May 19, 2025 • 31 mins
We dive into the complex world of changing and canceling award travel, sharing real experiences and practical strategies to help save your trip when plans change.
• Domestic carriers like American, Alaska, and Southwest generally don't charge fees for award ticket changes
• International airlines like Air France/Flying Blue, British Airways, and Singapore typically charge significant change fees
• A personal saga of spending three hours changing Air France flights reveals important distinctions between calling the airline versus the loyalty program
• Waiting for airline schedule changes can sometimes qualify you for fee-free changes or cancellations
• Premium credit cards like Chase Sapphire Reserve and Capital One Venture X offer valuable trip protection benefits
• An annual travel insurance policy (like Allianz) can provide additional protection for under $500 for a family of five
• Booking one-way flights provides more flexibility and potentially lower change fees when plans shift
• When evaluating change fees, consider whether the improved experience justifies the cost
• Clearing cookies when searching for award availability can sometimes reveal better options
If you've enjoyed our podcast, please leave a review or rating wherever you listen. It helps more people find the podcast and helps us grow to provide more fun content. Thank you!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ever booked a dream trip with points, only to have
life throw a wrench in yourplans, whether it's a sick kid,
a schedule change or even just achange of heart.
Today we're diving intoeverything you need to know
about changing or cancelingaward travel.
So listen in.
Hi, I'm Raya.
(00:28):
And I'm Dwayne, and we are yourhosts of the Travel Party of
Five podcast, where we share howwe travel as a family of five
around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We will also share how we use points and miles to
travel as affordably as possibleand sometimes even completely
free.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
So if you're wanting to travel more with your family
but you're not sure how, we'dlove for you to listen in.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn
a thing or two to get youcloser to your next trip.
Welcome back, hi friends.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Thanks for tuning in Welcome back to Travel Party of
Five podcast.
I feel like we need a sprucierintro here.
We always just say like hi,welcome back, and then we get
right into it.
I don't know, maybe people likethat, but I feel, like other
podcasts that I listen to, theyhave like a lengthy intro where
(01:28):
they introduce like themselvesand where they can.
You can find them and I don'tknow, like on social media.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
We already have that intro.
It plays before we.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, no, no, I know that, but I'm saying like they
say it every time.
Anyways, whatever, if you wantto find us on Instagram, we're
at travel party five, so I guesswe'll throw that in there.
Before we jump into, kind ofour main topic today, I thought
we would give a few like tripupdates on trips that were kind
(01:55):
of in the midst of planning fornext year, and these are all.
These trips are kind of invarious stages of the planning
process, and so let's start withThailand, which is going to be
our spring break 2026 trip.
We pivoted from Belize, which,if you've been listening for a
(02:17):
long time, our plan for almost ayear was Belize, and within
like a week, I totally flippedthat and decided no, we're going
to go to Southeast Asia and gohalfway across the world.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
But believe me, I'm not upset with Thailand.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Oh, my God, oh, that was for sure a dad joke.
Oh gosh, ok, so do you knowwhere we're at with our Thailand
trip?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yes, we've booked a ticket there.
We haven't booked one back,correct?
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yes, and we have hotels booked for now.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yes, that's always first.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yes.
So we booked flights there,paying cash actually, because
the cash price was like prettyaffordable, and then I booked
all of our hotels and I'm justin the process of trying to find
flights back.
I do think I know how we'regoing to book them, but because
there was a good amount ofavailability on the airline,
(03:23):
like slash points program that Ithink we're going to use, I am
kind of holding out for maybe ahopeful transfer bonus to this
program.
There hasn't been one in a whileand I tried putting the history
of the transfer bonuses, likeyou know, for the last like five
years or whatever, into chatGPT and I asked chat GPT to
(03:44):
predict when the next one wouldbe and it could not because it
was so like irregular.
So no idea, but I'm pretty sureit's been more than a year
since there has been a transferbonus to this specific airline
program from American Expressspecifically, and so I'm just
gonna, I don't know, give it aweek or two, maybe wait till
June and see if anything pops up.
(04:04):
And if it doesn't, so I'm justgonna, I don't know, give it a
week or two, maybe wait tillJune and see if anything pops up
, and if it doesn't, then I'mprobably just gonna book it
without the bonus, but sincethere was a lot of availability,
I don't feel like we have torush.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Explain to our listeners a transfer.
What's it called?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
A transfer bonus.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
A transfer bonus.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Explain to our listeners or explain to you.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I'm listening right now.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Okay.
So a transfer bonus is likewhen, let's just say, chase has
a.
Currently they have a transferbonus to Air France Flying Blue
and this we'll actually talkmore about this in a few minutes
because I have a story aboutsome of our flights.
I just changed, but currentlythey have a 25% transfer bonus.
So that means if you transfer100,000 chase points, you should
(04:51):
end up with 125,000 flying bluepoints.
Essentially and there are, likeyou know, that number is for
easy math but if you need like52,000 points, there are
transfer bonus calculators.
You can just google and you canenter, like the program, the
transfer bonus, and then it'll,like you'll say, I'm trying to
(05:12):
get, like, let's say, 52 000points and it will tell you how
many you should transfer toreach that 52 000.
So it does the math for you.
But that's what a transferbonus is.
So essentially it just allowsyou to utilize less of your
flexible points to book um whatare some of the apps or programs
for that?
(05:33):
like what do you mean?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
you just said you can put it into this program.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
You know, like you can just google transfer bonus
calculator and there's there's aton just whatever, or the first
few that pop up.
I would choose that.
I feel like most of the likethe Points Guy and Travel Mom
Squad they all have like ones ontheir website that you can use.
So I just use whatever comes upfirst.
Anyways, so that's kind ofwhere Thailand is at.
(05:59):
And then we're thinking forsummer Scotland, because my mom
really wants to go, and so thiswould be kind of the five of us,
and then my mom and my sisterwould also go, and so we've kind
of narrowed down rough datesfor that, literally this morning
, and I'm trying to understandthey each have a little bit of
(06:20):
points and I'm trying tounderstand what points they have
and how many, so that I can tryto coordinate all of that into.
You know, either one of theflights, like one way or round
trip, depending on what I canfind and how many they have.
So that's like a whole notherelement, right, Because it's
(06:41):
it's not just the five of us.
Now there's seven.
My mom will likely fly with usbecause she lives here, but my
sister lives in Florida, and soI'll have to find different
flights for her that can kind ofcoincide with whenever we are
landing, and I think we're goingto try to do a few days in
(07:02):
London before we head toScotland.
That seems to be the gist, andso it's probably going to be a
two-week trip because we want togo to like four different
places in Scotland.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Does anywhere in Florida fly directly?
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Probably not right.
Orlando does, yeah, and so mysister lives in the panhandle,
but she'll.
I asked her where she wanted tofly out of and she said
probably Orlando, and I do agreethat's probably the cheapest.
So she will either drive or fly.
No, she'll, she'll drive toOrlando, she.
We, we all used to live inOrlando, so we have a good
amount of friends and stuffthere, so I think that'll be the
(07:42):
plan.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
So that should be fairly easy for her.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Yes, yes, it should be easy for me to help find her
award availability.
I'm thinking Virgin Atlantic isprobably going to be like the
cheapest and the plan is twoone-way flights, one into London
and one out of Scotland.
That's kind of where we're atwith with various trips, and
(08:07):
then, as far as like our fallbreak trip next year, no idea,
absolutely no idea.
Um, peru is really high on mylist, but after doing Thailand
and then Scotland, like thoseare both going to be not really
like super relaxing.
So I'm debating, like I don'tknow if Peru is the best choice
(08:32):
or if we just need to go back tolike Maui and park on a beach
somewhere.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
I'm all for that.
Maui the Maui one Any beach ohyeah, Nice beach.
That maui the maui one anybeach oh yeah, nice beach, like
as a funny story, duane.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
So I really wanted to go to peru and I was telling
duane about this and he wasincredibly uninterested in peru.
And I mean we're talking likemachu picchu.
Like this is like really highon my bucket list.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
I mean I'm interested in that well, okay, so I mean,
I would definitely want to seethat yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
So within a week of me mentioning this to him, one
of my one of my good, good, goodfriends posts on facebook that
she is in peru and I send it tohim and I'm like, oh my gosh,
look, this is a sign.
So then I text her and I tellher like, oh my God, you're in
Peru.
Like I want to go there.
I was just talking to Dwayneabout this.
He doesn't want to go, blah,blah, blah.
(09:28):
So then she starts sending uspictures right Of where she's
seeing like my name on stuffboth my first name and then our
last name and she just keepssending these pictures and she's
(09:49):
like, how many more signs doyou need?
And it was pretty funny.
It was pretty funny, yeah.
So I mean our last name's notsuper common.
So I mean it's your last name,but now it's our last name it's
not super common.
So it was pretty funny to see.
So they also have really goodfood in peru, like some of the
best food in the world.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I'm all about that too.
I mean, I just there's otherplaces on my list that are
before Peru.
That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Yeah.
So anyways, I don't know thatPeru is the right answer for our
fall break trip next year again, but likely in the next few
years.
We will do that because I'venever been to South America.
So that'll be, that'll be fun.
Okay, so I'm going to tell youthe whole reason why we decided
to do this episode.
First I'm going to tell you mystory, my saga around the change
(10:31):
I just made to our Air Franceflights, and then we'll jump
into kind of some best practicesabout best airlines that don't
charge change fees and kind ofhow to think through if you do
need to change or cancel anaward ticket or hotel.
So the other day I am doing myregular searches for flights to
Thailand, just looking to see ifanything new has come available
(10:53):
.
I check pretty much every dayand I probably will.
Until I book something, I don'tfind anything new or exciting,
and so then I just get a randomthought that I should check our
flights back from Frankfurtlater this year when we go to
Christmas markets.
I haven't looked at theseflights in months.
I think I booked them inJanuary and I we have business
(11:16):
class booked on the way thereand we have economy booked on
the way back.
We fly from Frankfurt, weconnect in Paris and then direct
Paris to Phoenix.
So I go on the website and Irealize that there are five
business class flights availableat the Saver Fair.
So basically I can get fiveseats for 255,000 flying blue
(11:38):
miles.
That is a smoking deal.
That is for three I'm sorry,two adults and three kids as a
side note and so I'm like, ohman, like I would really love to
do this, but is it worth it?
So I called Dwayne, thinkinghe's going to be the voice of
reason, and I say, hey, should Ido this?
(11:58):
Because if I do, I need to usehalf of our chase points.
Right, we have around 200,000and this is going to use up
100,000 of them.
And is it worth it?
It's also going to be an extra$1,500 in taxes and fees,
because there's additional taxesand fees regularly and then
there's also a change fee thatAir France charges.
(12:18):
So total was an extra $1,500out of pocket, and we had
already paid around $1,500 outof pocket and we had already
paid around a thousand.
Dwayne is not the voice ofreason, was not at this time.
He said, nope, we should dothat.
So I'm going to walk youthrough my saga because it was
three of the most stressfulhours of my life.
So there's a chase transferbonus.
(12:39):
So I think, okay, that's good.
I think I only had to transfer95,000 points and I was able to
get the like 115,000 ish that Ineeded.
But first I also have to cancelour current flights because I
need those points back in orderto be able to book the new
flights.
(13:00):
And when you book with FlyingBlue, you have to.
Well, it depends on the fareticket, I guess, but the tickets
that we had booked, you have tocall them to change or cancel.
Like there's a form you cansubmit online, but it doesn't
happen right away, it's notimmediate.
So the only way to do itimmediately is to call them.
So I do, I call them and I'm onhold for 10 minutes, 20 minutes
(13:25):
, 30 minutes, okay, and now I'mpanicking because I've already
transferred the points.
The points are in my account,but I need the extra points from
the current flights to bookanything.
I can't book anything and I'mafraid the flights are going to
disappear.
So, as I'm on hold, I'm panic,googling like how to get a hold
of Flying Blue, blah, blah, blah.
(13:46):
I try chatting on the website.
I need to let you all knowright now there is a difference
between Air France and FlyingBlue.
So when you call Air Franceabout an award ticket, they
cannot help you.
They will direct you to FlyingBlue, which is the loyalty
program.
So, just as a side note, Ichatted on their website but it
(14:06):
was Air France.
I could not find a chat bot onthe Flying Blue website.
I was searching Reddit threadslike the threads were
recommending to call, like theAustralia number or the Dutch
number.
Okay, I tried the Australianumber.
It was they were closed becauseof what time it was in
Australia.
It was like 2am.
So okay, so then I eventually Iprobably tried six different
(14:31):
numbers and one of them Igoogled.
I found this number in a forumand like I think it was on flyer
talk and they answered rightaway.
But I just had bad vibes,because there are like a lot of
scammers that try to spoofflying blue and other airline
(14:51):
programs to get you to like givethem your credit card
information and whatever.
And I just had a bad vibe andso I said you know what it looks
like.
The flight I want actuallyisn't available anymore, so I am
going to just hang up.
So I hung up.
Then I found the French versionof the Flying Blue website and I
called the number listed on thebottom like country code for
(15:14):
France and everything Plus.
I think it was three, three,blah, blah, blah, whatever.
Someone answered relativelyquickly, like within a few
minutes.
I did have to ask in French ifthey spoke English.
They did, and then they wereable to help me.
But I mean this.
This probably went on for threehours before anything Like
(15:36):
between the time I decided I wasgoing to change them and the
time I was actually able to makethe booking.
So I think in the future what Iwould do if I were you and this
is happening is I would wait totransfer the points until
someone picks up the phone firstof all, and if you're having
trouble getting someone to pickup the phone, I would try
(15:58):
calling the international number, like for you know, the French
number or whatever the Frenchnumber is what happened to work
for me, depending on the time itis when you're calling
Australia or whatever may workfor you and then just hope that
your points transfer isinstantaneous.
I guess is the other piece,because it isn't always.
I had one that took almost 48hours once, so it's quite the
(16:21):
process, like at one pointDwayne was like wait, you still
are on hold.
I was like yes, like nothinghas happened yet.
Um, so, anyways, they do chargeyou the change fee up front.
So you pay the change fee andthen the points get refunded
back immediately.
And then I they could havebooked it for me over the phone,
but I would have had to alsopay a booking fee per ticket and
(16:43):
I was like no, no, like I canbook it online, just fine, I
just need the points there andit's fine.
So once I had paid the changefee and they had canceled my
original flight, I was able togo online and book the tickets.
Fortunately they were stillavailable.
I will say, a couple times,when I was would do the search
again, it would show me a higherprice.
(17:04):
It would say like 300 and some1000 points or miles.
So then I would have to go andclear my cookies and then I
would do the search again and itwould again show up at the
$2.55.
So if you're searching andyou're like wait, the flight is
gone, clear your history and tryagain before you give up.
(17:25):
So that was my saga.
So I was able to finally bookit.
It was very exciting.
I paid the higher taxes andfees.
I should be getting a refund ofthe original taxes and fees
that we booked, so I just needto keep an eye out for that.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I'm expecting that to take at least three to four
business days, so I'm sure youlooked, but did you see if there
were premium economy seatsavailable on our flight there to
save us a little bit of money,or points or?
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I did not look, either.
I did not look, no, no, Ididn't even think about the
flight there because it'salready in business class.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
so yeah, so, yes, we're gonna fly business class
there and back, which I've nevereven flown business class
before, so I'm excited it'sgonna be.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I think it's gonna be really good.
Um, I'm super excited for that,especially because here let me
tell you a few ways that I useto justify it, and if you follow
me on Instagram, I've alreadyshared this, this piece.
But number one Flying Blueoffers 25% off.
Award fair Actually I thinkit's any fair for kids 11 and
under, and our oldest is goingto turn 12 at the end of
(18:34):
December this year.
So, like this is my last.
This is the cheapest we'll everbe able to fly business class on
Air France, because, like, inlike six months, we'll have to
pay the adult fare for him.
So I was like, okay, onealready saving points, right,
this is girl math.
I was like, two, there's atransfer bonus, so I'm saving
(18:55):
another like 25,000 points,almost, okay, amazing, this is
like what a steal, right.
And then I'm like we are goingto fly to and from Japan in
economy and like that's a longflight and it like it will have
been, by the time we go on thisChristmas market trip, a long
(19:16):
year of travel, and I don't saythat in a poor us like oh, no
sort of way, but I just think itwill be really nice to not have
to stress about the flights,because I do kind of dread them.
You know, like I don't enjoyflying economy, I'm just doing
it because I want to take moretrips.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
You know, yeah, I mean I agree, don't enjoy flying
economy, I'm just doing itbecause I want to take more
trips.
You know, yeah, I mean I agree,I I just, since we flew premium
economy, that's the way I wantto go from now on.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I mean, it was just that much nicer than economy and
it wasn't you know as nice asbusiness class, but still oh,
especially, I think, especiallyfor a daytime flight where
you're awake the whole time,like it's.
It's nice because you're, Ifeel like you're just more aware
, right, when you're sleepingfor a few hours, I don't know, I
feel like it goes by a littlequicker.
(20:06):
Okay, so that was my, that wasmy whole saga, right, let's talk
about some airlines that doversus do not charge change fees
and some best practices tothink through if you do need to
change or cancel an upcomingflight.
So I think, as a general rule,most domestic carriers do not
(20:31):
charge change fees on pointstickets, whereas most
international ones do.
That's not a like a cat, like.
That's not a catch allstatement.
I don't know what the phrase is, but let me explain.
So I think, if you think of itin broad terms, that's like a
good kind of distinction, right?
So you can think like, oh, Ibooked on American Airlines,
(20:53):
like there's probably no changefees.
There's not right.
If you book on points, you justcancel your ticket.
You can get your points backand your taxes refunded.
So American, united, delta,alaska, southwest, jetblue, all
of those kind of domesticcarriers for the most part, when
you book on points, you can getyour points and taxes refunded.
(21:17):
There's a couple of likecaveats like United, I think, if
it's less than 30 days beforeyour trip, they do charge a fee.
And Delta, if you're bookingwith SkyMiles, I think if you're
booking a basic economy ticket,they also may charge a fee.
Same thing with JetBlue, butfor the rest like specifically
(21:41):
like Alaska, southwest andAmerican, there should be no
change fees when you'recanceling award tickets.
So if you're thinking likebackup flights or whatever, I
would focus on those airlinesversus the other.
Um, southwest has made somechanges recently to cash fares,
(22:02):
but points bookings are stillfully refundable, so well, it
looks like they refund you whatyour taxes are.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Then a credit oh, as you the money they just give you
a credit.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
I don't know.
I do.
I know it.
I don't know if that's totallytrue.
That's, let me look.
I just did a quick Google and Ibelieve you can either choose
to have the taxes refunded toyour card or as a flight credit.
You should 100% choose to getrefunded to your card because
the Southwest flight credits aregoing to have an expiration
(22:38):
date starting soon, so that'd bemy recommendation for that.
And then a lot of theinternational airlines.
So, like Air France, you know,which is flying blue, british
Airways, singapore, qantas,cathay Pacific, turkish they all
have change fees.
So a couple ways to thinkthrough this.
(22:59):
If you need, if you know youneed to change or cancel.
I think number one if you havelooked a long ways out and
there's still a long ways to gobefore your flight happens, hold
off on canceling and wait andsee if the airline does some
sort of a change to theitinerary.
(23:19):
Because even if they change it,like five minutes, you
generally can use that as areason to get your money back
without paying any of thecancellation fees or your points
back.
I would do that if it's soonerin and like.
You're like oh, I'm flying nextweek, right, like, and I need
(23:40):
to cancel this.
That's when I would think abouteither your the credit card
that you booked with and does ithave, like cancer, trip
cancellation and interruptioninsurance, and or do you have a
travel insurance policy thatpotentially might cover this?
So so some cards that we reallylike that offer trip protections
(24:03):
are the Chase SapphirePreferred that is how or the
Chase Sapphire Reserve.
The reserve is actually what weuse to book all of our travel.
So even when we book on points,we pay the taxes and fees with
our my Chase Sapphire Reservecard every time.
My Chase Sapphire Reserve cardevery time, because the trip
(24:27):
cancellation and interruptioninsurance that comes with that
card is fantastic.
The Capital One Venture X cardand the American Express
Platinum card are a couple ofother ones that offer trip
insurance as well.
And then, as far as likeseparate travel insurance, we
pay for an annual policy throughAllianz.
We had a really good experiencewhen we had to use them in
(24:51):
Costa Rica last year, and sothis year I decided we have you
know, we have threeinternational trips, so I just
bought the policy to cover allfive of us for the full year.
It was under $500 total, andI'm going to do it again next
year.
Fortunately knock on wood wehaven't had to use it this year,
(25:12):
but they were very easy to workwith when we had to use them
for our Costa Rica trip.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
So yeah, very helpful and easy.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
I will say I think the trip cancellation coverage
using that policy is only around$2,000, which is not a ton,
although for us booking onpoints it's it's not terrible.
Um, so I but, but I wouldprobably start with the credit
card and then that would be likemy second, my secondary um
(25:40):
route, or I don't know, maybethe Allianz is the primary and
then the credit card.
I don't really know therequirements or how that part
works, but I like knowing that Ihave both options, you know.
Okay, what else did I want totalk about?
Obviously, if you're planning toutilize the trip cancellation
(26:01):
insurance, either through yourcredit card or through a
separate insurance policy, youneed to review what is like,
like what is covered as far asreasons for cancellation.
If you, you know, if someone issick and you need a doctor's
note, make sure you get that,make sure you ask the doctor to
specify that you're not able totravel.
(26:21):
Just just make sure you haveall your, all your ducks in a
row.
You know if you're cancelingfor one of those reasons.
And then the other thing Ithink is one of the reasons we
like to book one-way flights.
Number one it gives usflexibility, because we can fly
into one city and out of anotherand, kind of, you know, make
(26:43):
our way from one to the other aspart of the trip.
But the other reason is, if weneed to cancel one but not the
other, we have a lot moreflexibility that way too.
Yeah, it's the way to go and Imean especially when there's
five of us right Like a changefee.
The change fee was 350 eurosfor that flight that I changed
(27:06):
because there were five tickets.
Like that's a hefty amount and,as a side note, I did ask the
Air France person if they wouldwaive it, since I was going to
be booking and spending moremoney with them, and they
laughed and said no.
So but I mean I figured it wasworth a shot.
When I had to change a flightlast year with flying blue and I
don't think I got charged thefee, it was never mentioned to
(27:28):
me and I didn't bring it up andso I think I just got lucky.
But I would expect to pay Um, ifyou're you know, if you're
making a change like that, andthen I just think you just have
to evaluate is the total costI'm going to pay worth it?
I try to envision myself in themoment sitting in an economy
(27:49):
seat right for like 11 hours andI'm like would I have paid 350
euros in this moment to move tobusiness class?
The answer is yes, I would have, and so that's kind of my
determining factor.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Of course, of course it is.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Do you, do you like?
What was it about it that madeyou say like, yes, we should do
that?
Speaker 2 (28:13):
I mean, I just wanted to.
You know, I've never flown.
I totally forgot we were flyingbusiness class there.
Oh so if I would haveremembered that, I probably
would have leaned towards theother way.
But no, oh my gosh.
I mean, like I said, premiumeconomy is how I want to fly
from now on.
(28:34):
I mean, oh okay, okay, bougie,I mean if that's just, if that
means just us and the kids arein the back, I'm completely fine
with that well, okay.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Well, what's funny is you know what I forgot.
You said this, but when Icalled duane to say should I do
this, he was like, can we justdo it for us and leave the kids
an economy?
Um?
And I said yeah, someday, butnot now.
Like our daughter is going tobe six years old, like she
cannot be by herself no, kidsfly by themselves all the time,
they'll be fine no, like whenshe's like 12 maybe and we're on
(29:07):
an airplane like she's notgoing far no, no, I don't.
I don't even think it would belike allowed.
I feel like the airline wouldbe like no, because you have to
book them separately, and thenthey'd have to be booked as
unaccompanied minors, and I feellike there's a fee that goes
associated with that.
(29:28):
I don't know, we're not doingthat.
They have to be older, likewhen she's 12 and her brothers
are 15 and 18, and they can allfit in one row together, one row
of three, like, yeah, 100%, Iwould be fine with that, but
until then, no, she gets to livethe bougie life.
You know, what I was thinking,too, is, as she gets older,
(29:50):
she's, she's the youngest, sothe other two are going to be
out of the house and she's stillgoing to be here, and it's
going to be much easier for usto fly business class with just
three of us, you know.
So she's going to get thebetter end of that deal.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Sure, if we're going anywhere, the boys will be there
too.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
I mean I hope so.
I will pay for my kids to go onvacation as long as they want
to accompany me.
You know I don't care ifthey're 35.
Anyways, Okay, I hope that thiswas helpful, kind of thinking
through changing and orcanceling tickets.
If you guys have questions,please find me on Instagram at
travel party.
Five DM me.
I answer every DM that comesour way and I was gonna say oh
(30:34):
yes, if you have ever gotten anyvalue out of our podcast, we
are just literally desperatelybegging you to leave a review or
a rating wherever you listen,literally desperately begging
you to leave a review or arating wherever you listen.
It helps more people find thepodcast and it helps us grow and
be able to provide you withmore fun content.
So thank you so much forlistening.
Hope you all have a great week.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Yes, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Message me on Instagram if I can help you in
any way.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Have a good one.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Talk to you later.
Bye.
Ever booked a dream trip with points, only to have
life throw a wrench in yourplans, whether it's a sick kid,
a schedule change or even just achange of heart.
Today we're diving intoeverything you need to know
about changing or cancelingaward travel.
So listen in.
Hi, I'm Raya.
(00:28):
And I'm Dwayne, and we are yourhosts of the Travel Party of
Five podcast, where we share howwe travel as a family of five
around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We will also share how we use points and miles to
travel as affordably as possibleand sometimes even completely
free.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
So if you're wanting to travel more with your family
but you're not sure how, we'dlove for you to listen in.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn
a thing or two to get youcloser to your next trip.
Welcome back, hi friends.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Thanks for tuning in Welcome back to Travel Party of
Five podcast.
I feel like we need a sprucierintro here.
We always just say like hi,welcome back, and then we get
right into it.
I don't know, maybe people likethat, but I feel, like other
podcasts that I listen to, theyhave like a lengthy intro where
(01:28):
they introduce like themselvesand where they can.
You can find them and I don'tknow, like on social media.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
We already have that intro.
It plays before we.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, no, no, I know that, but I'm saying like they
say it every time.
Anyways, whatever, if you wantto find us on Instagram, we're
at travel party five, so I guesswe'll throw that in there.
Before we jump into, kind ofour main topic today, I thought
we would give a few like tripupdates on trips that were kind
(01:55):
of in the midst of planning fornext year, and these are all.
These trips are kind of invarious stages of the planning
process, and so let's start withThailand, which is going to be
our spring break 2026 trip.
We pivoted from Belize, which,if you've been listening for a
(02:17):
long time, our plan for almost ayear was Belize, and within
like a week, I totally flippedthat and decided no, we're going
to go to Southeast Asia and gohalfway across the world.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
But believe me, I'm not upset with Thailand.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Oh, my God, oh, that was for sure a dad joke.
Oh gosh, ok, so do you knowwhere we're at with our Thailand
trip?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yes, we've booked a ticket there.
We haven't booked one back,correct?
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yes, and we have hotels booked for now.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yes, that's always first.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yes.
So we booked flights there,paying cash actually, because
the cash price was like prettyaffordable, and then I booked
all of our hotels and I'm justin the process of trying to find
flights back.
I do think I know how we'regoing to book them, but because
there was a good amount ofavailability on the airline,
(03:23):
like slash points program that Ithink we're going to use, I am
kind of holding out for maybe ahopeful transfer bonus to this
program.
There hasn't been one in a whileand I tried putting the history
of the transfer bonuses, likeyou know, for the last like five
years or whatever, into chatGPT and I asked chat GPT to
(03:44):
predict when the next one wouldbe and it could not because it
was so like irregular.
So no idea, but I'm pretty sureit's been more than a year
since there has been a transferbonus to this specific airline
program from American Expressspecifically, and so I'm just
gonna, I don't know, give it aweek or two, maybe wait till
June and see if anything pops up.
(04:04):
And if it doesn't, so I'm justgonna, I don't know, give it a
week or two, maybe wait tillJune and see if anything pops up
, and if it doesn't, then I'mprobably just gonna book it
without the bonus, but sincethere was a lot of availability,
I don't feel like we have torush.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Explain to our listeners a transfer.
What's it called?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
A transfer bonus.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
A transfer bonus.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Explain to our listeners or explain to you.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I'm listening right now.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Okay.
So a transfer bonus is likewhen, let's just say, chase has
a.
Currently they have a transferbonus to Air France Flying Blue
and this we'll actually talkmore about this in a few minutes
because I have a story aboutsome of our flights.
I just changed, but currentlythey have a 25% transfer bonus.
So that means if you transfer100,000 chase points, you should
(04:51):
end up with 125,000 flying bluepoints.
Essentially and there are, likeyou know, that number is for
easy math but if you need like52,000 points, there are
transfer bonus calculators.
You can just google and you canenter, like the program, the
transfer bonus, and then it'll,like you'll say, I'm trying to
(05:12):
get, like, let's say, 52 000points and it will tell you how
many you should transfer toreach that 52 000.
So it does the math for you.
But that's what a transferbonus is.
So essentially it just allowsyou to utilize less of your
flexible points to book um whatare some of the apps or programs
for that?
(05:33):
like what do you mean?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
you just said you can put it into this program.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
You know, like you can just google transfer bonus
calculator and there's there's aton just whatever, or the first
few that pop up.
I would choose that.
I feel like most of the likethe Points Guy and Travel Mom
Squad they all have like ones ontheir website that you can use.
So I just use whatever comes upfirst.
Anyways, so that's kind ofwhere Thailand is at.
(05:59):
And then we're thinking forsummer Scotland, because my mom
really wants to go, and so thiswould be kind of the five of us,
and then my mom and my sisterwould also go, and so we've kind
of narrowed down rough datesfor that, literally this morning
, and I'm trying to understandthey each have a little bit of
(06:20):
points and I'm trying tounderstand what points they have
and how many, so that I can tryto coordinate all of that into.
You know, either one of theflights, like one way or round
trip, depending on what I canfind and how many they have.
So that's like a whole notherelement, right, Because it's
(06:41):
it's not just the five of us.
Now there's seven.
My mom will likely fly with usbecause she lives here, but my
sister lives in Florida, and soI'll have to find different
flights for her that can kind ofcoincide with whenever we are
landing, and I think we're goingto try to do a few days in
(07:02):
London before we head toScotland.
That seems to be the gist, andso it's probably going to be a
two-week trip because we want togo to like four different
places in Scotland.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Does anywhere in Florida fly directly?
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Probably not right.
Orlando does, yeah, and so mysister lives in the panhandle,
but she'll.
I asked her where she wanted tofly out of and she said
probably Orlando, and I do agreethat's probably the cheapest.
So she will either drive or fly.
No, she'll, she'll drive toOrlando, she.
We, we all used to live inOrlando, so we have a good
amount of friends and stuffthere, so I think that'll be the
(07:42):
plan.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
So that should be fairly easy for her.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Yes, yes, it should be easy for me to help find her
award availability.
I'm thinking Virgin Atlantic isprobably going to be like the
cheapest and the plan is twoone-way flights, one into London
and one out of Scotland.
That's kind of where we're atwith with various trips, and
(08:07):
then, as far as like our fallbreak trip next year, no idea,
absolutely no idea.
Um, peru is really high on mylist, but after doing Thailand
and then Scotland, like thoseare both going to be not really
like super relaxing.
So I'm debating, like I don'tknow if Peru is the best choice
(08:32):
or if we just need to go back tolike Maui and park on a beach
somewhere.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
I'm all for that.
Maui the Maui one Any beach ohyeah, Nice beach.
That maui the maui one anybeach oh yeah, nice beach, like
as a funny story, duane.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
So I really wanted to go to peru and I was telling
duane about this and he wasincredibly uninterested in peru.
And I mean we're talking likemachu picchu.
Like this is like really highon my bucket list.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
I mean I'm interested in that well, okay, so I mean,
I would definitely want to seethat yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
So within a week of me mentioning this to him, one
of my one of my good, good, goodfriends posts on facebook that
she is in peru and I send it tohim and I'm like, oh my gosh,
look, this is a sign.
So then I text her and I tellher like, oh my God, you're in
Peru.
Like I want to go there.
I was just talking to Dwayneabout this.
He doesn't want to go, blah,blah, blah.
(09:28):
So then she starts sending uspictures right Of where she's
seeing like my name on stuffboth my first name and then our
last name and she just keepssending these pictures and she's
(09:49):
like, how many more signs doyou need?
And it was pretty funny.
It was pretty funny, yeah.
So I mean our last name's notsuper common.
So I mean it's your last name,but now it's our last name it's
not super common.
So it was pretty funny to see.
So they also have really goodfood in peru, like some of the
best food in the world.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I'm all about that too.
I mean, I just there's otherplaces on my list that are
before Peru.
That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Yeah.
So anyways, I don't know thatPeru is the right answer for our
fall break trip next year again, but likely in the next few
years.
We will do that because I'venever been to South America.
So that'll be, that'll be fun.
Okay, so I'm going to tell youthe whole reason why we decided
to do this episode.
First I'm going to tell you mystory, my saga around the change
(10:31):
I just made to our Air Franceflights, and then we'll jump
into kind of some best practicesabout best airlines that don't
charge change fees and kind ofhow to think through if you do
need to change or cancel anaward ticket or hotel.
So the other day I am doing myregular searches for flights to
Thailand, just looking to see ifanything new has come available
(10:53):
.
I check pretty much every dayand I probably will.
Until I book something, I don'tfind anything new or exciting,
and so then I just get a randomthought that I should check our
flights back from Frankfurtlater this year when we go to
Christmas markets.
I haven't looked at theseflights in months.
I think I booked them inJanuary and I we have business
(11:16):
class booked on the way thereand we have economy booked on
the way back.
We fly from Frankfurt, weconnect in Paris and then direct
Paris to Phoenix.
So I go on the website and Irealize that there are five
business class flights availableat the Saver Fair.
So basically I can get fiveseats for 255,000 flying blue
(11:38):
miles.
That is a smoking deal.
That is for three I'm sorry,two adults and three kids as a
side note and so I'm like, ohman, like I would really love to
do this, but is it worth it?
So I called Dwayne, thinkinghe's going to be the voice of
reason, and I say, hey, should Ido this?
(11:58):
Because if I do, I need to usehalf of our chase points.
Right, we have around 200,000and this is going to use up
100,000 of them.
And is it worth it?
It's also going to be an extra$1,500 in taxes and fees,
because there's additional taxesand fees regularly and then
there's also a change fee thatAir France charges.
(12:18):
So total was an extra $1,500out of pocket, and we had
already paid around $1,500 outof pocket and we had already
paid around a thousand.
Dwayne is not the voice ofreason, was not at this time.
He said, nope, we should dothat.
So I'm going to walk youthrough my saga because it was
three of the most stressfulhours of my life.
So there's a chase transferbonus.
(12:39):
So I think, okay, that's good.
I think I only had to transfer95,000 points and I was able to
get the like 115,000 ish that Ineeded.
But first I also have to cancelour current flights because I
need those points back in orderto be able to book the new
flights.
(13:00):
And when you book with FlyingBlue, you have to.
Well, it depends on the fareticket, I guess, but the tickets
that we had booked, you have tocall them to change or cancel.
Like there's a form you cansubmit online, but it doesn't
happen right away, it's notimmediate.
So the only way to do itimmediately is to call them.
So I do, I call them and I'm onhold for 10 minutes, 20 minutes
(13:25):
, 30 minutes, okay, and now I'mpanicking because I've already
transferred the points.
The points are in my account,but I need the extra points from
the current flights to bookanything.
I can't book anything and I'mafraid the flights are going to
disappear.
So, as I'm on hold, I'm panic,googling like how to get a hold
of Flying Blue, blah, blah, blah.
(13:46):
I try chatting on the website.
I need to let you all knowright now there is a difference
between Air France and FlyingBlue.
So when you call Air Franceabout an award ticket, they
cannot help you.
They will direct you to FlyingBlue, which is the loyalty
program.
So, just as a side note, Ichatted on their website but it
(14:06):
was Air France.
I could not find a chat bot onthe Flying Blue website.
I was searching Reddit threadslike the threads were
recommending to call, like theAustralia number or the Dutch
number.
Okay, I tried the Australianumber.
It was they were closed becauseof what time it was in
Australia.
It was like 2am.
So okay, so then I eventually Iprobably tried six different
(14:31):
numbers and one of them Igoogled.
I found this number in a forumand like I think it was on flyer
talk and they answered rightaway.
But I just had bad vibes,because there are like a lot of
scammers that try to spoofflying blue and other airline
(14:51):
programs to get you to like givethem your credit card
information and whatever.
And I just had a bad vibe andso I said you know what it looks
like.
The flight I want actuallyisn't available anymore, so I am
going to just hang up.
So I hung up.
Then I found the French versionof the Flying Blue website and I
called the number listed on thebottom like country code for
(15:14):
France and everything Plus.
I think it was three, three,blah, blah, blah, whatever.
Someone answered relativelyquickly, like within a few
minutes.
I did have to ask in French ifthey spoke English.
They did, and then they wereable to help me.
But I mean this.
This probably went on for threehours before anything Like
(15:36):
between the time I decided I wasgoing to change them and the
time I was actually able to makethe booking.
So I think in the future what Iwould do if I were you and this
is happening is I would wait totransfer the points until
someone picks up the phone firstof all, and if you're having
trouble getting someone to pickup the phone, I would try
(15:58):
calling the international number, like for you know, the French
number or whatever the Frenchnumber is what happened to work
for me, depending on the time itis when you're calling
Australia or whatever may workfor you and then just hope that
your points transfer isinstantaneous.
I guess is the other piece,because it isn't always.
I had one that took almost 48hours once, so it's quite the
(16:21):
process, like at one pointDwayne was like wait, you still
are on hold.
I was like yes, like nothinghas happened yet.
Um, so, anyways, they do chargeyou the change fee up front.
So you pay the change fee andthen the points get refunded
back immediately.
And then I they could havebooked it for me over the phone,
but I would have had to alsopay a booking fee per ticket and
(16:43):
I was like no, no, like I canbook it online, just fine, I
just need the points there andit's fine.
So once I had paid the changefee and they had canceled my
original flight, I was able togo online and book the tickets.
Fortunately they were stillavailable.
I will say, a couple times,when I was would do the search
again, it would show me a higherprice.
(17:04):
It would say like 300 and some1000 points or miles.
So then I would have to go andclear my cookies and then I
would do the search again and itwould again show up at the
$2.55.
So if you're searching andyou're like wait, the flight is
gone, clear your history and tryagain before you give up.
(17:25):
So that was my saga.
So I was able to finally bookit.
It was very exciting.
I paid the higher taxes andfees.
I should be getting a refund ofthe original taxes and fees
that we booked, so I just needto keep an eye out for that.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I'm expecting that to take at least three to four
business days, so I'm sure youlooked, but did you see if there
were premium economy seatsavailable on our flight there to
save us a little bit of money,or points or?
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I did not look, either.
I did not look, no, no, Ididn't even think about the
flight there because it'salready in business class.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
so yeah, so, yes, we're gonna fly business class
there and back, which I've nevereven flown business class
before, so I'm excited it'sgonna be.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I think it's gonna be really good.
Um, I'm super excited for that,especially because here let me
tell you a few ways that I useto justify it, and if you follow
me on Instagram, I've alreadyshared this, this piece.
But number one Flying Blueoffers 25% off.
Award fair Actually I thinkit's any fair for kids 11 and
under, and our oldest is goingto turn 12 at the end of
(18:34):
December this year.
So, like this is my last.
This is the cheapest we'll everbe able to fly business class on
Air France, because, like, inlike six months, we'll have to
pay the adult fare for him.
So I was like, okay, onealready saving points, right,
this is girl math.
I was like, two, there's atransfer bonus, so I'm saving
(18:55):
another like 25,000 points,almost, okay, amazing, this is
like what a steal, right.
And then I'm like we are goingto fly to and from Japan in
economy and like that's a longflight and it like it will have
been, by the time we go on thisChristmas market trip, a long
(19:16):
year of travel, and I don't saythat in a poor us like oh, no
sort of way, but I just think itwill be really nice to not have
to stress about the flights,because I do kind of dread them.
You know, like I don't enjoyflying economy, I'm just doing
it because I want to take moretrips.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
You know, yeah, I mean I agree, don't enjoy flying
economy, I'm just doing itbecause I want to take more
trips.
You know, yeah, I mean I agree,I I just, since we flew premium
economy, that's the way I wantto go from now on.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I mean, it was just that much nicer than economy and
it wasn't you know as nice asbusiness class, but still oh,
especially, I think, especiallyfor a daytime flight where
you're awake the whole time,like it's.
It's nice because you're, Ifeel like you're just more aware
, right, when you're sleepingfor a few hours, I don't know, I
feel like it goes by a littlequicker.
(20:06):
Okay, so that was my, that wasmy whole saga, right, let's talk
about some airlines that doversus do not charge change fees
and some best practices tothink through if you do need to
change or cancel an upcomingflight.
So I think, as a general rule,most domestic carriers do not
(20:31):
charge change fees on pointstickets, whereas most
international ones do.
That's not a like a cat, like.
That's not a catch allstatement.
I don't know what the phrase is, but let me explain.
So I think, if you think of itin broad terms, that's like a
good kind of distinction, right?
So you can think like, oh, Ibooked on American Airlines,
(20:53):
like there's probably no changefees.
There's not right.
If you book on points, you justcancel your ticket.
You can get your points backand your taxes refunded.
So American, united, delta,alaska, southwest, jetblue, all
of those kind of domesticcarriers for the most part, when
you book on points, you can getyour points and taxes refunded.
(21:17):
There's a couple of likecaveats like United, I think, if
it's less than 30 days beforeyour trip, they do charge a fee.
And Delta, if you're bookingwith SkyMiles, I think if you're
booking a basic economy ticket,they also may charge a fee.
Same thing with JetBlue, butfor the rest like specifically
(21:41):
like Alaska, southwest andAmerican, there should be no
change fees when you'recanceling award tickets.
So if you're thinking likebackup flights or whatever, I
would focus on those airlinesversus the other.
Um, southwest has made somechanges recently to cash fares,
(22:02):
but points bookings are stillfully refundable, so well, it
looks like they refund you whatyour taxes are.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Then a credit oh, as you the money they just give you
a credit.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
I don't know.
I do.
I know it.
I don't know if that's totallytrue.
That's, let me look.
I just did a quick Google and Ibelieve you can either choose
to have the taxes refunded toyour card or as a flight credit.
You should 100% choose to getrefunded to your card because
the Southwest flight credits aregoing to have an expiration
(22:38):
date starting soon, so that'd bemy recommendation for that.
And then a lot of theinternational airlines.
So, like Air France, you know,which is flying blue, british
Airways, singapore, qantas,cathay Pacific, turkish they all
have change fees.
So a couple ways to thinkthrough this.
(22:59):
If you need, if you know youneed to change or cancel.
I think number one if you havelooked a long ways out and
there's still a long ways to gobefore your flight happens, hold
off on canceling and wait andsee if the airline does some
sort of a change to theitinerary.
(23:19):
Because even if they change it,like five minutes, you
generally can use that as areason to get your money back
without paying any of thecancellation fees or your points
back.
I would do that if it's soonerin and like.
You're like oh, I'm flying nextweek, right, like, and I need
(23:40):
to cancel this.
That's when I would think abouteither your the credit card
that you booked with and does ithave, like cancer, trip
cancellation and interruptioninsurance, and or do you have a
travel insurance policy thatpotentially might cover this?
So so some cards that we reallylike that offer trip protections
(24:03):
are the Chase SapphirePreferred that is how or the
Chase Sapphire Reserve.
The reserve is actually what weuse to book all of our travel.
So even when we book on points,we pay the taxes and fees with
our my Chase Sapphire Reservecard every time.
My Chase Sapphire Reserve cardevery time, because the trip
(24:27):
cancellation and interruptioninsurance that comes with that
card is fantastic.
The Capital One Venture X cardand the American Express
Platinum card are a couple ofother ones that offer trip
insurance as well.
And then, as far as likeseparate travel insurance, we
pay for an annual policy throughAllianz.
We had a really good experiencewhen we had to use them in
(24:51):
Costa Rica last year, and sothis year I decided we have you
know, we have threeinternational trips, so I just
bought the policy to cover allfive of us for the full year.
It was under $500 total, andI'm going to do it again next
year.
Fortunately knock on wood wehaven't had to use it this year,
(25:12):
but they were very easy to workwith when we had to use them
for our Costa Rica trip.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
So yeah, very helpful and easy.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
I will say I think the trip cancellation coverage
using that policy is only around$2,000, which is not a ton,
although for us booking onpoints it's it's not terrible.
Um, so I but, but I wouldprobably start with the credit
card and then that would be likemy second, my secondary um
(25:40):
route, or I don't know, maybethe Allianz is the primary and
then the credit card.
I don't really know therequirements or how that part
works, but I like knowing that Ihave both options, you know.
Okay, what else did I want totalk about?
Obviously, if you're planning toutilize the trip cancellation
(26:01):
insurance, either through yourcredit card or through a
separate insurance policy, youneed to review what is like,
like what is covered as far asreasons for cancellation.
If you, you know, if someone issick and you need a doctor's
note, make sure you get that,make sure you ask the doctor to
specify that you're not able totravel.
(26:21):
Just just make sure you haveall your, all your ducks in a
row.
You know if you're cancelingfor one of those reasons.
And then the other thing Ithink is one of the reasons we
like to book one-way flights.
Number one it gives usflexibility, because we can fly
into one city and out of anotherand, kind of, you know, make
(26:43):
our way from one to the other aspart of the trip.
But the other reason is, if weneed to cancel one but not the
other, we have a lot moreflexibility that way too.
Yeah, it's the way to go and Imean especially when there's
five of us right Like a changefee.
The change fee was 350 eurosfor that flight that I changed
(27:06):
because there were five tickets.
Like that's a hefty amount and,as a side note, I did ask the
Air France person if they wouldwaive it, since I was going to
be booking and spending moremoney with them, and they
laughed and said no.
So but I mean I figured it wasworth a shot.
When I had to change a flightlast year with flying blue and I
don't think I got charged thefee, it was never mentioned to
(27:28):
me and I didn't bring it up andso I think I just got lucky.
But I would expect to pay Um, ifyou're you know, if you're
making a change like that, andthen I just think you just have
to evaluate is the total costI'm going to pay worth it?
I try to envision myself in themoment sitting in an economy
(27:49):
seat right for like 11 hours andI'm like would I have paid 350
euros in this moment to move tobusiness class?
The answer is yes, I would have, and so that's kind of my
determining factor.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Of course, of course it is.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Do you, do you like?
What was it about it that madeyou say like, yes, we should do
that?
Speaker 2 (28:13):
I mean, I just wanted to.
You know, I've never flown.
I totally forgot we were flyingbusiness class there.
Oh so if I would haveremembered that, I probably
would have leaned towards theother way.
But no, oh my gosh.
I mean, like I said, premiumeconomy is how I want to fly
from now on.
(28:34):
I mean, oh okay, okay, bougie,I mean if that's just, if that
means just us and the kids arein the back, I'm completely fine
with that well, okay.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Well, what's funny is you know what I forgot.
You said this, but when Icalled duane to say should I do
this, he was like, can we justdo it for us and leave the kids
an economy?
Um?
And I said yeah, someday, butnot now.
Like our daughter is going tobe six years old, like she
cannot be by herself no, kidsfly by themselves all the time,
they'll be fine no, like whenshe's like 12 maybe and we're on
(29:07):
an airplane like she's notgoing far no, no, I don't.
I don't even think it would belike allowed.
I feel like the airline wouldbe like no, because you have to
book them separately, and thenthey'd have to be booked as
unaccompanied minors, and I feellike there's a fee that goes
associated with that.
(29:28):
I don't know, we're not doingthat.
They have to be older, likewhen she's 12 and her brothers
are 15 and 18, and they can allfit in one row together, one row
of three, like, yeah, 100%, Iwould be fine with that, but
until then, no, she gets to livethe bougie life.
You know, what I was thinking,too, is, as she gets older,
(29:50):
she's, she's the youngest, sothe other two are going to be
out of the house and she's stillgoing to be here, and it's
going to be much easier for usto fly business class with just
three of us, you know.
So she's going to get thebetter end of that deal.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Sure, if we're going anywhere, the boys will be there
too.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
I mean I hope so.
I will pay for my kids to go onvacation as long as they want
to accompany me.
You know I don't care ifthey're 35.
Anyways, Okay, I hope that thiswas helpful, kind of thinking
through changing and orcanceling tickets.
If you guys have questions,please find me on Instagram at
travel party.
Five DM me.
I answer every DM that comesour way and I was gonna say oh
(30:34):
yes, if you have ever gotten anyvalue out of our podcast, we
are just literally desperatelybegging you to leave a review or
a rating wherever you listen,literally desperately begging
you to leave a review or arating wherever you listen.
It helps more people find thepodcast and it helps us grow and
be able to provide you withmore fun content.
So thank you so much forlistening.
Hope you all have a great week.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Yes, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Message me on Instagram if I can help you in
any way.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Have a good one.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Talk to you later.
Bye.
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