How to Make Every Trip More Meaningful — Without Spending More (w/ Expedia’s “Powering Travel” Host Elisabeth Goodridge)

Speaker 1 We've got gifting all wrapped up at Sephora. Gift more and spend less with our value sets.
Packed with the best makeup, skincare, fragrances, and hair care they'll love.

Speaker 1 This year's Showstopper gift sets are bursting with beauty products from Rare Beauty, Summer Fridays, Glossier, Amica, and so much more. Shop holiday gifts at Sephora.com and give something beautiful.

Speaker 4 Sally, what do you think makes a trip worth it?

Speaker 3 Ooh, I mean, the food while you're there, but post-trip, I think really what's most important is the experiences you gain and the memories you make.

Speaker 4 I totally agree. And that's something our guest today has been exploring on her show.

Speaker 4 She's also a fellow travel podcast host, and she's talking to us today about what she's been learning from travel experts about making a trip full of memories.

Speaker 3 Wow, that's what I said.

Speaker 4 Welcome to Smart Travel, a deep dive into the tips, tools, and tactics to maximize your travel dollars.

Speaker 3 I'm Megan Coyle. And I'm Sally French.

Speaker 4 And we're the travel nerds ready to help you plan your next big trip.

Speaker 4 Today, I invited Elizabeth Goodridge, the director of content at Expedia Group and the host of Expedia's podcast, Powering Travel, to join us.

Speaker 3 And happy almost Halloween, Megan. What are you up to this Halloween?

Speaker 4 You know, going to another wedding this weekend. It's the day after Halloween, though, so I feel like I can't go too crazy on Halloween night.

Speaker 3 Are you wearing a costume at the wedding?

Speaker 4 I wish. Yeah, just my normal black tie costume.
It is pretty silly.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 3 I'm also not wearing a costume this Halloween. That's because I want to pack light and I am not packing a costume with me.
I am heading to Europe.

Speaker 3 I am going, believe it or not, on a cruise all throughout Europe. I have never done a cruise longer than three days before.

Speaker 3 And so this honestly seems a little bit scary to me because I am low-key afraid of being trapped on a boat for that long, but I don't think that will be the case.

Speaker 4 I don't think you'll even be on the boat that much anyways. Like you're going to be off the boat, walking around all these cities in Europe.
It's going to be amazing.

Speaker 3 Yeah. In fact, that is is why I chose this itinerary.
I am sailing with Norwegian Cruise Line and it is a different port every single day. There is no day at sea.

Speaker 3 And so I'm actually going on this trip really because I want to see how much I can experience in Europe without messing around with checking into different hotel rooms, having to train or fly to all these different places.

Speaker 3 I am going to a new place every day. And you know, I am going to rack up so many steps.
So anyone who thinks you don't get steps cruising, I am going to see if I can prove them wrong.

Speaker 4 I will be watching watching your Fitbit stats like a.

Speaker 4 I also did a Mediterranean cruise last year and it was so fun. Like seeing all those cities from the water is just so beautiful.
So you're going to have a great time.

Speaker 3 I think we should talk about it on a feature show episode.

Speaker 4 Yeah, probably in like a few weeks when I get back.

Speaker 2 Yes, where are you going?

Speaker 4 I'm going on a huge multi-country trip as well. We're doing Ireland, Scotland, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia.

Speaker 3 Wow, all over. Those places are not really close to each other.

Speaker 4 They are not close. You should see the flight path.
It's like one end end of the world all the way to the other end of the world. And like, I should have just made a full loop, you know, but

Speaker 3 track those frequent flyer miles. I cannot wait to hear about that when you are back as well.
Let's dive into the news.

Speaker 3 Before we get to our news, though, go to that disclaimer, and that is that we will talk about a few credit card companies that are NerdWallet partners in this episode.

Speaker 3 That does not influence how Megan and I discuss them. The benefits, terms, and fees mentioned were accurate at the time of posting.
Things obviously can change.

Speaker 3 Some offers may have expired by the time you're listening. So for the latest details, follow the links in the episode description.

Speaker 4 Starting us off, United and JetBlue's Blue Sky Partnership officially launched. So, United Mileage Plus members can now earn and redeem United miles on JetBlue flights and vice versa.

Speaker 4 So, JetBlue members can earn and redeem JetBlue points on United flights.

Speaker 3 Then, coming soon, you will also be able to take advantage of reciprocal benefits for elite status members of each program. So, those are things like the free checked bag and extra legroom seats.

Speaker 3 And then, you know, JetBlue does that tiles program. So, true blue members can earn tiles towards elite status when they take United flights.

Speaker 4 There are some weird exceptions, though, like you can't earn JetBlue points on United flights from Newark to Los Angeles and also a handful of other cities because JetBlue already operates a similar route from a nearby airport, JFK.

Speaker 4 So it's very strange. You have to know which flights you can actually earn these points on.

Speaker 3 It's like a weird don't compete thingy.

Speaker 4 Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3 Okay.

Speaker 3 And then also, I will say, do check what your earning and redeeming rates are because you might be better just sticking with just United on United flights and just JetBlue on JetBlue flights if you are fine having points in both programs.

Speaker 3 This is just really good if maybe you're taking like your one JetBlue flight in your life, but you just really want to accrue the United Miles.

Speaker 4 This partnership kind of reminds me of an old program that American used to have with JetBlue called the Northeast Alliance, RAP. You know, this is our Halloween episode.

Speaker 3 Oh, send it to that graveyard.

Speaker 4 But American and Alaska also have reciprocal benefits and you can earn points with either airline when you fly either one because they're in the same airline alliance so now jet blue and united have this partnership i think that makes all these programs more attractive now than southwester delta which don't have these partnerships with other u.s airlines not yet not yet all right megan here's something i don't know about you but i'm gonna ask do you watch anime

Speaker 4 Not a ton anymore. I used to watch more when I was in college.
Oh, really? Yeah, not so much anymore.

Speaker 3 Okay, well, if you are an anime fan, fan, which sounds like maybe not you, Delta announced that starting in early November, Crunchyroll is launching on Delta flights.

Speaker 3 So that means you'll be able to watch anime series like Black Clover, solo leveling, and Fruits Basket on those seatback screens.

Speaker 4 Oh, that's awesome for Delta Flyers. Delta is always like on top of their game when it comes to the in-flight experience.

Speaker 4 They have free Wi-Fi, they have seatback screens on a lot of their planes, free headphones, and I just think it's a great experience to fly with Delta.

Speaker 3 And they got those Biscoff cookies.

Speaker 4 Yeah, that would, I'm not going to put in the the good,

Speaker 2 good flight experience.

Speaker 3 Biscoff hater, send your hate mail to Megan.

Speaker 3 All right, moving over to some travel investment news, and that is that Travis Kelsey is putting his money into theme parks.

Speaker 4 I heard about this. The football star and Taylor Swiss fiancé is doing it for the nostalgia, right?

Speaker 3 Yes. So as it turns out, Travis Kelsey is a Six Flags fan.
News came out last week that he is investing in Six Flags.

Speaker 3 The longer story is that he just became part of an investor group that now owns about 9% of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. And they also say they're actively trying to revive the brand.

Speaker 4 I hope it works. It's tough out there because I think Disney and Universal set this very high, very expensive bar.
And I think there still is a place for less expensive theme parks.

Speaker 4 Like I like Six Flags Magic Mountain here in Southern California. But sadly, the Six Flags in Maryland that was close to my hometown is the one that's shutting down this year.
So it's tough for them.

Speaker 4 It really is. Okay.

Speaker 3 Travis Kelsey's money might have come in too late to save the Maryland park, park, but hopefully he can turn around some of the other parks. Kelsey has called himself a lifelong Six Flags Super fan.

Speaker 3 He said he grew up going to Cedar Point. That's the theme park in Ohio.
That is relatively new to the Six Flags family. Cedar Fair merged with Six Flags in 2024.

Speaker 4 I think there's just so much entertainment these days. Like they have a lot to compete with, not just in theme parks, but also the entertainment on your phone, on your TV.

Speaker 4 Like a thrill ride isn't necessarily enough. So I'm curious if they're going to be investing in not just rides, but the whole experience.

Speaker 3 Oh my gosh, I feel like theme parks are more important than ever now because we're all just alone in our phones all day.

Speaker 4 Travis, save us, save us, Travis. We'll see if Travis Kelsey's investment pays off.

Speaker 4 And speaking of other podcast hosts, we're going from Travis Kelsey, the co-host of the New Heights podcast, to our guest today, Elizabeth Goodrich.

Speaker 4 She's the host of Expedia's podcast called Powering Travel, where she talks to celebrities and experts about their learnings about travel.

Speaker 3 What kind of celebrities are we talking?

Speaker 4 So many cool people. Phil Kogan, the host of The Amazing Race.

Speaker 3 Oh my gosh, I love The Amazing Race. I want to go on it so bad.

Speaker 4 We got to get Elizabeth to connect us. I think you and I, Sally, could do really well on The Amazing Race.

Speaker 3 10 out of 10, make it happen.

Speaker 4 Okay, so I asked Elizabeth about what themes she was seeing through her interviews. And one really stuck out to me.
And it was, how do you set yourself up for a trip that's worth it?

Speaker 4 that you're going to love and spoiler alert she found out it does not mean spending a lot of money you know I totally agree with this.

Speaker 3 I feel like sometimes the best trips I've ever taken were the ones that cost me the least amount of money where I'm just eating food at a roadside stand and staying at a little tiny hotel that's not a big chain.

Speaker 3 I already agree with her.

Speaker 4 Exactly. Especially if the price you're paying is more than what you would normally pay for something.

Speaker 4 Like when you're like, oh, I'm going to splurge on this really nice hotel, except that it's five times what you would normally pay. And then you have to be like, is this experience five times better?

Speaker 4 It's hard. It's hard to live up to that.

Speaker 4 So Elizabeth talks to some of her guests about what the elements are of creating these meaningful memories and getting a real local experience, which is something that people value and they makes their trip worth it.

Speaker 4 Welcome to Smart Travel, Elizabeth.

Speaker 2 Hi, thank you so much for having me, Megan.

Speaker 4 Congrats on a new season of Powering Travel. You've talked to some really fantastic people this season.

Speaker 4 And one thing that I noticed was that there's this through line of value and how people evaluate the value they get from their vacations.

Speaker 4 How do you evaluate what makes travel worth it?

Speaker 2 Well, first off, travel is always worth it, but it's really the criteria and the measurement, right?

Speaker 2 So, one of my episode guests was Arthur Brooks. He is a Harvard professor, author, because he has studied the science of happiness for years.

Speaker 2 He calls the travel business the happiness business because it brings the three kinds of macro ingredients that you need: you need enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning.

Speaker 2 And you can have that on any vacation at any price point if you are mindful and you do it right.

Speaker 2 So even down the street and taking yourself out to a small vacation in another neighborhood in New York City, you can still have value from a trip for $0

Speaker 2 or for just a block away.

Speaker 4 Did your conversation with Arthur Brooks change the way you think about travel?

Speaker 4 Because if I remember correctly, you were talking about some of your recent vacations and rethinking like, was that a good trip?

Speaker 2 He offered some great advice on really trying to be in the moment. Everyone's taking pictures with their phones.
Of course they are. But he really suggested being in the moment.

Speaker 2 So when you're taking a picture, you're not actually taking a picture for that moment right there. You're taking a picture and putting it on Instagram for six months from now.

Speaker 2 So what he was really recommending is being very, very mindful when you are on vacation and assign someone every day to take pictures so that everyone can have their own mindful vacation.

Speaker 2 I thought it was brilliant advice.

Speaker 4 Wow. I've never heard of that and I like it as well.

Speaker 4 And I never thought about how how you are taking pictures, but you're actually taking pictures for your future self, not the one that's right there looking at this beautiful scenery. What about money?

Speaker 4 How does that come into how you value a vacation? Do you have higher expectations for a trip that you paid more for?

Speaker 2 There was something really interesting for me because I have a kid. A lot of people have kids.
And you can't really expect a child to have a ton of fun if you spent a lot of money.

Speaker 2 Just throw that idea out the window.

Speaker 2 Really understand that the kid wants to have fun. He could be having fun in the ugliest hotel pool, but because it's a pool, it doesn't matter how much money.

Speaker 2 So, that's one thing that I've really, particularly the last couple of years becoming a travel expert, is understanding you don't have to spend money to go on trips.

Speaker 2 You really just need to think about who you're traveling with and whether or not you're getting satisfaction and meaning from your trip.

Speaker 4 What are some ways that you save money on travel?

Speaker 2 Many ways.

Speaker 2 Okay, so you can get into the points game and the loyalty program, but there are so many different websites, not just Expedia, that can really help you assess what kind of flights are happening, what kind of deals are expected to drop or increase.

Speaker 2 So I'm a big believer in shopping. A lot of people do not believe in shopping around, but on the other hand, a lot of people look at at least seven websites.

Speaker 2 It also feels really good to get a bargain or at least get some dollars off. So just put a little bit of extra time into your trip planning and then you'll be really happy down the road.

Speaker 4 I would say with all the technology we have that finding a good price can be really confusing. Prices are changing almost every minute.
Do you have any advice for consumers about how you shop?

Speaker 2 The other thing that you need to mention is these additional fees. And so the government has gone back and forth on making these hidden fees, these resort fees and so on be more present.

Speaker 2 So that's one key thing is make sure you actually know what the bottom line is when you're shopping, whether whether or not it's a rental car or an airline ticket or that hotel room.

Speaker 2 You always need to be up front while you're shopping. So when you're on your vacation, you're not surprised by any additional fees.

Speaker 4 I think a big thing with paying for travel is you also want to know what you're paying for exactly, including what the destination is like.

Speaker 4 I think a lot of people find destinations through social media and through television, through film.

Speaker 4 Can you talk about why popular culture and social media are sort of changing what people expect out of their travels?

Speaker 2 What we're seeing at Expeedy Group, particularly in a new report that we're putting out, it's called Unpack 26. It's an annual travel trends report we put out.

Speaker 2 This year, Set Janing is, it's never going to go away.

Speaker 2 More and more people, I think it's more than 60% of folks, 81% of folks who are on the younger side, are now basing their travel trips on movies and television shows they've watched.

Speaker 2 It kind of makes sense because a lot of these destinations or even hotels are characters in their own own right in their shows. And don't you want to be swept away as well?

Speaker 2 So we're seeing interest in Los Angeles because of Nobody Wants This, that new rom-com on Netflix. We're seeing so much interest, of course, thanks to White Lotus.

Speaker 2 We've had a lot of interest in Thailand because of season three.

Speaker 2 And one of my guests actually was a star on White Lotus season three, Tame Tap Ting Tong. He was the first guest of our first episode of season five.

Speaker 2 And he offered a lot of great advice on going to Thailand three days here and three days there.

Speaker 2 I really encourage your listeners to listen to that episode because it was a really nice insider take on what makes Thailand so special.

Speaker 4 People are trying to exude their main character energy, it seems like, with these kinds of trips. But does...

Speaker 4 set-jetting, as you guys like to call it, seem to conflict with this desire for like an authentic experience when you're on vacation?

Speaker 4 Because after all, what you're seeing on social media or in film might not be how that place actually is.

Speaker 2 That's a really good point. And Tame actually brought up a lot of thoughts on that.

Speaker 2 Say you want to go to Thailand, you want to have the authentic Thai experience, and then you show up at a hotel that's got absolutely nothing interior-wise to represent that you're in that country.

Speaker 2 So really do your research. And a key thing for us, of course, is to read the reviews.
People love reviews, people trust reviews.

Speaker 2 And as people are getting more and more savvy with what they want with set jetting, they'll offer offer their own opinions and reviews.

Speaker 4 So that social proof is just as important as the social media you saw at the beginning of planning your trip.

Speaker 2 And social media influencers are going to be really big contributors and inspiration. But we're seeing such edding.

Speaker 2 I mean, you saw it way back when with the sound of music, but we're seeing it just absolutely explode now.

Speaker 4 And there's so much content now that there's so many different places that are able to be showcased.

Speaker 2 I mean, just think about Downton Abbey alone. How many people have gone to explore English manners thanks to Downton Abbey?

Speaker 4 Oh, I definitely looked up that castle. I'm going to the UK soon.
I was like, can I visit?

Speaker 2 Where exactly are you going in the UK?

Speaker 4 I'm going to London and Oxford for a couple of days, but also Scotland and Ireland on that trip. And in Scotland, set jetting is huge because people are going after Outlander.

Speaker 4 They're going after Harry Potter because Edinburgh is where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter.
And so you can really see the inspiration in the land there, I suppose.

Speaker 2 Absolutely.

Speaker 4 All right, we'll talk more about getting a local experience at your destination after free.

Speaker 3 The following is a paid sponsorship, not an endorsement by NerdWallet's editorial team. Today's episode is sponsored by Built.

Speaker 4 By now, you've probably heard of Built, where you can earn points on your monthly rent payment. But did you know they make it possible for you to get more outside of your home too?

Speaker 3 By paying rent through Built, you can earn points. Those points are flexible and members can redeem them towards hotels and airlines, credits for a future rent payment, your next lift ride, and more.

Speaker 4 And it doesn't stop there. Built is about making your entire neighborhood more rewarding.

Speaker 4 You can dine out at your favorite local restaurants and earn additional points, get VIP treatment at certain fitness studios, and enjoy exclusive experiences just for Built members every month.

Speaker 3 Built is turning a monthly expense into an opportunity to earn rewards and discover the best that your neighborhood has to offer. Your rent is finally working for you.

Speaker 4 Earn points on rent and around your neighborhood wherever you call home by going to joinbill.com slash smart travel.

Speaker 3 That's j-o-i-n-b-i-l-t dot com slash smart travel. Make sure to use our URL so they know we sent you.

Speaker 5 REI Co-op presents a perfect outdoor moment with the perfect gift. Woo!

Speaker 5 Picture this. You're ripping with your favorite person.
Bluebird skies, blower powder, and frankly, you're skiing like magic.

Speaker 2 So sick. Another laugh?

Speaker 5 Thanks to REI's curation from lid to sticks you nailed the gift no way how'd you know does it get more perfect than that give without guessing shop in store or visit rei.com

Speaker 2 so elizabeth what makes a great authentic vacation if you are looking for that local experience so phil kogan the host of the amazing race has been to more than 170 countries he was a great guest on my show and he really stressed curiosity and how do you do that how do you express curiosity to have an authentic vacation he suggests just talking to the people you're there with talk to your tour guide and ask where they get coffee talk to the hotel guest and say where should we get an authentic meal don't just have the bacon and eggs in the hotel room you don't have to do it have it every day particularly if you want to have an authentic trip So for example, which was just kind of turning around, Phil said that we're at a pit stop during one show of the Amazing Race, and they were at the bottom of the Sphinx, you know, in Egypt with all of the beautiful monuments to these great Egyptian pharaohs in the background.

Speaker 2 And he turns to one of the fixers and says, I think I'm hungry. And he's like, We'll order some food, don't worry.
And Phil is expecting some, you know, local cuisine, some Egyptian food.

Speaker 2 Up shows a Domino's pizza truck with lots of

Speaker 2 Domino's pizza pie. And instead of kind of turning his nose at it, he just said, Okay, you know what? Let's do this.
All right. Here I am eating pizza underneath the Sphinx in Egypt.

Speaker 2 I'm just going to enjoy it because this is what the locals are doing.

Speaker 4 And then it takes a lot of research to be able to find some of those experiences. You have to often leave your hotel, talk to other people.

Speaker 4 How do you do that research to find kind of off-the-beaten path, gems?

Speaker 2 Okay, again, I'm going to stress reviews. Reviews and your friends, and your friends' friends, and your family.

Speaker 4 Anyone you know, actually.

Speaker 2 If you are lucky and remember travel is momentous whether or not you have great memories or bad memories we've already talked about how to have good memories happiness but people want to talk about travel because it's such a way a practice to really move and bring you those extraordinary adventures that you'll remember those memories for so long so people will want to share their experiences and even if it's a horrible experience it turns out to be a great story down the road

Speaker 4 exactly the negative experiences are almost as important as the positive ones, right? Because they're all making memories.

Speaker 2 They're all making memories, exactly.

Speaker 4 And I believe you're a big diver, is that right? I am.

Speaker 2 I like scuba diving.

Speaker 4 How do you do the research to be able to find hidden places to dive?

Speaker 2 What I like to do is you can get off the beaten path. And particularly in this world of over-tourism, we at Expedia really try to talk about destination dupes.

Speaker 2 Where are these experiences and these locations who can give you that same experience as you can get, but at an overpopulated, over-touristed place. So, what I like to do, prime example, scuba diving.

Speaker 2 I will go to a specific scuba diving website, but I won't just go to, say, Facebook.

Speaker 2 I'll go into where you know that they are die-hard divers, whether or not it's Reddit or some of these scuba diving bulletins, which have been around for like 10, 15 years, if you think about how old the internet is now.

Speaker 2 And that's where I try to find the authentic places. Many places are kind of overfished, and a lot of places are, there's just a lot of divers, but there's still a lot of places out there.

Speaker 2 I've gone to Bonaire, which was extraordinary scuba diving. Curacao, the north of Curacao, gave me an extraordinary amount of sea life.

Speaker 2 And then my favorite scuba diving trip of all time was in Roatan off the coast of Honduras. Whoa,

Speaker 2 how cool.

Speaker 4 What did you see on those trips that just make them stand out to you?

Speaker 2 Oh, you name it. There was just so many fish you couldn't even count and eels and turtles and bonaire.
It was just, you could snorkel right off the shore. You could scuba dive right off the shore.

Speaker 2 And then it got just kind of like, of course I saw a turtle. Of course I saw a sea turtle.
Of course I saw another sea turtle, which is just a glorious, I mean, again, stories, so many stories.

Speaker 4 Why do those local or authentic experiences on vacation stick with travelers so much? We talked a little bit about making memories, but dive a little bit deeper into that.

Speaker 2 Everybody wants a momentous experience when they travel. Of course they do.
And what you really need to do is kind of get out of your comfort zone because that will imprint the memory even more.

Speaker 2 Arthur Brooks was really a great interview to think about kind of the difference between even pleasure and enjoyment. Pleasure, it's immediate.
It's definitely everything what everyone wants.

Speaker 2 But enjoyment is actually something you do with people and it has meaning.

Speaker 2 And so that's what you should really seek out when you're traveling is seek out enjoyment and just get yourself a little bit outside of your comfort zone because then the memories will stick.

Speaker 4 And I noticed that in all those things you just listed, you didn't mention money as part of that. Like you don't have to necessarily spend a ton of money to make those dense memories.
Is that right?

Speaker 2 That's absolutely right. I mean, think about it.
You just need to be a little bit out of your comfort zone.

Speaker 2 I was in Maine in July with some of my favorite friends from college, and we just went for a walk along the shoreland in a new town that none of us had ever been to before.

Speaker 2 We had parked the car, we went for a walk, we had ice cream. Aside from the ice cream, you couldn't have a cheaper outing.
It was so fun.

Speaker 2 I'm going to remember that because again, new place with people I love.

Speaker 2 Yeah, you could say I was getting some pleasure from the ice cream, but it was really, it was really, it was enjoyment and the meaning I was having, making sure that I was still keeping in touch with these wonderful friends who I'd known for so long from college.

Speaker 4 And you didn't have to go super far to do that. You were based in New York.
So people can make those dense memories and find new places outside of their comfort zone, not so far.

Speaker 4 Like they could perhaps even drive and treat themselves to a hotel somewhere very close by.

Speaker 2 Okay, so that's what I did. I drove.
I drove from New York. It was very easy.
And think about how many places you can get to on public transportation or driving from New York.

Speaker 2 And it's just, again, getting out of your comfort zone. You get into these routines, whether it's commuting or even eating, seeing your friends or going to the gym.

Speaker 2 So get out of that comfort zone and it doesn't have to cost much money.

Speaker 4 This is why I love travel. It just, everything is new when you're traveling.
Even if it's similar food maybe to what you eat at home, it's you're in a new place.

Speaker 4 You're doing it with people that maybe you don't get to spend as much time with in your daily life. So I think that's a big motivator for my travel.

Speaker 2 Oh, I just wanted to say too is that again, I mentioned our unpack report, which is brand new. And we offer our destinations of the year trip.
And our destinations are found all over the world.

Speaker 2 So again, you might be in New York. Maybe you don't want to fly to Big Sky or you don't want to fly to the French Alps.
But if you're in Europe and listening to this, you can just take a train there.

Speaker 2 So particularly if you're a budget traveler, think about meaning, thinking about getting out of your comfort zone. And you can find those adventures and those memorable travel experiences wherever.

Speaker 4 What are some examples of destinations?

Speaker 2 On the destinations of the year list, they're all over. You've got the Cotswolds in the UK.
You've got Hobart and Tasmania and Australia. People love Australia.
Boy, I love going to Australia.

Speaker 2 You have Sardinia in Italy. And I don't want to give off the entire list, but boy, we've got some great places.

Speaker 2 And they were also chosen using criteria from the World Travel and Tourism Council that looked at places that are really trying to balance tourists with the local communities, making sure it's sustainable businesses.

Speaker 2 So take a look at our list. And we chose a bunch of them that are really trying to be good stewards of their land and good stewards of their people.

Speaker 2 And I think you'll find some place that's either nearby or at least really fun for you to go to.

Speaker 4 Are there any U.S. destinations on that list?

Speaker 2 Yes, we've got a couple. So we got Big Sky in Montana, which is really trying to

Speaker 2 not regulate, but really trying to be mindful with its tourism infrastructure growth to be aware of the local communities and their wants and needs. It's a great place for skiing, of course.

Speaker 2 And then you've got Fort Walton Beach in Florida, which is one of those beautiful sugar sand beaches with glorious Gulf water. I believe it's called the Emerald Coast.

Speaker 2 And again, that is a great destination to drive to.

Speaker 4 If you are driving, maybe you're stuck in a car with a bunch of people, or even if you're flying and you're in economy class, what are some things you do to make traveling more comfortable?

Speaker 4 or more luxurious or maybe even make memories along the way and route to destination.

Speaker 2 So in a car, of course, you're going to pick up snacks.

Speaker 4 Absolutely. Can't go on a car trip without snacks.

Speaker 2 And then I really, really like to bake. So that's an economical way, particularly if you're going with friends.

Speaker 2 There's nothing better than showing up with a whole tin of brownies when they're expecting, you know, to eat snacks from the bodega or snacks from the roadside, the gas station.

Speaker 2 It's a great way to save money, particularly on treats. To be comfortable in the airplane, I swear by a foot hammock.
So you can hang it over the tray.

Speaker 2 And then it's just giving you, particularly if you

Speaker 2 are on a long haul flight, it lifts your legs up and just makes the seat a lot more comfortable and economy.

Speaker 4 So it makes it a little bit more comfortable to almost lay flat, like put your seat up, I guess.

Speaker 2 Maybe you're smaller than me, but no, I can never lay flat

Speaker 2 unless the neighbor next door isn't there.

Speaker 4 That's what we call in my family. We call it our Wong family upgrade.

Speaker 4 We get the seats next to us totally empty.

Speaker 2 and you're getting and you get more and more excited because these flights are definitely more and more packed at least in my experience so yeah it feels really serendipitous okay elizabeth this has been so fun so fascinating before i let you go we always ask our guests at the end of this show for a travel hot take what is your travel hot take elizabeth sure not a problem and in fact this wasn't me but this was my aunt and uncle Key thing if you're traveling with somebody else and you are checking bags is split your stuff into two suitcases.

Speaker 2 They were flying from Norway to London two weeks ago and they lost one suitcase and they weren't worried.

Speaker 2 They were just wondering if they lost the suitcase with the dirty clothes or the clean clothes. But no matter what, they had each clothes because they had split up their things between two suitcases.

Speaker 4 I love this. I did a whole episode about how I lost my luggage earlier this year.
And we should have done that.

Speaker 4 We should have split our stuff and put it half into one suitcase and half into the other. And also we should carry on one of those suitcases.

Speaker 2 And carry on one of those suitcases. And that's when I'm traveling by myself, particularly to a destination that has a different temperature.

Speaker 2 Say I'm leaving in the northeast in the winter and I'm going down to the Caribbean. I always pack a sundress and a bathing suit just in case I lose my luggage.

Speaker 2 So I can still enjoy my vacation in the Caribbean before my luggage gets there.

Speaker 4 I take a swimsuit on every single trip. Even if there's no pool, no ocean in sight, I'm still bringing it.
You never know.

Speaker 2 And for example, I was at a conference in Chicago. My flight got canceled.
I had 48 hours to kill and it was a beautiful and I would have killed to be able to go swimming in like Michigan right there.

Speaker 4 There you go. Everyone, bring your swimsuits and pack your stuff in two different suitcases.
That's great advice. Elizabeth, thank you so much for joining us today.

Speaker 2 Megan, thank you so much. It was a pleasure to talk to you and your listeners.

Speaker 3 Megan, amazing interview. Such great points.
And everybody should go listen to Elizabeth's podcast.

Speaker 3 Remind her, it is called Powering Travel and you can can listen to it pretty much wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 4 All right, I think we have time for a listener question as well. This one is from Bill in McLean, Virginia.
Shout out to Nova, that's near my hometown.

Speaker 4 His question is, we've never used Avianca, but looking hard at it to access Star Alliance Airlines. Most of our points slash miles are with Capital One.

Speaker 4 Can you offer other thoughts on using our Capital One points on Star Alliance Airlines?

Speaker 3 This is a tricky question because Capital One does not have a ton of domestic airline partners. They really have a lot of international partners as airline partners.

Speaker 3 So you do really have to know your airline alliances, Bill. I'm glad you asked me and Megan.
Now, Bill says he's looking at Avianca and that is a really good one.

Speaker 3 I actually used Avianca to book my flights to Turkey coming up and it is not like an Avianca flight.

Speaker 3 I am flying with my Avianca miles on Turkish airlines and they say Turkish Airlines is so good to Europe. So I did not use Turkish miles to get on Turkish Airlines.

Speaker 4 Avianca has a really good award chart for flights on their Star Alliance partners. And another good program that he could look at if he doesn't find what he's looking for on Avianca is Air Canada.

Speaker 4 The Air Canada Aero Plan program has some nice redemptions, especially for first class or business class if you're into that sort of thing.

Speaker 4 For example, you could fly Lufthansa first class for 90,000 Air Canada points. But of course, you have to find the availability first and then transfer your Capital One miles to Air Canada.

Speaker 3 Another really good redemption, I would say, is Singapore Airlines. They are also a Star Alliance partner.
Singapore is just so fancy. They are also a Capital One transfer partner.

Speaker 3 And I will say, I think their redemption rates are usually slightly higher than on Air Canada. Of course, you should check for yourself.

Speaker 4 And just to throw in a wild card, JetBlue is also a transfer partner of Capital One.

Speaker 4 And now with the new Blue Sky partnership, Bill could theoretically transfer miles to JetBlue and then redeem those on a United flight.

Speaker 3 Okay, compelling option. I will say on that one, though, Bill, do some of your own research on this specific flight because of that transfer ratio, which is five to three.

Speaker 3 So TBH, I consider this more of a backup option. That said, you do have so many other good options with Avianca or Canada, Singapore.
So happy flying either way.

Speaker 4 Make sure to follow Smart Travel on your favorite podcast app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio to automatically download new episodes.

Speaker 4 And if you're listening on Spotify, drop us a comment right in the app.

Speaker 3 And do make sure to follow us on social media. I am going to be in Europe.
So look for some good posts from Europe. I am Save with Sally on both Instagram and TikTok.

Speaker 3 And you better be following Miles with Megan Co. because she is also going to be in Europe and she's crushing it on social media.

Speaker 4 Thanks, Sally. Yes, my next stop is Scotland, so we'll not be close in Europe, but do follow both of us anyway.
This episode was produced by Tess Biglin and Hilary Georgie and edited by Nick Charismy.

Speaker 4 Claire Soci helped with fact-checking.

Speaker 3 And here's our brief disclaimer: we are not financial or investment advisors. This info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes.
It may not apply to your specific circumstances.

Speaker 4 We hope you're inspired to keep your passport full and your wallet even fuller. Thanks, everyone.
We'll see you next time.