Building Your Point Balances with Justin Vacula

Justin fell into travel rewards programs accidentally as he was working his way through various casino programs. Listen as he and Joe discuss some of the dead deals of the past to learn more about what you can look for in the future.Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. For Black Friday (11/24/2023) ONLY Use promo code “THANKS” for HALF off your first year of alerts. Head to Thrifty Traveler Premium alerts for more details. Recent finds include:United’s Polaris Business class for just 45K pointsBritish Airways Club Suites 5th Freedom for 15K (Nerd Alert)Air France/KLM Business Class to North Africa for 30KAgain, you can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium. Award Travel 101 Podcast Episode 43 Show NotesIf you want to hear Part One of this discussion, where Justin interviews me, check out the Hurdy Gurdy Podcast. In this particular episode Justin shares how online poker led him to into travel rewards and loyalty programs. Justin will be speaking at our Spring Meetup in San Antonio on how to use programs most don't discuss to generate more rewards. We'll cover:BackgroundIntroduction to travel rewards/loyalty programsHighlightsFavorite airline, hotel, credit card programsDeals - "phone army?"The “War on happiness.”To join Justin's Greater Philadelphia Miles & Points monthly meetups. You can find some interesting takes on casino rewards, miles & points, and Dave Ramsey on the Hurdy Gurdy Travel YouTube Channel. For everything else, check out the Hurdy Gurdy Travel website.Tip of the weekCheck out our instructional video on how to use CardPointers with the Company's founder, Emmanuel Crouvisier. Through Travel Tuesday 11/28/23, Save 50% off CardPointers during their Holiday Special. That means you can get one year for just $30 or a LIFETIME subscription for $100. Short-notice meetupBoarding Area's bloggers Le Chic Geek (a.k.a. Jeanne) and Pizza in Motion (a.k.a. Ed) are pairing up with Trevor from Tagging Miles to do a Toys for Tots drive on Monday 12/4/2023 from 6-9PM. You can find them atBar Bao3100 Clarendon BlvdArlington, VA 22201-5301Joe will be joining the fun, so if you wish to ask for travel advice, meet other travelers, or just come to share the holiday spirit, get your free tickets or check out their Facebook event page for more details.Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1. You can also email us at contactawardtravel@gmail.com. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024. If you want a waitlisted ticket, see this post in AT101. Support the AT101 Podcast/Community