The Thrifty Traveler Podcast

Using points and miles to travel for less is what we’re all about … but even two brilliant, handsome podcasters like us (yes, that’s sarcasm) need some help to earn more of them, get organized, and redeem those awards for better travel. So this week, we open up our toolboxes and run through the tools we use to travel better - including a few tools we created for our listeners to use for free! Come to get smarter about points and mi...

Gunnar and Kyle celebrate their recent travel bookings (a.k.a. “Getting Booksy”) before diving into an extremely busy couple days of travel news. Gunnar introduces an unhinged new “Stoke Scale” to help the guys rank a flurry of new route announcements from Italy to Hong Kong, and more. Plus, they break down stories you need to know about the Park Hyatt Tokyo, Hilton’s woes, Delta’s future in Mexico City, some intriguing new Capital...

Watch us on YouTube!

00:00 - The new Amex Platinum Card has a new look … but does it matter?

02:10 - The nuts and bolts of the new (and improved?) Platinum Card from American Express – and our reaction in 5 words or less

04:00 - Something Hot: The Platinum Card credits you love aren’t going anywhere

06:45 - Something Cold: An eye-watering $895 annual fee

11:15 - Want more travel rewards and credit card news sent straight to your inbox? ...

This week, the guys dig deep on their favorite travel app: Flighty! Ryan Jones, the CEO of the incredibly powerful and beautifully designed flight tracking app, joins the podcast to explain how Flighty keeps travelers up-to-date using data data and what they’ll love about the new iOS features on the app. Plus, the guys compare their own delay data, pick their favorite underrated features, and discuss other travel apps and websites ...

This week, we interview the most interesting man in travel: Peter Thornton! As Thrifty Traveler’s Senior Award Deal Analyst, Peter is responsible for finding all the best uses for your points and miles, but his long career in travel has touched nearly every aspect of the industry. From being a flight attendant to finding mistake fares for Airfare Watchdog and now analyzing points and miles deals, Peter knows more about airfare than...

It’s our first ever mailbag episode! Kyle’s on vacation, so we lined up a bunch of the best questions we’ve been asked and gave you our best advice. We tackle topics such as positioning flight tips, what we would pay for a Delta One upgrade, how to maximize your Amex Platinum credits with a refresh coming, destinations that exceeded our expectations, airlines as NFL quarterbacks, and the best and worst parts about our jobs. And rem...

We’re going back to basics this week by showcasing all the strategies, tips and tricks that we use to book the cheapest flight - every single time we fly. That requires some mythbusting about the dumbest tips out there (here’s looking at you, incognito searchers and Tuesday-only bookers) and shed some light on the actual best tips (i.e. Google Flights Explore and price alerts). Never get fleeced on flights again with these tips. 

Sp...

News, news, and more breaking travel news. There’s been so many big stories in the travel world lately, Gunnar and Kyle blew up the normal show format and spent the episode going beyond the headlines, breaking down everything you need to know. There’s more on new pricing shenanigans from airlines and Uber, the ins and outs of Alaska’s new loyalty program, a big upgrade for Google Flights, and much much more. 

Watch us on YouTube!

00:...

This week’s podcast is honestly just a selfish exercise for Gunnar, who uses his coworker’s expertise to plan a trip to the 2026 Olympics, get tips on flying with kids, and brag about how to make Thrifty Traveler Premium the best flight deal alert service out there. This week we welcomed Thrifty Traveler’s Product Manager, Tracey Burtch, to talk about how her time representing Team USA Figure Skating sparked a love of travel and ho...

Points and miles aren’t worth anything if you can’t use them. If you want to fly lie-flat business class (most of us, right?), it can be excruciating to find flights you can actually book with points. But some stand out as being much easier to book - if not downright easy. Gunnar and Kyle shine the spotlight on the airlines and routes where it’s easiest to score that business class seat using miles. Plus, they chat about rising sur...

The hilarious Jason Matheson - host of The Jason Show on FOX and a 20-year veteran of morning talk radio - joins the show to talk all things travel with Kyle and Gunnar. Claiming to be Thrifty Traveler’s #1 fan, Jason tells us what Canadian city sparked his love of travel before diving deep into what he loves about Hawaii and Disney. He also tries to sell the guys on cruising and he even reveals his bougiest travel take. Join us fo...

The world of airfare is changing before our eyes. Airlines have jacked up the price of one-way flights and targeted solo passengers with higher fares, too. And, more troublingly, carriers like Delta (and others) are now leaning on AI to set airfare … raising the prospect of personalized pricing. What does it all mean? Kyle and Gunnar break it all down on this week’s episode, telling you how airfare is changing, why, and who’s respo...

We’re in the heart of the summer travel season, so Gunnar and Kyle put together a Travel Survival Guide to help you grease the wheels of your next trip. The guys dig into the best ways to avoid delays and cancellations (including sharing their own worst delays), plus tell you all the apps, tools, and knowledge you should bring with you on your trip to make it go smoothly this summer or fall. The guys also talk about TSA’s new (and ...

It’s the news every points and miles aficionado has been waiting for: After years of pain, award travel is, in fact, getting easier. Alongside an undeniable trend in red-hot cheap airfare, outstanding deals keep popping up to redeem your points - whether you’re on the hunt for a discounted economy deal or a notoriously hard-to-book lie-flat award ticket.

So Gunnar and Kyle dig into what’s driving this lovely new trend and, most impo...

Higher annual fees. More perks. New lounges. It never stops.

The big banks are going bigger than ever on their “premium” travel credit cards. So, Gunnar (fresh off paternity leave!) and Kyle bring Thrifty Traveler’s co-founder and credit card expert, Nick Serati, on the show to help break down all the recent moves from Chase, Amex, and Capital One. And they ask the $900-plus question: With annual fees approaching $1,000 a year, are ...

How can you find the best value for your SkyMiles? Are Delta SkyMiles worthless? Can you book Delta One for cheap? Am I an idiot for caring about SkyMiles? These are the questions we get about the wildly popular (yet maddening) Delta SkyMiles program, so we do our best to answer all of them and more. Whether you want to book quick, cheap flights within the U.S. or fly business class to Asia (and everything in between), we go over a...

Gunnar's still enjoying the new life of a girldad, so Kyle brought our first-ever special guest on the show: Max Do - better known as MaxMilesPoints. As one of the biggest and best social media creators covering points and miles, Max is uniquely qualified to explain the rise of travel influencers - both the good and the bad - while sharing his own story of how he left his 9-to-5 job (it involves a $10,000 deal with a hotel brand). ...

It’s time to talk to the Oz of our flight deal service: Jon Shallbetter, aka Jonny Nonny. Gunnar and Kyle bring Jon on the show to talk about his wizardry of all things Google Flights, finding and sending flight deal alerts, his favorite flight deal ever and worst-ever travel mistake, and more. Oh, and the guys grill Jon on the allegations that he drank Emirates dry … and he does an Admiral Ackbar impression?!

Watch us on YouTube!

0:...

What else would we talk about on this week’s podcast than one of the biggest stories in travel? The three largest U.S. airlines were quietly charging some solo travelers higher fares …until we caught them in the act! We break down this crazy story and discuss why - and how - it was happening. Plus, we laugh at Southwest’s botched rollout of its new baggage fees, look into some (awesome) rare Etihad partner award space, and Gunnar r...