Winning at Travel with “The Points Guy’s” Brian Kelly

Back in the olden days of the 1990s with our dial-up internet and AOL accounts, twelve-year-old Brian Kelly was at home honing his budding interest in travel planning by booking his family vacations and maximizing the reach of his family’s points and frequent flyer miles. Cut to a few decades later and that hobby (which started as a small-time blog powered by affiliate-marketing, which his mom was convinced was a scam) has evolved into a whirlwind operation that the world now knows familiarly as “The Points Guy”.

Brian Sherpas us through all of the twists and turns of booking travel to eliminate the headaches and get THE MOST bang for our buck.

Highlights from this chat include:

• Why Brian thinks this is “the Platinum Age of Travel”
• Mastering family travel – Brian has been to sixteen countries with his two-year-old and is currently planning a month-long trip to Thailand with his newborn so he’s figured this out!
• How, when leveraged correctly, you can finance your travel using your loyalty points
• The 3 main types of rewards to have on your radar
• Surprisingly helpful hacks to avoid jetlag
• And Jen shares a hilarious story about a flight to Spain seated next to a nun that quickly got out of hand

Segments:

Rant or Rave: Early Airport Arrivals

GenXCellence: 80s/90s Travel

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Thought-provoking Quotes:

When people tell me that because of my knowledge, they were able to get the family together this year, that’s why I do what I do.– Brian Kelly

Having points in a transferable currency is like an insurance policy. – Brian Kelly

Find where the deals are. That’s how you really save. Let the deal define your destination, especially if you’re booking multiple tickets. That’s when you save real money. Spend your money on the horseback riding experience, spend it on the meals, and the fun. – Brian Kelly

You need to be your own advocate. I see people melting down in airports and getting bullied around, screaming at airline agents – the ones who hold all the power. I think people need a mentality shift because they assume they are owed something when they’re not. You need to know when to ask for favor and when you are owed something. It makes all the difference. – Brian Kelly