Podcasts about Virgin Atlantic

In this episode, I'm joined once again by the brilliant Eleanor Tweddell, coach and change consultant and author of the new book Another Door Opens. You might remember her from an earlier episode where we talked about her first book on redundancy. This time, we're diving into her fresh take on navigating change—one that acknowledges how messy and human it really is. Eleanor introduces us to her five-step Change Mastery model, a practical and powerful framework designed to help leaders process change themselves before they try to lead others through it. We explore why traditional approaches to change often fall short, the emotional complexity leaders face in transition, and how we can show up more intentionally and empathetically during uncertain times. This episode is for any leader navigating change themselves or trying to lead a team through transformation. Whether you're facing restructures, technological shifts, personal crossroads—or simply the everyday micro-changes of life—this conversation offers clarity and compassion. Episode highlights: Why change is rarely linear and almost never neat The difference between managing change and mastering it How leaders can work through change themselves before leading others The five steps of Eleanor's Change Mastery model for leaders: Pause – Start by stopping. Create space to rest and think. Mess – Acknowledge the emotional complexity and personal impact. Play – Get curious and explore possibilities without pressure. Try – Take small, intentional steps forward. Restart – Begin again, but with clarity and intention. This is Influence & Impact for Leaders, the podcast that helps leaders like you increase your impact and build a happy and high performing team. Each episode delivers focused, actionable insights you can implement immediately, to be better at your job without working harder. About Eleanor Tweddell: Eleanor Tweddell is a coach, change consultant, facilitator, keynote speaker and author. After over two decades working in senior corporate management roles, including Whitbread, Virgin Atlantic and Vodafone, she founded Another Door with the mission of helping individuals, teams and businesses navigate change. Website: Another Door LinkedIn: Eleanor Tweddell Book: Another Door Opens (Coming 4th September 2025) Work with Eleanor: Eleanor now offers Change Mastery for Leaders and Change Mastery for Teams—high-impact workshops designed to help people navigate transition with intention and resilience. Work with Carla: Impactful Teams Scorecard – Discover how your team measures up and how you can grow your team's impact. 1:1 Leadership Coaching with Carla – Define your unique leadership brand and thrive outside the mould. Book a discovery call

Planning a dream trip but feeling overwhelmed by flights, hotels and travel budgets? This episode of Everything Counts is your essential guide to smart travel planning. It covers how to get the best value, avoid common pitfalls, and create authentic experiences without breaking the bank. 702's Motheo Khoaripe is joined by Paolo Giuricich (Head of Investec Travel) and Liezl Gericke (Head of International - Africa, Middle East, and Asia Pacific) at Virgin Atlantic to share how industry insiders get more value when they travel: from when to book flights, how loyalty programmes can boost your journey, to using technology and trusted advisors to maximise every rand spent. Whether you're a first-time traveller or a seasoned explorer, this conversation will help you plan smarter, travel better and make every trip truly count. 00:00 Introduction 02:00 Investment in travel: How expectations have changed 03:00 How a travel advisor can help you get the most out of your holiday budget 04:30 Out-of-season holidays and affordable family vacations 06:00 When to best book flights 07:45 Don't bank on last-minute holiday deals 08:50 Avoid peak season travel if possible 10:00 Travel is part of the holiday 12:45 Are airline loyalty programmes worth it? 13:15 Virgin Atlantic loyalty programme 14:50 How bank and airline rewards work together 15:30 Investec Travel benefits 19:45 How to avoid going over your holiday budget 20:00 Best travel apps 20:30 Using AI for travel planning 21:30 Conclusion Investec Focus Radio SA

Dave Geer is Senior Vice President - Operations at Virgin Atlantic and was appointed to this role in September 2020.  He is responsible for large parts of Virgin Atlantic's operations, including flight operations, pilots, cabin crew, inflight services, crew logistics, property & facilities and business resilience. Dave is also the executive sponsor of Virgin Atlantic's VALUED network (Virgin Atlantic Loves Unity & Ethnic Diversity). Prior to his current role, Dave was SVP – Revenue Management & Distribution, with responsibility across pricing and revenue management, distribution strategy and digital transformation. Dave joined Virgin Atlantic from Virgin Holidays, where he was Interim Managing Director.  Prior to his role as Managing Director, Dave was responsible for revenue management, product, corporate strategy and business development. Dave began his career as a management consultant at L.E.K., where he spent over six years advising companies on mergers, acquisitions and a variety of strategies across heavy industry, retail and financial services. Dave lives in London with a wife and three children. He enjoys running, cycling, cricket and watching most sports. He is originally from Adelaide, Australia and studied Chemical Engineering at the University of New South Wales. Lovefly Courses  FB - Lovefly Insta @loveflyhelp #fearofflying #flyingwithout fear #anxiety #aviation #lovefly #pilots #turbulence #claustrophobia Intro and outro music 'Fearless' Daniel King

Title: Travel Like a Billionaire: The 90% Off Secret to a First-Class Lifestyle with Eli Facenda In this conversation, Eli Facenda shares insights on maximizing travel experiences through strategic use of points and credit cards. He discusses his nomadic lifestyle, the entrepreneurial journey that led him to travel hacking, and the importance of understanding the value of different points systems. Eli emphasizes the need for a structured approach to travel, focusing on maximizing points, optimizing travel upgrades, and effectively using credit cards to enhance travel experiences. The discussion also touches on the significance of having a clear strategy for business owners and how to navigate the complexities of travel rewards. In this conversation, Eli Facenda shares his expertise on maximizing travel experiences through strategic use of points and credit cards. He discusses the importance of community in travel planning, innovative solutions for entrepreneurs, and his personal journey in the travel industry. Eli emphasizes the significance of experiential wealth and actionable steps listeners can take to enhance their travel experiences. Links to Watch and Subscribe: https://youtu.be/c7QqSscsajc Bullet Point Highlights: Seth and Eli kick off with casual banter about van life, audio gear, and the nomad lifestyle. Eli shares his background going from broke entrepreneur to travel-hacking expert. He explains how he got obsessed with using points after a free trip to Thailand changed his mindset. Eli now helps entrepreneurs take $20K–$50K luxury trips for 90% off using credit card points. His 3-part system includes maximizing points, optimizing travel perks, and redeeming for bucket-list trips. He gives a real-world example of booking a $20K ANA business class flight to Japan for just $12. Seth dives into a real-life org structure and Eli explains how points flow to the guarantor, not the LLC. Best practice: 2–3 business cards and 2–3 personal cards tailored to your biggest spend categories. Eli introduces his new “DreamTrip Alert System” that delivers full trip itineraries at massive discounts. In the Million Dollar Monday segment, Eli shares how he made, lost, and remade his first million. His next million will come from scalable digital products and a wider reach through content and community. What makes Eli top 1%: He walks the walk, traveling the world and running a business around it. His #1 tip: Pick your dream trip, put it on the calendar, and commit, then let the how figure itself out. Transcript: Eli Facenda (00:00.059) What's up, Seth?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:01.43) Yo, what's going on, brother?   Eli Facenda (00:03.237) How we doing, man? How we doing?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:05.141) Excellent man, what's happening?   Eli Facenda (00:06.893) Not much. you, how's the audio coming through here?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:11.032) Sounds good, sounds good.   Eli Facenda (00:12.547) it clean? Okay, because I'm, it's basically we're in the middle of a Nomad trip here, so I normally have like a, like a shirt mic like you have, but on the road I haven't had, so I haven't had to test this yet, but I figured the DJI's are pretty solid, so I wanna make sure it's actually coming through decent.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:16.962) Okay.   Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:26.732) Nice. Yeah, no, it sounds good. Sounds good, man.   Eli Facenda (00:29.425) Okay, cool, awesome. Awesome Dave, we'll get to connect with you.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:33.802) Yeah, brother definitely, so I don't butcher it. How do you pronounce your last name? Facenda, okay, cool. Cool Awesome, man. Yeah, we've we've crossed paths on social media. I think or maybe our va's have crossed paths who knows   Eli Facenda (00:39.077) for sender. Yep, yep.   Eli Facenda (00:47.663) Yeah, think that was where, yeah, think we were initially connecting, yeah, totally. Instagram, I think, was the place. Yeah. Because you're out in California, right? Nice, I'm in West Palm right now. And I mean, normally based in Austin, but we're in the middle of a like, six to eight month nomad adventure. And so we are, we're on the road here, and we go to Europe in a few weeks for like the next several months.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:53.42) Yeah, nice, nice, where you at right now? Yep, San Diego.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (01:10.446) Sweet dude.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (01:17.166) That's awesome dude, awesome, awesome. Love it man, that's a long time. So we did last May we did, man it's been like a year, geez. We did like 30, 33 days in a van trip. So we took our van up through Wyoming into Montana and into Canada. That was a long time for us, but 68 months. Right, yeah.   Eli Facenda (01:18.117) Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, man.   Eli Facenda (01:33.455) Nice.   Eli Facenda (01:37.465) sick. Yeah, well vans are intense too. You know, I haven't done van life but my fiance, she did that before and it was like a lot for her. But yeah, so totally depends on the way you're traveling as well. Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (01:47.266) Yeah.   Nice, nice. Cool, man. Just give you a quick rundown. our audience, my audience is typically, so it used to be passive investors, right? So it used to be the passive income attorney podcast. I think when we might've tried to schedule before and that was for investors. So accredited investors trying to get them to invest in my commercial real estate deals, that sort of thing. But now I've rebranded to raising the bar, which is more geared towards active investors and entrepreneurs and folks like that. So still,   Eli Facenda (02:10.619) Mm-hmm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (02:19.982) Still, I'm sure your clients, wealthy folks that are starting businesses, that have businesses, that are raising capital for real estate or private equity or other types of businesses, that sort of thing. And then we'll do about, we'll do it a little on the shorter side. So we'll do about 30 minute interview, probably at the longest. And then we'll kind of just close that out. And then I do two little smaller sections that I break down into like little five minute episodes. One is a million dollar.   Eli Facenda (02:25.403) Totally.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (02:49.622) Monday I put that in the notes and it's basically just like real quick, like how you made your first million dollars, how you made your last million, how you plan on making your next million. then, yeah, and then the last one is the top 1%. Basically just kind of what separates you and makes you the top 1 % in what you do.   Eli Facenda (02:59.675) Cool. Yeah, I love it. It's great.   Eli Facenda (03:08.699) Okay, beautiful. And then as far as, is there any place you want me to point people that is connected to you or do you care if you're asking about that? I don't have any hard call to action kind of pitch thing, but it's more just like.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (03:19.916) No, man, whatever, it's up to you, man, whatever you want to do, whatever you, whatever call it action you want to use, if want to send it to your website or social media, whatever you want to do,   Eli Facenda (03:26.577) Cause you know what we do have, I can do this. We have a pretty cool playbook that's normally 150 bucks and I'm happy to give it to your listeners for free. So I could give them a code, just say what would be the best code for that?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (03:37.175) Okay, awesome.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (03:43.429) Um, just raise would probably be good. use that a lot for like call to action, like DME raise. So you could use a raise.   Eli Facenda (03:46.161) Cool. All right, so yeah, so I'll just say go to the website and just DM or just put in the code RAYS and you'll get it for free. But it's like a whole playbook on how to maximize points for trips. I've act like legitimately I've had someone buy it and within 48 hours he texted me a screenshot. was like, dude, I just saved 20 grand on a trip from your ebook. And I was like, wow, okay, it works. So it's good. Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (03:57.07) Sweet.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (04:09.366) Nice, Cool. All right, man, well, we're already recording, so I'll just jump right in, and then if I need to add anything to the beginning, I'll do that later. And cool, man, yeah, we'll just jump right in.   Eli Facenda (04:14.129) Sweet. You're welcome.   Eli Facenda (04:20.27) Awesome.   Eli Facenda (04:24.913) Let's do it.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (04:27.444) Eli, what's going on, brother? Welcome to the show.   Eli Facenda (04:30.181) Thank you man, excited to be here and I we're going coast to coast today so this will be good.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (04:34.382) Absolutely, man. So we chatted beforehand, but I think you're tuning in on a road trip right now. So you're living proof of what you do, right?   Eli Facenda (04:44.065) Yeah, totally. are, well this part's kind of like a road trip. We're in West Palm Beach right now, but this is basically leg number two out of, we'll end up being probably an eight month nomadic adventure with me and my fiance and our little puppy. And so we're in West Palm Beach right now in Florida. We head to Europe in less than a month and we'll be bouncing around different parts of Europe for about four months roughly before we decide where we're gonna go next, which we're not exactly sure.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (04:58.904) Nice.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (05:12.28) That's awesome, man. Are you using all your hacks and secrets and travel tips that you put out there?   Eli Facenda (05:18.449) Absolutely, yeah, 100%. I mean, we just got back from a crazy trip to Japan. This was really cool. I run an entrepreneur mastermind. So we integrated our own trip around Japan around this mastermind event. So I had 53 people come out for like eight days. We went snowboarding in the mountains in Niseko in the Northern Park. And then we went down to Tokyo for the cherry blossoms. But for myself personally, to get there and back and do a lot of the hotels, we used points. We saved over 50 grand just on that portion of the trip. We then...   know, flew down to West Palm on points and then going over to Europe and a lot of the stays over there will also be leveraging the point strategies that I help clients use and then I talk about on social media and the stuff that we'll dive into today. But yeah, I like to be living proof of it because it's pretty awesome. It's something that's really impacted my life. I love doing it. And when I do it, I get to share it too. So has like a multiple benefit for everybody.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (06:06.648) That's awesome, man. I'm excited, dude. I'm excited to dig in here, because it's just for my own personal benefit and education, because I'm super stoked about this stuff, and I travel a lot with my fiance, or my fiance, my wife, and it's something I'm personally interested in as well. We've had past conversations too, so it's great to have you on, man. So just to start off, man, if somebody, you meet somebody in the street, they ask you what you do, how do you explain that?   in a sentence, right? Like without going into some crazy like tangent about all the awesome things that you do. Like what, how do you answer that question?   Eli Facenda (06:36.453) Yeah.   Eli Facenda (06:41.329) Sure, sure, Yeah, it really does depend on the situation, but I oftentimes will ask a couple questions because it makes it easier for people to understand. So usually it's like, do you have any big dream bucket list trip you've ever wanted to take? And they'll be like, oh yeah, Greece. I'm like, well, what we do is we help you get to Greece in business or first class, stay in five star hotels, have the trip of your dreams at about 90 % off. So that's kind of the tagline is take the trip of your dreams for about 90 % off.   I'll get into the whole point side of things, but some people don't know what points are, or some are really well studied in that world. So I just leave with the trip because that's usually what people want. They want to have the experience where it's you and your wife flying first class, sipping champagne on the way to Paris to go see the Eiffel Tower and the points and the credit cards. That's really the mechanism. That's how we make the experience happen. But at end of the day, what we want is the amazing memories, the beautiful experience, all that stuff. So I leave with the trip when I talk about it.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (07:37.848) That's awesome, man. Yeah, I mean, you're literally selling the dream, right? Like in marketing, you sell the dream or hit on a pain point. Like you are like the quintessential selling the dream. Like that's what everybody thinks about. So.   Eli Facenda (07:42.969) Yeah, exactly.   Yeah, Right. Well, it's funny because, you know, in marketing, they'll say like, sell the destination, not the vehicle, right? They'll be like, sell the outcome, not how you get there. And so we do that in our marketing. But then when you think about it, when people are taking a trip, what we are helping them do is make the vehicle to get to the destination part of the destination. Because really, when you travel well, and you do it in style, the flight becomes a part of the trip that you're excited for.   I can't wait to see the the drinks and the champagne and the food they're gonna have and how awesome the seat is and the movie selection, how big's the screen. At least for people that love to travel, it becomes a fascination of the trip, not just getting there. So that's a big difference maker when people start to go on these flights, and this is what a lot of our clients will say, and for me, it goes from flying economy to like, I'm counting down the hours to get off this freaking plane.   to like, we do another lap around the city? Cause like, I'd love to just hang out here longer, right? And like the flight attendants treat you really well. So yeah, it's a whole experience.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (08:49.314) That's awesome, man. Yeah, that's great. Was there a trip that you went on personally where you just kind of thought, man, I can turn this into a business, right? Like you're just enjoying it so much that you just were like, like the light bulb went off or how did this business spawn?   Eli Facenda (09:04.515) Yeah, there wasn't one trip that I made the connection between like, trip is awesome, let me start a business. But there was one trip that gave me the light bulb of, my God, I am obsessed with this, I need to learn everything I can. There was zero intention or thought about business that when it first started. And that'll take you back about 10 years. So was around 22 years old and I'm just coming out of college. And basically I'm in my mom's basement and I remember this really...   like heavy feeling because I went to a good university near New York City and all my friends went to Wall Street and they were making like six figures plus right out of school. And I had this like entrepreneurial bug. I was like, that's not for me. I don't want to sit in an office. I don't care if I can make a lot of money. I want to like play life on my terms, even if it means I'm making less. So at this point I have friends that are making tons of money, know, lots of disposable income and I'm making like 20 grand a year. I'm working four side jobs. I was trying to build a company. I remember getting this text.   And my stomach just dropped, because I was like, shit, I'm going to miss out on this incredible experience. was friends inviting me to go to Thailand. And I was like, if I don't figure out a better strategy of either how to make more money or figure something out, I'm not going be able to go on this trip. And I was like, damn, this is going to be just a life of missing out on experiences. Is that what it means to follow my dreams with entrepreneurship? It's like, I have to forego everything that my other friends are doing. And so was like, let me think about this differently. And I had a mentor that told me, you don't need more money, you need a better strategy. And he was talking about growing a business.   But for me, I was like, oh wait, there's this credit card point thing. What if I could figure that out? So I ended up piecing it together. I got a trip to Thailand for free. I had this amazing experience with some of my best friends. It's like still, you know, 13 friends in Thailand at age like 22, 23. Memories you don't get back. So was really grateful to have that. And then I came back from that trip and I got another flight a few, probably a year later to Europe in business class where it was a $6,000 ticket that I paid $6 for. Now after that one,   I came off that flight and I was like, I will read every blog, I will watch every YouTube video, I will learn everything about this because it meant I could travel the world and have this incredible lifestyle without having to go take a corporate job. So was like, I get to have my entrepreneurial dream and the travel I want without any trade-offs and I was like, this is amazing. So that was my first time I got hooked. It took me years of researching and reading blogs and websites and doing stuff for myself before I even had the thought of helping anyone else. I just became obsessed with it on my own.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (11:27.086) I love that you recognize you had the entrepreneurial bug early on, right? Before you got drugged down into the corporate ladder and then you got the golden handcuffs, we like to call it, and that sort of thing where it gets much, much harder to escape that gravity. I know for myself, it took a really long time. ended up going to, I went to med school, then I got my MBA, and then I went to law school, and then I worked in a big law firm, and it just took me all this time to figure out like, I don't want this.   Eli Facenda (11:38.405) Yeah.   Eli Facenda (11:49.201) Mm.   Eli Facenda (11:56.763) Right, well the social pressure alone of like everyone year round is going one way, it takes a lot of guts for you to zig when everyone else is zagging, like it's not easy to do. Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (11:57.015) And I think it's.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (12:06.648) For sure, for sure. Yeah, it's tough. It's tough, right? And especially when you see your friends making six figures right out of college, you're like, man, I could do that right now if I wanted to do it, but I don't want that. So it takes guts to be able to go out there and do your own thing.   Eli Facenda (12:21.873) Totally. And I think everyone has their own version of that still. There's even vert flavors of that today that are still existing for me where it's like, everyone's kinda going this way, but when I really get quiet and listen to myself, I'm like, yeah, you could do that, but you actually, what your soul or your heart really wants is to go over here. And so I've always just tried to listen to that more because I think about one of my North stars is, at the end of my life, I'm 80, 90 years old, I do the rocking chair test and look back, it's like,   What regret would I rather not have when I'm 90? I'd always rather be like I bet on myself than like I took the sure, you know, the well-paid path, which is the old cliche, but I think it's really true.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (13:01.004) Totally, I love that North Star, man. Have you ever asked ChatGBT to give you advice as your 80 or 90 year old self on your deathbed? It's great. Yeah. I love it, man. I love it. Yeah, it's great. It you great insight. You start reading, you're like, this is good.   Eli Facenda (13:07.409) Yeah, yeah, I actually created a custom GPT and it's my future me that coaches current me. yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah.   Right. Exactly. Yeah, totally.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (13:21.326) Awesome man, well let's get back kind of on the business of travel, right? So somebody comes to you, they do that introduction that we talked about, you get in a deeper conversation, they're super interested in it, they wanna learn more about these travel hacks and strategies, like where do they start? Where do you point them?   Eli Facenda (13:42.447) Yeah, so in terms of the process, I like to chunk it into three main buckets.   And it's important to have context around this game because if you don't, it just starts to feel like there's so many moving pieces and who has time for that and it's too confusing and then it becomes overwhelming and overwhelm just basically leads to an action. And then that is the person who's like, well, I just don't wanna do that, I'll just take a cash back card or I'll just stick to my Delta card, right? And so when you have the right context, you can start to understand the highest leverage moves to make and then you know really how to get the result you want with the least amount of effort. So that's what we focus on and specifically like I've worked with   probably over a thousand business owners now. And with business owners, investors and entrepreneurs, it's a different, the points game takes on a different context, right? Because usually the constraint we have to solve for is time and complexity. And if you work a nine to five, you know, after five o'clock, you've got hours for your night. But entrepreneurs, it's like every hour is kind of an asset that you can use. So it's a little bit different. So the three buckets are, the first one is to maximize the points that you earn. So this happens from getting the right cards and the right expenses.   because all of these different points are like currency, so you wanna earn the right type of points and then you wanna maximize the amount of them by getting the right cards and the right expenses. So that's the first piece and that's really, really key, because nothing else happens if you don't get that right. The second bucket is gonna be to upgrade and optimize your travel. So you've got domestic trips for a conference, are you getting TSA pre-check and clear, are you getting the best lounges, are you getting first class upgrades and free bags and hotel suite upgrades and free breakfast at the hotels and free wifi. Really it's just like,   There's all these opportunities available for people that are traveling domestically for work, for family events, you know, your kind of ordinary traveling might have. And what we want to do is we just want to enhance the quality of all of that and reduce all the headaches and annoyances by maximizing benefits on cards and status perks and all the kind of like little tactics that you can play. So that's the second thing that just makes your travel more comfortable. And then the third bucket, which is really the most important in terms of impact in your life and the most meaningful piece is to take your dream bucket list trips for 70 to 90 % off.   Eli Facenda (15:45.775) And so that's where you're gonna take the points you've accumulated. You're gonna use some strategies that I can break down here around transferring these points from the banks to the airlines and hotels, and you're gonna get these dream trips for literally a fraction of what they should cost if you're paying cash, or compared to if you were using your points through a site like Amex Travel or Capital & Travel or Chase Travel. Okay, so that's a mouthful, but those are the three. So maximize your points, get the best possible upgrades, and then take your dream trips for 90 % off.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (16:13.934) Yeah, dive into one of those little those connecting strategies there that you mentioned.   Eli Facenda (16:19.183) Yeah. Yeah. So I'll talk first about the cards. That's the order. This is the first mistake that most business owners and individuals are making is they're just getting random cards. They're like, well, I live in Dallas. Let me get the American card or live in Atlanta. So I'll get the Delta card or, whatever it may be. Or live in San Diego and I fly domestic. So I'll just get the Southwest card. Well, they don't realize is that again, these points, these points like currencies. And so if I told you, Hey, do you want 150 Mexican pesos or 150 us dollars for your couch that you're selling on Facebook marketplace?   you're obviously gonna take the US dollars, right? Because the currency is much higher. But with points, people don't realize that. So they might be racking up Hilton points or Delta miles or other points and miles that just aren't as valuable as other ones out there. And then they burn through them quick or they don't go as far. And they end up just basically sitting there being like, I feel like I should be getting more. This is the common thing I hear. I feel like this should be taking me further, but like it's not doing much. And so what we wanna focus on is bank points that are transferable. So certain banks,   have this ability to convert the points to the airline hotel loyalty programs. And what happens is the banks have a different way of pricing than the airlines do. And certain airlines and certain hotels have really good what we call sweet spots or opportunities for you to get the best possible deals. Okay, so when you earn these effective points, which the top ones I recommend are generally Amex, Chase, and Capital One, and there's a new program built actually is out where you can put your rent on a card with no fees and earn points, it's really cool. But when you get those right,   And then you look through your expenses and you say, what do I spend the most on? Is it groceries and dining and the personal side? Cool. There's a card like the Amex Gold that is specifically really good for those types of expenses. Then you look at your business. What do I spend a lot on? Is it ads and software and taking clients out for dinners? Great. The Amex Business Gold earns four points per dollar on those categories, but maybe it's you're spending a lot on flights for company travel, or maybe you have inventory you're buying, or you're paying a lot of contractors, or you have a lot of payroll. You want to assess where you're spending the most money.   and make sure you have the optimal card lined up for that type of expense. So I'll pause there, but that's kind of the first bucket. The other one is on using the points effectively, which I can talk about too, is pretty powerful. But that first one is really the linchpin. Because if you have a bunch of Delta miles and you want to go to Europe, I'll give an example actually one more before I kind of pause. There was an example recently I saw of a client and they wanted to go to Europe and we're looking at different options. This was from JFK to Amsterdam. If you have Delta miles,   Eli Facenda (18:43.547) The ticket for Delta One, this big awesome Delta Suite, was 320,000 miles. That's what Delta was charging to go from JFK to Amsterdam. It's really expensive amount of miles. But the same exact flight, like same flight number, same aircraft, everything, if you booked it through Virgin Atlantic, it was 50,000 miles. One seventh of the amount almost. It's really, really big difference. And so here's the kicker, right? If you have a Delta card, you only earn Delta miles, so you have to pay the 320,000.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (18:46.765) Mm-hmm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (19:02.124) Hmm.   Eli Facenda (19:12.497) but if you had an Amex card that earned Amex points, so like the Amex gold or business gold, you could actually convert those points into Virgin to book the Delta flight because Virgin and Delta are partners, and you'd pay 50,000 points instead of 320,000. So this is the part where like, for people that kind of get this, they're like, whoa, and the other people are like, what did you just say? So I get it can be, it can be tricky for some people that are just getting to grasp it, but I want to make sure to lay out the whole game so people can understand really what's possible for them.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (19:34.764) Yeah   Seth Bradley, Esq. (19:42.329) Totally, totally. Yeah, it's just, mean, I'm sure people out there listening, it's both, right? Some people know these things exist, but they don't know the extent of it. And you're opening up their minds regardless, right? Like all the possibilities. I think most people are just like, sure, I need to find a great car that has a welcome offer of some sort. That's usually what people look at. And then they just try to pick, perhaps they take it a step further and they're looking to see like what they spend money on the most and they'll...   Eli Facenda (19:54.139) Tour then.   Eli Facenda (20:04.443) Mm-hmm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (20:11.128) calibrate that card to that. But you're taking it step further because you know, it's kind of just opening yourself up to knowing all the possibilities, right? All these different connections, where to spend the points, where you can earn the points, those sorts of things. How thick is your wallet, man? Do you have, is your wallet like this and it's got 25 cards in it or what?   Eli Facenda (20:19.419) Totally.   Right. Yeah.   Eli Facenda (20:28.123) Haha   Yeah. Yeah.   Well, caveat this first by saying when we work with clients and we might do recommendations for people, I always recommend if you have a business, two to three personal cards and two to three business cards. That is a simple way to set this up. That's only four to six cards across both things. That's enough where you're really gonna get some serious ROI, but it's not so much that's really complicated. Some people are kind of curmudgeoned about it, like I only want one card. And I'm like, that's fine. There's no right or wrong in this. It's really preferential, but you should just know if you do that, you're gonna be leaving for most business owners that spend at least a few thousand a month.   that's gonna cost you tens of thousands of dollars of free trips a year. So I'm like, is your simplicity of having one card worth that much? If it is, great, but maybe having a second or third card doesn't add that much complexity. But if you get an extra $30,000 a year trip out of it, probably worth it, right? So that's the first thing. But to answer your actual question, so I have an entire thing called the Credit Man purse. It's like this portfolio binder, and it's just stacked with cards. I mean, I have over 40 credit cards, but I've been doing this for a long time, right? And there's like, here's the thing also with credit.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (21:28.28) Hahaha   Eli Facenda (21:34.041) A big question, a lot of investors, specifically people that are doing real estate or business owners, really want to their credit clean and we're huge advocates of actually not just keeping your credit score the same but improving it over time. And when you get business cards, they don't show up on your personal credit report. Okay, the vast majority. The inquiry will, but the actual card won't. And some banks, you can actually get multiple cards with no additional inquiries. So like when we do a custom card plan for someone or when we're just recommending it, we're always saying like, make sure to look at which banks you already have relationships with.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (21:48.142) Mm-hmm.   Eli Facenda (22:02.373) which ones you can get a soft pull from, the order matters of these card applications. But at end of the day, you just want a couple of specific cards that are really gonna be custom built for you, and you don't have to go crazy with it. If you get excited and you're like passionate about it, you can get 10, 15, 20 cards over the course of several years, and if you do it right underneath your businesses, it's not gonna drop your personal credit score. Your personal credit score will actually go up over time.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (22:26.314) Mm-hmm. That's a good hack, man. I'll get I'm put you on a spot a little bit. I'm gonna explain like what what I see a lot of the people that are probably listen to this show have in place structured wise like organizational structure and it's kind of similar to mine. Mine's probably a lot more complicated, but just to keep it simple, you know, there might be a parent company, right? Like this overhead parent company that owns everything. So let's let's call it parent company, right? And then below the parent company, the parent company owns, let's say a management company.   This management company probably manages funds, manages properties, manages equity for investors, that sort of thing. And then they also might have these other businesses, right? Like it just depends on the person. Like for instance, I own gyms and some other, my law firm, things like that. So they might have these own individual operating companies that owns a gym or owns another business or does these other things. you know.   Eli Facenda (22:55.889) Mm-hmm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (23:20.066) Based on that structure, so you've got a parent company, you've got a, let's call it an equity management or fund management or property management company, and then you've got kind of this other operating business. How would you structure, what credit cards I guess would you kind of recommend? Not necessarily specific ones, but like, do they need one for all three or, yeah, how would you think about that?   Eli Facenda (23:27.301) Mm-hmm.   Eli Facenda (23:36.593) Yeah, yeah, but how would you think about that? Yeah, totally. I mean, it's a super common question. Like this is exactly the kind of clientele that we work with all the time where they're like, are you sure this is gonna work for me? I have four rental properties, two companies, one holding company. I have an investment thing. I have this thing over here. It's like, yeah, it all works. So simple is the key. So it's always a spectrum too. Like some people are, again, really minimalist with like what they want. we always, like when we're doing this for a client, we custom build it. But.   The real recommendation there is we wanna, again, assess which of these companies are actually generating the highest amount of spend. And those are the ones we wanna start with first in terms of cards and really optimizing. Now, if you have a bunch of different companies and they all have a bunch of spend, the first key thing to know is that the points will go to the business owner, the person who personally guaranteed the card, not to the business. So there's no business points account. It's underneath your name, even if it's underneath the LLC.   So the points go to you. So if you have like six different companies and you have like three Chase cards and three Amex cards, all of those three Chase cards and all of those three Amex cards are gonna basically funnel up to your account, okay? So that keeps it simple in terms of how you can think about accruing these points. They're not gonna be scattered everywhere where you can't use them. So that's good to know. Same with the airlines, right? doesn't matter if it's an airline or a bank card. So that's the first thing. For these management companies, usually lot of them don't have much spend.   So what we'll tend to do is just get one card that is like a catch-all card. And so this would be a card that we want to have earn around 1.5 to two points per dollar spent. Because what we've done is we've taken the floor of what you're gonna earn on your everyday spend and we just increase it by 50 to 100%. Okay, so like let's say a parent company is used for some client meetings and some basic legal and admin stuff and it's like 1,500 bucks a month just to do upkeep and normal stuff like that.   and it's not a crazy amount of different categories to spend. You're not running ads, you don't have that much software, there's not really a lot travel happening with it. But if that's the case, then what we wanna do is get a card, maybe like the Chase Inc. Unlimited, which earns 1.5x on everything, and we'll say, look, we're gonna keep this simple. That holding company doesn't have a lot of points earning power, so let's make sure we get a card on it just to earn, but we don't wanna like go crazy and get a bunch of cards and try to maximize every dollar. But this company that owns four different gyms and spends...   Eli Facenda (25:52.369) 50K a month on equipment and advertising and payroll and all this stuff, that's the company where we wanna look to get maybe two or three cards that are specifically aligned with that business to spend because that is where you as an entrepreneur, as an owner, are gonna be generating the most return. It's gonna be from that one entity. So I hope that breaks it down in a way that makes sense, but this is also where, again, having your cards across two to three main banks will keep it relatively simple because even if you have four different entities, if it's under one Amex login, that makes it nice and easy too.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (26:22.53) Totally, totally. Awesome, man. I knew you could handle that. Easy, easy peasy. Cool, man. Let's go to number two, right? Using the points effectively. You kind of touched on a little bit of that strategy, but let's jump into that.   Eli Facenda (26:26.682) Easy basic.   Eli Facenda (26:32.709) Yeah, yeah, so the second thing was optimizing the upgrades and all that. I'll cover that one really quick. If you're going through the airport and you don't have TSA PreCheck and clear and lounge access, you're missing out on some really easy perks that will just make your life way more enjoyable. So that's the first thing. There's a lot you can do with hotel upgrades and status. So like when I travel and go to Miami tonight for a conference, I have status at Hyatt. I'm staying at Hyatt for two of the nights down here.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (26:39.628) Okay.   Eli Facenda (27:02.225) I probably would get upgraded to a suite that's worth like thousand to 1500 bucks a night because I know how to use the suite and I certificate, it's my globalist status, I know how to message the hotel the right way. So there's some strategies there where if you do that, whenever you're traveling, you just get a much better experience. You get early check-in, late check-out, the free suite upgrade, much more spacious room. A lot of times they have lounges at the property like when we were in Tokyo, a bunch of us stayed at the Grand Hyatt there. They had a beautiful lounge overlooking the city. They had breakfast every morning.   They had drinks all day. They had a great lounge area. We actually had a mastermind session in there and they like a 15 person breakout room for us to go to. It cost us $0 to use it. They had afternoon drinks and stuff like that. So these are just the things that make your travel much better. So small tweaks that over time just again, make it a much more enjoyable experience. But that bucket on how you use your points, this is one of the most critical pieces. And I've already kind of alluded to it with that Delta One example, but   I'll share another one. So on the way to Japan, right, we flew ANA business class. This is all Nippon. It's one of the premier airlines in the world for international business class travel. They actually have a seat called The Room because it's so spacious and big, your own big sliding door. They have like an omakase menu. You've got ramen, champagne. It's like really, really good. Amazing sake and green tea and all this good stuff.   It was like an incredible way to fly and you know, it's an 11 hour flight and I didn't sleep a wink because I was just eating the whole time. But here's the deal, right? So that flight for my fiance and I, it would have been $20,000 for the two of us. It's 10,000 a piece. Okay, San Francisco to Tokyo. We're going in peak season, mind you. So I have three options to book that flight. I pay cash for it, which you know, I do decent in business, but I'm not dropping 20 grand on flights.   just to get to Japan, like that's out, that's way out of my bucket of what I would ever want to do. The second option, I go to the bank site. Okay, so again, if you have AMEX points, a lot of people have AMEX cards, like the platinum or the gold card, and this is a good start, but when you go to the bank site, each point is worth one penny. Okay, this is the baseline value of a point. So what happens is if you go to AMEX travel, they'll say, okay, this flight would cost, let's call it 20 grand. So 20 grand times one cent for each point equals 2 million points.   Eli Facenda (29:20.977) So my second option would have been to go to Amex's site and pay two million points, which I don't even have. Okay, so I'm like, that wouldn't have even worked, but that's what most people are doing at use points. They're going directly to the bank site and they're booking using Amex travel and they're getting absolutely screwed. Okay. There's kind of, and then there's a third option, which is to go through the airline site. So there's like three A and three B. Three A would be like, again, you only have Delta miles and you're kind of screwed going just to Delta. I don't recommend that. But the last option is what we did.   which is where we had Amex points and Chase points, and I looked at my different options and I said, okay, what are the best partner airlines I can book through to get to Japan? Well, it turns out, ANA is a part of the Star Alliance, okay? United is also part of that alliance. Chase and United have a partnership where I could convert my Chase points into United miles. When I looked that up, I ended up finding the deal and there's ways you have to kind of search this and track it, but that same flight that would have cost me two million points,   through Amex or Chase travel directly cost me 220,000 points to transfer from Chase to United. And I paid $12 out of Okay, so $20,000 flight, I paid 12 bucks. But how did I do it? I had the right points first. I had enough of them because I had the right cards and the right expenses. I knew how to search for this flight. And then I was able to transfer these points from Chase into the airline. So the hardest part of this entire process   Seth Bradley, Esq. (30:30.402) Hmm.   Eli Facenda (30:49.413) is figuring out the points transfers and which partners are the right ones for certain airlines. That gets very nuanced and complicated. It's kind of like, you know, if you were talking to a CPA and someone's trying to explain how like the Augusta rule works, whatever, and like the CPA pulls up like the tax code and is like unveiling this long list of tax jargon. The average person is just like, what, just like tell me how to do it, right? That's kind of the same thing here. There's a lot of different like angles and transfer partners and bonuses and.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (31:12.43) Right.   Eli Facenda (31:17.689) alliances and partnerships and it gets kind of complicated but that's how it works.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (31:22.434) Totally, totally. So let's talk about that. how do you help people keep track of that or learn that or execute, I guess, on these strategies?   Eli Facenda (31:32.241) Sure, yeah, so for us, our company really has two main levels to it. So we have a community-based level where it's like you're just getting the fast track, you're getting help from experts. So I'm really good at this, but I'm more of an entrepreneur than a points nerd. So as I built this, initially I was the one on the phone with all the clients, walking everyone through it, and then I built a team. So I found basically some of the other points nerds in the world that I was mind blown by. I knew them from social media and just seeing their stuff, and I was like, that person has their stuff. So I brought them onto the team.   And so our clients will interact with both me and them inside of our community, but it's not just points. We're also providing really cool travel experiences. So for example, I posted this, but I'm going kiteboarding in Egypt in June on this epic like entrepreneur kiteboard trip where it's 40 entrepreneurs going to learn how to kiteboard together and masterminding on one. And so I'm attending, I sent it out to our clients and I said, Hey, if you want to come on this, our team will help you plan the flights out there on your point so you can get business class on the way out.   So I like to, because ultimately I wanna help people, my mission is to help people create more experiential wealth in their life. There's financial wealth, and a lot of people accumulate dollars, but they're not turning it into experiences. So I'm like, let's create more experiential wealth, and the points are the way to justify it. So we have that community level where you get access to our team, there's calls you can jump on, ways we help you plan trips, and then we have the done for you services, where we basically just handle it for you. That's more like, think of like a travel agency on points for entrepreneurs.   That's more of what that is. And in there we'll do the custom card planning and map out what cards you need based off of what your specific spends are and stuff like that. So we do some pretty deep intake. And we kind of are almost like a travel agent. It's a little bit different in some ways, but that's basically the two levels in how we help people.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (33:12.29) Great, man. I love how you build in the experience, right? Like that's part of it. Like that's what you're teaching anyway. So it's like, it's not like, hey, join this, join this group and then we'll talk about all these things. You're actually doing it. You're actually inviting them to execute on what you're teaching so that they can see it in motion and then they can continue to do it and experience life at a different level.   Eli Facenda (33:32.497) Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, like, I really love it too. like, I'm like, everyone that works with us is really, usually a pretty cool person. Like, if you're an entrepreneur and you have the guts to build your own business, and then you wanna travel the world, like by nature of that, you're already probably a pretty cool person. Like the majority of people that are doing that, I think well-traveled people are some of the most interesting people. If you want the best stories in life, like, someone who's traveled the world is gonna have some stories for you. And so when you combine those two, it's like, these are people I wanna hang out with anyways. So like, I'm going on a trip to Egypt. I'm like, come with, like.   Whoever in the community wants to come, let's have a party, let's go do it. So it's great thing.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (34:04.994) That's great. Awesome, man. How are you raising the bar in your life and your business right now? Like what are you doing to build your business further, building off of some of the things that you're offering right now? Where are you taking it to the next level?   Eli Facenda (34:18.833) Yeah, so we have a new project we're rolling out inside of our community, which I'm really excited about, which is even just in our lower tier membership, and it's called our DreamTrip Alert System. So what this is, is when people come in, this has never been done before in the world of points and miles or travel at all. So we're the first to do this, which I'm really excited about. So let's say you were to sign up. You're gonna come in and give us your DreamTrip destinations, the seasons or windows that you could go, the points you have, your home airport, all this stuff.   and our team is going through and we're not just finding you like a flight, because there are different alerts out there that'll be like, hey, we found a flight. And it's like, cool, one way from LA to London, but like, what am I gonna do when I'm there? Where am gonna stay? How am getting back? Right, it's like part of the puzzle, but it leaves a lot on you to figure out. And for our clients, most business owners and entrepreneurs, investors, they're too busy to piece all that together. So they're like, well, cool, that doesn't really help me. So we decided to do, we said, what if we...   just basically sent people like a mystery subscription box of their dream trips. And so when you come in and you fill that out, we gather it. And then a couple times a month, we're gonna send out alerts where it's like a 30, 40 or $50,000 type trip, somewhere incredible in the world. We're talking Greek islands, Amalfi Coast, Japan, New Zealand, African safaris, Maldives, Bora Bora, places like that, business and first class flights, five star hotels, four pennies on the dollar. So these are like, we get $40,000 trips where people will end up paying a thousand bucks, 1500 bucks, two grand out of pocket.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (35:25.389) Mm-hmm.   Eli Facenda (35:44.337) And so we're gonna send the entire trip to you. So it's like the flights, the hotels, the entire step-by-step booking, the recommendations on the ground, the entire experience. And so we're sending those out so people come in, they tell us when, where, like the things they wanna do, and then they're just gonna get these alerts where it's like every month they're gonna be like, you you're sitting there with your wife, hey babe, you wanna go to Bora Bora in like June? It's gonna cost us like 800 bucks and it would be a $30,000 trip. It's like that's what I want. That's what I wanna create. So that's us raising the bar in the industry and in our business.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (36:06.35) you   Eli Facenda (36:13.615) I'm very excited, it's brand new for us, so I'm just pumped to see that continue to roll out, because it's, for me the mission is to help people live with experiential wealth in the form of travel. And so, usually there's some barriers that get in the way. There's time, there's planning, and then there's cost. And what we're trying to do is eliminate as many of those barriers as we can to make it just easier to say yes to the trip.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (36:34.252) Yeah, man, sign me up, dude. Sign me up. I feel like you've got to get both significant others on your list, right? So they both see it and whoever's like the person is like, we've got to do this, you hit both of them and then they convince the other one to do it.   Eli Facenda (36:36.625) All right.   Eli Facenda (36:49.477) Yeah, right. Yeah, exactly. There's usually one. There's usually like sometimes it's the husband's on the call and he's like, dude, I don't know where we ever travel. Like I'm gonna pay for this, my wife's gonna do everything or it's the opposite where the guy's like, you know, she just shows up and I tell her where we're going. And so like that's my relationship. I'll be like, you know, it's my industry, my passion. I'm like, we're going here and then here. And she's like, tell me where to be. And she just has no idea where we are and she just loves it. And I'm like, I like planning. So, you know, but it's different for everybody.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (37:11.736) Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (37:17.144) For sure, for sure, man. All right, brother, this has been incredible. Tell our audience where they can find out more about you, where they can get involved with all the things, all the incredible things that they've heard on this show. Throw it out there,   Eli Facenda (37:28.859) Totally. Yeah, a couple of main places. So the first thing I'll share is that we have what I call the CEO Points Playbook. This is something I custom built. Took me a long time, and this was not a Chad TBT prompt. Like, I really built this on my own. And it is like a 30 to 40 page playbook that any business owner or entrepreneur can use to really maximize their travel experiences, get better bucket list trips, figure out the right cards for them. And it's normally 150 bucks, but if you go to freedomtravelsystems.com   forward slash playbook and you put in the code RAYS, you're gonna get it for free. Okay, so anyone listening, it is free for you. And so that's gonna be freedomtravelsystems.com forward slash playbook and then use the code RAYS, maybe we can put it in the show notes. And so that'll be the first thing. Second place is if you're like just want done for you services, just take off that forward slash and go to freedomtravelsystems.com. can talk to myself and one of the team members. And the last place, I hang out on Instagram and post a lot there, that's where we connected.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (38:14.049) Absolutely.   Eli Facenda (38:27.595) And that's where I'm sharing the most like behind the scenes and as I'm booking this stuff, as I'm planning it, as I'm showing like what our clients are doing, you get to see more of the visuals and the fun and come along for the ride. And so I love engaging on Instagram as well.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (38:40.27) Great. Thanks Eli. I really appreciate you coming on the show,   Eli Facenda (38:43.973) Thanks Seth, appreciate you having me on.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (38:45.806) All right, brother, talk soon.   All right, sweet dude. Nice. Yeah, right around 30 minutes. Let's see. Yeah, we'll just jump into these last few questions here.   Eli Facenda (38:51.748) Awesome.   Eli Facenda (38:55.205) Perfect.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (39:03.862) Welcome to Million Dollar Monday with Eli Fisenda. Let's just jump right in. Hey brother. Yeah, how did you make your first million?   Eli Facenda (39:09.243) Let's do it.   Eli Facenda (39:13.499) So I actually made my first million in a tour company. Now I made the first million, I didn't get to keep the first million, but what we were doing, we were running sports trips all over the world. This is actually part of how I fell in love with the travel industry and the work that I now do with points. And ultimately what we were doing, we were creating these international tour packages for youth sports teams and families to go on these international tours. think of like a 14 year old baseball team in your, you're in San Diego. We'd like do a selection of kids.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (39:19.694) Sure.   Eli Facenda (39:41.329) from that area and the families would come and they would go to Japan or Italy or wherever and travel for 10 days, experience the culture, have an educational tour and also play the local teams. So we did that in a variety of sports, ice hockey and baseball and lacrosse and all these different sports. And we were growing a lot and then that was ramping right until COVID and that just decimated the entire business. we took us about two years to get to a million and then we started to double almost every year for a few years and that was like.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (40:02.432) Mm.   Eli Facenda (40:09.399) Really, really tough break at COVID, but that was the first million.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (40:11.63) COVID man. Nobody saw that coming. mean.   Eli Facenda (40:13.881) No, definitely, you know, group, large, large group sports international travel was like the worst potential. Like you can't go overseas and you definitely can't do it with 60 people. So was, was a brutal industry to be in.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (40:25.506) Right? Yeah, there were certain sectors that just, I mean, there was nothing you could do. We opened up our first gym actually two weeks before COVID hit in 2020. we had our, us like two years to open and then our grand opening. And then we had a bunch of free clients in those first two weeks. And then they ended up being free clients for about a year because we couldn't charge them. Cause we couldn't get them back in the gym. We're doing online workouts and all that kind of stuff is insane.   Eli Facenda (40:36.817) Ugh.   Eli Facenda (40:47.696) Wow.   Eli Facenda (40:53.337) And that's like where the true entrepreneurial muscles are definitely strengthened in times like that though. mean, like the people that bounce back and figure it out, like you just have a new sense of confidence of like, you know, I can handle anything.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (40:54.22) But hey, we adapt,   Seth Bradley, Esq. (41:06.764) Yeah, man. I mean, you pivot, right? Like I actually ended up launching my first podcast during during COVID because I was stuck inside and it was like, all right, let's let's do this. Let's get on Zoom and interview people and all that kind of stuff, man. So that leads us right to the next question. And how do you make your last million? How do you make that transition?   Eli Facenda (41:12.859) Cool.   Nice. Cool. I'll it.   Eli Facenda (41:24.143) Yeah, so the last million that I made was in the current business that I have. so essentially what we've been doing there for about four years now is helping entrepreneurs maximize their travel on credit card points. So helping them get their dream bucket list trips, these 30, 40, $50,000 trips all over the world for about 90 % off by leveraging credit card points. And we've traditionally had some pretty high ticket services. I mean, not crazy expensive, but like, you five, 10, 15 K and that range has been the main main service. And so,   We cracked our first million about two years in, so that was 2020, 2024 actually was the first year we made a million there.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (42:00.526) Awesome man, awesome. How about your next million? Where are you scaling to?   Eli Facenda (42:04.305) Yeah, so the next million I wanna make is the same business. love what I do, I really enjoy it. And what I wanna do is do it in a more community oriented and lower ticket way. So I wanna have bigger reach, more digital products, more of the community, more affiliate services and stuff like that. And I'm really excited about kind of cracking the code on that, because we've done it decently with the higher ticket stuff, more agency level, service level stuff, which is great. And we're still cranking on that, we're gonna keep growing it. But I really wanna see what we can do with...   So the lower ticket stuff, creating awesome stuff on YouTube that leads to different channels and distributions there. So that's the next million and same business, just different type of money.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (42:41.57) I love it man, yeah, that's kind of opposite of how some people approach it, right? You usually start with a lower ticket and then you have to build up that base before anybody will give you, you know, higher, pay for that higher ticket product, but you're kind of working backwards because you want to help more people.   Eli Facenda (42:56.677) Totally, exactly, yeah, and there's a limit. mean, what we do in the high ticket is incredible, but it really is a specialized skill. Like you think about like a bookkeeper or an accounting firm or something, like there's like a million bookkeepers. There's like 50 people that know points and travel to the level that I need them to know it to really serve clients with the highest level. So there's a real limit on the ability to scale that. And so it's also just like, we wanna be able to do really quality work for less people, but then serve more people with the other stuff too.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (43:25.368) Totally, totally.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (43:29.518) Cool, let's jump into the next one dude and we'll wrap up. Eli, you're clearly in the top 1 % of what you do. I don't even know if there's that many people out there that do what you do at all, period. So clearly in the top 0.0001%, what is it about you that separates you from the rest of the field?   Eli Facenda (43:49.701) I think it's our ability to actually live what we preach. This is something where, you know, there are other fantastic people that talk about credit card points, but very few of them are actually business owners, like that's who we serve, and very few of them are actually traveling in the way that they're trying to help people travel. So we've done both. I've built multiple businesses, so I understand the psychology and the relatability of how you wanna think about travel and points and the various stresses in your life, the limitations on time and complexity. And I also,   Seth Bradley, Esq. (44:06.062) Hmm.   Eli Facenda (44:20.636) What just happened?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (44:22.998) I'm not sure. We can splice it together, but let's see. Lost the video.   Eli Facenda (44:26.748) Let me see here. Did my camera die or something?   Bizarre. second.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (44:36.076) Yeah, weird. Never had that happen.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (44:42.038) Not a big deal, we can splice it together, but let's see if we can get your camera working again.   Eli Facenda (44:46.992) Don't see my camera get help. Is the audio coming through okay? Did it switch over there to my MacBook from the other one? Or it sounds the same.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (44:51.564) Yeah, I can hear the audio.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (44:57.806) I don't know. All I see is like a car. It's like I don't know. It's a card with a symbol on it I wonder what that is that riverside or is that your symbol? I can't be your symbol   Eli Facenda (45:06.556) weird. Get help.   Eli Facenda (45:12.006) Let me see.   trying to check this out.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (45:19.458) We can also just finish it with audio.   Eli Facenda (45:23.556) Is it, Dude, I don't know what's going on. Sorry about that. I've never seen...   Seth Bradley, Esq. (45:28.654) no worries, dude. We can just finish it with audio anyways.   Eli Facenda (45:31.63) New recording track created the participants have been recorded.   Issue device struggling to record. High load on your device. Try closing all other apps. Give me one second. I don't have any apps open. That's really weird.   Eli Facenda (45:53.126) Yeah, I don't know man. I apologize. I Okay, well yeah   Seth Bradley, Esq. (45:57.219) you're good, We'll just finish an audio and then I'll pull up for the video. I'll just black screen to a logo or something. So all good. I don't exactly know where you're at. If you want to start that sentence over.   Eli Facenda (46:04.048) Okay, cool.   Eli Facenda (46:07.866) Yeah, I'll just, I'll say, I'll just start. So yeah, so not only have we really walked the walk with actually living what we preach, but we also understand that psychology of what it's like to be a business owner, your limitations on time and complexity and all that stuff. And because we're talking about travel, people also want to know like what's actually in store for me in this destination. I've been to 50 countries now and my business partner has been to almost 100.   We have other team members who are all over 30, 40, 50 countries. So we've been to a lot of the destinations around the world that we're advising people to go to. So we know the ins and outs, best places to stay, hidden gems, top restaurants, stuff like that, that really add another layer of personalization and true experience into the service. So I think those are the things that really make us most credible in this space.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (46:57.506) Dude, it's so important, right? Like there's so many, you know, there's so much content out there now. There's gurus and coaches and mentors, whatever you want to call them. Like the ones that are truly valuable and that people should pay attention to are the ones that are actually practicing what they preach, right? The ones that aren't just selling you education or aren't just selling you a product. Like they're actually, they've done what they're selling and they continue to   enjoy or do what they're selling.   Eli Facenda (47:28.635) 100%, yeah, if you're a living embodiment of what you do, it makes it that much easier to communicate it and sell it because you just are the thing you're selling.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (47:38.764) Yeah, absolutely. What's one thing someone listening could do today to get 1 % closer to their dream life?   Eli Facenda (47:45.089) One thing that would be the easiest is to spend 30 minutes, go on Instagram, go on your favorite social media site, go on some travel blog site, look for your dream destination, then pull up your calendar and put a time on the calendar where you're committing to go. One of my favorite quotes is from Tim Ferriss, I forget the exact quote, but basically the idea is that if you don't schedule your fun first, it won't happen.   because your business and your life will take up as much space as you allow it to. So most people find that I'll take the trip when it's convenient. I'll take the trip when I have more time. That time is never coming until you make it a priority. So the one thing they can do to get closer to their dream life is to just make a more bold commitment to putting the time on the calendar and be like, I am going and make some sort of investment, whether you're telling someone, whether you're putting some money down, whether you're learn the point stuff, that's gonna be the biggest leverage you can make.   to make sure that you actually follow through on taking these trips and then you'll find how to get there on points if you need to from there.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (48:50.766) 100 % man, gotta put it, people, entrepreneurs, people like us, we work in all the time, you've gotta put it, put it in your schedule. You've gotta block it out, commit to it.   Eli Facenda (48:59.821) Absolutely, 100%.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (49:04.554) Alright dude, I think we got it wrapped up, man.   Eli Facenda (49:05.743) Beautiful. Awesome, Dan. Well, this was super fun and I apologize agai

#240: Transferring points is one of the best ways to maximize your points, so today we share the top airline and hotel transfer partners. We also cover strategies to get the most out of your points, including how to leverage transfer bonuses, identify sweet spots, avoid common mistakes, and more. Greg Davis-Kean is the founder of Frequent Miler, a blog dedicated to helping people maximize their travel rewards and loyalty programs, mostly without flying. He is also the host of the Frequent Miler on the Air podcast. Link to Full Show Notes: https://chrishutchins.com/top-transfer-partners-greg-frequent-miler Partner Deals Thrive Market: 30% off your first order of organic groceries + a free $60 gift Vuori: 20% off the most comfortable performance apparel I've ever worn LMNT: ⁠Free sample pack of my favorite electrolyte drink mix NetSuite: Free KPI checklist to upgrade your business performance OpenPhone: 20% off the first 6 months of your own business phone system For all the deals, discounts and promo codes from our partners, go to: chrishutchins.com/deals Resources Mentioned Greg Davis-Kean: Frequent Miler | Newsletter | Podcast Frequent Miler Resources Current Transfer Bonuses How to Save Miles by Flying More How to book EVA Air Infinity MileageLands awards How to book Vacasa Vacation Rentals with Wyndham points Flight Award Search Tools PointsYeah AwardTool ($20 off annual plans with code ALLTHEHACKS) ATH Podcast Airline/Hotel Transfer Partner Spreadsheet Ep #166: Best Award Search Tools for Booking Flights with Points & Miles with Greg the Frequent Miler Ep #167: Best Tools for Booking Hotels with Points & Miles with Greg the Frequent Miler Leave a review: Apple Podcasts | Spotify Email for questions, hacks, deals, and feedback: podcast@allthehacks.com Full Show Notes (00:00) Introduction (01:00) Outsized Value from Transferring Points (02:27) Quick Episode Overview (08:21) Why Emirates First Class Is a Coveted Experience (14:07) Air Canada's Aeroplan Program (17:51) Maximizing Transfer Bonuses (19:17) Getting Value from the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (25:29) Sweet Spot for Virgin Atlantic (32:49) Using Air France-KLM Flying Blue for Business Class Flights (39:09) Leveraging Avios Points (44:09) Avios Sweet Spots and Places to Avoid (49:44) Emirates, Singapore Airlines, and Cathay Pacific (55:44) Is the Avianca LifeMiles Program Worth It? (59:30) JetBlue's Transfer Partners (1:01:44) Southwest Airlines (1:04:39) Aeromexico (1:04:52) Qantas and Turkish Airlines (1:06:43) Booking Flights via United (1:09:26) EVA Air Program for Flights to Asia (1:11:18) Uses for ANA (1:12:45) TAP Air and Thai Airways (1:13:21) Why Greg Loves Alaska Miles (1:15:31) Difference Between Airline Miles vs. Hotel Points (1:16:37) Using Hyatt Points (1:18:07) Getting Value from Wyndham, IHG, and Hilton (1:21:11) The Marriott Bonvoy Program (1:21:40) Booking Hotels with Citi ThankYou Points (1:23:28) Leader's Club (1:25:10) Wells Fargo and Accor Points (1:25:58) Why You Should Set Up Your Award Programs in Advance (1:27:47) Is It Possible to Reverse Transfers? (1:28:56) Where to Find Greg and Frequent Miler Resources Connect with Chris Newsletter | Membership | X | Instagram | LinkedIn Editor's Note: The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we talk about surge pricing, Walmart, and the Robinson-Patman Act.We also discuss personal data, AC settings, and Delta's earnings call.Recommended Book: How the World Became Rich by Mark Koyama and Jared RubinTranscriptThe US Robinson-Patman Act of 1936 is also called the Anti-Price Discrimination Act, and it was passed to make it illegal for a product supplier to charge different prices to different customers.So a company that makes candy bars wouldn't be allowed to charge one price to most of their customers, all the smaller and mid-sized convenience stores and mom-and-pop grocery stores, for instance, and then a lower price to the big stores, the Walmarts and Amazons of the world.The concern was that these larger players, which at the time this law was passed were burgeoning grocery stores like A&P, would be able to achieve a monopolistic position in the market for these goods, these slightly lower prices giving them one more advantage over their smaller competitors.During the four decades or so of this Act's enforcement, small grocery stores has prices that were, on average, about 1% higher than those offered by their large competitors, and the eight largest grocery store chains only captured about 25% of all grocery sales in the US—essentially every city and town of any size had at least one small grocery store, and most had several of them, during this period. It was a very competitive market.During the Reagan administration in the 80s, though, enforcement was abandoned, as the folks in charge of that enforcement were convinced this Act was holding back growth; they saw it as a handout to small businesses at the expense of big business, so while it technically remained on the books, they just stopped enforcing it, and the big businesses in these spaces got the message pretty quickly.Walmart was the first big business to really lean into the new powers afforded them by this fresh governmental stance, and that led to it becoming the country's largest grocery store chain by 2001, and other big grocery brands, like Kroger and Safeway, began to do the same, consolidating all their buying so they could put in huge orders like Walmart was able to put in, and that allowed them to demand lower prices, which in turn allowed them to dramatically increase profits and gobble up their smaller competition.All of which led to the emergence of food deserts across the country, a term that was coined in 1995 to refer to areas where there are simply no grocery stores within a reasonable distance of relatively large populations of people, because smaller grocery stores can no longer compete, even when they're the only player in town; folks have to travel to the larger chain stores, and have no real options closer to home, which can result in food precariousness, and situations in which the only nearby food options are unhealthy ones—the snacks at gas stations, for instance.This same general pattern played out across all retail spaces, including pharmacies and bookstores and athletic supply stores, and between 1982 and 2017, the total market share of independent retailers in the US dropped from 53% to 22%.Which in some ways is great at the federal level, as—and this is what the Reagan administration seemed to want, back in the 80s—big businesses can grow a lot faster and bigger than small businesses, and that can lead to outsized GDP numbers, and other such macro-scale figures.Unfortunately, while independent retailers tend to keep nearly half of the revenue they pull in within their local community, major chains only keep something like 14% in the local community—so the shift from independent to chain retailers has had a deleterious impact on communities across the US, in the sense of having less competition, having food and other sorts of product deserts, and in terms of tax revenues and overall economic wealth being sapped from these areas and moved to other places, creating some relatively few winners and a whole lot of losers, in the process.What I'd like to talk about today is another type of variable pricing, this one more directly aimed at consumers, and enabled, at least in its modern incarnation, by big data and the devices we use every day.—Dynamic pricing refers to changing the price of goods or services based on all sorts of variables.Demand or surge pricing, for instance, might see the price of a bus ticket or rideshare ride with Uber cost more during rush-hour, the idea being that there are only so many bus seats and only so many available rideshare rides to go around, and when everyone's either trying to get to work or get home from work, there will be a lot more people wanting these finite number of seats and rides than there are seats and rides available.Upping the prices, then, is a means of determining who wants these things the most, because they're willing to pay at times massively inflated prices for something that would cost far less in an hour or two, once the rush has subsided.Similar price-inflation occurs during peak energy-use periods, and energy companies usually explain this price-bump by suggesting that it encourages their customers to use more energy when it's abundant and cheap, and to use less of it when it's scarce and expensive.On very hot days when everyone is using their air conditioners to stay cool, then, inflated energy prices might encourage them to be less aggressive with their AC settings, keeping their indoor temperatures at a more reasonable level, which in turn ensures there's more energy available for everyone and less risk of brownouts or blackouts.This pricing strategy is often seen by those on the receiving end of such price-bumps, as price gouging, which refers to companies taking advantage of temporary variables to massively inflate their prices, at times to abusive levels that they can justify by pointing at those variables and a desire to moderate supply and demand.So if there's a big convention in town, local hotels can argue that they're doubling or tripling their prices because there are not enough rooms for everyone who wants rooms on those days, but this could also be construed as a money-grab, these hotel companies knowing that some people won't be able to avoid paying for a place to stay during the convention they have to attend, so they're taking advantage of customers who have no choice but to pay up.We saw similar dynamics play out globally during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when folks who had high-quality masks on hand were able to charge incredible sums for those masks because production hadn't yet scaled up, so they were relatively scarce and thus precious, and these people and companies with the right product at the right time knew they could get away with charging many times the actual sticker-price of that product, because some people would feel they had no choice but to pay it.Each situation of this kind will feel reasonable and suitable for the supply-demand situation to some, and completely unreasonable and abusive to others, and it's possible to have a bit of both in many such situations—the companies in question actually want to manage a scarce supply of something, but are also keen to make as much money as possible while doing it.Dynamic pricing has become even more common in online marketplaces like Amazon, where it's not just holidays or events or the sudden emergence of global pandemics that can impact demand and thus, the prices retailers can get away with charging would-be customers.Amazon has algorithms that keep track of what competitors are charging for the goods they offer, what sort of demand the market is seeing for said goods, what inventory looks like—if they have a lot or very few of something available to sell—and all sorts of other factors that might reasonably impact the price of a product, even a little bit.As of 2024, the price of a product listed on Amazon changes several times a day, in some cases every 10 minutes, and they make about 2.5 million prices changes every single day, adjusting for those aforementioned micro-scale variables, on a product-by-product basis, but also adjusting their entire catalog so that relatively uncommon goods have higher prices, but common goods have lower prices, which means customers shopping around will tend to see Amazon's lower-priced goods more often than the higher-priced ones, which in turn can adjust their perception of the company and its marketplace in a favorable, lower-price direction.Amazon also has access to just a silly amount of data about their customers, some of it scooped up while we surf their sites, and some bought from other data-aggregators. And this allows Amazon, just like most tech companies and retailers, these days to track our behavior, watching what we click on, how long we linger on different products or product types, noticing our searches and contextualizing all of it with where we live, what we've purchased in the past, and so on.The company isn't very transparent about how it uses all this personal data, but while it's been been speculated that they might adjust prices based on our individual profiles, most evidence suggests they mostly use it to determine what we're shown—what products are promoted to us, basically, as opposed to setting prices based on what it thinks we'll pay, as individuals.The same generally seems to be true of other retailers right now, though there are concerns that this might change at some point in the near-future, as new technologies, some based on AI, enable the more-rapid and sophisticated crunching of data, and the consequent individualization of prices, even in person.US airline Delta, for instance, recently announced that it would be using AI to help it boost profits by charging different customers different prices for the same airline seat.These prices would be based on their customer profile, which means all the data scooped up by Delta from various sources, including things like past purchases, regular flight schedules, and how much money their systems think each customer makes and has available to spend.The president of the company said on a recent earnings call that they've been running a pilot project for this approach that resulted in about 3% of ticket sales being sold based on this model over the past 6 months, and by the end of the year, their goal is to increase that to 20% of tickets.In theory, this sort of system could be good for some customers some of the time, because it could drop prices on tickets that customers wouldn't want to, or wouldn't be able to pay for, otherwise. If I'm considering a trip, but the tickets are more expensive than I want to pay, these systems could theoretically recognize this and offer them to me at a price they can afford to sell them at, and which I can afford. That could lead to more ticket sales, and thus, higher profits.The evidence on the ground with these sorts of systems usually points at price increases, not decreases, though: the companies using these models to see how much they can get per unit, not using them to sell more units at lower profit margins.In other words, usually it's wealthier consumers who get the better deals, as these companies want to keep them coming back, spending larger sums of money on glitzier products and services over time, while poorer consumers have fewer options, and will thus tend to pay whatever they're told they have to pay.Delta spent most of July 2025 trying to control the backlash that erupted following that earnings call, and they're now saying, to the press but also in formal letters to government watchdogs who expressed concerns about what they said they planned to do, that no no no, we misspoke, we're not using individualized data to set prices, it's all good, don't worry about it.That announcement from Delta came shortly after lawmakers announced they would be pushing to get a new act, the Stop AI Price Gouging and Wage Fixing Act, passed into law, and though some US Senators have said they'll block such efforts by Delta, other airlines, including Azul, WestJet, Virgin Atlantic, and VivaAerobus are also clients of the Israeli company, Fetcherr, that Delta has been working with to run their AI pricing pilot program—and representatives from Fetcherr have claimed that this pricing model is irresistible to those in charge of these companies, so it will probably take over the airline industry relatively quickly, and they plan to expand into other industries soon.These sorts of pricing models aren't typically very popular with customers, and efforts by Walmart and other big grocery chains to remove static in-store pricing labels and replace them with digital versions, or in some extreme cases to remove them entirely and rely on apps on customers' phone to show prices on goods, raised similar alarm bells, as dynamic pricing can allow the store to more rapidly change their prices based on demand, like Uber's surge pricing model, but maybe applied to flour or cough medicine instead of rideshare seats, and in-app pricing could allow them to show different prices to different people shopping for the same thing at the same time—again, based on income, buying patterns, and so on.Walmart and everyone else dabbling in this space has, like Delta, claimed they intend no such dynamism in their pricing, even as their CEOs in some cases continue to brag to investors about the possibilities. As a result, there seems to be a decent chance we'll see the large-scale deployment of these sorts of models in at least some customer-facing industries within the next year or two, some company deciding to more fully test the regulatory establishment's appetite for challenging this push into a new pricing paradigm that would, theoretically at least, allow big companies to earn still-higher profits and grow even larger.Show Noteshttps://drive.google.com/file/d/1HQoQhvfVv8p0XmOdDIiWTnmd2YM_za07/viewhttps://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-price-changes-2018-8https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithmic_pricinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_pricinghttps://www.archeraffiliates.com/post/amazon-dynamic-pricinghttps://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/delta-denies-using-ai-to-come-up-with-inflated-personalized-prices/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/07/will-ai-end-cheap-flights-critics-attack-deltas-predatory-ai-pricing/https://www.the-sun.com/money/14839597/walmart-kroger-electronic-labels-dynamic-pricing-demand-wendyshttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/business/kroger-walmart-facial-recognition-prices.htmlhttps://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/what-is-dynamic-pricinghttps://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/12/food-deserts-robinson-patman/680765/https://www.indieretailermonth.com/statisticshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson%E2%80%93Patman_Act This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsknowthings.substack.com/subscribe

With figures from aviation analyst Cirium, this coming Friday, 25 July, will see 3,255 flights out of the UK with 585,189 seats on board. Paul Charles, chief executive of PC Agency – and former Virgin Atlantic communications director – has advice for the days ahead, and advises visiting Puglia and Provence.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sad news this week with the passing of Jack McAuliffe of New Albion beer. When you talk OGs in craft beer his name should definitely be in the conversation. Jacks was an innaugural inductee into the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame along with co-founder Suzy Stern and Jane Zimmerman.How many of you have seen a bar on a plane? I feel like I flew on a couple when I was a youngin. I remember thinking how interesting it was to have a bar on a plane - then I took my seat in coach and carried on. Virgin Atlantic says people have moved on from the novelty of bars on planes and they're phasing them out. Sad.More drama with Hulk Hogan's beer brand. Their facing a lawsuit that says the idea for Real American Beer was stolen. The Hulkster always seems to be in hot water.Much to Brian and Nate's delight, we found out Spaghettsicles are a thing. But they're an expensive thing. Nate's going to try crafting his own. Maybe.Rounding out the week we've got better beer taxes in Missouri, conveyor belt sushi, and unusual drinking customs from around the world.Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt with producer Nate "Mo' Mic Nate" Ellingson and occasional appearances from Becky Smalls.Subscribe to Beer Guys Radio on your favorite app: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSSFollow Beer Guys Radio: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube If you enjoy the show we'd appreciate your support on Patreon. Patrons get cool perks like early, commercial-free episodes, swag, access to our exclusive Discord server, and more!

Send us a textLinking the Travel Industry is a business travel podcast where we review the top travel industry stories that are posted on LinkedIn by LinkedIn members.  We curate the top posts and discuss with them with travel industry veterans in a live session with audience members.  You can join the live recording session by visiting BusinessTravel360.comYour Hosts are Riaan van Schoor, Ann Cederhall and Aash ShravahStories covered on this podcast episode include - Clive Wratten exposes the true income Heathrow makes from parking charges, at a whopping £171m. He also explains to us why it failed to deliver any of the benefits propagated by the airport.In a move heavily criticised by airlines and IATA, 8 countries propose an ‘aviation solidarity coalition on premium flyers', a tax on premium cabin travellers.Ethiopian Airlines plans to launch an Addis Ababa to Australia route.CWT adds a natural language query tool to their travel data analytics platform, which they claim “mirrors a real conversation” by allowing follow-up questions to give clients a deeper insight into their travel data.Pieter Elbers calls out Europe's obsession with green issues, saying it was hurting its airlines and holding back economies.The EU announces plans to spend €2.8 billion on 94 transport projects, with rail projects accounting for 77 per cent of the total spending.Virgin Atlantic announces major overhauls on it's products including fully refurbishing their Boeing 787 aircraft, with the end of 'coffin class', in a move that will see the number of economy seats slashed. Congratulations to Ryanair - Europe's Favourite Airline, on marking their 40th anniversary since their first-ever flight.Extra StoriesYou can subscribe to this podcast by searching 'BusinessTravel360' on your favorite podcast player or visiting BusinessTravel360.comThis podcast was created, edited and distributed by BusinessTravel360.  Be sure to sign up for regular updates at BusinessTravel360.com - Enjoy!Support the show

In episode 261 of the Simple Flying podcast, your hosts Tom and Channing discuss,Virgin Atlantic's big announcementsAir India Crash UpdateAvelo Airlines exits the West CoastFatal crash closes Southend AirportSouthwest Airlines' newest route

In this first half of our London two-parter, Joanna went on a whirlwind two-day adventure in the city before heading into the countryside — and she's sharing EVERY DETAIL.She traveled with her mom and daughter, flew Virgin Atlantic using points, and tried a new system to beat jet lag that changed everything. From a rainy New York layover to a luggage-saving trick that helped them hit the ground running, this episode is packed with practical advice and plenty of inspiration for your own trip.Whether you're heading to London soon or just dreaming about it, tune in for the tips — and stay for the real talk about navigating public transit, spending points wisely, and falling head over heels for a city you didn't expect to love this much.Part two is coming soon with Mary Ellen's London itinerary — totally different pace, totally different vibe.Submit Your Summer Road Trip Series Story HEREFacebook GroupFind Us On InstagramMary Ellen | JoAffiliate LinksMary Ellen's Chase Sapphire LinkJoanna's Chase Sapphire LinkMary Ellen's Freedom Flex LinkJoanna's Freedom Flex LinkMary Ellen's Ink Business Cards LinkJoanna's Ink Business Cards Link30% off the CardPointers subscription!Credit Card Affiliate LinksThe above link includes referrals for Capital One Travel Cards. If you need AMEX or Chase please reach out and we would be happy to send you our personal referral links.We receive a small commission when you use our links. This is an amazing way to show your support for the show at no cost to you ❤️

London's Heathrow says it wants to hike the fees that it charges airlines to use the airport by around 17%. The airlines respond by saying the proposal is unjustified. Virgin Atlantic says it “demonstrates Heathrow's inability to invest capital wisely and efficiently”. Also, Felicity Hannah looks at a content-sharing deal between ITV and Disney. And Oasis return to their home city. We join the fans in Manchester ahead of their money-making comeback gig.

Hilton has opened the first property from its new extended-stay hotel brand, LivSmart Studios, targeting long-term guests like relocating families and workers. Virgin Atlantic is partnering with Elon Musk's Starlink to offer free high-speed Wi-Fi and other digital amenities onboard, starting installations in 2026. Meanwhile, the TSA will no longer require most passengers to remove shoes at security checkpoints due to improved screening technology, although exceptions and benefits for PreCheck travelers remain. DHS Confirms New Airport Screening Policy — Shoes Stay On Hilton Opens First Hotel Under New Brand for Traveling Workers Virgin Atlantic to Be First UK Airline to Install Elon Musk's Starlink Connect with Skift LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ WhatsApp: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://facebook.com/skiftnews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/skiftnews/⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.threads.net/@skiftnews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/skiftnews.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/skift⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SkiftNews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and never miss an update from the travel industry.

“They told me I'd never make it in recruitment.”Jason Connolly's career started with magic tricks and ended in million-pound billing months—but only after surviving a toxic police department, a mountain of self-doubt, and a manager who swore he'd fail.In this raw and riveting conversation, Jason sits down with Susanna and Tiarna to talk about the truth behind career pivots, burnout, and what it really takes to succeed in legal recruitment. From busking in Covent Garden to founding one of the UK's most people-focused recruitment firms, Jason proves that resilience, mentorship, and a little unfiltered honesty can change everything. If you've ever questioned your path or been underestimated, this episode is for you.Must-Hear Insights and Key MomentsFrom Magic to the Met – Jason shares his unconventional beginnings as a magician and Virgin Atlantic crew member, and how a random police application changed the course of his life.Why the Police Almost Broke Him – Jason opens up about the trauma, institutional dysfunction, and discrimination he faced during his time as a police officer—and how it nearly cost him his self-worth.The Recruitment Rebuild – After leaving the force, Jason reveals how self-study, podcast binging, and a refusal to quit helped him go from billing zero to becoming the top recruiter in his agency.The Birth of JMC Legal – Jason shares the real story behind starting his firm, mentoring trainees to MD level, and the painful lessons learned from hiring mistakes and toxic management cultures.Feedback, Pressure, and Real Talk – The trio dives into why feedback is non-negotiable, how to lead without ego, and the “pressure cooker” reality of recruitment culture—and how to survive it.Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode“The worst thing you can say to me is, ‘You can't do it.' That's my fuel.” – Jason Connolly“I didn't need recruitment to save me—I needed it to test me.” – Jason Connolly“I don't care what your degree says. If you've got grit, I'll teach you how to bill a million.” – Jason Connolly“The recruiter's opinion doesn't matter. It's about understanding what the candidate really wants.” – Jason Connolly“Feedback isn't an insult. It's a gift. But only if you're brave enough to take it.” – Susanna Gray“It's not about KPIs. It's about mentoring people into the version of themselves they don't believe in yet.” – Jason Connolly“Sometimes the most powerful thing a recruiter can do is hold up a mirror.” – Tiarna McCormack“You don't need a script—you need emotional intelligence.” – Susanna Gray“Success is being unhinged in your pursuit, but grounded in your values.” – Jason Connolly“Legal recruitment didn't need more ex-lawyers. It needed more heart.” – Jason ConnollyFollow The Counter Offer:⁠⁠⁠⁠Susanna's LinkedIn⁠⁠Tiarna's LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok

In today's Frequent Miler on the Air episode, Greg bypasses 5/24, Nick flies a donut plane towards earning status and 350,000 miles, and we run the numbers on Turkish's million mile promo.Giant Mailbag(01:58) - Virgin Atlantic substantially increases fees on award tickets. But one door closes, another opens.Read more about Virgin Atlantic increasing fees on award tickets here.Card News(04:17) - Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ Card approved over 5/24Bonvoyed(09:46) - Chase Ink Business Premier®: Effective October 7th, 2025, you will be eligible to receive referral bonus awards for new Chase Business card customers only.(13:00) - Chase Aeroplan transfers are SLOW(14:43) - American Express is reducing Emirates transfer ratio to 5:4(18:12) - Will Southwest nerf the Companion Pass next?Awards, Points, and More(23:20) - Flying Blue: better saver award availability for Platinum elitesJetBlue Promo Updates(29:20) - Promo reminder: fly to 25 destinations, get 350K + 25 years statusFind our episode about the JetBlue promo here.(30:13) - Nick comments on why he decided to go for it, why he's flying the Dunkin' flight, and the Capital One travel price match experience(40:52) - Greg discusses his initial evaluation and why he decided noMain Event: fly to 6 continents, earn 1 million miles(53:03) - Turkish airlines promo: Fly Across 6 Continents – Earn 1 Million Miles!(55:55) - Eligible flights(1:01:36) - Example itinerary for epic trip(1:06:46) - Are we going for it?Question of the Week(1:16:22) - This listener saved up American Express Membership Rewards points for a round the world trip, but then ANA eliminated their round the world award chart. Are there other ways to book a round-the-world trip?Subscribe and FollowVisit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don't forget to like and follow us on social media.Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

In this episode of Quick Hits, DeAndre Coke breaks down a wave of updates shaking up the travel rewards space. From JetBlue's game-changing “25 for 25” promotion, which could land travelers 25 years of elite Mosaic status and up to 350,000 points, to Turkish Airlines' 6-Continents Challenge with a million-mile prize, there's no shortage of bold airline promos this week. He also shares a major win for Points Path users, as the award-pricing browser extension is now available on Safari, making it easier than ever to spot significant point redemptions. However, not all the news is good—Virgin Atlantic has increased its surcharges on business class redemptions, and Zil's payroll-on-credit-card feature has been reintroduced with new nuances in how transactions are coded, which could affect the number of points users earn.With that in mind, DeAndre emphasizes the importance of community testing and feedback, especially as reward categories and codes continue to shift. Learn more about how processing a credit card for payroll works hereKey takeaways: JetBlue's 25 for 25 Promo: Fly to 25 JetBlue destinations by year-end to earn Mosaic status for 25 years and up to 350,000 bonus points.Award Flights Qualify: JetBlue's promo includes award flights, JetBlue Vacations, and cash bookings—but excludes Blue Basic fares and partner-operated flights.Turkish Airlines Challenge: Fly to six continents with Turkish Airlines by October 27 to earn 1 million Miles&Smiles miles—cash bookings only.Points Path on Safari: The Points Path extension now supports Safari, letting users see award pricing directly in Google Flights.Virgin Atlantic Surcharge Hike: Surcharges for business class flights to the U.K. have more than doubled, now $586 one-way.Dynamic Pricing Remains: Virgin Atlantic still employs dynamic award pricing, making it more challenging to find consistent sweet spots.Zil Money Payroll Feature Returns: You can once again run payroll on credit cards with Zil Money, but coding changes affect point bonuses.Coding Affects Rewards: Zill transactions now code as “computer software stores,” which may reduce category bonuses on some cards.Resources:Act now - Protect your points!Book a Free 30-minute points & miles consultationStart here to learn how to unlock nearly free travelSign up for our newsletter!BoldlyGo Travel With Points & Miles Facebook GroupInterested in Financial Planning?Truicity Wealth ManagementSome of Our Favorite Tools For Elevating Your Points & Miles Game:Note: Contains affiliate/sponsored linksCard Pointers (Saves the average user $750 per year)

On this week's episode, fan favorite, writer/comedian, Kimberly Clark, is back to chat about cruise life, hot young rat boys, passing the conch, and so much more!Listen to Kimberly Clark's new album, Junior!See Jordan Morris at Galaxy Con in New Orleans, July 11th - 13th.Buy signed copies of Youth Group and Bubble from Mission: Comics And Art!~ NEW JJGo MERCH ~Jordan's new Spider-Man's comic is out now!Order Jordan's new Godzilla comic! Be sure to get our new ‘Ack Tuah' shirt in the Max Fun store.Or, grab an ‘Ack Tuah' mug!The Maximum Fun Bookshop!Follow the podcast on Instagram and send us your dank memes!Check out Jesse's thrifted clothing store, Put This On.Follow brand new producer, Steven Ray Morris, on Instagram.Listen to See Jurassic Right!

Send us a textLinking the Travel Industry is a business travel podcast where we review the top travel industry stories that are posted on LinkedIn by LinkedIn members.  We curate the top posts and discuss with them with travel industry veterans in a live session with audience members.  You can join the live recording session by visiting BusinessTravel360.comYour Hosts are Riaan van Schoor, Ann Cederhall and Aash ShravahStories covered on this session include -Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines, Virgin Atlantic and IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation Ltd) announce an extensive partnership.Air France-KLM also took it further in a partnership deal with Riyadh Air | طيران الرياض.Amadeus makes an investment in Acai Travel, who provides AI driven services to TMCs and OTAs.Uber acquires Denmark's largest taxi operator, Dantaxi.Virgin Australia launch their highly anticipated IPO.The government of Norway sell their remaining stake in Norwegian.Iberia looks outside the industry and turns to Amazon Web Services (AWS) to "accelerate their digital transformation".You can subscribe to this podcast by searching 'BusinessTravel360' on your favorite podcast player or visiting BusinessTravel360.comThis podcast was created, edited and distributed by BusinessTravel360.  Be sure to sign up for regular updates at BusinessTravel360.com - Enjoy!Support the show

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a global leader in IT services, consulting, and business solutions, has expanded its two-decade-long strategic partnership with Virgin Atlantic, a premium long-haul UK airline, to accelerate its digital transformation journey. Under this renewed seven-year agreement, the two organisations will deepen their collaboration to strengthen the technological foundations of Virgin Atlantic, enable modern airline retailing, deliver greater operational resilience, and enhance customer experience. As part of this long-term engagement, TCS, which operates a Global Delivery Centre in Ireland, will modernise Virgin Atlantic's core technology operations by implementing a cloud-first, AI-powered digital core that enhances business agility, improves the resilience of systems, and allows for a higher scale of operations. TCS will implement a modern, AI-powered technology estate that will unify the airline's technology assets and deploy an advanced Technology Command Centre. This will serve as the nerve centre for transforming Virgin Atlantic's technology operations. Virgin Atlantic's Technology Command Centre, co-developed with TCS, will provide real-time operational insights to enhance decision making, streamline technology operations and empower front-line staff with up-to-date, contextual data. This will support the elevation of both customer and crew experiences, enabling efficient, smarter and more sustainable journeys, and a superior hyper-personalised customer experience across every touchpoint of airline travel. Oli Byers, Chief Financial Officer, Virgin Atlantic, said: "We exist to make our customers smile, it's that simple. As we look ahead to this next phase of our digital transformation, technology will enable us to deliver smarter, simpler, and more memorable experiences. TCS has been a partner for more than two decades, and together we'll continue to build towards our vision of becoming the most loved travel company, powered by AI technology to modernise our systems, drive efficiency and deliver for our customers." With deep aviation expertise and contextual knowledge, TCS will utilise its proprietary solutions, such as TCS Cognix and TCS AI WisdomNext, to accelerate transformation, enable experience-centric services, and enhance service delivery. TCS's bouquet of technology solutions will support Virgin Atlantic in building a resilient and sustainable digital core, enabling the airline to innovate continuously while delivering value across revenue, efficiency, and customer experience metrics, and become sustainably profitable. These solutions will be delivered through a dedicated onsite team of TCS associates equipped with a deep contextual knowledge of Virgin Atlantic's environment. Amit Kapur, Country Head - UK & Ireland, Tata Consultancy Services, said, "At TCS, we believe being perpetually adaptive is a necessity in today's dynamic business landscape. Our two-decade partnership with Virgin Atlantic is a testament to a shared vision. By combining our deep aviation expertise with advanced capabilities in data, AI, and engineering, we're helping Virgin Atlantic build intelligent, scalable digital ecosystems and redefine the future of travel." TCS has been a transformation partner to Virgin Atlantic, which ferried over 5 million passengers worldwide in 2024 and connects over 30 destinations globally. For over two decades, TCS has been instrumental in driving innovation and agility across mission-critical programs for the airline, spanning crew, cargo, engineering and enterprise platforms. Building on this strong legacy, this extended partnership marks a new chapter in collaboration, laying the foundation for a future-ready airline that will continue to set new benchmarks for the airline industry. With three decades of leadership in aviation, TCS partners with the world's leading airlines, offering consulting-led innovation,a cognitive-powered portfolio of business, and technology and engineerin...

In this episode, join us as we dive into the world of aviation with Chris Short from Virgin Atlantic. Chris, who accidentally found his passion in the industry over two decades ago, shares his journey from ground handling to overseeing training for front-line teams. Discover the rigorous training and safety measures in place for crew and airport staff, designed to ensure every flight is secure and enjoyable. Listen in as Chris recounts his personal battle with anxiety and how he overcame it, offering a relatable perspective for many listeners. This episode is filled with reassuring insights into the meticulous processes behind every flight, ensuring passenger safety and comfort. Whether you're dealing with a fear of flying or simply curious about the inner workings of the aviation world, this episode promises to offer both comfort and knowledge. www.lovefly.co.uk/courses/ FB - Lovefly Insta @loveflyhelp #fearofflying #lovefly #flyingwithoutfear #anxiety #virginatlanticairways   Intro Music 'Fearless' Daniel King

Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive officer Shai Weiss discusses the impact of trade and tariffs uncertainty on the airline and broader aviation industry. He also talks about fuel prices and travel sentiment. Speaking to Bloomberg's Guy Johnson from the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in New Delhi, India, Weiss says "the momentum is very much" in India at the moment.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam is joined by the guest hypnotist and anxiety expert, Howard Cooper.  Howard and Adam discuss open loops, nested loops, how to use nested loops, and why they can be a powerful tool for hypnotherapist. Adam will be talking about Nested Loops made easy at the UK Hypnosis Convention in London in November.  Tickets are here and with a discount if you use the code ADAMC https://ukhypnosisconvention.co.uk/buy-tickets/  For more information on Howard, visit:  https://rapidchange.works/   More Info on Howard:  Howard Cooper is one of the UK's leading 'Rapid Change' therapists. Known for helping people to create RAPID shifts in their thinking, Howard rejects the notion that deep and lasting change needs to take a long time. Drawing on a variety of psychological tools, Howard has supported over 2,500 individuals over the past 23 years on an international level, regularly bringing about transformational changes to their lives. He has made multiple appearances as the anxiety expert on BBC Morning Live, sharing his expertise with a national audience. His practical, dynamic and innovative approach has helped people from all walks of life and ages overcome intrusive personal phobias, anxieties and issues that they have often suffered from for years, offering his clients a new lease of life. He is the creator of "The Willingness Ladder®", a versatile therapeutic technique that he's taught to over 300 therapists around the world, and the author of "The Rustle of Leaves", a children's book designed to help very young children (4-9) discover how we can become anxious about things that pose no threat. In addition to his personal therapy work, Howard is a very popular and entertaining presenter on a range of topics relevant to society today and has a huge following amongst his peers through his podcast. He spent almost two years as the lead psychological presenter on Virgin Atlantic's critically acclaimed 'Flying Without Fear' course, and also appeared as the expert on fear of flying on Channel 4's documentary 'Fear of Flying: Caught on Camera'. He has also contributed to other media appearing on the BBC, in The Daily Telegraph, Daily Express, Sun, CEO Magazine, just some of the media who have documented his successful ability to help people change quickly. Qualifications Hypnotherapist (GQHP), NLP Master Practitioner, Design Human Engineer, Thought Field Therapist, Registered with the CNHC (Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council), 19+ years of clinical experience, Psychological Illusion Model Trainer Adam: Adam Cox is one of the world's most innovative hypnotists and is known for being the hypnotherapist of choice for Celebrities, CEO's and even Royalty. To book a free 30-minute consultation call to consider working with Adam go to: https://go.oncehub.com/AdamCox Adam's rates for hypnotherapy in pounds and US dollars are here: https://www.adamcox.co.uk/hypnotherapist.html  You can contact Adam at adam@adamcox.co.uk Further information on Adam is here: https://linktr.ee/AdamCoxOfficial  Tags: Adam Cox, the hypnotist, NLP, asmr, hypnosis, hypnotherapy, hypnotist, stress, sleep, worry, meditation, guided meditation, hypnotism, anxiety, hypnosis for abundance, hypnosis for confidence, hypnosis, Guest Hypnotist Howard Cooper

Mark Mowbray in conversation with Pete Hutchison, widely recognised as Pete the Irish Pilot, has built a remarkable career in aviation, blending professional expertise with a genuine passion for flying. Originally from Belfast, Pete began his aviation journey in the early 1980s at Woodgate Aviation, earning his private pilot's license (PPL) and igniting a lifelong love for the skies. His career took off in the Royal Air Force (RAF), where he honed his skills as a Tornado jet pilot. Following his time in the RAF, Pete transitioned to the commercial aviation sector, dedicating 25 successful years to flying for Virgin Atlantic. Even in retirement, Pete's enthusiasm for aviation remains as strong as ever.

This week we'll lean about the "ultimate life hack", we'll gripe about how we're being Bonvoyed every which way, and we'll debate: is the points and miles game dead?(01:14) - Listeners respond to our "Points for the next generation" podcast Ep306 with some great life hacks...You can find our "Points for the next generation" podcast Ep306 here.(08:53) - Nick's schedule change storyRead more about Nick's schedule change story here.(16:17) - The Blackjack Apprenticeship PodcastFind our guest appearance on the Blackjack Apprenticeship podcast "AP Life Skills: Maximizing Your Edge with Credit Card Rewards" on Spotify here or on Apple Podcasts here...(17:43) - Hilton 200K awards: See: Hashing out Hilton's Devaluation | Coffee Break Ep56 | 5-20-25 here(18:45) - Bonvoyed: Marriott elites shouldn't expect suites(22:02) - Marriott's Dearborn Inn Autograph Collection: No free breakfast for Platinum ElitesRead more about this here.(25:16) - Citi Strata Premier, Prestige cashout drops to 0.75 (but with easy work-around)(27:46) - Bilt: Reducing all non-Bilt cards to 0.5 pts/dollar (like Amex) when paying rent starting 6/21(31:21) - St Pancras Chambers Club permanently closed(33:57) - Virgin Atlantic award sale: Only 4,800 points to fly to/from UK through September 2025(38:50) - Air France / KLM Flying Blue cuts redemption rates for 2026 Delta flights(41:29) - Easy Money w/ ShopBack portalLearn more about our Shopback portal promo here: https://frequentmiler.com/shopback-portal-promo-for-frequent-miler-readers-20-signup-bonus-20-when-spending-20-in-may/(45:43) - New Kimpton Secret Password: “Social Sent Me”Main Event: The end of the points & miles game?(47:50) - Doomsday Events(50:15) - On the other hand, welcome bonuses higher than ever(51:58) - Category bonuses higher than ever(54:00) - More opportunities for transferable points than ever before(57:02) - Transfer bonuses very common(59:27) - New award sweet-spots keep popping up all the time(1:03:10) - Great tools make it easier to find awards(1:10:09) - Valuable promotions pop up randomly(1:17:45) - Do devaluations like Hilton's feel like a bigger deal to non-bloggers (who maybe have fewer points?)Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don't forget to like and follow us on social media.Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

Book an evolution call with Deborah⁠⁠ https://go.dancebusinesslab.com/dance-school-success-planIn this solo episode, I share how a recent post by Richard Branson got me thinking—about innovation, about courage, and about what it means to be the first to do something truly different. It inspired me to bring this conversation to you because I believe there's something out there that you, as a dance studio owner, might just be the one to create or change.I want to challenge you to reflect on our industry: what's missing, what could be better, and what idea is sitting quietly in your imagination, waiting for you to be brave enough to bring it to life. Whether it's a fresh approach to exams, a new way of serving your students, or something that's never existed before—I'll help you explore that spark.I also open up about my own version of “Virgin Atlantic”—a brand-new project I've been working on behind the scenes that I believe could be game-changing for our community.This is an episode about vision, belief, and acting on those little whispers that could lead to something amazing. Let's find out what yours might be.To find out more about Dance Business Lab and work with Deborah head to https://dancebusinesslab.com To find out more about working with Deborah through her exclusive Dance Business Lab membership programs follow the links below. Sparks membership - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://dancebusinesslab.com/memberships/sparksIgnite membership - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://dancebusinesslab.com/memberships/ignite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Illuminate membership - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://dancebusinesslab.com/memberships/illuminate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠If you love the show and you would like to support then why not buy Deborah a coffee simply head to http://buymeacoffee.com/DeborahLThis episode is sponsored by Dance Studio Marketing. You can find out more about Dance Studio Marketing and how you can work with Sally to supercharge your dance business at https://dancebusinesssolutions.com/social-media-for-dance-businesses/This podcast is produced by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Creative Content Studio

Send us a textLinking the Travel Industry is a business travel podcast where we review the top travel industry stories that are posted on LinkedIn by LinkedIn members.  We curate the top posts and discuss with them with travel industry veterans in a live session with audience members.  You can join the live recording session by visiting BusinessTravel360.comYour Hosts are Riaan van Schoor, Ann Cederhall and Aash ShravahStories covered on this session include -Sabre Corporation sells it's hospitality business unit to asset firm TPG for $1.1b. ... and Gray Dawes Travel announce they have selected Sabre as their single global GDS provider.There's been a 40% increase in issues relating to pax electronic devices impacting flights, the latest being the diversion of a Lufthansa A380 due to an iPad stuck in a seat.Revolut is taking on American Express with plans for a rewards card of their own.Five Brand USA board members get removed from their posts. Uniglobe Travel International LP expand their footprint in a deal with ITP - International Travel Partnership | Hickory.The African Space Agency is officially inaugurated.American Airlines are suing JetBlue for $1M...whilst rumours about a United Airlines / JetBlue partnership emerge. Lufthansa will stop on-board physical duty free sales on their long-haul flights.Virgin Atlantic, Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines all announce they will not return to Tel Aviv.You can subscribe to this podcast by searching 'BusinessTravel360' on your favorite podcast player or visiting BusinessTravel360.comThis podcast was created, edited and distributed by BusinessTravel360.  Be sure to sign up for regular updates at BusinessTravel360.com - Enjoy!Support the show

Virgin Atlantic takes to the sky and upends the aviation industry, but the new venture also throws Richard Branson into battle with one of Britain's biggest corporations.Be the first to know about Wondery's newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterListen to Business Movers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/business-movers/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week's episode is a little different—and a lot of fun. Jess, Pam, and Alex are joined by Traci for a special game of Would You Rather!? – Points Talk Edition. Traci challenges the squad with a lineup of delightfully diabolical travel questions designed to reveal where they really stand when it comes to their points and airline preferences, personal travel quirks, and loyalty trade-offs. From Business Class Woes to Economy Wins The episode kicks off with a tough one: would you rather have a lie-flat seat in business class next to an annoying stranger, or an entire economy row to yourself? At least one of the squad's answers will probably surprise you! Individual Perks vs. Points Value: Globalist or the Award Chart? Next, Traci challenges the group with Hyatt's ultimate tradeoff: would you rather have lifetime Globalist status or a guaranteed fixed award chart for 20 years? Is there dissent or do Alex, Jess, and Pam all come down on the same side on this one? Real-Life Dilemmas and Points Preferences From there, the questions get personal: Learn about Alex's secret grocery-store card confession. Would Jess rather stay at a Park Hyatt in a city she doesn't like (Venice) or a Holiday Inn Express in a city she loves (Tokyo)?  Would Alex rather have her beloved Southwest® Companion Pass or 600,000 Hyatt points?  Would Pam choose only domestic luxury travel or international budget travel if she could only choose one?  Tough Transfers & Redemption Realities The squad also weighs in on (and disagrees about) transferring highly valued points with or without bonuses. Nice Problems to Have They also daydream about future loyalty-program changes they'd love to see, like new Citi cards, United partnering with a second bank, and Capital One adding Alaska as a partner. (A girl can dream!)   The Great Collectibles Debate: Ducks or Houses? The episode ends on a light note, with the squad picking which flight souvenirs they'd rather have (rubber ducks or Delft houses) and which ones they'd be more likely to try to get permission to pinch.  This episode is full of laughs, strong opinions, and lots of travel daydreaming. Hit play now and see which “would you rather” choices you agree with—and which ones you totally wouldn't!

In This Episode:   This episode brings you the latest in aviation news. ANA is implementing AeroSHARK riblet technology on its Boeing 777-300ER fleet to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. In safety news, an Air India A320 attempted to take off from a taxiway at Goa's airport due to crew issues, and a Royal Thai Police Twin Otter crashed near Hua Hin after take-off, killing all six on board, with reports of engine failure. Major power outages disrupted flights at airports across Spain and Portugal. Lufthansa is using AI software 'Tray Tracker' to reduce in-flight meal waste. Route changes include Virgin Atlantic, Turkish Airlines, and Pegasus Airlines canceling or not resuming flights to Tel Aviv. Finnair plans to furlough pilots due to reduced use of their aircraft by Qantas. Brussels Airport canceled all departing flights due to a general strike. Looking to space, Amazon's Project Kuiper successfully launched its first 27 satellites for global internet. In the U.S., Republicans proposed a $15 billion plan to modernize air traffic control. Delta Air Lines will re-route Airbus deliveries to avoid tariffs. Joby Aviation completed its first piloted eVTOL transition flight. We also note that helicopters are battling wildfires near Cape Town and the importance of understanding personal values.     Listen & Subscribe:     Apple Podcasts: Apple Podcast   Spotify: Spotify   YouTube: YouTube         Would You Like To Support The Podcast?   Enjoying Bryan Air? Consider supporting the podcast through Patreon for exclusive content and perks!   Patreon: Bryan Air Patreon Supporters     Stay Connected:     Website: bryanroseveare.com   LinkedIn: Linkedin   Instagram: Instagram   X (formerly Twitter): X     Thank you for tuning in to Bryan Air!  

In this episode of Hashtag Trending, host Jim Love discusses Kanye West's ban from Twitch just seven minutes into his first live stream for making inflammatory remarks. He also covers the return of 4Chan following a significant hack, and IBM's announcement of a $150 billion investment to enhance its quantum computing capabilities and green data center infrastructure. Additionally, Virgin Atlantic is experimenting with OpenAI's operator AI agent to enhance its website's booking process, showcasing innovative uses of AI in customer interactions. 00:00 Kanye West Banned from Twitch 01:25 4chan's Resurrection and Controversies 02:38 IBM's $150 Billion Tech Investment 05:14 Virgin Atlantic's AI Experiment 07:33 Conclusion and Listener Engagement

In This Episode:   Join us for a comprehensive look at the latest developments shaping the global aviation landscape. We delve into significant airline network expansion, including Virgin Atlantic's new routes to Seoul and Riyadh and flyadeal's strategic order for its first widebody aircraft to bolster its international reach. Explore the ongoing impact of US-China trade tensions on major manufacturers like Boeing, affecting aircraft deliveries and influencing fleet decisions for airlines such as Air India. We also highlight a new major cargo alliance between Saudia Cargo and China Cargo Airlines aimed at strengthening logistics ties. Plus, get updates on workforce dynamics, from air traffic control staffing challenges and pilot hiring trends to surprising research on pilot beards and recent operational incidents and policy changes affecting the passenger experience.     Listen & Subscribe:     Apple Podcasts: Apple Podcast   Spotify: Spotify   YouTube: YouTube         Would You Like To Support The Podcast?   Enjoying Bryan Air? Consider supporting the podcast through Patreon for exclusive content and perks!   Patreon: Bryan Air Patreon Supporters     Stay Connected:     Website: bryanroseveare.com   LinkedIn: Linkedin   Instagram: Instagram   X (formerly Twitter): X     Thank you for tuning in to Bryan Air!  

CHASE SAPPHIRE 100K OFFER!!! (major thanks for using our links!)Premium economy offers a valuable middle ground between business class and economy, giving families significantly more comfort without the high price tag of business class tickets.• Premium economy on Air France features better seat recline and footrests• Cabin arrangement is typically 2-4-2 with approximately 40-48 seats• Passengers receive amenity kits with essentials like earplugs, socks, and toiletries• Kids get special activity boxes with puzzles and games• Access to one business class lavatory with premium skincare products• Flight attendants offer additional snacks and treats throughout the flight• Self-service refreshment station available for drinks and snacks• Booked five tickets using 150,000 Amex points transferred to Virgin Atlantic (with bonus)• Total taxes and fees were approximately $1,700 ($350 per person)• For a family of five, booking requires strategic seat selection• Particularly worthwhile for flights over seven hours• Award availability is typically better than business class• Excellent option for daytime flights when everyone is awakeIf you get value from our podcast and want to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card with its limited-time 100,000 point bonus offer, please consider using our referral link (above).

If you just got 100K points from a brand new travel rewards card, you should know a few things to help make sure you're earning even more points, saving money, and getting great value. Plus we'll also look at "Amex referral reformatory rescinded" and how to earn points on RENT with any credit card. (01:30) - One reader shares a success story using the "email the GM" strategy... (03:37) - Capital One Venture X Business Card: Up to 350K Miles Read our review of the Capital One Venture X Business Card here. (06:55) - Amex referrals back for many (referral reformatory rescinded) (09:48) - Two Hawaiian cards in one day (my quick experience) (17:23) - Synchrony reintroduces Cathay Pacific card (21:06) - Bilt now offers rewards when you pay your rent with non-Bilt credit cards (26:48) - Virgin jacked up fees on KLM/ Air France then backed off (31:03) - Frontier Elite Gold status for $40 (35:22) - 30% transfer bonus from Citi to Virgin Atlantic thru May 17 Main Event (36:39) - Read our FAQ about this card here. (38:45) - Earn more points (59:09) - Save money (1:09:49) - Redeem points for great value (1:17:33) - DON'T TRANSFER TO... (1:20:50) - World of Hyatt credit card gives an additional Hyatt category 1-4 free night certificate with 15K spend in a calendar year. But with recent Hyatt category changes, is it still worth spending towards that goal? Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don't forget to like and follow us on social media. Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

Watch Us On YouTube! NEW: Time stamps are listed at the bottom of the notes! A recent sad story is a cautionary tale for why you should carry a carbon monoxide detector when you travel. Virgin Atlantic has hiked the fees they charge with award tickets. Does this make them a bad option for award redemptions? A listener of the show checks in with a really good value using Hyatt's new "elite for a day with AA" benefit. Lastly, United launched some really interesting new routes. #virginatlantic #carbonmonoxide #hyatt #americanairlines #frequentflyer If you enjoy the podcast, I hope you'll take a moment to leave us a rating. That helps us grow our audience! If you're looking for a way to support the show, we'd love to have you join us in our Travel Slack Community.  Join me and other travel experts for informative conversations about the travel world, the best ways to use your miles and points, Zoom happy hours and exciting giveaways. Monthly access Annual access Personal consultation plus annual access We have witty, funny, sarcastic discussions about travel, for members only. My fellow travel experts are available to answer your questions and we host video chats multiple times per month. See More: https://milestogo.boardingarea.com/ Follow Us! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milestogopodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@milestogopodcast Ed Pizza: https://www.instagram.com/pizzainmotion/ Richard Kerr: https://www.instagram.com/kerrpoints/  

After an unforgettable trip to London, sharing all the practical tips on booking it on points and miles. From what inspired the trip and how this wasn't planned as far in advance as I usually book, to how we used points and miles to book flights on Virgin Atlantic for 60k round trip, plus bid to upgrade to upper class, booked an amazing suite at the Hyatt Regency Churchill in London using the family rate plan. Plus, reminding you that you deserve nice things, great trips, and to live a life that feels good. _______________________ Get $30 on Rakuten HERE Best Ever Offer on card used for booking hotel stays at Hyatt HERE For links to my favorite cards for points and miles click HERE For Information About The Lift Library click HERE Want to join in the Free Best Body Beautiful Life Master Class Join HERE Click HERE for the Show Notes. Connect with me on Instagram - @dorothymcgatlin Connect with me on Facebook - Dorothy McGatlin If you enjoyed the episode, leave a review - it means the world to me + helps the show reach more people! Let's support each other!

Snap reflections on our Leaders Meet: Innovation event this week in London, with Craig Hepburn, Art Basel's Chief Digital Officer, and former Virgin Atlantic, McLaren and Chelsea FC Chief Marketing Officer, Claire Cronin.Leaders Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan are on location at 180 Studios on The Strand to reflect on two days spent with C-suite leaders from across sport, discussing the biggest global trends - artificial intelligence, the global economy and climate change - with the help of outside of sport perspectives, from the worlds of music, retail, media and technology.They're joined by a couple of experts fresh off the stage - Craig Hepburn assesses how the sports industry is tackling artificial intelligence, while Claire Cronin offers her reflections on the two days and her conversation with Waitrose Executive Director, James Bailey.

“We've worked with partners like AcelorMittal… and oil and gas refineries. Emissions that would've been destined for the atmosphere are piped into our bioreactor and our magnificent microbes turn that gas into ethanol. When we pull out that ethanol, we can send it a lot of different places. You can go to On, Adidas, Athleta and buy products made by these mighty microbes from steel mill emissions. We actually flew a Virgin Atlantic flight from Orlando to London with 50 percent of the fuel in that plane made from our ethanol.” Zara Summers on Electric Ladies Podcast  Addressing the climate crisis involves confronting some enormous challenges, from decarbonizing aviation to reducing fashion's carbon footprint. Fortunately, technology and innovation provide an opportunity to make significant strides forward. Meet LanzaTech, a company turning carbon dioxide into the raw materials and energy we need for our lives. Listen to Zara Summers, Chief Science Officer at LanzaTech, as she explains how the company is harnessing the power of nature's oldest metabolism, the mighty microbe. This innovation is turning greenhouse gases into everyday materials like shoes and clothing, sustainable aviation fuel for our jets, and even fish feed! You'll hear about: How LanzaTech transforms captured industrial emissions into valuable materials and fuels. The global brands working with LanzaTech (and how you can spot fabrics made from recycled emissions). How the technology is driving a circular economy in fashion and textiles. The uses of LanzaTech's protein-rich biomass in food and feed. Plus, advice on making a career transition. “Just jump in. Because even if it crashes and burns, it's experience and you learn no matter up and down inside it. But if you keep doing the same thing you've always done, you're robbing yourself of those opportunities. Even small risks – putting your hand up for a project where you might know 20 percent of what it takes to do it. Gosh, isn't that the best way to motivate yourself to learn something new?”  Zara Summers on Electric Ladies Podcast Read Joan's Forbes articles here. You'll also like: Autumn Hustins, Finance Director at Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI), a waste-to-energy plant converting agricultural and food waste into electricity. Björk Kristjánsdóttir, COO/CFO of Carbon Recycling International, on turning CO2 into valuable products. Doreen Harris, President and CEO of NYSERDA, a state program deploying innovative climate solutions. UN Climate Week discussion on how some creative women are making sustainable fashion a reality, moderated by Joan Michelson. Kerry Bannigan, Managing Director of PVBLIC Foundation, on sustainability and social responsibility on the runway. More from Electric Ladies Podcast! Join us at The Earth Day Women's Summit on April 22, 2025, in Dallas, Texas! Register today with the code “EDWS” for the Women's Summit and a special rate.  Elevate your career with expert coaching and ESG advisory with Electric Ladies Podcast. Unlock new opportunities, gain confidence, and achieve your career goals with the right guidance. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our podcasts, articles, events and career advice – and special coaching offers. Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or iHeartRadio and leaving us a review!  Don't forget to follow us on our socials Twitter: @joanmichelson LinkedIn: Electric Ladies Podcast with Joan Michelson Twitter: @joanmichelson Facebook: Green Connections Radio

There are some creative ways to use airline miles to fly further with less miles. In other words, you can see more and spend less. We'll talk about these fun tricks in today's episode. (01:00) - The validity of Etihad Guest Miles will be extended by 18 months based on qualifying member flight activity. We thought this means you have to credit paid flights to Etihad to extend your miles...but is that true? (04:20) - How do you handle domestic positioning flights? See our "Tips for booking positioning flights" episode 253 here. (09:30) - Amex targeted referral +5 points on travel & transit (11:21) - Learn more about Amex multi-referrals here. (11:27) - Amex Membership Rewards: You don't need a credit card to transfer to some partners Read more about this here. (15:10) - Chase: 80% transfer bonus to IHG through 4/30 (18:26) - Transfer bonuses (21:14) - Updates to popular award tools (22:56) - National Car Rental's One Two Free Promo Returns (27:43) - Virgin Atlantic jacks up Delta One surcharges departing Europe to more than $1,000 one-way Read more about dumping fees when booking Delta One here. (31:05) - Cautions about skiplagging / hidden city ticketing, etc... (37:34) - Married Segment Logic (42:23) - Start to End Distance Based/ Zone Based Award Pricing (47:25) - Mixed cabin award pricing (51:53) - Multi-partner awards (52:57) - Read Nick's post about Air Canada's United devaluation relief with multi-partner awards here. (58:59) - Creative routing (1:04:40) - Should people wait to get the other Hawaiian Airlines credit card (if they have one of the personal Hawaaiin credit cards already)? (There are two different consumer Hawaiian Airlines cards - one with Bank of Hawaii and one by Barclays (though confusingly both are issued by Barclays)). 

Send us a textAlaska Airlines vergibt derzeit im Rahmen einer Promotion ganz unkompliziert den MVP Status (was dem Oneworld Ruby Status entspricht) – und zwar sofort nach Registrierung, ohne dass du vorher einen einzigen Flug absolviert haben musst. Der Status ist dann für 180 Tage gültig.Eigentlich richtet sich die Aktion an Mitarbeiter der University of Washington, jedoch funktioniert der Link zur Promo-Seite aktuell auch ohne passende E-Mail-Adresse – das heißt: Status sichern ist möglich, aber auf eigenes Risiko. Es besteht die Möglichkeit, dass Alaska später Accounts prüft und zurückstuft oder sperrt.⚠️ Hinweis: Wer das ausprobiert, sollte sich bewusst sein, dass es sich um einen nicht offiziell bestätigten “Trick” handelt. Du nutzt ihn also auf eigenes Risiko – aber für alle Statusjäger und Vielflieger ein spannender Hack.#AlaskaAirlines, #MileagePlan, #OneworldRuby, #Vielflieger, #StatusHack, #StatusFastTrack, #LoungeAccess, #TravelDeal, #EliteStatus, #MilesAndPoints, #Flugstatus, #Reisetipps00:00 Willkommen zu Frequent Traveller TV01:20 Lufthansa und UFO: Tarifvertrag Teilzeit02:32 Virgin Atlantic und Probleme beim Transatlantikverkehr04:52 Einreise in die USA und die Handykontrollen11:12 Digitale Ankunftskarte für Thailand13:30 Alaska Airlines und der One World Ruby Status Match // Fast Track15:27 bester Hotelstatus16:28 Fragen des TagesTake-OFF 31.03.2025 – Folge 071-2025Stammtisch Termine: https://FQTWorld.as.me/meetupKanalmitglied werden und exklusive Vorteile erhalten:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQyWcZxP3MpuQ54foJ_IsgQ/joinHier geht es zu eurem kostenlosen Consulting Link - https://FTCircle.as.me/Damit Du von unserem Wissen profitieren kannst, kannst du ein mindestens 60 minütiges und vor allem auf dich zugeschnittenes Punkte, Meilen, Status Coaching buchen. Nach dem Call bekommst du ein Jahr Zugang zu dieser Gruppe und zahlst so nur 10 Euro pro Monat und kannst sofort profitieren. Hier ist nun der Link zu deinem neuen Punkte, Meilen und Status Deals.MY SOCIALSWhatsApp - https://wa.me/message/54V7X7VO3WOVF1FACEBOOK | Lars F Corsten - https://www.facebook.com/LFCorsten/FACEBOOK | FQT.TV - https://www.facebook.com/FQTTVFACEBOOK | FTCircle - https://www.facebook.com/FTCircleTWITTER | Lars F Corsten - https://twitter.com/LFCorstenINSTAGRAM | Lars F Corsten - https://www.instagram.com/lfcorsten/LINKEDIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lfcorsten/Clubhouse - @LFCorsten

Er heerst paniek op de beurs. Niks lijkt president Donald Trump meer te kunnen stoppen. In de aanloop naar wat hij 'Liberation Day' noemt blijft hij alleen maar wilder om zich heen slaan. Eerst was het nog een beperkt aantal landen dat te maken zou krijgen met zijn wederkerige importheffingen. Alleen de grootste uitbuiters van de Amerikaanse economie zou eraan moeten geloven. Maar nu belooft Trump iedereen ermee te bestoken. Paniek is er ook bij analisten. Goldman Sachs bijvoorbeeld. De zakenbank verlaagt voor de tweede keer dit jaar het koersdoel voor de S&P 500. En het verhoogt juist de kans op een recessie. Of die Trump-cessie er komt en hoe erg wij de sjaak zijn, dat vertellen we je in deze aflevering. En dan hoor je ook de reactie van de ECB. Voorzitter Christine Lagarde wil in de toekomst zo min mogelijk te maken hebben met de uithalen van Trump en pleit daarom voor economische onafhankelijkheid. Je hoort wat daar voor nodig is. En we hebben het nog over ING. De bank zou een overname op het oog hebben in Italië. Daar staat de Banca Popolare di Sondrio in de verkoop. En volgens Italiaanse media overweegt ING om erop in te gaan.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen Now to 105 Future Now Podcast Our latest lunar lander, Blue Ghost, has just completed it’s 2 week moon mission, accomplishing 100% of it’s goal to deploy 10 different payload experiments, studying everything from the lunar dust to testing GPS signals and drilling deep into the regolith!  Not to be outdone, the Webb telescope has revealed CO2 in the atmosphere of distant exoplanets, orbiting the HR 8799 system, 130 light years from Earth. Could this be a life signature? Grok 3 helps us explore the possibilities more deeply, as well a new strange blue photograph of Mars with its moon Deimos in transit.  And there is news on Helium 3, mined from the Lunar surface, possibly the future fuel that will allow us to expand from a planetary to a solar system wide economy! Mining the future fuel Helium 3 from the surface of the moon Back on Earth, Silicon Valley engineer Mark Rober pits the camera-based full self-driving mode of a Tesla vs the Lidar-based auto-drive seen in Waymo vehicles. Which is better, and which survives the Wiley Coyote test?  And good news for our local eVTOL company, Joby Aviation for securing a London airport-to-airport route for their aircraft with Virgin Atlantic!  And we simply must share with you the latest discoveries of of Elon’s DOGE..Enjoy! Joby Aviation teams up with Virgin Atlantic

We break down exactly how we booked our entire family of five for a two-week European adventure across Paris, Barcelona, and Madrid using points and miles. This trip demonstrates how strategic credit card usage, elite status benefits, and advance planning can transform an expensive dream vacation into an affordable reality.• Booked 5 economy seats on Air France for 85,000 Flying Blue miles with 25% discount for kids under 11• Leveraged Hyatt Globalist status to secure club access and connecting rooms at multiple properties• Used suite upgrade awards to enhance accommodation experience for the family• Booked high-speed train from Barcelona to Madrid using the Omio app • Secured premium economy return flights through Virgin Atlantic using 150,000 transferred Amex points• Communicated with hotels 6-8 weeks in advance to confirm connecting rooms and family accommodations• Used free night certificates and airline credits to minimize out-of-pocket expenses• Total cost under $2,000 for round-trip flights to Europe for a family of fiveIf you have questions about planning your own family trip using points and miles, find me on Instagram and say hello! I'm happy to answer them.

Guest: Blake Scholl, Founder & CEO of Boom Supersonic“Passion and drive trumps knowledge and experience,” says Boom Supersonic CEO Blake Scholl. Long before he was running Boom — which earlier this year successfully tested the world's first privately-developed supersonic jet — he was enabling “the world's most obnoxious spam cannon” at Groupon, or designing a barcode-scanning game for retail shoppers.But eventually, Blake found the courage to be more audacious and do something closer to his lifelong love of aviation. He began educating himself about things he had never thought to learn, and tapping his LinkedIn network to get intros to the smartest people in the industry. “If you imagine yourself on like the day of IPO, 99 percent of what you needed to know to get to that day, you didn't know on day one,” he says. “So, why not take 99 percent to 99.5 percent, and work on the thing you really want to exist, even if you don't know anything about it yet?”Chapters: (01:07) - Blake on Boom's beginnings (01:52) - Breaking the sound barrier (05:23) - Concorde's legacy (09:36) - Navigating regulations (12:08) - Boomless supersonic flight (16:48) - The test flight (20:11) - Day-of nervousness (24:26) - Carrying passengers (26:55) - Cost & wi-fi (30:19) - “No middle seats” (32:35) - Hard tech (36:48) - What if Apple made a plane? (39:08) - Blake's career journey (43:29) - The risk of failure (49:12) - Finding the courage (52:49) - Balancing life with Boom (56:42) - Learning how to build a jet (01:00:20) - The power of LinkedIn (01:02:38) - Y Combinator Demo Day (01:08:24) - Richard Branson (01:11:38) - Dividing yourself (01:14:19) - Being a focused dad (01:20:05) - Exuberance vs. fear (01:24:15) - Hiring slowly (01:27:17) - What “grit” means to Blake Mentioned in this episode: Chuck Yeager, ChatGPT, the Apollo program, Elon Musk, SpaceX and Falcon 1, Boom Overture, Starlink, Boeing, Airbus, iPhone, Jony Ive, Uber, Airbnb, Anduril, United Airlines, American Airlines, Eclipse Aviation, Tesla, Scott Kirby, Mike Leskinen, Inktomi, Yahoo!, Amazon, Pelago, Google Ads, Kima Labs, Barcode Hero, Groupon, iPad, Eric Schmidt, Steve Jobs, Khan Academy, Sam Altman, Loopt, Virgin Atlantic, Paul Graham, Michael Seibel, Ashlee Vance, Bloomberg, Hacker News, Jared Friedman, Sen. Mark Kelly, SV Angel, Ron Conway, Virgin Galactic, Lockheed Martin, Gulfstream, Jeff Bezos, Jeff Holden, and How It's Made.Links:Connect with BlakeTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

Adam is joined by the guest hypnotist and anxiety expert Howard Cooper.   Howard discusses how being an anxious teenager, having ineffective therapy, and a TV executive that dismissed his work with clients led to a mission to prove that rapid change works.  They discuss NLP, the dark underbelly of personal development and the surprise at learning that two high profile UK hypnotherapists were living in the same small town without knowing.  For more information on Howard visit:  https://rapidchange.works/   More Info on Howard:  Howard Cooper is one of the UK's leading 'Rapid Change' therapists. Known for helping people to create RAPID shifts in their thinking, Howard rejects the notion that deep and lasting change needs to take a long time. Drawing on a variety of psychological tools, Howard has supported over 2,500 individuals over the past 23 years on an international level, regularly bringing about transformational changes to their lives. He has made multiple appearances as the anxiety expert on BBC Morning Live, sharing his expertise with a national audience. His practical, dynamic and innovative approach has helped people from all walks of life and ages overcome intrusive personal phobias, anxieties and issues that they have often suffered from for years, offering his clients a new lease of life. He is the creator of "The Willingness Ladder®", a versatile therapeutic technique that he's taught to over 300 therapists around the world, and the author of "The Rustle of Leaves", a children's book designed to help very young children (4-9) discover how we can become anxious about things that pose no threat. In addition to his personal therapy work, Howard is a very popular and entertaining presenter on a range of topics relevant to society today and has a huge following amongst his peers through his podcast. He spent almost two years as the lead psychological presenter on Virgin Atlantic's critically acclaimed 'Flying Without Fear' course, and also appeared as the expert on fear of flying on Channel 4's documentary 'Fear of Flying: Caught on Camera'. He has also contributed to other media appearing on the BBC, in The Daily Telegraph, Daily Express, Sun, CEO Magazine, just some of the media who have documented his successful ability to help people change quickly. Qualifications Hypnotherapist (GQHP), NLP Master Practitioner, Design Human Engineer, Thought Field Therapist, Registered with the CNHC (Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council), 19+ years of clinical experience, Psychological Illusion Model Trainer Adam's course Hypnotic Wealth can be found here: https://www.adamcox.co.uk/hypnotic-wealth.html  Coming Soon - The Hypnotists's Secret Circle: Adam will soon be launching a new low-cost membership to access his entire hypnosis archive without the intro, outro, and explanation and an exclusive community only for members. In the meantime you can secure a free sleep download here: https://tr.ee/MCuZqKPnEg  Adam Cox is one of the world's most innovative hypnotists and is known for being the hypnotherapist of choice for Celebrities, CEO's and even Royalty. To book a free 30-minute consultation call to consider working with Adam go to: https://go.oncehub.com/AdamCox Adam's rates for hypnotherapy in pounds and US dollars are here: https://www.adamcox.co.uk/hypnotherapist.html  You can contact Adam at adam@adamcox.co.uk Further information on Adam is here: https://linktr.ee/AdamCoxOfficial  Tags: Adam Cox, the hypnotist, NLP, asmr, hypnosis, hypnotherapy, hypnotist, stress, sleep, worry, meditation, guided meditation, hypnotism, anxiety, hypnosis for abundance, hypnosis for confidence hypnosis, Guest Hypnotist Howard Cooper

Episode 107 of the podcast focuses on skiing with points, featuring hosts Cameron, Joe, and April. They kick off the episode with a discussion on an interesting WSJ article about the extreme lengths people go to reserve pool chairs at resorts. The news segment highlights current point transfer bonuses, including Chase's 30% bonus to Virgin Atlantic and Amex's 15% bonus to Avianca Lifemiles, as well as a limited-time 100K offer for the United Business Card. They also touch on ZorkFest, an upcoming event on the intersection of casino rewards, travel, and loyalty programs. The hosts share their recent credit card bonuses and milestone achievements, with Joe discussing his Hyatt 110-night milestone and Cameron's attempt to secure the BOA Alaska Airlines Business Card.The episode's main feature dives into strategies for skiing on points, covering season passes like Epic and Ikon, hotel and flight redemptions, and planning tactics. Cameron emphasizes spreadsheet tracking for the best pass deals, while April shares her experience with Alaska Airlines' free ski passes. The hosts discuss top ski destinations, including Utah, Colorado, Vermont, Europe, Japan, and Canada, detailing how to use points for flights and hotel stays. The tip of the week comes from Joe, who reminds listeners of the "why" behind award travel—using points not just for luxury, but to create meaningful experiences, like funding his daughter's summer violin program through Hyatt points.Links to Topics DiscussedChase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Bonus to Virgin AtlanticAmex Membership Rewards Transfer Bonus to LifemilesUnited Business Card Increased BonusWhere to Find Us The Free 110k+ member Award Travel 101 Community. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1. You can also email us at 101@award.travel Our next meetup will be May 16-18, 2025 in Chicago! Tickets are SOLD OUT and the waitlist is exhaused but stay tuned for news about our next meetup! Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. We love being able to automatically add all of our offers and quickly seeing the best card to use for every purchase. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions! Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card!

In Episode 106 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, Mike Zaccheo is joined by fellow community member Charlie to discuss how award travel fuels adventure. Fresh off their whirlwind European microstates trip, they recount their experiences visiting some of the smallest and most fascinating countries in the world, including Andorra, Monaco, and Liechtenstein—all made possible through strategic use of points and miles. From lie-flat seats on transatlantic flights to luxury hotel upgrades and rental cars for border-hopping, their journey showcases the power of award travel to create unforgettable experiences.Before diving into their adventure, they cover the latest in airline loyalty programs, including the new JetBlue Premium Card, Virgin Atlantic's status match offer, and United's updated status challenge. Charlie also shares some impressive recent redemptions, from an Amex Gold 200k offer to Citi AA Business approvals. They wrap up with a valuable tip—book early and book often—emphasizing how planning ahead for flexibility and in some cases pivoting at the last possible minute helped one of them score Lufthansa First Class and other premium redemptions for their ambitious travels.Links to Topics DiscussedNew JetBlue Premium CardVirgin Atlantic Status MatchUnited Status MatchWhere to Find Us The Free 110k+ member Award Travel 101 Community. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1. You can also email us at 101@award.travel Our next meetup will be May 16-18, 2025 in Chicago! Tickets are SOLD OUT but visit the Chicago 2025 Meetup page to secure a spot on the waitlist. Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. We love being able to automatically add all of our offers and quickly seeing the best card to use for every purchase. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions! Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card!

Transfer bonuses are one of the best ways to stretch your points further, and in this episode we're breaking down everything you need to know about them. From understanding how they work to sharing the bonuses we've taken advantage of, this episode is packed with actionable tips to help you maximize your rewards and travel more for less. What Are Transfer Bonuses? Pam explains that what transfer bonuses are and how big a difference they can make in your redemptions.  For example, a recent American Express bonus to Virgin Atlantic offered a 40% increase, turning 100,000 Membership Rewards into 140,000 Virgin Atlantic miles.  When to Use Them While transfer bonuses can be tempting, Alex emphasizes the importance of having a plan. Speculative transfers (moving points without a specific booking in mind) can leave you stuck with miles you don't need if your plans change. The takeaway? If you're new to points, only use transfer bonuses when you know you'll use the miles. Stacking Bonuses for Maximum Value Jess shares how stacking transfer bonuses with existing airline or hotel promotions can unlock even more value. And Alex highlights Flying Blue's monthly promo awards and child discount, which allow you to save even more by pairing discounted flights with transfer bonuses. Hotel Transfer Bonuses Jess dives into the hotel side of transfer bonuses, highlighting the best options and the ones that might not be a good deal. Our Favorite Transfer Bonus Wins Each of us shares a recent win: Pam: Transferred 100,000 Amex points to Virgin Atlantic with a 40% bonus, booking a round-trip business class flight to London for just 58,000 miles and $600 in fees. Alex: Used a 20% transfer bonus to Flying Blue to book business class flights to Morocco with her mom and sisters for just 55,000 points each way. Jess: Took advantage of a Capital One transfer bonus to Virgin Red, then Virgin Atlantic, to book a KLM flight for nearly 50% fewer points. Transfer bonuses are an incredible way to maximize your points and miles, but timing and planning are everything. Whether you're saving for a luxury business-class flight or looking to reduce the cost of a family vacation, these promotions can make a big difference. Check out our blog for monthly updates on the latest transfer bonuses, and start planning your next big adventure!   Links: Subscribe to Points Talk Premium: https://pointstalk.supercast.com/ Links For All Things Travel Mom Squad: stan.store/travelmomsquad Transfer Bonuses and Sales on Points & Miles January 2025 - Travel Mom Squad   Episode Minute By Minute: 00:30 – Introduction: What are transfer bonuses? 01:15 – Pam explains how transfer bonuses work 10:30 – When to use (and not use) transfer bonuses 15:00 – Stacking bonuses for flights and hotels 21:30 – Jess's Hilton strategy and hotel transfer tips 27:55 – Favorite transfer bonus wins from Pam, Alex, and Jess 35:00 – Final thoughts on maximizing transfer bonuses

A decade on the air and in the air, thank you all for your loyalty (we don't offer Tier Points).Loyalty is what we start with, as British Airways shakes the world of revenue based loyalty with a rather abrupt shift (meh it was coming, says Alex, whilst Paul defends BA), but what program should we now put our miles in?!Alex flies to peak pollution Delhi with Virgin Atlantic, to meet his brothers (and his Attache brother, Greg). He then goes to New York via Helsinki with Finnair, an airline that wants you to believe a 330 is a 350, but that he'd fly again and again.IFE privacy and self-consciousness, that's a thing (is it for you all you too?)Paul finally narrates the pinnacle of air travel, the best First Class in the world (no contest!), 12 hours in supreme zero-gravity comfort aboard the Emirates 777 First (he touches all the buttons, creates a night club in the sky in one cabin, a hotel in another).Is the middle seat the best option? You might need binoculars to believe it.Again, thank you all for tuning in every time we release a show (including the crazy ones binge-listening to the entire catalogue of episodes!).Happy flying until our next episode (When? Like at airports, patience is a virtue haha) —Follow us, and comment on: Instagram - Bluesky - Threads - Mastodon - Twitter/XComment on each episode, and rate us, on SpotifyReview, and rate us, on Apple PodcastsComment, like, review, and rate us, on FacebookComment on YouTube (there's no video, just audio!)Search for "Layovers" on any podcast service (some direct links are on our website)If we're missing one, or if you have any feedback, let Paul know on Instagram - Threads - Mastodon - Bluesky - Twitter/X

In today's episode we'll discuss what's up with Hilton gift cards, we'll intensely debate Virgin Atlantic award charts, cover 2 different points millionaire promos, then finally, we'll tell you how to earns tons of rewards through shopping portals. (01:29) - One reader reports on their success with the Southwest Companion Pass with just one of the Southwest business cards when it had the elevated 120k offer. Read more about the companion pass here. (04:29) - Chase Bonvoy Bold: now features Chase's Pay Yourself Back benefit. (08:36) - Citi changed transfer rates to Flying Blue to 1.25 (temporarily) (11:38) - Qantas devaluation Aug 5th Check out our Complete List of Transferrable Points Partners here. (18:30) - SAS Eurobonus Millionaire update (22:49) - Chase Travel giving away 1 million Ultimate Rewards points to 10 winners (24:12) - Virgin Atlantic still has award charts (32:43) - Westgate Resorts now bookable w/ Choice Privileges (35:15) - Portal Overview (43:00) - Our favorite shopping portals (starting with Rakuten) (55:54) - Portal Myths Learn more about common shopping portal myths here. (1:12:08) - Stacking Opportunities For more stacking ideas, check out The Art of Extreme Stackery | Ep231 | 12-2-23 here. (1:13:43) - Learn more about card linked offers here. (1:15:26) - Gift Cards (1:16:32) - Learn more about buying gift cards at discount (e.g. Pepper) here: https://frequentmiler.com/instant-gift-card-deals (1:18:05) - Super Stack Example (1:24:26) - What's the deal with Hilton Gift Cards?