Best Flights, Best Prices: Google Flights Tips with Taima

If you’ve ever booked the cheapest flight… only to find yourself on a three-layover marathon wishing you’d spent a little more, this episode is going to change how you search forever.

I’m joined by Taima Ramsey from Poor in a Private Plane, who’s made a career out of finding luxury travel experiences without the luxury price tag. 

Together, we’re breaking down how to find the best flights—not just the cheapest—so you can travel in comfort without blowing your budget.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why “budget” doesn’t have to mean “cheap” (and how to get intentional about your travel choices)
• How to use Google Flights Explore to discover destinations you didn’t even know were possible
• The price tracking trick that saved Taima’s parents $400 in just 24 hours
• The “date grid” feature that can shave hundreds off your airfare
• Hidden tools like the Points Path Chrome extension for points and miles fans
• Why booking direct is usually smarter than third-party sites
• Taima’s “Travel Roulette” method for spontaneous, affordable trips
• Mistakes to avoid when using points & miles so you get the best value

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Introduction and Special Guest Introduction
• 00:56 Taima's Journey to Luxury Travel on a Budget
• 02:43 Defining Budget Travel vs. Cheap Travel
• 04:28 Strategies for Budget Travel
• 08:57 Google Flights: A Powerful Tool for Travelers
• 13:16 Exploring Google Flights Features
• 24:19 Other Travel Search Engines and Tools
• 33:29 Favorite Airlines and Travel Preferences
• 34:22 Traveling to the Philippines: Flight Challenges
• 34:35 Loyalty to Delta and Its Partners
• 35:41 Avoiding Budget Airlines
• 37:25 Budgeting for Better Travel Experiences
• 38:37 Finding the Best Flight Deals
• 40:30 Maximizing Points and Miles
• 40:42 Planning a Trip to Mexico on a Budget
• 42:22 Using Google Flights for Travel Planning
• 47:01 Mistakes to Avoid When Using Points
• 52:11 Rapid Fire Travel Questions
• 56:54 Travel Roulette: Planning Spontaneous Trips
• 58:52 Final Thoughts and Where to Follow

Links & Resources:

• Taima’s Blog: Poor in a Private Plane
• Taima’s Facebook Group: Luxury Travel on a Budget Insider Tips
• Points Path Chrome Extension: Download Here

Follow Taima:
Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | TikTok – @poorinaprivateplane

Transcript

Genni Franklin: Hey friends, and welcome back to the Lazy Budget Travel Tips podcast. I'm your host, Genni Franklin, and today I'm joined by a special guest who is truly the queen of luxury travel without the luxury price tag. I'm talking to Taima Ramsey from Poor in a Private Plane. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by trying to find a good flight deal, or you're tired of booking the cheapest flight, only to regret it later, this episode is for you.

We're talking about how to find the best flights for your travel style and budget, not just the cheapest, and how Google Flights can help you grab luxury on a budget. So let's get into it. Hey Taima, thanks for being here. Hey, Genni. I'm excited to be here. So why don't you start off by telling us a little bit about how you got [00:01:00] into luxury travel, on the budget, starting your blog, Poor in a Private Plane which I gotta say I freaking love that name.

Yeah, everybody loves the name. so I started out with budget travel and, um, my whole thing was I wanted to get away. I didn't wanna spend a lot of money and my friend started kind of calling me, oh, you're like poor a private plane. Like, you do all these cool things, but then you're like not spending any money on it.

So, that's the short story of how the blog was born. But over the years I realized that it's not only about budget for me, like, yeah, I do wanna find a good deal, but I am very picky about my flights. I'm very picky about where I stay. There's certain experiences that I want, and that's kind of where the luxury on a budget.

Thing came into play because I realized that I was focusing more on these luxurious experiences, but still looking for the deal. Right. Still looking for a way to get [00:02:00] it, like they say on the beer budget. but champagne taste on a beer budget. Yeah. I don't, I don't even like that. It's not fair. 'cause some beer is super expensive.

That's so true. You're right. Craft beer is so expensive. But, um, but yeah, so pretty much like the champagne on a, on a beer budget. And that's kind of how I got to where I'm at now, where my focus is luxury on a budget and it's, you know, I love how you said like cheap versus best or things of that nature.

Like I, I don't always go with the cheapest, but, I always go for the cheapest for what I'm trying to get, what I'm trying to achieve. Mm-hmm. Right. So that's, that's kind of where, that's how I ended up here. Yeah, so it's funny because when I talk to people about like budget travel and stuff, I like to tell them budget doesn't mean cheap.

Mm-hmm. Because I think that people think that they mean the same thing. And I'm like, no, because cheap has a connotation of like [00:03:00] poor quality. Mm-hmm. And budget just means that you're, doing whatever within your means. Or you say, I wanna spend this much on X thing and you stay within that budget, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you are doing everything on the cheap

it doesn't mean that you're staying in hostels. It doesn't mean that you're always flying economy, even though there's nothing wrong with flying economy. But if you don't wanna do that, you can still do it on a budget, like you said, like you can still be poor in a private plane. Exactly.

Exactly. And I think that's the reason why I also transitioned to like the luxury on a budget, because. I always said I was a budget traveler. And when people hear that, to your point, they automatically were like, oh, she must stay at hostel. She must backpack, she must do blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And I've never done any of those things. I wish I kind of did. Now, I feel like I'm at a point in my life where I wouldn't enjoy it the way I may have, 10 years ago. But, [00:04:00] um, I never did any of those things, but people had this impression of me traveling like that because I called myself a budget travel blogger.

and I definitely am not, there's some amazing budget travel bloggers out there that do it the way that people, you know, expect them to do. They stay in hostels, they do the connecting flights, they do all these like, really cool things that I just, it's not my travel style. but yeah. So that's the reason why it's like that play on words of yeah, I want this, but I'm gonna get, I'm gonna get it for a deal.

So for you, what does it really mean to be a budget traveler? how do you look for flights? how do you travel so that people can kind of get a better idea of like what you mean by luxury on the budget? Yeah. So I like to pick, and I do like this whole create your own adventure thing, right?

So I give myself a budget for my trips, and then off of that budget I will decide what are like one to three things that are non-negotiables for me. So for example, if I'm traveling to Europe, one non-negotiable might be [00:05:00] trying to get a business class flight, for example, right? if I use most of my budget on that, then maybe I could, I could spend less on accommodations or I could spend less on certain activities or, you know, kind of mix and match.

So. I guess mixing and matching is a little bit better. And it's like, it's combining low and high experiences. So, sometimes I'll fly economy because I don't wanna spend too much money on a flight, so that way I have extra money to stay at a resort, for example. Or, maybe I will, stay at like a more low-key hotel because I wanna spend more money on food and experiences.

So it's that mixing and matching thing. But the key is like, if my budget is, you know, whatever amount, 1, 2, 3, $4,000, the key is that trying to fit all that in within that budget, that means that there's some things that I might not be able to do and that's okay. as long as I get my top three things, that I really, really wanna experience.

Yeah,that's important because I hear a lot from people Well, if I'm gonna be [00:06:00] traveling on a budget, then does that mean I have to sacrifice the things that I really love? And I'm always like, no, You should save money on the things that aren't as important to you so that you can splurge on the things that are Exactly, exactly.

And that's something that I talk a lot about on my blog, on my social media. I always talk a lot about, like, really think about what does luxury mean to you, because that differs with everybody. Like even between me and you, we've had these conversations about economy versus business class versus, you know, and we all have like our little things that we consider luxurious.

 there's some people that will not step on a plane unless they're in business class and that's it. It's a non-negotiable. And then there's others that have to stay at a certain level of a hotel. you know, there's some people that won't drive overseas. 

 they prefer to get a driver, Because they don't wanna, you know, do things on their own or they prefer just to do tours. So it's kind of trying to figure out like, what is your definition of luxury?

 what does luxury mean to you? Because it means something different [00:07:00] for everybody. And I think that's important. 'cause some of us chase this idea of luxury and then realize that we don't even care about it as much as we thought we did. Like, there's other things that are more important. so yeah.

So it's super important just to figure out like, what does luxury mean to you? What is the most important thing that you wanna get out of this trip? And also being flexible, you know, depending on where you're at, where you're going in the world. Your priorities are gonna differ. Like there's some places that I go that I will sacrifice, you know, a hotel or whatever because I know that I'm gonna spend all my money eating and drinking wine because it's like one of those places that's known for that, right?

But then there's other places where it's like, oh, I'm gonna do, I'm gonna go hiking, or I'm gonna do like a lot of these free activities. So I have a little bit more room in the budget to spend at a nicer hotel. 'cause nobody wants to spend a day hiking and then sleep on a bad bed.

 so it's just really understanding what's the most important to you and focusing on that thing. Yeah, I'm definitely the budget traveler who is not taking a million [00:08:00] layovers to get the cheapest flight. I know I will pay for the convenience of no layover, like a direct flight or maybe at the most one layover.

I'm not doing a layover to save 30 bucks. I'm sorry. Oh, no, I can't do that. I cannot do that. I see people doing it all the time and I'm like, that's great for you, but no, it's just not gonna work. No, and like for me, time is money. Exactly. So, exactly. Bucks is totally worth it to me to have the convenience of having the direct flight.

A hundred percent. Yeah, exactly. I'm an economy. Yeah, no, I, I, I, I a thousand percent agree with that. I try to avoid connecting flights as much as I can, and sometimes they're unavoidable and that's okay. but I agree with that, and especially, it really has to be like a huge difference. Like mm-hmm. If it's a couple hundred dollars, I might think a little bit more about it, right?

Yeah. but when it's like 30, 40, 50, yeah. No, it's not happening. I refuse. I refuse. Same. Same. Okay. So I know that one of the [00:09:00] tools that you absolutely love and I absolutely love too, is Google Flights. Yes, we are. Google Flights Girlies. Oh my God. 

I love it. I am on Google Flights all the time and setting those alerts. Why don't you tell usabout why you love Google Flights, what features you use,

 So I, I've been using Google Flight for so long. It's one of those things that I feel like it's just so secondary. Like the minute that I wanna go somewhere, I get that itch to go somewhere. That's the first website I go to. And I think what I love about it is that you could do so many things there and it saves so much time.

So I use it a few different ways. the first way that I use it is when I am looking to go somewhere and I don't really know where I wanna go. I just know I wanna get out. Uh, so I love using their explore feature for that. And, You know, I could put in, like, let's say if I'm looking to go away, for the month of May or the month of June or whatever, I could pop that in to the search.

I could go [00:10:00] New York to anywhere. And, it gives me some awesome ideas and I feel like I've traveled to places that I'd never really thought I would ever go to because of that, because it was such a good deal and I couldn't pass it up. So it's just great, to give you an idea. Of, places that you could go within your budget.

So that's number one way. The second way that I use it is, if I do have specific places that I need to go to. So, for example, this year I have a lot of travel conferences that I'm going to and, they're all over the US So, I went ahead and set alerts for all those cities and for the dates that I need to be where I need to be.

And it's great. That's why I was on Google Flights earlier because I got an alert that a flight that I already purchased went down.Some airlines you can get a full refund just depending on the type of you book. Some airlines will give you a credit that doesn't expire. You could use that for something else later. It's just great. When I tell people I have like 20 alerts all the time, they're like, but why?

I am like, this is why. I taught my parents how to do that and they [00:11:00] bought a ticket to Mexico on a Sunday and then the ticket went down on Monday and they were able to get, I think it was almost $400 back. Yeah. And that was within 24 hours? It was within 24 hours.

So it was like that 24 hour cancellation, um, window. And it was with JetBlue and they, um, yeah, they got, I think it was like close to $400 back. It was like crazy. And I told them, I said, this is the reason why you gotta set this up. This is why you gotta do it. And they were thrilled because now they have 400 extra dollars to spend in Mexico.

Yeah. That's awesome. If there's a flight booked direct with the airline , it doesn't matter what airline it is as long as its at least 7 days away , if it's going to be touching US soil, whether you're leaving from US soil or it's coming to the us, if it's gonna touch us soil, if you book it and cancel within 24 hours, regardless of what kind of fare you purchased, then you get a full refund 

Yep. Yep. So, and that's a rule a lot of people don't [00:12:00] even know about. It's, it's such a great rule. And that's more reasons to have those alerts on, because if something pops up within those 24 hours, you know what you could do. So, yeah. And also book it now, worry about it later sort of thing, like sometimes mm-hmm.

I get anxiety when I'm looking at flights and stuff. It's for a big trip, sometimes I get anxiety where I'm like, should I book this? Should I not? And then now since we're leaving from the US mm-hmm. Then I, or even coming back to the US I know, okay, if I book this and then something happens or mm-hmm.

Maybe the next day I realize I've made a mistake or something, I can just cancel it within two, four hours. Exactly. And no worries. I don't need a reason. Nothing. Nope. It's awesome. So yeah, Those are the two biggest ways that I use Google Flights. I mean, there's a ton of other things that you could do on Google Flights and we could spend hours and days talking about it.

like we literally could spend hours and days talking about it. She's not even exaggerating. but yeah, there's, those are kind of the two top ways that I use it. I think those are the two easiest ways to use it, right?

 there's so many [00:13:00] other things that you could do. You could play around with connections, you could play around, you know, with airports near you. You could play around with,different airlines, whether you could bring a carryon or not. there's just so many different options, different airline alliances if you're trying to pick a certain alliance.

Exactly. Yep, exactly. And also I mentioned the explore feature, but I also like the grid that they do. So let's say if you're looking for flights, so let's say if I wanted to go to, Tampa this weekend and I looked up flights from Friday to Sunday, and maybe I didn't love the price, there's an option on Google flights where you could, click on the price grid and it'll give you the prices for days around your trip.

So that's another, feature that I love because sometimes you could save a lot of money by leaving a day early or day late, et cetera. It's only helpful if you have some flexibility, but. sometimes you'll be surprised at how much money you could save just by, being slightly flexible with your schedule.

 even instead of doing a morning flight, doing a flight really late at night

you can [00:14:00] save a ton of cashand Google Flights can help you with that. I use that date grid and they also have a graph. It just depends on like how you look to look at stuff. Mm-hmm. I like the grid personally.because it really does save you a lot of money if you can be flexible,It totally does. I love it. And what you were saying, like going, leaving early or late, I actually booked a flight to Chicago and it's a 6:00 AM flight. But the next flight was $200 more. Mm-hmm. And it was literally like maybe two hours later. So I was like, no, I'm taking a 6:00 AM flight.

Like that's 200 bucks. That's a lot. Mm-hmm. And I'd like to, when you're searching with Google flights where sometimes people don't really know, like if you don't travel a lot, and even me, sometimes I don't really know what are the best airports to fly in and out of.

But what's nice about Google flights is that for New York, for example. You can just put in New York. Mm-hmm. And it'll even have Newark in there. So then you can see which is the cheapest [00:15:00] airport to where you're going. Instead of putting in, like, everyone knows LaGuardia, everyone knows JFK.

Mm-hmm. Instead of putting that in, just put in New York. Yep. It will give you the, nearby airports and then that way you don't accidentally exclude something that could save you big. Oh yes, for sure.

that's for sure. And also, like regional airports, like New York, we have our big three, which is LaGuardia, JFK, and, and Newark. But we also have some smaller airports like, white Plains. We have an airport in Long Island. there's Teterboro, there's like smaller airports. And sometimes you'll find that the low cost airlines will fly exclusively to those airports, and it's not that bad.

I used to do that, like when JetBlue first came out, we used to fly outta White Plains to go to Florida, and the tickets were so cheap because nobody flew outta there, and nobody knew what JetBlue was. So they were like, Ooh. You know? But, there's like a lot of smaller airlines that will fly out of these [00:16:00] airports and you could save so much money, so much money.

And some of 'em go to like, places like in the Caribbean, like you have a few options. It's not just like flying, you know, from New York to DC or something. There's actually a lot of, options. So you definitely need to add that to the list when you're searching. For sure. And it will depend on how much you're saving.

Like if you're only saving 30 bucks and you'd have to drive like two, three hours to a different airport, that ain't worth it. No. And that's a good point too, like when you're traveling overseas, it's the same situation in a lot of these bigger cities, like a lot of the major, like Paris and Milan or a lot of these major cities do have multiple airports.

And some of them do have the equivalent of regional airports where you could get, great deals on flights. But it's always important when you do that. I always Google map it. So I'll see like, how far is this airport to my destination or to my, hotel or whatever. To see how easy it is.

Then some places it's easy 'cause you just hop on a train and you're fine. Other places you [00:17:00] might have to rent a car, you might have to, get some other transportation and then it might not be worth it. Mm-hmm. So it's definitely something to consider. Yeah, for sure. So you gotta do the math also figure out what's really important to you and then kind of go from there.

But definitely the tracking for the price alerts and all the filtering is just great. And of course the explore feature, if you guys haven't tried the explore feature and you're pretty flexible on not only when you're going but where Yes. Yeah. Then that's really huge too. Yeah. And it's awesome also if you're going somewhere that you're not a hundred percent familiar with, because.

What I've done with the explore feature is I will put, like, let's say if I wanna go to Europe, right, or even if I wanna go to Italy, I'll put Europe because sometimes you could find deals to like places that are right outside of your destination. And then it's like you end up doing like a two four, right?

So then you could [00:18:00] kind of country hop or city hop and you'll start with one region and then make your way because it's really easy to get around on trains and things like that. and it's great 'cause sometimes I don't realize, like, I forgot what it was. There was a place that I was looking at and I didn't realize how, what, how close it was to Italy.

And I was like, oh, it was when I was planning a trip to Italy, I didn't realize like how close it was for us to be able to go to Switzerland. Like, I mean, they obviously border each other, but like in my mind it's like a completely different country, right? Like it's so far away. And we were able to finagle it where it's like, okay, we're gonna start our trip here and then we're gonna end up there and we are able to do multiple countries for the price of one flight because we were playing around with it.

And I discovered that because of Google flights, because I saw how close the airports were and I was like, oh, this is great. This is awesome. So that's another, fun thing to do with explore. Like we said, there's definitely a lot of features with Google Flight, so I would recommend playing around with it yourself.

But if you wanna watch a tutorial first, Taima and I [00:19:00] both have YouTube channels where we have tutorials on Google flights, and I know that Taima even has like blog posts about it. so remember Poor in a Private Plane. And I have a couple of Google Flights videos on my traveling Franklin's channel, but I'll probably do some updated ones on the Lazy Budget Travel Tips podcast channel, which if you're not watching this on YouTube, you can, if you want, you can see our pretty faces.

And then there are some other things about Google Flights. people maybe have some misconceptions about Google flights. for instance, they may think, oh, well I can book my flight. On Google flights they think that it's like a third party or like an OTA, which is an online travel agency.

Mm-hmm. And that's just not the case. no. That's what I like about Google Flights actually as well. there are a lot of flight aggregators that you could book directly through that flight aggregator, and that comes with its [00:20:00] own share of potential issues when you're going through a third party. I always recommend going direct, and I love that when you go onto Google Flights, it actually gives you the options of where you could book your flight.

I always recommend going direct no matter what, but it will tell you like, click here to book on Delta, click here to book on Expedia, click here to book on, blah, blah, blah. so I do appreciate that it gives you those options, because you're not actually booking on Google Flight. It'll, it's directing you to the site.

So it's directing you to Delta, it's directing you to American Airlines wherever you're going. so that's good. Or you could just do what I do and as soon as you find a good deal, just head straight to Delta, type it in and go from there. Yeah, I think, I think in some markets they are updating Google flights where you could book your flight technically through Google Flights, but it's, I think it works a little bit differently to where you are still booking direct.

Mm-hmm. But because you're booking it through Google Flights and they can [00:21:00] track it for you, and then they have this best price guarantee where you'll get an automatic refundI haven't seen that personally, but I know that's something that they're rolling out 

I haven't seen it in real life yet, but I've heard about it and I've read articles about it. The other thing that Google Flights is adding now is trains. And hotels too, I heard.

And now you could actually, with the hotels, they add it and then they take it away, but now they add price tracking on the hotels. So it's similar to the regular Google alerts. So that's pretty cool. But yeah, you could do trains and that's awesome when you're traveling.

It doesn't work as well here in the US because our train travel not as robust as in Europe, but it's awesome in Europe for example, last year when I did a trip from Northern Italy to Southern Italy. When I was searching how to get from point A to point B, it was giving me options for flights.

And then underneath it gave me the options for the high speed train, the regional trains, et so it's kind of cool because then you could compare, because again, that's something else, people automatically oh, train is be cheaper. Not [00:22:00] necessarily, like some of these flights are like, I found flights for like 30 bucks and the train was like 80.

It makes And then the train's longer too. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So it, I love that feature and that is something that you will start to see depending on what you're searching. So that's a lot of fun as well. And then for the points and miles, people out there, don't worry. We do, we also love points and miles, as you know, from this podcast.

Yes. I do wanna point out, which I don't know, Taima if you've used this, because I know we usually talk about redemptions and stuff. I might be your actual Google Flight's Chrome extension for this, but there's a Chrome extension called Points Path. I'll put a link in the show notes for you guys. I've been needing to do like a tutorial with it and stuff just to show people I actually think I do have something on my channel.

But anyways, it's called Points Path. And what I like about it, it's just a Chrome extension, is that it will show you when you're using Google flights, if that [00:23:00] airline. How, like if you can use points, how much points you would need and whether or not it's a good deal. If you should use points or if you should use cash.

Ooh. It's pretty cool. I need that in my life. I did not know that exists. I've always wanted something like that. 'Cause you could do that, like when you go on Delta or like, um, KLM or all those mm-hmm. Uh, websites. They let you like toggle between points and, but.

I didn't know you could do that on Google. I learned something new today. I'm so excited. Points Path Chrome extension. So I haven't talked about it too much because it's still really new and there are still some things that doesn't always catch. But it is getting. Better and better.

If it says there's no points, if points isn't an option, I'm like, well, let me check, and I think it's getting better about alliance partners and stuff, because even if you have a certain amount of points and the flight isn't available on like a partner website, it is direct with the airline, you know, just little things like that.

But I [00:24:00] still think it's good. and I feel like as time goes by, it'll get better and better, so, definitely check out. I wanna try that. Yes. Points Path Chrome extension. 

okay, sowe love Google Flights,but there are other search engines. let's talk about some of the ones you like to use and the pros and cons. I'll be honest, the only other one that I use, I play around with Kayak, I play around with Skyscanner.

But the one that I have been liking is Kayak. And the reason why is because they've been introducing like all these, they're almost like AI models, if you will, but they've been introducing like these cool features where it'll say like, let's say if I wanted to go to, um, I don't know, let's say if I wanted to go to the Maldives, right?

And I'm trying to figure out like what's the best time of year to go or when's the cheapest to go. But then you also wanna know when's the best time [00:25:00] to go, because you don't wanna go when it's cheap. And then it's like in rainy season, you're not gonna enjoy yourself. So they have this feature where it combines price and the time of year, and it will tell you like, the best time to go is X because the weather is the best and the flights are the cheapest.

It's like a good combination. So I love that feature that they have. and they have like a lot of cool features. Like if you're one of those people that are into like the Explore, features of Google, they have a lot of similar things, but they tie in, all these other facts. And then also what I appreciate is when you do that, it also tells you what the hotel prices are.

Yes. With Kayak. So it's kind of cool because it'll be like, let's say it says may is the best time to go prices, average price is a thousand dollars average hotel price is $200 a night. So it kind of gives you this snapshot of like, okay, can I swing this?

Can I afford this? All right. If the flight's a thousand, I could do five nights for $200 a night. Okay, I'm at 2000. I'm in my happy place. Right? Whatever your [00:26:00] budget is. I just made something up. But, I really like that feature. I really haven't seen anybody else doing anything similar to that, but that's something that I like to play around with a lot.

Yeah, I remember you talking about that in one of your courses. And so I looked at it and it is pretty cool. Like you said, Google Flights Explore has similar features. It's not the same though. So I would use both, but I do like when I'm already in Google Flights and then I can check out Google Explore.

It's just another tab guy, so you just would click the tab over. but I would use both. And then there's Expedia, Skyscanner, hopper, all of these different, what they call OTAs, which is an online travel agency. There are a lot of those out there. Personally, I don't really mess with those because I would freak out if something happened with my flight and then I had to go through them to try to, change things.

And it's just a pain and it's just so much [00:27:00] easier to book direct. I haven't found it like the flight for myself, because we're talking about best flight, not cheapest flight. And many times when I find the best flight that works for me, which would be like, it doesn't have a lot or any layovers, it's the time and day that I need it to be, et cetera.

And then I go over and I compare it with an OTA, it's never that much cheaper for me. Anyways, I never thought that there was gonna be, I never seen a good deal. Sometimes I feel like they could be more expensive because sometimes they also send you to other sites like Priceline or like, things like that.

Right. and I feel like they add fees sometimes. I'm not sure. I don't use them either. No, they do. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I feel like I had this theory, but I didn't have anything to substantiate it. but I'm the same way, like I always prefer to book direct. I will play around. You know, because I wanna see also, like Skyscanner sometimes it depends on where you're going, but sometimes [00:28:00] Skyscanner has airlines that are not on Google flights, so it could be good to play around with it, just to kind of see what's out there.

Especially if you're traveling to a place that you're not familiar with. Like if you're traveling within the US we're familiar with most of the airlines that we have available. There are some smaller ones that people don't talk about. but they're not exactly the ones that are flying from Orlando to LAX, right?

 these are going to smaller, regional, um, places, or more rural areas of the us. But if you're flying internationally, there's like a lot of those small, like Easy Jet and like all these other airlines that we've probably never heard of before. And believe it or not, Google Flights doesn't have them.

On their platform, not all of them. Um, yeah, I know they have EasyJet, they're getting more, it's getting better. Yes, because I'm looking for regional flights within the uk and EasyJet came up. Yep. So now they're starting to add them, but a lot of those traditionally weren't in Google flights, so Skyscanner was a good alternative because [00:29:00] Skyscanner does something similar to Google Flights, but it pulls in more of those smaller airlines, which is nice.

So just something to keep in mind. But yeah. And Google Flights didn't have Southwest for the longest time. Yes. So I had to remind myself to look at Southwest, but finally southwest is on Google flights, but then it's just in time for them to do all this stuff with their loyalty program and crap.

And now I don't wanna fly them anymore. You and everybody else. I keep on seeing the mess. I keep on seeing the Facebook post of people like, I'm not flying you anymore. Or you messed up a good thing. And I get it. Little clap for Southwest being on Google flights. But anyways, I think that for OTAs like Expedia and stuff, I think you might be able to find deals if you're booking like those packages, flights and hotel.

I think that's where a lot of people have a lot of success. But again, I won't agree with that. Yeah, I don't, I try not to book. The only one that I use is actually Delta Vacations. [00:30:00] Okay. Yeah. Um, I like it a lot. they have a lot of good deals for, like, if you're trying to do, if you're trying to do like a vacation package, hotel, car, that kind of thing, flight, uh, you can find some really, really great deals because they give you discounts on, sometimes the discount is like off the flight, so like you're paying for the hotel and basically getting the flight for free, for example, or you're getting the car for free or something.

So, I've tested this a million times. I've booked. I've priced things separately and I've priced things on, Delta Vacations and the Expedias and the JetBlue vacations, and you'll be surprised how much money you could save. That's like one of my, that's one of my biggest hacks that I don't talk about enough.

But, I actually was able, a couple years ago I was flying to, Italy and I booked a flight, or I booked a package on Google Flights for, two, uh, business class, round trip hotel for a week and a car for a week. [00:31:00] And it was like, I think it was like $1,600 per person or something, which is pretty much the cost of a flight.

Yeah. But we got all of that,it was insane. But I got it on, Delta Vacations. Okay. And it was just like comparing. So you booked that on Delta Vacations? Mm-hmm. Yep. Okay. Nice. And it was just me comparing pricesbut again, I always prefer.

And recommend for people to book direct when it's possible. Yeah, for sure. And we talk a lot about cash, right? I mentioned a little bit about points path for Google flights and stuff, but the reason why it's so important for you to get good at also finding good cash deals is because for most people we use points to supplement our travel budget.

We're still paying cash for stuff. And then also we need our points to stretch further. We'll use our points for things that are gonna save us the most money. Like for example, when I was going to Spain with my [00:32:00] mom, we wanted to fly business class and that was gonna cost a lot more than staying in hotels.

Usually when I'm flying to Europe, if I'm flying economy, it's gonna be a lot cheaper to find economy flights. Using a site like Google Flights to find the best one than it will to stay in hotels for like a week or two. So then in that case, I would use my points for the hotels. Because then, you know, I'm saving the most money because you can find some really good cash deals to your guests.

Yep. Yeah. Especially if you are flexible, but even if you're not flexible, if you have kids, you know, you can only fly on certain breaks and stuff. Then if you book far enough in advance, then you can find some good deals and use Google Flight's tracking feature. Or which, a lot of people don't realize this.

I mean,everyone wants to spend Thanksgiving at home. But if you were trying to go to Europe and your kids, I know for in Florida, they have at least a week off now [00:33:00] for Thanksgiving. Flying to Europe over Thanksgiving saves you serious cash. Oh yes it does. It totally does. 'cause everyone's trying to fly domestically to go home to see their families.

Yep. Exactly. Why don't you have a Thanksgiving in France? Or in Ireland or in Italy. Why not, right? Why not? We actually did Thanksgiving in Mexico last year, the whole family. It was awesome. There you go. It was awesome. No flight delays, no snow. It was perfect. Yeah. There you go. Think outside the box guys.

Yes, exactly. So let's talk about your favorite airlines, like Budget Airlines versus those legacy carriers. I know you're a Delta girl, but is it always Delta? Like tell us what you like to do. Pretty much. I am married to Delta. I used to fly JetBlue. And I have not flown JetBlue in probably like 3, 4, 5 years at this point.

I think it depends on where you wanna go. I stick to Delta as much as I can and unfortunately I plan my trips [00:34:00] around it. 'cause Delta does not fly to a lot of places unfortunately. And it does limit me sometimes. Last year we went to Asia and we were trying to figure out where to go and we ended up, going to Seoul because there were flights on Delta to Seoul.

And there were a few options for us we originally were thinking about going to the Philippines, but then we're like. There's no flights. They don't fly to the Philippines. You have to fly to Seoul and then from there you have to go, with, domestic carrier if you will, or a smaller carrier 

to get there. So, we ended up changing our whole trip to just doing Seoul. I love Delta. It's comfortable for me and I like all of their partners. I especially love KLM, aero Mexico is awesome. I feel like Aero Mexico, it's like flying, back in the day.

It's still like it is, they still give you the meal. Mm-hmm. It's like the free tequila. Like, it's so cool. we flew Aero Mexico for the first time last year. And I remember messaging you when I [00:35:00] was in the lounge, I think, I think I was connected in Mexico City.

Yep. And I was like, Aero Mexico. Like, 

okay. 

Genni Franklin: okay. Yes. They're so good. They are so good. So, um, so yeah, so I usually will stick to anyone that's in the alliance. Um, yeah. I, I can't tell you. I don't know when's the last time I flown someone that was not, a partner. Delta or partner? Why can't I, why can't I think of names?

Sky team. Yeah. It's the, um. The loyalty program for Delta is Sky Miles and then their alliance is Sky Team. Yes. I kept on thinking Sky Miles and I'm like, wait, no. Sky team. Yeah. So I, I can't tell you the last time that I've flown,I will not touch, I. The, spirits of the world.

I will not touch the frontiers of the world. Like I said, I used to fly, JetBlue and I was like, I just, it wasn't the experience that I wanted when I was flying. And that's, that's again why I am poor a private [00:36:00] plane I will spend more money to fly Delta 

 and the redemptions aren't always the greatest, but, but I like the experienceThat's what we call them in the points and miles, world sky pesos.

II get yelled at all the time about being a Delta loyalist. But anyway, I don't yell at you. I wasn't talking about you. No. I was talking about her. Whatever. Because I'm the total opposite, 

 I'm like, girl, why? I am a self-proclaimed free agent. I will fly almost anything to get to where I wanna go. um, but I'm the same wavelength with you on, I won't Fly Spirit.

Mm-hmm. I won't fly Frontier unless I absolutely have to, but I will avoid it at all costs. Yep. Because to me there are just certain things that I will not compromise on. Yep. Exactly. And knowing how to find the, that's why it's like best flight versus cheapest flight [00:37:00] because, you know, knowing how to find those best flights for me and then like supplementing with points miles, that's gonna get me.

Where I want to go, how I want to get there. Mm-hmm. But without paying full price. Exactly. That's the only way I would be able to do it. Yep. Exactly. Exactly. I need to get better at that. I'll work on it. Okay. You've been telling me that for years, but that's fine. know I'm working on it.but you're like the queen and teaching people how to budget and think of budgeting in a different way so that they can pay a little more to fly what they wanna fly.

Like you wanna fly Delta. Exactly. And so you got a budget for that. And then you also have your points to supplement because I had brought you over to Chase to be a Chase girl for those Hyatt redemptions. Mm-hmm. And you've done really well with those. Oh, yes. Yes. I love that. And I'm doing it again.

I'm actually, uh, we're gonna, when we go to Chicago, I'm gonna, use points for, a good portion of our stay and it's saving us upwards [00:38:00] of almost a thousand dollars. So, yeah. There you go. Here for it. And then I will allow you to fly Delta. You're welcome.

Have your permission. You now have my permission to fly Delta in their partners. Thank you for the permission. But you know enough shade on Delta because it really is a great airline. Let's be real. Yes. It really is. I'd like to fly them. Yeah. I just wish that their redemptions weren't, so high because you, and don't get me wrong, you can get some really great redemptions on sky miles, but you have to be flexible.

Yeah. And that's the problem. Most people when they get into this, or even just like most normal people, they just can't be flexible. Yeah. But if you wanna make something like SkyMiles work or even, it's not even just sky miles, but if you're kind of stuck within like a specific program, being flexible is really what you need to be Yes.

In order to make that work. I agree. And the only one thing I will say about Sky Miles, they do these secret point sales that they do not advertise. But they exist if you know where to find [00:39:00] them. I don't even know. It's like I find them by accident and that's usually the best way to get redemptions on them.

Right. Like, they'll do these Flash Point sales where it's like, you know, tickets to Asia or whatever. But it's always very specific. So to your point, you have to be super flexible because they might do a Flash Asia sale and if you're not interested in going to Asia, well tough luck, you know?

I haven't seen a lot of European ones. Sometimes they do like the UK once in a while, but, um, I've seen a lot of Asia ones. Mm-hmm. Which is kind of cool. And I've seen some Caribbean ones too, but you have to be like on point and like sitting there, like watching it. They're very hard to find.

Yeah. Yeah. That's the thing about flexible points, because if you have flexible points, like let's say Chase points, then you have more options. And if you still like to fly Delta and their partners, there's ways to do that. Like through Flying Blue with Air France and KLM, we've flown Delta flights or like Aero Mexico, which is a partner as well, that we mentioned [00:40:00] earlier.

I've booked that through KLM before. Yeah. So there are ways that you can do it. you know, if you're like Taima and you have to fly Delta.

Okay, I'm gonna surprise you one of these days. Watch, Hey, I will be the first person to be like, heck yeah. But honestly guys, do whatever you need to do. It's fine. If you love Delta, then we can make that work too. It's fine. You can still be my friend. I mean. Taima and I are BFFs, so. Yeah, exactly.

So I know that you've booked a ton of trips. You're always going somewhere. Yes. But why don't you tell us about like, one of your favorite redemptions that you've done. It could be recent, it could be something that you did a while ago.

So, I actually just booked a trip, last week. my parents are gonna Mexico and I wanted to go. but the prices were crazy and I just couldn't justify spending thousands and thousands of dollars. So I sat down [00:41:00] and I said, okay, if there's a way that I could get. This trip under 2000 for two people, I will go and I went on Google flights.

I started looking to see what my options were. Long story short, I used points for my flights and I used some points for my hotel, not a lot. And I was able to book a week in Mexico at an inclusive for $1,600 for two people, which is unheard of. And I probably all in, maybe used like 50,000 points all in, which is partly anything.

Is that counting your flight too? Yep. Flight everything. $1,600 for two people. Your flight to Mexico from New York guys? Direct on Delta. Round trip. oh on Delta. Okay. That's important. So direct round trip from New York to Mexico. Plus all inclusive. So not only is your accommodations covered, but [00:42:00] your food and stuff like that.

Mm-hmm. 1600 out the door, two people. Yep. Wow. And transportation to and from the airport when we land in, in Cancun. Wow. Nice. So that was like, that's my redemption of the year. And I didn't really spend that many points on it, which was even better. I mean, that trip easily was almost like 3,500 easy.

Mm-hmm. So, yeah, I'm very proud of myself.

So I started off searching for the flights on Google flights and I saw what combination of days were gonna be the cheapest. And then,I went into Delta and I did the same exact search on Delta. Delta does have a similar feature where they have like a price calendar.

so I put in the dates and I toggled it for points because I was curious to see what it was. And Delta has this cool thing that if you are a, if you have the Delta credit card, you get a 15% discount on your points. So. when I saw how much the points were, I, it just made more sense for me to redeem the points versus paying [00:43:00] cash.

the flights by themselves are probably gonna be close to like eight, 900 bucks. Um, I spent like 30 something thousand points on the flights themselves and, Yeah. and so I booked it on the Delta site. I made sure that I was logged in so I could get my 15% credit, and that's how I got the flights.

And then for the hotel, I had points in the hotel loyalty program. So basically what I was able to do was, I was able to get a discount. On my total rate. So it's almost equivalent to like getting a couple nights free. but they just take it off the bottom, of the, the price. So like if the hotel was 1400, it came out to like 1100 or something.

So, um, I did a combination of some points from the hotel and then I used my Delta sky miles, towards my Delta flights. So it was a very lucky and good combination. And again, I used Google Flights to figure out what days were the best days to travel.

So that helped a lot because I'm traveling over a [00:44:00] holiday. Oh. And it's for Memorial Day week, which is even crazier. 'cause you know, that is crazy how expensive things get at that time. Kids are outta school, everybody is ready to get the summer started. So, uh, yeah. So that's, for me, that's like the redemption of the year so far.

We still have a few more months to go. That's awesome though, because you were able to, like you said, mix and match there a bit, you know? Mm-hmm. Using Google Flights, using your points and stuff. Also, traveling on days that are cheaper during a time when it just seems like it's gonna be mm-hmm.

Expensive no matter what. Yeah. And it did not take me that long to do that. A lot of people think, oh, all this planning, it's gonna take forever. Yes, it could take time. It does take time. But with this trip, I was able to do it within a couple of hours. Like I did all this homework within a couple of hours and I was booked, I was ready to go.

Mm-hmm. So it doesn't always have to take days and months and years and this and that, some people get [00:45:00] overwhelmed with the whole searching and figuring things out. And yes, it could get complicated if you wanna make it complicated. but it could be easy as well. 

 So yeah. I always say it's only complicated if you make it complicated. Mm-hmm. Yep. You know, if you can't do some of the things that we're talking about, that's fine. just figure out what works for you. That's all you gotta do. Yep. And if you need help, you know, we've got resources and then, you know, there's this podcast, the Lazy Budget Travel Tips Facebook group.

Yes. Taima also has a Facebook group. what's your Facebook group called? It is called, Luxury Travel on a Budget Insider Tips for saving money. You like to do, Facebook Lives and stuff like that, which is fun. You know, talking about Google Flights and you also have like other things that you talk about.

I think one of the things that I had never really heard of is the, the codes, the group codes or something. Oh, the airline codes? Yes. [00:46:00] people don't realize that a lot of airlines, they have these special promotions.

You could use coupon codes to get discounts on your flights, which is insane. Like people don't know that this is the thing. So I don't know about you, but anytime that I buy something online, the first thing I do is look up the coupon code for it. So I'm like, if I'm, you know, like at Walmart or whatever, I'm like, Walmart coupon code, or like, Old Navy coupon code, whatever it is.

you could do the same thing with flights. American Airlines does it, there's a few different carriers that do it and they don't advertise it, but if you do a search for it on their websites or even just on Google, you'll find it. So I think that's a cool way to save extra money. And, a lot of times, like 10% or offer or something like that, or like a certain dollar amount.

But it's still pretty awesome. And Delta Vacations also does coupon codes for their, for their getaways. So they usually have coupon codes where you could get like $200 off, $300 off your package, which is pretty good. So I love [00:47:00] using those codes. 

So we talked about like things to do and stuff, what are some things that people shouldn't do? what's one mistake people make? I know my biggest mistake is hoarding points, and I have no idea why I do it. I, I'm still guilty. I've gotten better. But I'm still guilty of it, like saving my points for I don't know what, when I should just be using them.

You're killing me man. I know, but you're the reason why I started using them, right? Like we had this conversation and you kind of pushed me to use them and that's why I'm using them now. But it's like this idea that some people feel like if, and some people's means me, some people feel like if they're not getting like this mega amazing redemption of like a flight around the world for50,000 points in live flat QQ suites, that they can't use their points.

Mm-hmm. And I'm here to tell you don't do that. both Genni and I went to Utah and we used points to stay at the Hyatt there. How much money did that save [00:48:00] us? It was like insane. Thousands. It was insane. It was insane. And we, um, we stayed, we went to a conference, we stayed steps away from the conference and we saved at least two, $300 a night.

On our hotels, because we use points. I'm doing the same exact thing for a conference I'm going to in Chicago. I'm using points, for my Hyatt stays because the hotels in Chicago in the summer are ridiculous. Ridiculous. nobody should be paying that much. and I'm not gonna pay that much because I'm using points.

so I've gotten better about it. So you don't have to just focus on like this big, giant redemption. I mean, if that's your goal, that's awesome. But don't be like me. Don't hoard your points. I'm a recovering hoarder. I'm getting there. You've been working on it. We've been working on it for a while.

Yes. Yes. And you are getting better. Yes, I am. I'm proud of you. But that's probably my biggest mistake, and also booking stuff for the wrong dates. But yeah, don't do that guys. But if you do, if you book your flights for the wrong dates and it's within 24 [00:49:00] hours and you're flying into the US or outta the us, then you can cancel it within 24 hours.

Just make sure you figure it out before the 24 hours. Yeah. I'm the type of person though that like books something then like, like tries to relax and then in the middle of the night I'll take out my phone and be like, what date was it for? Oh my God. Yeah. I'm crazy. But yeah, I think that is, I mean, you're not alone in that.

And the hoarding the points thing, because people do get hung up on cents per point, I think is a really big one. Like, well, I'm not gonna get 2 cents per point, so I should just not use my points.

And that's not like the point of why we're talking about points and miles and stuff. we're not saying you do all this work of figuring out points and miles and then you earn a lot of them and then you end up

 afraid of making a bad redemption. Or not even going on the trip. You know, like some people choose not to go on the trip because they don't wanna use their points. The cash value is, [00:50:00] you know, over their budget and it's like, but that's what the points are there for.

You know, even if you're using them to cover one hotel night, that could make a huge difference in your travel budget. You know, and there's a lot of awesome redemptions on hotels out there that, you know, everybody is always talking about flights and Yes. I mean, I think that's one of my favorite ways to use them, but.

Honestly the hotels, there's some really good redemptions out there and that's how I've been like I use 'em on flights, but the hotels is what has helped me not be a hoarder. Yeah, I would rather, if I had the choice, I would use my points for hotels over flights. One is easier. Yes it is.

It's easier to find availability if you're flexible. it's like you don't have to deal with alliance partners and trying to wrap your head around that whole thing. and then in some ways it saves you more money. Mm-hmm. Because if, unless you're trying to fly business class or first class everywhere and you're using all your points for that, which, there's nothing wrong with [00:51:00] that, we're definitely not saying that.

Mm-hmm. I would love to do that, but unless you're doing that, a lot of times what you're spending on your flight is gonna be less in cash than what you're spending on hotels. Yes. That's not always the case, but think about that when you're looking at, you know, when you wanna spend points, when you wanna spend cash.

Just something to consider. Yes, absolutely. So. Key takeaways is use Google Flights because it's awesome, but also because it's got great features like price tracking, Google Flights, explore, check out the points path, Chrome extension, be flexible, be strategic. Anything else? Be open-minded. Yeah, I think that's the biggest one.

There's so many cool places to see and do and there's so many different ways that you could get there. So be [00:52:00] open-minded about it. And I think Google Flights does a great job of helping us do that, right? Like mm-hmm. Go somewhere you didn't think you were ever gonna go or ever think you could afford.

That's the other one. Yes. Mm-hmm. 

 So, uh, let's get into rapid fire, flight addition. Are you ready? I think so. Window or aisle seat? It depends. Oh gosh. Get outta here.

we know you have a preference. What is it? Just aisle going, window coming. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I like it. I like it. Checked bag or carry on? Only carry on all day, every day. Team carry on. Only baby. Yes. What's always in your carry On my shoes. You and your shoes, man. When I'm traveling, I bring like two, maybe three pairs of shoes and I wear the one that's like not gonna fit in my luggage, 

[00:53:00] But You love your shoes, man. Yeah, I love my shoes. In my carry-on though, like my actual, like personal bag, I always have a change of clothes. Yes. Always. If I'm going to a hot location, I also have a bathing suit, but I always have a change of clothes because if, for whatever reason, the delayed or you were forced to check your bag without planning and

something happens with your bag, you always have a fresh pair of clothes and you could kind of get your vacation started and not freak out about like, I have no underwear, or, I don't know, something. Yeah. No, I do the same. 

All right. One destination you could visit over and over again. Italy. Yeah. The whole country. I need to take Brandon to Italy. I love it.

Okay. Favorite airport lounge you've ever experienced? The KLM lounge in Amsterdam. Okay. I really like that one. 

Most underrated travel destination for luxury on a budget.

So this is a place that a [00:54:00] lot of people don't know about or heard of, but Vieste in Italy, it's like one of my favorite luxury on a budget destination. I'm talking beach club, all inclusive hotels, like you're on the water, sandy beaches, which you don't find a lot in Europe or in Italy. Mm-hmm. Um, that's my jam and it's super, super, super affordable.

Okay. So what's the name again? Vte. V-I-E-S-T-E. It's in the southern part of Italy. It's on the boot. It's by the boot, the heel, the boot. I mean the heel got it. Yes. All right. First class upgrade or five star hotel stay. If you had to choose, I think we know which one you're gonna pick.

I mean, I'm gonna say first class upgrade, but. It depends on how long that flight is. Mm-hmm. And how long I'm staying. See, for me it would be the five star hotel stay. 'cause I'm gonna spend a lot more time in the hotel than I am on the flight. But that also depends because maybe not, [00:55:00] it depends on where we're going.

Because if it's one of those trips where it's go, go, go, and I'm only sleeping in the hotel, I really only need a comfy bed and a clean room. It doesn't need to be five star. So in that case I would pick first class upgrade. Yeah. So you know what? Now that I'm thinking out loud, I think you

you're onto something. If I'm going to Asia, I'm definitely getting the first class. If I'm going to Mexico, I'm definitely getting the five star hotel. Yeah. No, that makes sense. Yeah. Okay. So what's your go-to in-flight, snack or beverage? Wine. 

And. delta has these vegan gummy bears and they're so good. They do? Yes. They're like vegan gummy bears. I love them. They're like, every time they pass by, I grab like four bags because I'm obsessed. I did not know this. They're so good. No idea.

Yes. Okay. I think they're only available in like economy comfort or comfort plus and first class possibly, but they're really [00:56:00] good. Okay. Those are my, I always take extra, I love gummy bears, so if they had gummy bears, I'd be taking that all day long. Mm-hmm. They're so good. Okay. 

Most spontaneous trip you've ever taken.I booked a European cruise two days before the cruise was scheduled to leave, and it was a 10 day cruise.

So I booked the cruise on my flights on Wednesday. I flew on on Thursday. I landed in Italy on Friday, and my cruise left on Friday. That was the most spontaneous trip, and it took me to, I think about seven different countries on that cruise. So you hadn't been to before that? I hadn't been to, well, Italy I've been to, but I went to Sylvania, Croatia, Albania.

There was like a bunch of places that I'd never been to before, so it was really awesome. But I literally did that within 48 hours and I used points for my flights. Nice. 

but tell us about travel roulette. Yes. So I have a, [00:57:00] um, it's actually ebook right now, but I'm working on a course, that's based off the ebook and it's called Travel Roulette. And it's basically using Google flights and Google itself to plan your trip. um, the basis of it is just like.

You wanna go somewhere, you don't know where you wanna go, you don't know when you wanna go, but you know you wanna go somewhere. So you go into Google Flights and you let it pick, and then you pick your budget and you let it pick where you wanna go, and you pretty much plan your whole trip based off of this.

So for example, let's say we wanna go somewhere this weekend for 500 bucks. I'm gonna go into Google flights, I'm gonna set my home airport, I'm gonna set it to anywhere and I'm gonna do a search for flights, and then I'm gonna filter it by anything that's under $500 and you can put whatever filters you want.

And then wherever Google tells us to go, that's where we go. So, um, that's Travel ro at and I have a whole, course on it. Um, that will show you how to plan a trip from start to finish in less than an hour if you really want to. So [00:58:00] it's pretty awesome and it's what I do all the time personally. 

I, we have to do it, we have to do a trip where we like, give ourselves a really, really, really, really, really tight budget. Yes. And then we, document, so that we can post on like social media or like write blog posts or do all the things Yes. About like how we planned it and how it went and stuff.

Yes. I'm down for that. I'm down for that. We've been talking about it for a while. I think we need to do it. Do you guys want us to do it? And if you want us to do it, let us know. Like how much you think the budget should be. Where the type of place, places we should go to.

Should we make it a girl's trip? Um, maybe we could do multiple versions of it. Very true. So guys, let us know what you think, because I think that would be really fun. Yes, it would. It would. I'm up for the challenge. Okay. Taima, thank you so much for joining me today on the podcast.

I always learn so much when we chat. It's so fun. Yes. It was [00:59:00] so much fun.

so where can the listeners follow you on your fabulous trips and, you know, get more of your tips? Yeah, sure. So you could find me at pour in a private plane across all social media channels.

So my site is. Pour in a private plane.com. pour in a private plane on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube. Wow. I'm in a lot of places, um, interests. so if you type in porn, a private plane, you'll find me, pretty much on every single social channel. Uh, you probably see me the most on Instagram and or my blog.

Uh, I also have my Facebook group that I mentioned earlier, uh, which you could just go to, uh, porn and private plane.com/community. I love hanging out there, doing lives. Genni likes to pop in and do lives with me, so that's a lot of fun. and sometimes I'm in her Facebook group too, doing lives. So, um, there's a lot.

There's a lot of places that you can find me. Awesome. So I hope this [01:00:00] episode gave you the permission to stop chasing just the cheapest flights, and instead start thinking about what actually makes a flight worth it to you, whether that's fewer layovers, a better seat, or flying a more comfortable airline.

Remember, it's not about being fancy, it's about being intentional. And tools like Google Flights make it so much easier to travel smarter. If you're new to Google Flights or haven't used some of the tips that we share today, give it a spin the next time you're planning a trip and then come share your experience with us in the Lazy Budget, travel Tips Facebook group and or EM'S group.

And if you love this episode, share it with a friend who's always hunting for flight deals or just tired of cramped, miserable flights. So until next time, keep it simple, keep it fun, and keep exploring. See you in the next episode.