Brian Kelly, better known as The Points Guy, predicts that 2024 will be the busiest travel year on record, so you'll definitely want to make sure you get the best deals. But how? The Points Guy sat down with TheStreet's JD Durkin to discuss how you can find and take advantage of the best prices for your trip.
Full video transcript below:
JD DURKIN: The Points Guy predicts that 2024 will be the busiest travel year on record. Tell me about any tips and tricks you have for travelers when it comes to finding the best deals, Brian.
BRIAN KELLY: Yeah, the good thing is that, you know, in 2021 and 22 we saw crazy inflation and flight prices. We were seeing increases of 20% month over month. You know, everyone was shocked at 8% inflation year after year. But in the realm of travel, any traveler knows that there were times when flying to Los Angeles was like flying to Europe. Fortunately, those prices have come down, especially nationally. But it may still be where it's really affecting consumers internationally. Everyone wants: tomorrow I'm going to Tokyo. Everyone wants to, you know, Europe was two years ago.
Finally, we can go back now. People go to Australia, New Zealand and the flight prices are really high. I think my best advice for people with points is that there are still plenty of points and deals available, but use technology to spot the best points deals out there. There are now several different websites: point.me, Seats.arrow and Expert Flyer. These are tools that you pay like $10 a month for and they scan all the availability and will send you alerts when there is availability. I have a friend who joined me in Tokyo and it was 200,000 miles. He says, I can't afford that. But I said set alerts and, lo and behold, United opened 75,000-mile tickets within two weeks of departure. So to get the best deals, sometimes you have to have some balls and wait because airlines threw in tons of low-tier reward space at the last minute.
JD DURKIN: And talk to me about the dos and don'ts of seasonality. I imagine it's more expensive to fly during the summer when it comes to summer blend gasoline compared to some of the winter months, winter blend gasoline is a little cheaper to produce on average, and we see that reflected in the air fare. good?
BRIAN KELLY: Yes, this is what I mean. So on peak summer travel, in Europe, they're going to give you a hose if you do it, especially if you buy it now and aren't up for it. I recommend it to get flexibility at lower prices. So google.com/flights. So a lot of people use Google Flights. Here's the trick. There's a feature called explore and what you can do on Google flights, you click on the Explore tab and you enter that you live in New York City and you want to go to Europe for a week in June, and it will pull all the different cities to the ones you can go to in Europe.
So you may be able to save half the price by flying to an airport that's just a short train ride from Paris, where you want to go. So be flexible and try a new city. And also, when booking award tickets, many people do not take advantage of the stopovers. For example, Air France, if you booked New York to Paris round trip, it's the same number of miles. If you fly to New York, Paris and then add the flight to Paris, Budapest and then fly home to Budapest, New York, same number of miles, a couple of dollars in taxes and fees. So it's a great way to get value, see multiple cities, and avoid having to pay for extra tickets when you're already traveling.
