Award Travel 101
Welcome to the Award Travel 101 Podcast! Founded in 2013 with just 20 members, the Award Travel 101 Facebook group teaches members how to travel the world using points and miles. Today, a community of over 100,000+ people from around the world share, teach and learn how to travel anywhere on any budget. Where are you going with Award Travel?
Episodes
153 episodes
Award Travel In Retirement
Angie Sparks is joined by special guest Steve Harms, a seasoned award traveler and recent retiree, to explore how retirement reshapes points and miles strategies. Steve shares his journey into the hobby starting in 2020, diving headfirst into e...
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Season 3
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Episode 117
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54:38
American Airlines Recap
In Episode 116 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, Angie and Cameron dive into key travel news and updates, including a lively community discussion sparked by a member seeking solo travel advice for women. Recommendations ranged from safe bets lik...
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Season 3
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Episode 116
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55:27
Destination: Japan
Episode 115 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, hosted by Mike Zaccheo, features Joe Petrovic's recent return from his second trip to Japan within a year. The "Post of the Week" highlights Maria, a moderator, who utilized the concierge service of ...
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Season 3
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Episode 115
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1:04:47
What's It Like to Run a Facebook Group
In Episode 114 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, Angie Sparks and Mike Zaccheo take listeners behind the scenes of what it's like running a large Facebook community dedicated to points and miles travel. They kick things off with a viral...
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Season 3
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Episode 114
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45:39
Is Hyatt Still Our Favorite?
In Episode 113 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, Mike Zaccheo is joined by Angie Sparks to cover recent travel news, community highlights, and updates in the points and miles world. The featured post of the week sparked lively discussio...
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Season 3
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Episode 113
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48:57
Gaming Award Travel
Episode 112 of the Award Travel 101 podcast features host Mike Zaccheo and guest Brandyn Osborne, a passionate traveler, entrepreneur, and board gamer. They first met in the Charlotte (CLT) Centurion Lounge, sparking Brandyn's involvement in th...
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Season 3
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Episode 112
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49:40
What's In Our Wallet?
Episode 111 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, hosted by Angie Sparks with guest Joseph Petrovic, covers key updates in the world of points and miles. They discuss a travel hack to avoid costly airline upgrades by using schedule changes ...
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Season 3
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Episode 111
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1:07:27
Comparing Award Search Tools
Episode 110 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, hosted by Angie Sparks with Cameron Laufer, covers a range of travel reward topics, from hotel loyalty programs to new credit card offers and companion pass deals. They highlight a discussio...
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Season 3
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Episode 110
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53:54
What We Pack
In Episode 109 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, hosts Angie Sparks and Mike Zaccheo discuss a variety of travel-related topics. Angie highlights a member's trip report on using AMEX Marriott Bonvoy card rewards to stay at the Westin Bora Bora, ...
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Season 3
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Episode 109
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50:19
Self Care Trips
In Episode 108 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, hosts Angie Sparks and Maria Fung discuss a variety of topics related to points and miles. They highlight a Facebook post from Ruby, who used over 1 million points for a family trip to Florida and...
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Season 3
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Episode 108
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1:04:20
Skiing With Points
Episode 107 of the podcast focuses on skiing with points, featuring hosts Cameron, Joe, and April. They kick off the episode with a discussion on an interesting WSJ article about the extreme lengths people go to reserve pool chairs at resorts. ...
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Season 3
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Episode 107
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49:17
How Award Travel Enables Adventure
In Episode 106 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, Mike Zaccheo is joined by fellow community member Charlie to discuss how award travel fuels adventure. Fresh off their whirlwind European microstates trip, they recount their experiences ...
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Season 3
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Episode 106
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59:51
Family Travel, Teenage Edition
In this episode moderators Eric Holly and Maria Fung take over hosting duties where they focus on the challenges and strategies of traveling with teenagers, a topic both moderators are familiar with as parents of teens at home and in college. T...
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Season 3
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Episode 105
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48:31
New Years Travel
In Episode 104 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, hosts Mike Zaccheo and Eric Holly discuss the importance of utilizing shopping portals, highlighting a post by a member who earned 50k points through CapitalOne shopping. They also cover news such...
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Season 3
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Episode 104
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46:40
Budget Travel
In this episode, Angie and Anthony Cave dive into the latest in travel news, personal updates, and tips for making the most of your points and miles. The highlight post of the week is Scott's review of Secrets Papagayo in Costa Rica, a Hyatt al...
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Season 3
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Episode 103
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32:22
2025 Strategy
In this episode hosts Angie and Mike discuss strategies for maximizing rewards in 2025. They highlight a community post from Marc, a member who successfully earned 1.4 million points by patiently following advice to apply for the Chase Freedom ...
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Season 3
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Episode 102
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51:57
Diversifying your Points
In Episode 101 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, Angie and Cameron discuss the post of the week from member Kelly about card strategies for booking stays with VRBO and Airbnb, highlighting the potential benefits of using cards like the Chase Sap...
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Season 3
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Episode 101
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44:18
2024 Year End Wrap Up
Mike and Angie recap an exciting year in the world of award travel. This milestone episode kicks off with a look at the lively community debate over a 47-hour Amtrak ride from Chicago to Miami—a no-go for most but sparking dreams of scenic slee...
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Season 3
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Episode 100
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42:43
Successful Family Travel
In Episode 99 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, Mike Zaccheo and Justin Walter dive into exciting travel updates and tips. Highlights include member Paul’s recommendation to explore European Christmas markets, featuring Vienna’s charm. News abou...
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Season 3
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Episode 99
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51:42
Girls Just Wanna…Travel
This week Angie talks with our moderator April Rose where they discuss the featured post of a member's frustration over not being able to use their Priority Pass (PP) membership at SFO, prompting them to consider downgrading their CSR card. PP ...
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Season 3
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Episode 98
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50:53
Year End Strategies
Mike and Randy Clinton dive into various year-end strategies and travel-related topics. They kick off the episode by discussing a lively debate from the community about the etiquette of bringing ziplock bags or containers into airport lounges t...
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Season 3
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Episode 97
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41:51
College Visits With Points and Miles
Angie and moderator Eric Holly dive into the latest updates in points and miles this week as well as the highlight feature of college visits made more affordable with points and miles. Angie kicks off by sharing a heartwarming post from...
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Season 3
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Episode 96
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37:12
Shopping Smart – Holiday Strategies for Points and Savings
Welcome to Episode 95 of the Award Travel 101 podcast! I'm Angie Sparks, joined by Mike Zaccheo. This week, we’re switching things up by saving the highlight post for later, as it ties into our feature on holiday shopping and earning strategies...
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Season 3
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Episode 95
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40:17
