We’re revealing how Thrifty Traveler’s premium subscription helps you travel more for less in 2025. Discover how to find mistake fares, first-class upgrades, and luxury hotel deals using one powerful membership. From flight alerts to insider travel hacks, learn how this subscription turns dream trips into affordable adventures.

Here’s what you’ll hear:

• How Thrifty Traveler Premium really works
• Custom flight deal alerts from your home airport
• Mistake fares & business-class savings
• Premium+ hotel deal alerts using travel points
• Smart travel hacks & credit card tips
• Use code TSP for $20 off your first year

Use our promo code TSP to get $20 off your first year of your Thrifty Traveler premium subscription 

We have a ton of travel tips and hacks to save you money, explore our past episides to maximize your funds for luxury experiences!

Contains affiliate links, thanks for supporting Travel Squad Podcast!

How to Save Money on Flights & Hotels – Episode Transcript

0:35

And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.

Hey squaties, welcome to this week’s Just the Tip.

Today we’re talking about one of our favorite tools for finding cheap flights and that is Thrifty Traveler Premium.

0:51

You know that we’re always trying to help you travel more for less, and this is one of the best ways that you can do it.

And you guys have heard us mention Thrifty Traveler before, more particularly the premium membership, which we all have and love.

So today we’re going to take a deep dive into the premium membership, what it offers, what works, and why it’s worth every penny if you’re serious about scoring incredible flight deals.

1:14

And what I really love too is recently they started introducing hotels so you could even find good hotel deals.

And we’re going to touch on these hotel deals because there’s some pretty exciting stuff that they’ve been putting out, but we also want to deep dive into their newsletter, which has a ton of really good information and a few of the other travel perks that Thrifty Traveler offers.

1:34

So Squatty’s we’ve partnered with Thrifty Traveler and we do have a promo code for you.

So use our promo MO code TSP and you’ll get $20 off your first year subscription.

And remember, we have the link to that in the show notes to make it easy for you.

So if you haven’t heard us talk about Thrifty Traveler before, it is a website that helps you find really good flight deals all over the world and you can fly more without paying full price for the tickets.

1:58

And they do have a free membership, so you can do that.

It has some good deals and tips, but we find that the real value comes when you have the premium membership.

So the premium membership is, is really where Thrifty Traveler shines.

When you sign up for the premium, you actually have real humans who are behind the scenes scouring and trying to find these deals, not necessarily AI or algorithms.

2:21

And when we’re talking about deals, what are we talking about?

We’re talking about points deals.

That’s the name of the game these days with credit cards, etcetera.

But they also show cash deals.

So you really get a good mix of deals coming your way that are utilizing points if you have them or showing you what you can do with cash.

2:40

I love that you mentioned that, Jamal, because you don’t have to have a paid subscription to get some of these deals from Thrifty.

And they do have a team.

I feel like they work 24/7 over there, pumping out content and scouring the web there, and they get back to you really fast too when you message them.

2:56

The premium membership just adds on even more to that, and it’s totally customizable.

I really love this feature.

So, you know, there’s a lot of flight deal services out there, but Thrifty, you can log into your account and set the airports that you only want to see flights from.

3:12

So I can set it for just Austin.

We’re actually do have it set for Austin, Houston, Dallas, and even Chicago because I am willing to relocate to a bigger nearby airport to get a massive deal.

But it’s cool.

So you can see that you can see domestic flights and international flights in this industry.

3:30

They call them mistake fares.

So if it’s a really, really good fare too, they’ll call them Unicorn fares.

And you can actually get a text message that alerts of it.

So you can book it right away because as you all know, name of the game with this type of stuff is booking as soon as that deal goes out there.

3:46

So it doesn’t, you know, get used up before you get a chance to get back to it.

There’s business class deals on there, actually very tempting business class deals.

And then like you said, Jamal, both points and cash.

Yeah.

And I’m glad you mentioned that with the business class too, because of course, a lot of times when we talk about point redemption, people are thinking for business class and rightfully so, especially when you get such good deals that that Thrifty brings to your inbox via e-mail, but they also show you deals in economy.

4:14

Not everybody has a huge stack of points.

Not everybody, even if they do, wants to get rid of that many points for a particular flight maybe.

So you really do get a good mix of the economy business class fares, those Unicorn ones that you’re talking about.

I’ve seen some that come straight international.

4:30

They’ll give you the warning, hey, these are international flights.

They don’t start in the United States, but these are such really, really good fares on good long hauls or on particular airlines that are known to have really good business class seats, service experience, etcetera.

And we’ve actually even utilized Thrifty, I mean many times before getting the deals that they send.

4:50

But for economy, one of our most recent flights that we took when we went to Portugal, we did fly from the US, Los Angeles to London before we took our other flights to get to Portugal.

And we utilized a special that they had sent our way that we had no clue about, which was Virgin Atlantic, LA to London for what was it about 30,000 points round trip per person.

5:13

What a deal.

Would have been even more, but during the month that we transferred there was a transfer bonus, so it made it less, which put it down to the 30,030 thousand round trip to get from LAX to London.

I feel like that’s a really, really good find.

But Jamal’s mentioned we’ve used them before too.

5:29

And we, we saw on there that they had a deal from for airlines and it was a flight that went from LAX to Singapore business class.

And so we booked that as our way to get to Thailand earlier this year as well.

So we’ve used them quite a few times this year.

5:46

They have a newsletter that comes out now we’re going to talk more about it, but their newsletter, The Daily Beat, will also tell you when they have transfer bonuses that are happening.

So if you see that flight deal and then you happen to also see their Daily Beat and there’s a say 30% transfer bonus, you can really stick it to them good with those double deals.

6:07

Thrifty Traveller has a couple of different levels to its subscription.

We mentioned the free 1.

You do get deals, you get access to all their content.

They have a premium subscription right now that’s running at $99.99 and then the premium plus subscription at 14999.

6:24

So there is a little bit of a fee to sign up.

We do have the promo code that gets you a percentage off, but I just want to convey this.

We talked a lot about travel credit cards and the the fees that go along with them, that big annual fee that looks dark and scary.

But when you actually compare the benefits, if you just book one flight through a deal that you get through thrifty, it can really pay for itself and save you way more money than you’re actually investing.

6:49

And then you can use it more times than just that one.

So it is something to consider at least starting out with the free subscription and then kind of seeing what deals come in to see if you want the premium subscription, which we think is a no brainer.

So we’ve already touched on this just a little bit about the premium membership, but one of the things that Thrifty also has that we really love is their free newsletter that anybody can sign up for.

7:12

And a lot of times people think, oh, like newsletters, but I’ve have found so much value of interesting travel news and features that I would never have even known if we weren’t signed up for it to get these newsletters.

One of them in particular that I really, really did like, of course, that just came out recently was them letting us know that Japan Airlines is now a travel partner for Capital One credit cards.

7:38

I have a Capital One credit card and Capital One didn’t even tell me that, you know, So here I am getting this news from Thrifty and I’m super excited because Japan Airlines flies out of San Diego.

We live in San Diego, LA is not too far off.

And of course that is the Asian market from here on the West Coast across the Pacific to Asia.

7:57

So a lot of times those deals are going to be a little bit better too when you get it.

And I’ve seen them advertise Japan Airlines all the time, and it meant nothing to me because I can’t really transfer to them with any of the credit cards I have.

But here in the newsletter, they informed me of that.

So now I’m keeping my eyes peeled on those Japan Airlines deals that are coming.

8:14

That’s what I’m saying, they have like a full team working 24/7 scouring the travel interwebs for this information.

Yeah.

And I was actually reading another newsletter also about the Japan Airlines redemptions and that they’re actually cheaper than some of their partners.

And so we’re going to be looking more to book through them.

8:32

And Japan Airlines, it’s actually a really good airlines even in economy, they have foot rest.

Even in economy, they served Haagen Dazs on our flight.

We had a really good flight when we flew to Tokyo.

So I’m really excited about this.

Something else I just discovered when I was browsing their premium subscription the other day is they’ve also created YouTube videos on how to book with points on different airlines, which I know doesn’t sound like the hardest thing to understand, but sometimes I do get overwhelmed.

9:01

Some airlines direct booking nights make it really difficult to book with points or to uncover flights that are available through points.

So they had a whole library of YouTube videos showing you how to book with points on different airlines.

Actually, that’s really funny because just yesterday I was at work and I was training someone and we had some downtime and she was like, I’m really glad I’m working with you today because I have to book a flight to Tulum.

9:26

And she was doing it through American Airlines and she was trying to search the flight.

But, you know, sometimes you actually have to hit redeem miles first before you get into the search engine.

And so I was there to walk her through it.

But this would be like perfect for someone like her who really kind of struggled through that process.

9:44

Yeah.

And, you know, I know we were kind of talking on the newsletter, and I don’t want to steer too far off of that because I want to talk about a couple other, like, really useful pieces of information that we learned.

But touching upon your point, Kim, and then what Brittany was saying too, that’s one of my favorite things.

Even when they just shoot you the regular deals of points, right?

10:02

Of like here’s this flight right from here to here.

This is the point value.

They will actually even in that, like the video itself, now that they have come up with great.

But even in the article, they’ll tell you step by step how to do it because a lot of other point alert sites or whatever you want to call them, they’ll tell you, but they don’t really give you the instructions here.

10:21

They lay it out step by step or they’ll tell you, hey, this flight is with Delta, but you’re not going to book this with Delta.

You’re going to book it with KLM because they code share and it’s actually cheaper through them than not.

And they’ll walk you through the entire process process.

So that’s some of the stuff that you get even just when you get the point deals.

10:38

On that e-mail too, for those flight deals, they list all the airports that it flies out of, all the airports that it flies into for each deal that it’s sending you, and it will tell you, hey, this is the deal price right now.

This was the original price.

You can actually see how good of a deal it is.

10:54

Right.

And then the dates too, they’ll tell you the dates that it’s valid for, right?

Because a lot of times they’ll be like, oh, here’s the point value, but it’s only good on certain dates and you don’t know when you’re searching and you can’t find it.

They’ll tell you exactly what dates they’re good for too, when it’s no longer valid, etcetera.

11:11

So really, really helpful tools on that.

Just beware squaddies, because once you start getting these emails you might start booking more trips.

But going back to the newsletter again, just of general value that they give you with good information, right?

If you are a traveler, and I’m assuming you are, if you’re listening to this podcast right now and joining us today, is that a lot of people know, I know Delta is one of the worst airlines in terms of point value redemption, right?

11:38

A lot of their business class flights are always in the 200 three, 100,000 points, which is just astronomical, especially when you get deals to fly business class for 50,000 points.

So when you’re in the hundreds of thousands, people don’t utilize it.

But Thrifty had an article that was in one of their newsletters that I absolutely loved.

11:55

It was talking about, yes, Delta point redemption is terrible domestically here in the United States.

But if you’re going to be traveling internationally, they actually are really good when you book it internationally and not originating inside of the United States.

So when we actually were in Asia earlier this year in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, we booked our flights through Delta.

12:19

Of course, we were actually flying South Korean airlines.

But the points that we had with Delta, we were able to get so many flights for super, super cheap for our intra Asia travel like when we were there.

And I would have never thought to think to myself, let me look into utilizing my Delta points because in my head I already know Delta’s just outrageous.

12:39

But they were like, no, no, no, it’s good internationally.

Sure enough, happened to be the right time for me to read that article when we were planning our trip.

I saw it and here we are.

And we had all of those flights super cheap for less than like 14,000 points from Hong Kong to South Korea, then from South Korea on to Tokyo.

12:56

Yeah.

And the flights that we took to get to Hong Kong and back from Tokyo, we used Cathay Pacific specific points that we had heard about from Thrifty as well.

So like that whole trip, all of our flights in some way we had heard of by Thrifty.

But I was just recently using one of their other newsletters and they listed a website calleduseyourcredit.com.

13:18

And it helps you track all of your credit cards in one spot, which I think is really helpful if you have multiple travel credit cards that you’re trying to keep track of and what all of the deals that they have for you on.

If you aren’t yet sold on the premium subscription, then do yourself a favor and just go to thriftytraveller.com and check out all of the resources they have on the website.

13:38

They have destination guides, guides for using credit card points and miles, tons of travel hacks, tons of tips for how to maximize loyalty programs.

You can sign up for that newsletter.

They even have a credit card consultation program.

This is part of the premium membership, but you can actually e-mail them directly with kind of your goals, what credit cards you currently have, what ones you might be looking at, or even if you know absolutely nothing, you can say that too.

14:03

And they’ll help guide you to some of the best travel credit cards for your unique situation.

And when we’ve done it, we’ve gotten answers back in less than 24 hours.

So like I said, they have this super team working around the clock to bring you travel deals and get you out there.

Yeah, it recommended for me that I get the American Express Platinum card as my next card, and I am still eyeing it.

14:23

I haven’t made the plunge yet, but it’s very, very tempting, I can tell you that.

We do have a previous Just the Tip episode on the credit card consulting specifically, so we’ll link that in the show notes as well.

So before we wrap up this episode, I just want to also touch base on one of their other offerings that they just launched.

14:40

They have the premium plus subscription, which sends alerts for discounted luxury and boutique hotel stay.

So if you are looking for some low rates and you can book five star stays using points instead of paying thousands of dollars full price, they will alert you on this.

14:58

It focuses primarily on like Hilton and Hyatt because those programs have the best value and flexibility, but they send out a whole bunch of deals and when you have their premium flaw subscription, when they send you a flight deal, they’ll also recommend hotels to book as well for that trip.

15:14

They’re like basically helping you trip plan.

Love it, making our lives easier.

And one of the things that I really love too, just about Thrifty Traveler Premium when you do sign up is their price lock guarantee.

So once you sign up for premium, your annual subscription price will not increase for as long as you keep it.

15:32

So let’s say later on in time Thrifty decides, hey, our premium membership is really taking off.

Lots of people are here hiring more staff, team, etcetera to find you all these amazing deals.

Do those credit card consoles, if they raise prices, whatever price you get in, you’re guaranteed to stay in as long as you have that.

15:49

So now is also a really good time to get in too because it is a low price.

We do have that promo code for you guys for the first year discount, but you can rate lock your price with Thrifty Traveller Premium.

Squatty, if you have any questions about Thrifty Traveller, you can always DM us at Travel Squad Podcast and make sure to use our promo code.

16:07

If you are interested in the premium subscription, it’s in the show notes.

The promo code is TSP.

We have the link there for you.

And thank you so much for tuning into this week’s Just the Tip.

Make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and follow us on all the socials at Travel Squad Podcast.

And have fun traveling this weekend.