible.
I'm not trying to like preventpeople from getting this, Um, so
yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (51:12):
People from getting this, Um, so yeah, that's
amazing.
If you had one piece of advicefor our audience listening who
they want to get started, maybethey want to like level up a
little bit from where they arewhat would you say?
Speaker 1 (51:21):
Just dedicate like I don't know, an hour a week, even
just to start.
If you've got 30 minutes a day,just like read um blog posts or
I mean, you don't need to gointo the actual airline programs
Like I did.
Um, I post content on Instagramat straight to the points.
If you want to like see thingsthere, you can also look for a
lot of.
There's a lot of differentblogs that cover the basics.
(51:42):
Um, don't be afraid to askquestions.
That was a big thing.
So I asked.
I answer a lot of questions.
People DM me questions all thetime on Instagram and you know
I'm there to try to help as muchas I can.
Speaker 3 (51:53):
People make your life simple.
Just the $99 for the year yeah,subscribe to my newsletter.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (52:00):
We'll put that in the show notes, of course, so that
we can, you know, help you getthe, the take the guesswork out
of it and let Spencer do all thehard work.
So thank you so much for beingwith us.
We want people to enjoy lifeand the fruits of their hard
labor and for us, travel isalways number one on the list
and exploring new places, newcities, new countries, and now
(52:21):
we're starting to do that withour families.
So definitely need to startlooking into those multiple seat
situations.
Like you said, it is hard tofind.
So we'll be, you know,utilizing your newsletter as
well.
But thank you for doing all thehard work for us and for you
know, making it accessible andapproachable and taking kind of
(52:42):
the intimidation factor out ofit.
You talk about it so casuallyand so easily.
I think that that's veryhelpful for people who are
feeling like it's intimidating.
So thank you for the work thatyou're doing, Spencer.
Speaker 1 (52:55):
Thank you guys for having me.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (52:57):
Absolutely.
Don't forget.
Benjamin Franklin said aninvestment in knowledge pays the
best interest you just got paid.
Until next time.
Thanks for listening to today'sepisode.
(53:22):
We are so glad to have you aspart of our sugar daddy
community.
If you learned something today,please remember to subscribe,
rate, review and share thisepisode with your friends,
family and extended network.
Don't forget to connect with uson social media.
At the sugar daddy podcast, youcan also email us your
questions you want us to answerfor our past the sugar segments
at the sugar daddy podcast atgmailcom or leave us a voicemail
(53:44):
through our Instagram.
Speaker 3 (53:46):
Our content is intended to be used, and must be
used, for informationalpurposes only.
It is very important to do yourown analysis before making any
investment based upon your ownpersonal circumstances.
You should take independentfinancial advice from a licensed
professional in connection withor independently research and
verify any information you findin our podcast and wish to rely
upon, whether for the purpose ofmaking an investment decision
or otherwise.
no-transcript day.
That was from a blogger which Ikind of mocked because at the
time I was used to reading, likethe aviation journalist at the
wall street journal and so I waslike.
What does this blogger think?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
they know.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Um, he actually is super nice guy, friends with him
now and he's he's super smart.
But, um, I was poking around tosite and started to see these
things about like credit cardsand using the points you earned
the credit cards to fly placesand I was like, oh okay, um,
that's interesting.
Um, I never really cared aboutcredit cards until then.
And then I saw him postingabout like business and first
class flights and I was like, oh, I'm six, three, I could use
(01:09):
that I'll take like you write it, I'd like the space.
So yeah, that's a.
That's the long way of sayinghow I got into all of this sugar
teddy podcast.
Yo learn how to make thempockets grow.
Financial freedom's where we goSmart investments, money flow.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Hey babe, what are we talking about today?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Today we are diving back into one of our favorite
topics points and miles.
But we're going to do it alittle bit differently this time
, because today we are focusingon luxury.
We're going to be talking aboutbusiness class, first class,
using those points and miles tomake sure that we get that
lovely luxury experience whichyou know.
(01:52):
For me, it starts at theairport.
Give me my lounge, that's thefirst part, and then you know if
I can be in first class,business class, anything but
main cabin economy.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Which is funny, because I never flew first class
until you and I were together.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
And now do you want to go back?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
No, I'm not going to lie, you know, I'm not.
I wouldn't call myselfnecessarily a bougie person, but
I'm also not a small personeither.
So that extra leg roomdefinitely helps.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
It definitely helps.
Give me the big seat, give methe leg rooms, but we're here to
talk with Spencer Howard today.
He is going to help us diveinto all of the nuances of how
to get the most out of ourpoints and miles.
Spencer, thank you for beingwith us today.
We're excited about thisconversation.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Yeah, jessica Brandon , thanks so much for having me.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Absolutely.
So let's get into this bio soeverybody knows that they can
trust you in the things thatyou're going to say today,
please believe me Right inguiding them in the right way to
do points and miles.
Spencer Howard is a credit cardloyalty program and travel
rewards expert.
He's also the founder ofStraight to the Points, the
(02:59):
go-to resource for individualslooking to demystify credit card
points so they can experiencetraveling in luxury.
After helping family andfriends understand credit card
points for years, he launchedStraight to the Points in 2017
and has been offering memberscomplimentary and premium
content through his award alertnewsletter ever since.
(03:19):
His newsletter, read by over20,000 people, is the place to
get the most up-to-dateinformation on everything from
first and business class alertson flights to tutorials on how
to effectively book and secureflights using credit card points
.
Spencer has worked in thetravel writing industry for
nearly a decade and has beenfeatured in various news outlets
such as Forbes Advisor, cnbc,travel Leisure Asia, the
(03:43):
Washington Post, bloomberg andBusiness Insider.
Spencer believes that everyonedeserves to fly business class
at least once in their lifetime,and he is on a journey to make
that happen.
Since 2017, he's traveled forthree months of the year and
seen 60,000 countries.
Oh my gosh, I need anothercoffee.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
I've gone to other planets, exactly,000 countries.
Oh my gosh, I need anothercoffee.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I've gone to other planets, Exactly outer space, 60
plus countries.
He lives in Washington DC withhis family and recently became a
dad.
Congratulations for that.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Thank you for being with us, Spencer.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah, thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
All right, 60,000 countries, let's get into that
no, I'm just kidding.
Let's get into your first moneymemory.
I want to see if there's anyconnection to that and what
you're doing now with all thesepoints.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah, it's interesting, I think for me it
was probably making money doingnot even home repairs, like
helping tear down walls at ahouse that a friend's family was
uh redoing, uh, and that waslike the first time I think I'd
really gotten paid for work.
Uh, I was in high school, um,so that was just uh, that was a
(04:52):
new moment for me.
I was like, ah, I mean, youknow, when you're making, like
you know, 20, 40 bucks orwhatever, you're kind of like,
wow, all this money when you're,when you, when you go from not
having any.
But I think that was the firsttime that I really started
thinking about it and then kindof moved into like freshman year
of college.
During the summer I would, Idid another job and this was
like repairing houses and thingslike that and I again it was
(05:15):
just making a little bit more, alittle bit more Um, and that
was just kind of like okay, thisis useful Um, and it basically
working.
That summer funded an unpaidinternship the following summer,
so that was a really importantone for me, but you didn't want
to go into general contractingafter those repairs.
I had a good time, um, but yeah,I had other things that I
(05:39):
wanted to do and they didn't.
Working in politics, uh, incollege, they don't really pay
you, they just tell you getexperience, um.
And so I had to uh fund livingin DC for a summer when I was
interning, and that all camefrom, uh, the the year before,
um, so I've never really been abig spender, so it wasn't that
(05:59):
hard to save it.
It was just uh, yeah, it wasall, it was all.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
All a plan, I guess, is the best way to put it a lot
of internships don't pay you,regardless of what you know,
industry yeah I think some, somehave to now there's like new
rules, but back then it was justlike I'm doing the same job and
not getting.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah it's.
It's definitely interestingwhen you work on like political
campaigns as an intern.
You're like did I spend 80hours a week here and not get
paid at all?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Oh, yeah, but think about all that you learned right
and you're like, yeah, but Ican't even afford to eat
anything right now.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
So it's not important .
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Not important, did you?
When you were making money inhigh school and you started
these projects?
Did you have anybody at homekind of prompting you to save
money to you know?
Was there anybody giving youlife lessons on what to do with
your money once you startedearning it?
Speaker 1 (06:53):
That's interesting.
I don't think there was anylike specific lesson other than
just like don't spend more thanyou have.
But my dad also went throughlike he worked for a couple of
companies that went out ofbusiness um kind of pretty quick
succession when I was in go,kind of going into kindergarten
and then coming out, and so Ijust kind of like saw what it
was like to like be strugglingto find not that he was like
(07:16):
struggling, he, he did fine, butit was just losing a job sucks.
It's really stressful and youhave to really think about where
your money's going and beingyou know couponing and stuff
like that, and I remember mymom's like box of you know all
those paper coupons that you'dcut out.
Um, so I don't know, I justthink that was just kind of
always.
I'm just always aware of it.
Um, yeah, I think naturally I'mnot really into stuff as much.
(07:39):
All the little toys you see uphere are like souvenirs from
airlines, so it's not actuallythings that I'm just randomly
buying.
But yeah, but I think I wasjust kind of aware of the
situation is the best way to putit Just kind of like seeing
what that's like for yourparents.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
All right, real quick .
I want to speak to the personlistening who feels like they
can't work with a financialplanner yet because they're
carrying a lot of debt.
First of all, I see you and Ineed you to know.
You're not broken, you're notbehind.
You're just in a tough season.
I created something just foryou because I've had people
reach out who are serious aboutchanging their money story.
But the full financial planningpackage just wasn't the right
(08:22):
fit yet.
So I built a new service throughOak City Financial that's
focused completely on debtreduction no fluff, no shame.
You'll get a one-time planningsession, a personalized payoff
strategy, your own financialdashboard and monthly coaching.
If you want extra support whileyou climb out, it's $300 to get
started and $100 a month.
If you want that ongoingguidance, that's it.
(08:44):
This is about helping you getunst100 a month.
If you want that ongoingguidance, that's it.
This is about helping you getunstuck, not making you feel
like you failed.
If this sounds like what you'vebeen needing, go ahead and
schedule a call with me.
The link is in the show notes.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Let's take the first step together.
How did you transition from youknow growing up seeing your dad
face layoffs?
Um, you said you're not a bigspender.
How did you take that into?
Hey, let me maximize points andstart traveling the world Cause
that, I mean there's.
That seems like a pretty bigjump right.
I mean walk us through thattransition.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Yeah, so I think, well, first off, I worked in
politics, basically my sophomoreyear of college and then for
like 10 years from there, fromthen on and you don't get paid a
lot in most positions inpolitics If you work in the
nonprofit world, same thing, andI did that, like you don't get
paid a lot there.
Um and so that it was pairedwith the fact, the fact that
(09:44):
they really stressed work, don'ttake time off, there's
important things we're doinghere, we're helping people.
You need to work, and so you'rekind of always working.
I mean, some campaigns are like20 hours a day, seven days a
week absolutely insane it's gotto be against, like labor laws
or something right.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
What are those?
Speaker 1 (10:08):
It's um, but I think it think it was.
It was so it was coming out ofthat.
I got my last political job atthe us travel association um
kind of fitting.
But they, they kind of wanted tolive the mission and so they
would tell you to like take yourtime off, and that I thought it
was a joke.
At first I thought I was beingpranked by one of like the vps
there.
He's asking me where I wantedto go this year, and I was like,
oh I, oh, I'm good, I'm good,I'm just, I'm just working, um.
So that was kind of whatstarted me thinking about.
(10:31):
Travel, was like, oh, I cantake time off, um, and then from
there it was just like find thecheapest flights to wherever I
could go.
And then I stumbled onto anarticle in our press clips that
we would get each day.
That was from a blogger which Ikind of mocked because at the
time I was used to reading, likethe aviation journalist at the
wall street journal, and so Iwas like what does this blogger
(10:51):
think?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
they know.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Um, he actually is super nice guy, friends with him
now and he's he's super smart.
But, um, I was poking around tosite and started to see these
things about like credit cardsand using the points you earned
with the credit cards to flyplaces, and I was like, oh, okay
, um, that's interesting.
Um, I never really cared aboutcredit cards until then.
And then I saw him postingabout like business and first
class flights and I was like, oh, I'm six, three, I could use
(11:14):
that.
I'll take like you write it, I'dlike the space.
So yeah, that's a.
That's the long way of sayinghow I got into all of this how I
got into all of this.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Very nice, you said in your bio that you started
helping friends and family,which we've had so many people
on the podcast that all startwith like, hey, I was just
helping friends, I was helpingmy family members, and then you
know their spouse is like, hey,maybe you could actually make
some money doing this.
Like nudge, nudge.
What's your story with helpingfriends and family and getting
into like making it an actualbusiness?
Speaker 1 (11:49):
yeah, I'm somebody who's really intense about the
things they like, so I gotreally excited to share it with
everybody who is around me andtruly, I moved from like helping
friends and family to helpingpeople in Facebook groups within
the span of about like threemonths, of learning about points
.
I mean, I spent like four hoursa night for like six months
(12:10):
reading about all the creditcard fine print and airline
rules for their loyalty programsand as I was doing that, I was
just like, oh, I can help withthis question, and so I did that
in Facebook groups and withinabout six to nine months, I
started writing part-time aboutthis stuff.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
So, yeah, you became the blogger.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
It was real fast Wow.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
The progression came quickly.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, and so that was like part-time writing and then
another six months and I movedfull-time.
Wow, you know, you spend 10years building a career in one
field and then six months afterstarting a part-time gig, you're
just like I'm just gonna leavethat behind.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Was there, um any you know pushback from your partner
in any way of like, wait aminute.
You've been building your lifein politics and now you want to
be a blogger and talk aboutcredit card points.
I mean, that's a pretty bigpivot.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Also, what year approximately is this?
Because, like you were saying,with the blogging was, it sounds
like it was a new thingthroughout the time period.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
It wasn't, it was, I would say we were kind of in the
heyday of what I would callpoints and miles blogging.
Now it's a lot of it shifted tolike Instagram and Tik TOK and
things like that, youtube evenUm, but that was 2016 when I
started writing and then by theend of the year, I'd signed on
to do full-time writing.
(13:29):
Basically, I just had enoughfreelance that I had to pick one
or the other.
So, yeah, it worked out well.
I'm still here.
It's changed.
It's changed.
It's changed a lot more socialmedia content than before.
But, yeah, it's been a funjourney.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
So no pushback then on making this big pivot.
Not really, I think that'sgreat.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
My wife at the time girlfriend like saw how excited
I was about it, um, and she sawthat I was getting opportunities
to write and it was enough forme to make a living.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
So yeah, I'm sure she was probably hiding the
nervousness.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
So did you have like a writing background in regards
to some maybe the courses you?
Speaker 1 (14:10):
I was a poli-sci major, which is mostly just
research and writing.
So I was pretty well, honestly,like pretty well suited for
taking in a lot of informationand then trying to make it make
sense in a shorter form andunderstandable.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Yeah, see, at least your college degree still makes
sense.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
When I was in politics, I was like nobody in
politics cares if you studiedpoli, poli sci.
They just want you to be aninsanely hard worker and
passionate and like that's it.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
We don't care if you're an engineer, a lawyer,
whatever, just like come do thething, um, but yeah, this was
yeah, and this.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
this felt like the.
This actually feels like uh, mydegree applies more than it
used to.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Let's get into how to actually utilize points miles.
Can you if somebody islistening and I know a lot of
people are wanting right to usepoints and miles, and on our
podcast we've talked about thebenefits of you know if you can
use them responsibly using yourcredit cards on the things that
you would normally spend moneyon anyways?
(15:11):
Right, you are going to buy thediapers anyways, you might as
well get some points and milesor whatever for them.
Um, so if you can do thatresponsibly and you're looking
to dip your toe into this world,you're more on the luxury side.
Where do people get started?
What do you?
Speaker 1 (15:27):
suggest it's whether or not you're trying to fly
economy business first doesn'tmatter to me, like the concepts
are still the same.
You really just want to belining up your spend with credit
cards that have bonuscategories where you spend your
money.
Uh, so if you spend a lot atthe grocery store, at the gas
station, going out to eat,whatever our flights hell.
(15:47):
If you're a small businessowner, um, and you're booking
yourself flights to go to seeclients, whatever, like wherever
you're spending the money, justmake sure your credit cards
match that.
Uh, that's just like the verybasics, um, so it's, it's uh,
it's always a little bit of workupfront, but I think that's
like anything else we learn, um,but it's kind of doing those
front loading, I guess, will setyour set you up for success
(16:10):
later, so you don't have to kindof think about it on the fly as
much.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
That's one thing that Brandon and I don't do, and
I've talked about this on aprevious podcast is okay, use
this card for gas, use this cardfor that.
Mentally, I don't have thecapacity for it.
I would literally need to likeput a little sticky note and
tape it on my card which I know.
I mean it's like you have tokind of hack your own life in a
sense of like use this fordinner, use this for gas, use
(16:36):
this for groceries.
We're not, we're not doing thatand I know we're not maximizing
it, but we do like.
We had big purchases recently,so we both ordered, ordered,
opened new credit cards to getthe 75,000 bonus miles, so that
when we go to Jamaica forChristmas, boom, there's our
flights Right.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
So, we're.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
we're strategic, but I know that we're not maximizing
all that there is, so do youhave any tips or suggestions on?
How to do that without itfeeling like this is now what
you do for a living, likefiguring out which card to use
for which points and miles andbonuses what you do for a living
, like figuring out which cardto use for which points and
(17:17):
miles and bonuses.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah it's.
I mean it's a great question.
I think what I tell people isthere's three kind of basic
approaches to points.
Um, there's that keep it simple, like one to three cards,
you've got the bonus categoriesthat match your spending, and
you just never think about itagain.
Um, a step further, I call itkind of a.
It's a hub and supplement modelwhere it's like you build a hub
with, like we'll say, four tosix cards focused on the bonus
category still, but maybe alsosome benefits, kind of like
airport lounge access, and thenevery so often you'll get a new
(17:43):
card, kind of like the way youdid.
You're like, oh, I have a bigpurchase, let me get a signup
bonus, cause you're never goingto earn points faster than when
you get a signup bonus.
Um, so I think that's I.
I see a lot of people that startmaybe at the keep it simple and
then they migrate in to thelike let me just do a little bit
more, uh, once they kind ofhave a handle on it.
And then there's the maximalistapproach, if you get like
(18:05):
really obsessed, um, and that'sbasically like you get a new
card, you hit the sign, theminimum spend for the signup
bonus, and then you just repeatconstantly and you will earn
more points than the other twoapproaches by far, or at least
faster.
You're going to earn themfaster.
It's just more tracking.
So you have to keep in mind,like, okay, an annual fee is
(18:27):
hitting 12 months after I openthis card.
Now do you want to decide, like, is this a keeper or is it
something I'm getting rid of?
And so that one you just haveto, one you have to mark down on
your calendar.
Like, okay, this is when thisis coming up, is.
And then you have to think aboutit, like is this a card I'll
keep?
Is this a card I'll get rid of?
So it's, it's more effort butmore reward.
And it's again, there's noright way to do this.
(18:47):
It's a choose your ownadventure game.
Uh, the analogy I always use,even though I'm not a golfer I
have friends who go to thedriving range every week and
then they go the putting greenand they practice, and they go
play on the weekends and they'retrying to best their score.
And then I have other friendswho joined them, who just show
up on Saturday and drink beerand like have fun.
They both have a great time.
They are not going to get thesame like they're not going to
(19:08):
have the same score.
The guy who's just drinkingbeer does not expect to get.
What this guy practices everyweek is getting out of this.
But both are having fun andit's just a matter of like how
you choose to do that.
It's the same thing with points.
You kind of choose how muchtime or even interest you have,
so it's there's no pressure.
(19:29):
I think that's.
The big thing is like this isan addition to your life, not
the core.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
That's true I mean we definitely do, I would say some
aspects of more than just thebasic, because we definitely
have, you know, recentlydowngraded a card that we
weren't really using.
We kind of you know realizing.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
No, it's on the calendar for october to
downgrade well we downgraded oneof my cards.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Oh, you love calendars.
Yes, everything's on thecalendar and on the spreadsheet
we definitely downgraded one ofmy cards because it was, like
you know, the, like you said.
The annual fee was coming upand we weren't really going to
use it because we were usinganother card and the benefits
for that.
So we do have a hybrid approach, but yeah I definitely see
where there is a wide variety asfar as, like you could be kind
(20:11):
of the basic or you could putput the time and effort into
really maximize those benefits.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
And there's again, like I said, there's nothing
wrong with either.
I think I started probably inthe more maximalist, uh, end of
things, not the simple side,just because, again, I'm really
intense about what I'm learning,um.
But then over time it's likeokay, I've kind of set up my
system and figured things out,and so I've kind of kind.
But then over time it's likeokay, I've kind of set up my
(20:37):
system and figured things out,and so I've kind of come back
into this more like hub andsupplement model, where I'm like
ah, here and there, I'm notrushed, I've earned a lot of
points and I've got thingsmaximized so that I'm continuing
to earn points, both frompersonal spend, business spend.
I will say, if you have a smallbusiness that spends a decent
amount of money on credit cards,that's like the cheat code you
open yourself up to businesscards in addition to the
(20:57):
personal cards.
They have different bonuscategories that are sometimes
more lucrative.
I mean, I've had clients whospend $20 million a year on
credit cards for the business.
And it was just like you're juststocked with points all the
time.
I mean, they don't even have tothink about new cards.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
So it's like, if you have that, it doesn't even have
to be 20 million, but it's justlike the idea of like, if you
have a lot of spend for yourbusiness, why not?
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Um, so, that's one thing that we are looking into
for the podcast, because youknow we do, it's not 20 million.
I'll say that but it is one dayright, but it is, you know,
it's the subscriptions and thethis and the that and the
scheduling, I mean it all addsup.
And so I did tell Brandon,because he obviously has his own
financial planning business too.
(21:41):
But I said we need to open acard with whatever really great
bonus for the podcast this year,Like that's on the to do list
again to maximize, becausethere's also, like you said,
different perks, different bonusoffers and even insurance.
You know different kinds ofinsurance levels when you put
things on the card, which ishelpful.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
I know that when you're booking through, like the
airline portal, that is not theway to get the most out of your
points right.
If I go to Delta, yes, the bankportal so you can book through.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
like if you have chase ultimate rewards points,
you can book through the chaseultimate rewards portal versus
transferring your points to anairline.
So I always think about it aslike portal and transferring.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
So which one is better?
The portal, it depends.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
That's my favorite phrase.
It depends.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
It's a it's a context thing.
I would say if you want to flybusiness or first class,
generally transferring points toan airline partner is your best
bet, not always, but most ofthe time.
So let's take chase points, forexample.
You can transfer them to 10plus different airlines, as well
as Hyatt for hotel stays.
Then it becomes a game ofarbitrage, like which airline do
(22:57):
you transfer to that may allowsyou to book a flight for the
fewest points?
Um and so, it's just, it's agame.
So chase can transfer to airCanada aeroplan or United
mileage Plus.
They're both in star Alliance.
Since they're part of thatAlliance, they can book flights
within any of those partnerairlines.
It's the same, same alliance.
So those two airlines, like uh,united and Air Canada, can book
(23:19):
the many of the same flights.
But one has, uh, let's say, anaward rate of 60,000 points from
I don't know JFK to in New York, to Zurich and Switzerland or
something, and that's, you know,60,000 airplane points.
But United is going to require88,000.
It's a really obvious decisionwhen you're transferring points.
Now, sometimes it's a smallerdifference, but it's it's that.
(23:40):
That's where it becomes a game.
Um, you have to figure out howthese programs work and it's
different depending on whatroute you're flying.
All that and that's kind of funfor me, miserable for others.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
I was going to say it's.
I don't think it's fun.
It's so time consuming.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
It's and that I mean that's why I started the
newsletter, is why I postcontent on Instagram, like I'm
trying to make this process alot easier, cause it's.
It's actually kind of fun ifyou don't have to go through
learning all the ins and outs,um, and you have lives.
So like, why would you makethis a full-time job, like me,
if you're not doing it as afull-time?
Speaker 2 (24:13):
job.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
But that's, I think, the real core of what we try to
do.
There's some variation on liketaxes and fees, so you're always
going to pay the governmenttaxes or airport fees.
Those are the same.
But some airlines have what wecall carrier-imposed surcharges
and those get passed on on awardtickets as well.
So knowing that if I book withAeroplane or United they don't
pass on the surcharges, so likeI only have to pay the taxes,
(24:39):
that's a good thing to know ifthe surcharges are going to be
seven, eight, $900 for a one-wayticket.
Sometimes the surcharges are 200or 100.
So it's not as bad, so it'sjust again.
It's just, the more you do it,you start to become familiar
with it.
Or the more you read somebodydoing it or watch somebody doing
it, you just start to go ohokay, I remember that last time.
Um, it's, I mean trulyeverything builds on itself.
(25:01):
You just you start with thesekinds of foundational things and
as you go and learn, like abouta different airline program,
you start to notice thesimilarities with the last one
and the differences and it justit's not like, oh, I have to
learn everything today.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
I feel like you're.
I feel like you're in a similarboat to me when it comes to the
financial planning aspect,where, like for you, learning
all this information isself-serving on two fronts,
because obviously you can use itin your own personal life or
your own travel, but then also,on the other side, you get paid
for actually learning thisinformation.
We're saying for me you knowlearning more on all that I can
from a financial planningstandpoint.
(25:34):
We utilize in our personal lifewhen it comes to our own
planning, but then also I getpaid by doing that for other
people.
So most people are not going tobe able to do what you do and
what I do because they haveanother job that they have to
get paid from and that takes upa good bulk of their time.
So why not cut that downsignificantly from a time
standpoint in your own life byutilizing professional who knows
(25:55):
all the information already?
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, I have a quick startguide on my website where it's
like here are the, like thebasics of the basics.
You just have to know these,excuse me, um.
And then it's like, okay, Ihave some points and now, oh,
the newsletter will just tell mewhat dates I have to I can book
, and here's the different waysI can book them with the points.
And so, oh, I have these pointswith, like chase or Amex, and
(26:18):
this is the best way to usethose, those points, for this
particular flight.
And like that's what I'm herefor.
It's I'm just trying to kind ofmove you through the process
faster because, again, peopleare busy, like I think now more
than ever, people work insanehours They've on top of having
kids, even if you don't havekids, it's insane sometimes.
So it's just, yeah, why, whystress out trying to get into
(26:41):
the nitty gritty when there'sways to make it easier for
yourself?
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Yeah, and also so also the thing is too.
Is that like for individualswho are maybe listening, they're
like, you know, I just I don'treally care about my.
You know where I'm sitting onthe plane, I just want to get
there.
Yeah, trust me, once you tryyeah, more than economy.
It changes your viewpoint,because I had that viewpoint and
you know I'm six foot threealso, so I like space.
But I had the same viewpoint.
(27:05):
I was like, oh, I can deal withit.
Then once I sat in business uh,first class I was like it's
hard to go back.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Don't do it unless you can do it mostly regularly.
Because it's hard to go back,don't do it unless you can do it
mostly regularly.
It's hard to go back.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
We have our set where , like if the flight's going to
be a certain time or more, we'relike we got to do like at least
business, or first you know,just because yeah, it's.
I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
I was going to say the thing is too is for
individuals out there that maybeaspect of their job or they
want to move up in their career.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
From a networking standpoint, you'd be surprised
who you meet when you're sittingin business class and first
class.
So true, it's so fascinating.
Nothing crazy, it's just likeI've.
So I also have a luxury travelagency and so I do like hotel
bookings, cruises, luxury trainsin like europe, and that's
those are cash bookings.
This is unrelated to points,but flying with points and being
able to go to like not justlike an airport lounge you get
with your credit card, but likemaybe a nicer lounge that's only
(28:03):
accessible through eitherstatus or sometimes just flying
in a certain class of service,like I've met people and like
gotten new clients.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
It's so silly, right?
Yeah, it's a it's.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
I'm there for the flight review and the lounge
review, but also to pick upclients.
Now it's I mean, it's amazinghow that works.
Uh, I actually first noticedthat before I even got into
points like I can't, I wasflying home from a campaign,
actually, actually, and I justhappened to sit.
I think I got upgraded to likedomestic first class or
something, because I just hadstatus from flying quite a bit
(28:41):
for work and I sat next to waslike a VP from a bank and the
person in front of me who heardus talking, was interested in
our conversation, was like thisprominent journalist and started
talking with us.
And I'm sitting here, is like Ijust work on campaigns and I
was like, oh my God, you couldjust like network your way to
better and better careeropportunities just by sitting up
(29:01):
here.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
It's being in the right spaces.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
It's being in the right spaces.
I mean we a couple of years agowhen, uh, just as former
employer, we had the opportunityto go to the U S open and we
went strictly with the idea ofbeing in the room to network.
That was it we're not golfpeople and it paid off, you know
.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yeah, those the connections in that room.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
I mean that I'm still maintaining to this day,
Absolutely I just love the ideaof them being like what do you
think of that shot on the 17th?
And you're like the what?
Oh, we're at a match.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
We're completely honest, we were completely
honest and no one looked at usweird for like not being golf.
People were like, we're allabout an experience as well.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
They were all I mean yes, of course, if they're golf
people, then they're golf people.
But they totally understoodlike, no, we're here to like
network and have a goodafternoon and, yeah, have a good
time, and that's absolutely Imean that's kind of what it is
when you're going to the loungeor flying up front, like it's an
experience.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
It's not just like I've flown to asia, flown to
europe, sitting in the back ofthe plane with my knees in my
chest, brandon, you know um likebut it's it's like okay, I do
it, but it's different, that'slike you're dreading it.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
That's just a mode of transportation.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
It's a bit like all right, I'm getting on the bus
because that's how I get from ato b, it's not.
I'm getting you know into thisspacious experience where I'm
just going to relax and chilland, oh, a glass of champagne,
fine, um you know, twist my armthree glasses of champagne, fine
, um, but it's I don't know.
It's a completely differentexperience and you're right,
(30:33):
once you fly up front, it'sreally hard to go back.
My friends joke when they hearme talking to kind of new people
.
They're like don't listen tohim, he will ruin flying for you
.
Like you'll either go bankruptor you'll really figure out how
to use points like you're goingto make this a priority, um, and
that's, and that's what it is.
For me, it's just a priority.
I like I want to fly that way,and so that's why I put the
(30:55):
effort in and I'm trying to helpothers do is do that as much as
possible.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Also, the thing is too, is that you know if you're
going to take these tripsanyways?
Speaker 1 (31:19):
one.
Why not take to try thisamazing hotel?
Maybe it's a bucket list thing.
I know people now because ofwhite Lotus are talking about
the four seasons in Koh Samuiand it's like it's not a cheap
hotel.
So it's like if you're, if youget into the points world, it
doesn't necessarily mean thatyou are kind of ruined
financially.
In fact, to participate in ityou need a 700 plus credit score
, you need a good income to getthe cards you to earn the points
(31:41):
.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
You just have to kind of pay the $700 annual fee.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I mean, yeah, it's like if we're like I let's just
be candid it's it's not a gamefor people who are financially
struggling.
It's a game, it's an extra likeyou shouldn't be involved until
you've gotten to a place whereyou're state everything's stable
and kind of going well enoughand I just like this isn't
something I'd like to see peopleget into if they're worried
about hurting their credit orfinancial well-being.
(32:07):
This is it's not worth it.
But when you are at a certainpoint, a lot of people who earn
points have the budget to bookthe flights or to book nice
hotels.
This just gives you some extra.
On the other end, um, so if youhave a travel budget, you're
like, oh, I can go stay at thisreally nice hotel.
Doesn't mean you do it everytime, but maybe you know it's a
special trip, um, or you're justsomebody really likes, like
(32:27):
nice hotels.
More power to you.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
That's why I hate.
There's one very well-knownfinance guy who says that credit
cards are terrible, that wedon't ascribe to.
I know who it is.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
His name is Dave Ramsey.
I don't know why you don't sayhis name.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
I was like why are we saying the name?
Yeah, I don't know.
I was like can we do initials?
No, everybody say the name.
Yeah, I don't know.
I was like can we do initials?
No, everybody knows we'retalking about dave ramsey.
He's blocked friends of mine ontwitter for mentioning things
to him where he's missed things.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
So the thing is like credit cards and of himself are
not bad.
It's a matter of if you usethem improperly, that's when
it's bad because, in all honesty, if you use a credit card the
right way, it's great.
One from like well, we're atthe conversation we're having
about benefits, but then alsofrom a protection standpoint,
like it's, there's nothing elsethat can protect you.
The same way in regards tospending your money Right.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Oh yeah, I've seen people have their debit cards
hacked and the amount of hoopsthey have to desperately jump
through quickly to get the money, cause it's already gone it's
out of the bank account now andit's literally their money.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
I literally had somebody texting me the other
day.
That was, like you know, sayinglike hey, what should I do?
Someone hacked into my bankaccount.
I was like, oh, yeah, yeah,it's brutal.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
And so for me it's like I've had people steal any
number of my credit card numbers, because it just happens over
time, and a lot of the time theyjust send me a message.
When it happens, they're likehey, is this you?
Yeah, I'm like no, it's not.
And they're like and you say no, and they're like cool, we've
canceled your card and we'resending you a new one.
And I've had cards show up thenext day and it's like I've had
friends who've had the samething happen when they're abroad
(34:01):
and they send the card to themabroad and they get.
It's amazing.
This is, I mean it's.
I never thought I would lovecredit cards, but I do.
I didn't care about them untilI knew about points.
Before it was just like okay, Idon't spend more than I have,
why do I need this like money tospend that I can't pay off?
So to me, credit cards havealways just been debit cards in
(34:23):
a slightly different form.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
That was also how they were kind of put out to
people.
Like you know, don't get acredit card.
That was also how they werekind of put out to people like
you know, don't get a creditcard.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
It's going to get you in trouble and obviously that
narrative has changed.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
You do have to have the discipline.
Yeah, of course you do, you do.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
You also have that narrative from like, when you go
off to college and you have allthose credit card companies
sitting there first dayorientation, trying to sign new
18-year-olds up for credit cards, knowing that more than likely,
Are they still allowed to dothat.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
Um, I think things have changed.
Yeah, but um, you know we'reolder, so that was definitely a
thing.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
No, yeah, you would go through like the promenade
and all of a sudden, like it was, hey, get a free t-shirt, sign
up for this credit card.
And you had no idea what youwere signing up for for every
time you went to old navy, youknow, or victoria's secret or
anywhere.
It's like here, sign up forthis 30 percent apr credit card.
And save 42 cents on thispurchase, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
Yeah.
So for me I'm I'm interested incredit cards for the
protections and then the pointsand then even some of the
benefits um around, like notjust lounge access but the uh
like an examples the chase uhink preferred.
It's a business card.
If you pay your monthly cellphone bill and something happens
to your phone, they will coverup to like $800 to help replace
(35:33):
it.
Obviously there's some likecaveats you need to read the
terms.
But like that's a really nicething and as someone who just
recently broke a phone and hadto get a new one, You're like,
let me cash that in, please.
I had the phone for two and ahalf years.
We were on a good run, Even hadthe case on it.
I don't know what happened.
Somehow it hit just right and Iwas like great.
(35:54):
But I pay my monthly bill withit every month and so I'll just
file the insurance claim.
So there's a lot of funbenefits with credit cards, as
long as you're handling themresponsibly.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
But yeah, yeah, I was telling um Brandon, one of our
friends was mentioning that shehas rental properties and had to
replace, I think, a dryer andshe had an extended warranty
like an additional year from themanufacturer's warranty because
of the business credit card.
So again, you know that initself paid for the annual fee,
you know.
(36:28):
So, as long as you.
I think this is where thespreadsheet helps right when
it's like okay, don't miss outon this perk, these benefits,
these deadlines, you know thingslike that, because you do need
to make sure that you're gettingbare minimum the whatever
annual fee that you've spent.
you want to at least getyourself back to zero right and
get that benefit yeah, and it's.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
it's interesting too, like one of the ones I've used
in the past is like trip delay,so different cars if you're.
You know flights delayed orcanceled, say, six or twelve
hours is usually the time frame,uh, depending on the card for
the delay.
Like I use that once, threetimes in like four months.
That's, that's insane and itdoesn't usually happen that way,
but I mean it's really handy.
(37:11):
When I guess one of them was Iwas at New York, in New York, at
JFK, and I remember looking outthe window from the lounge,
thank you.
And then I like went to get foodand I came back and I couldn't
even see the plane in front ofme because it was raining so
hard, and so they canceled allthe flights out of there, out of
jfk, that night and I likeimmediately jumped on my phone,
(37:34):
went to maybe the hilton app andlike booked a room and there
was like there were like tworooms left and this was four
hundred dollars because it wastwo hundred two rooms left or
something, and the credit cardwill cover up to five hundred
dollars um of like reasonableexpenses including a hotel,
hotel room, food, localtransportation.
(37:54):
So even with the $400 hotel room, I was still able to like,
squeeze in Uber rides to andfrom the hotel and get some food
at the hotel, and it was allcovered after I filed the
insurance claim.
Meanwhile, if it's a weatherdelay and you don't book with a
credit card or trip delayprotection, you're on your own.
The airline's going to be likeoh sorry, not our fault, and
it's not, it's not their fault.
I get that, but doesn't meanthat it doesn't affect you.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Right yeah, such an inconvenience, no those are
things too.
I always forget about tripdelay, but it absolutely is
something where you can againmake that experience that now
stinks because you were lookingto get home to your family.
Maybe you've been traveling fordays.
You're just like exhausted.
Well, it's better to you know.
You're in the lounge, you'vegot a nice meal, you've got some
(38:37):
drinks.
Now you can go to a nice hotel,you know, and and you don't have
the added stress of oh, this isgoing to cost me an arm and a
leg, or I wasn't planning forthis expense so yeah absolutely
worth it.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Yeah, so that's fun.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
Spencer, for anybody listening and I know you're
going to say it depends, butjust come on, do me right here
Somebody starting out name twoof your favorite credit cards
for us.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
I like that you gave me the option for two.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
Thank you.
I'm being kind you are.
It was very nice of you.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Um, I would say along the lines of like, just keep it
simple.
Um, the capital one, venture X,is one of my favorites for
people who just like, don't wantto think about it.
Um, it earns two X on basicallyeverything.
Um, pretty, I mean everything.
But if you use their travelportal so functionally in your
day-to-day life, 2x oneverything.
I don't think you should haveone point per dollar on anything
(39:32):
, and so for me, some card likethat should always be a part of
your wallet anyway, because Ithink a lot of us do spend on
category or on products thatdon't fall into a bonus category
.
Not everything can be bought atthe grocery store, so that, to
me, is just like a really goodbase.
And the Venture X also comeswith some lounge access, so
that's nice.
And then, man, a second one Ifyou wanted to get we'll say
(39:58):
deeper into the points there'sthis kind of saying we have to
just start with Chase.
Chase has some restrictiverules on which cards you can get
after you've gotten so many.
So getting what you can fromChase at the beginning is a good
idea.
So, like the Chase, sapphirePreferred or Sapphire Reserve
are good options, especially ifyou go out to eat and travel a
(40:18):
decent bit.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Very nice.
Speaker 3 (40:20):
We have both of those cards.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (40:22):
The Chase and the Capital One.
There you go.
See, you guys are already onyour way.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Well, because again I can't mentally be like which
card to use for whichtransaction.
So the two times points isgreat.
Now we do look at you knowthose bonus kind of categories,
or every you know month theykind of change.
Like I ordered flowers forsomebody last month and on a
Capital One it was like 20 timesthe points.
So, yeah, I went with thatflower vendor so I got 20 times
(40:48):
the points on the $100 flowersthat I bought.
That just I mean, we'redefinitely doing things like
that, yeah, so like Capital Onehas the Capital One offers,
where you can get those bonuses.
Very easy.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
Chase and Amex have their own offer section.
Those are typically discounts.
Sometimes Amex does bonuspoints.
Yeah, there's all kinds ofthings, shopping portals you can
go through.
Um, so yeah it's similar, so sochase, with the ultimate
rewards uh program, has a portalfor shopping there.
(41:20):
Amex doesn't have a shoppingportal but if you have an Amex
membership rewards card you canlink it to Rakuten If you know
that shopping portal and you canlink it to Rakuten if you know
that shopping portal.
Yeah, and you can choose to bepaid in Amex membership rewards
points instead of cash back.
So basically, if you see 3%cash back and it's basically
three points per dollar insteadof 3%.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
Yeah, I just saw somebody else post about that
who had over 400,000 Amex pointsbecause of them shopping on.
Rakuten Again something we'renot tapping into, but probably
should.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
I'll add it to my list we've been using our amx so
yeah, yeah you know, what'sreally interesting about that
one to me is people loveshopping portals and I know they
earn so many points from them.
I just don't shop a lot and soyeah, for me.
I'm always like it's just notthat big a deal to me, um, but
when you do actually have tomake a big purchase and it's
like, oh, 5x or 10x or, if youget it lucky, a 15x like promo
(42:14):
and just wait till your kids getolder.
Speaker 3 (42:15):
That's the moment, yeah, it's, your child gets
older, more and more.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Oh no yeah, yeah, I actually know I have friends who
they buy a lot of stuff onamazon for like baby products or
whatever, and so they have likea credit card that earns 4X at
the grocery store and so they'llbuy Amazon gift cards for 4X
points at the grocery store andjust load up their Amazon
account knowing that they haveto spend it because they would
(42:42):
otherwise earn 2X on Amazon.
So they're just like, let mejust double the points I'm
getting paying for all thesekids.
Speaker 3 (42:49):
Maybe we need to tap into everything on.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
Amazon we do.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
It's so funny, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Okay, let's do a little bit of a rapid fire,
because we know that you'vetaken some incredible trips and
flights and lounge experiences.
So I want to you know, livevicariously through you.
Let's start simple aisle orwindow seat for you.
Both If you're flying up front,you can have both.
(43:16):
Okay, we haven't flown that farup front yet.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
Clearly you can if you fly business on an
international flight?
Yeah, it's just they usually dolike one two, one seating
arrangement.
Speaker 2 (43:23):
So as long as you're in that one, you gotta you get
both, you get both or if you'rein a very tiny plane or if
you're very, that's not theluxury I'm talking about.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
Yeah, just fly overseas, find those long haul
flights.
Yeah, because how can you turndown a window?
Speaker 3 (43:46):
I know you just need space.
Speaker 2 (43:48):
Always turn down the window, okay yeah he always
picks the aisle, but do you?
Speaker 1 (43:52):
yeah, I guess if you're sitting next to somebody,
I definitely get that.
It's when you're on your own,though, and there's nobody to
crawl over, um yeah, pick thewindow it's like, then it's nice
you're on your own, got alittle privacy yeah I'm somebody
who, like this is where I'mjust like a plane nerd, is like
I'll just watch the engine whileI'm like looking out the window
, like that's what fascinates me.
Speaker 3 (44:14):
I can say 100%.
I've never done that either.
Speaker 1 (44:17):
Yeah, just you have to think about like man.
You're actually up here allbecause of the you know.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Matt.
No, yeah, I love that.
You're like nerding out aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
Oh yeah, I love planes.
I'm that person, I'm thatperson.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
So what has been your most luxurious flight and where
were you going?
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Oh, that's a good question.
I don't.
I'm trying to think which onemaybe Singapore Suites Singapore
Airlines has on their A380.
It's a double-decker plane.
For those who are unfamiliar.
I really like their first class.
It's huge, like you have a seatplus a separate bed.
Your seat can rotate around.
(44:54):
It's pretty cool.
I've got a fun like if anybodysaw Austin Powers back in the
day, like Dr Evil, like video ofme turning around in the chair.
It's pretty great.
But the crews are just so nice,like they're so good at what
they do.
They serve really nicechampagne.
They have great food.
I mean, what's not to like?
So that was a flight from SydneySydney, yeah, sydney to
(45:16):
Singapore, and I did a stopoveras part of the award ticket, and
then it included another flight, same class of service, to Hong
Kong a few days later, so gotto see a couple cities out of it
.
That was awesome, but I've had aton of like.
Truly, I've been so fortunateto have just tried most of the
fun products out there Um, it's,uh, it's.
(45:36):
I'm not going to be mad aboutflying any of them, but that was
a special one, very nice.
What is your favorite loungeand where is it located?
That's a great question.
(46:03):
I don't know if I have afavorite one.
No, I think personally, it'scalled the pier.
It's in Hong Kong's airport forCathay Pacific first class.
I don't know.
There's just something about itthat's.
I've been to it a number oftimes.
It's just a special restaurant,you know, it's a whole thing.
You can look at planes from, um, from the seating area.
They also have little nap podsor like nap rooms where, again,
you can watch planes.
Um, notice the trend tarmacviews are the best.
If you have a lounge, you wantto be able to see the planes
take off and land, stuff likethat.
(46:24):
Um, but yeah, I'll give us anhonorable mention to uh, swiss,
uh uh.
In Zurich they have thebusiness and first class lounge,
have a terrace where you canstand outside, um, and just like
watch planes land and stufflike that.
Speaker 2 (46:39):
And it's you know it's like it's just.
Speaker 1 (46:41):
it's a beautiful place too, you know, I think
Switzerland is nice.
Speaker 3 (46:44):
That's how Atlanta's airport is as well.
The one lounge we were in has aterrace.
Speaker 1 (46:50):
You can go out down, oh the centurion.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
Yeah, yeah, they do have a terrace, you can go out
atlanta in the summer is justdifferent.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
It's where my dad's family's from, so it's like it's
not as easy to be like.
Ah, enjoy this like nice breezeand it's like, oh, it's 105 85
humidity.
You walked outside andimmediately were sweating.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
So that's not the same.
Speaker 3 (47:06):
Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it in the middle of
the summertime.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
Out of the non like luxury airlines for people who
are, you know, doing the DeltasUnited's Americans.
Do you have a favorite amongstkind of the standard?
Speaker 1 (47:20):
domestically.
I like Alaska Airlines, eventhough I'm on the East Coast.
I've had good experience withthem.
Speaker 2 (47:26):
Wait.
Who do they partner with what?
What partner?
Speaker 1 (47:29):
Their alliance is One World.
That's a more recentdevelopment.
Um, so American airlines is apartner of theirs?
Um, but yeah, they're.
I've, I've enjoyed them whenI'm flying out in the West coast
or to the West coast.
Um, yeah, that's a good one.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
Tell us, too, about you.
Have a complimentary portion ofyour newsletter and a upgraded
paid version.
Speaker 1 (47:52):
What do?
Speaker 2 (47:52):
you get in each for those listening who are?
Like, let Spencer do the workfor me.
Speaker 1 (47:57):
Yeah, so the basics of this all started around me
sending out award space forbusiness and first class flights
on international routes.
Specifically two or more seats,because those are the hardest
to find.
Specifically two or more seats,because those are the those are
the hardest to find.
Um, business in first class canbe tough to find for one person
, but two, four, six, when youstart getting into families, um,
(48:18):
that's where it's really tough.
So I'm always looking formultiple seats.
Um, so I basically send out theexact dates you can book, the
different programs you can useto book and how many points each
requires the taxes and feesyou'll have to pay.
And then I do have a sectionwhere I break down and explain,
like, why you would use oneprogram to book versus another.
(48:38):
Um, like I was mentioning, youcan book similar flights if you
are um with like air Canada orUnited's programs and just kind
of, hey, if you have thesepoints transferred to air Canada
, but if you have this, uh, ifyou're flying from this airport
and you have these pointstransferred, united stuff, like
that, I'm just kind of removingthe thought process for you and
just saying just follow thesesteps.
(48:59):
Um, cause it's and it'sdifferent because, uh, you know
you'll have times where Amex orchase will run a transfer bonus
to one of their partners, and soone program could be the best
option this time.
And then a transfer bonus toone of their partners, and so
one program could be the bestoption this time, and then a
transfer bonus pops up and nowit's another program.
So it's just a lot to keep upwith.
So I try to just explain thatas simply as possible.
Um, those, that kind ofexplanation.
(49:22):
You know the number of points,the taxes and fees, the
different uh banks you cantransfer points from and the
exact dates.
Those are like pay, that's thepaid version.
That's the premium version, sothe free version and the paid
version both get kind of a quicklike here's how to search for
the award space.
They get uh kind of a rundownof what the flight will be like,
(49:43):
but the free version only getslike the date range.
So I'll tell you it's likeJanuary to June of 2025.
Um, I'm not going to lay outall the dates for you and and
I'll tell you what airline, whatairline it is and what routes
you can fly and how many seatsyou can find, um, and then after
that it's kind of up to you todecide how you want to use your
points and find the space and um, yeah, so it's.
(50:06):
It's for people who are reallyreally good at it and don't need
the information, but I alsosend it out like 72 hours or
more later.
So if you're okay missingthings, that's also up to you.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
So if you want it early and want details, you've
got to go paid.
If you're okay with just kindof like the general information.
Speaker 1 (50:26):
You can stick with the complimentary I think that's
totally fair because, like yousaid, it's so much work that
you're putting into doing thesesearches and teeing everything
up and really making itbrainless.
Speaker 2 (50:36):
Right, you can look at everything and then go book.
I mean that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (50:40):
I have a few friends on the list who say that I idiot
.
Proof it for them yeah that'samazing.
Like that's a little strong,but I do try to make it just a
less time intensive and energyintensive process.
Um, I like to say it's apremium product, then yeah, it's
only $99 a year, so it's like Isay it's 27 cents a day.
Um, it's, it's really not thatbad.
(51:02):
Um, I still want it to beaccessible.
I'm not trying to like preventpeople from getting this, Um, so
yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (51:12):
People from getting this, Um, so yeah, that's
amazing.
If you had one piece of advicefor our audience listening who
they want to get started, maybethey want to like level up a
little bit from where they arewhat would you say?
Speaker 1 (51:21):
Just dedicate like I don't know, an hour a week, even
just to start.
If you've got 30 minutes a day,just like read um blog posts or
I mean, you don't need to gointo the actual airline programs
Like I did.
Um, I post content on Instagramat straight to the points.
If you want to like see thingsthere, you can also look for a
lot of.
There's a lot of differentblogs that cover the basics.
(51:42):
Um, don't be afraid to askquestions.
That was a big thing.
So I asked.
I answer a lot of questions.
People DM me questions all thetime on Instagram and you know
I'm there to try to help as muchas I can.
Speaker 3 (51:53):
People make your life simple.
Just the $99 for the year yeah,subscribe to my newsletter.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (52:00):
We'll put that in the show notes, of course, so that
we can, you know, help you getthe, the take the guesswork out
of it and let Spencer do all thehard work.
So thank you so much for beingwith us.
We want people to enjoy lifeand the fruits of their hard
labor and for us, travel isalways number one on the list
and exploring new places, newcities, new countries, and now
(52:21):
we're starting to do that withour families.
So definitely need to startlooking into those multiple seat
situations.
Like you said, it is hard tofind.
So we'll be, you know,utilizing your newsletter as
well.
But thank you for doing all thehard work for us and for you
know, making it accessible andapproachable and taking kind of
(52:42):
the intimidation factor out ofit.
You talk about it so casuallyand so easily.
I think that that's veryhelpful for people who are
feeling like it's intimidating.
So thank you for the work thatyou're doing, Spencer.
Speaker 1 (52:55):
Thank you guys for having me.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (52:57):
Absolutely.
Don't forget.
Benjamin Franklin said aninvestment in knowledge pays the
best interest you just got paid.
Until next time.
Thanks for listening to today'sepisode.
(53:22):
We are so glad to have you aspart of our sugar daddy
community.
If you learned something today,please remember to subscribe,
rate, review and share thisepisode with your friends,
family and extended network.
Don't forget to connect with uson social media.
At the sugar daddy podcast, youcan also email us your
questions you want us to answerfor our past the sugar segments
at the sugar daddy podcast atgmailcom or leave us a voicemail
(53:44):
through our Instagram.
Speaker 3 (53:46):
Our content is intended to be used, and must be
used, for informationalpurposes only.
It is very important to do yourown analysis before making any
investment based upon your ownpersonal circumstances.
You should take independentfinancial advice from a licensed
professional in connection withor independently research and
verify any information you findin our podcast and wish to rely
upon, whether for the purpose ofmaking an investment decision
or otherwise.
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