00:00:00:03 - 00:00:06:18
Chris
Amex just tightened the rules for Centurion Lounge access that could impact your next visit, especially on long connections.
00:00:06:19 - 00:00:12:15
Katie
Plus, I have a lost passport story that every traveler needs to hear before their next international trip.
00:00:12:15 - 00:00:25:05
Chris
And finally, would you rather have business class on a budget airline or premium economy on a nicer airline free upgrade or free breakfast on every day? We're settling the biggest travel debates once and for all.
00:00:25:11 - 00:00:34:08
Katie
It's all coming up next on the Upgraded Points podcast.
00:00:34:10 - 00:00:37:12
Chris
Hey I'm Chris. Welcome to the Upgraded Points podcast.
00:00:37:16 - 00:00:58:10
Katie
And I'm Katie and today we have some Centurion Lounge news. I'm going to tell you about my passport drama. And then we are going to play a little game of this or that travel edition. Before we jump into all of that, don't forget a free way to support the show is by leaving us a five star rating and review on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and we would really appreciate that.
00:00:58:10 - 00:01:08:02
Katie
And if you have questions or comments for us, you can reach us at podcasts at upgraded points. Okay, Chris, let's talk about the bad news when it comes to Centurion lounges.
00:01:08:08 - 00:01:36:20
Chris
If the day has come. American Express has tightened lounge access at the Centurion Lounge. That is for long layovers and guests. So as of July 8th, there are new policies in Centurion lounges in the US in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney and Melbourne. Some other lounges are not affected yet. The first thing that you need to know is that guests now must be traveling on the same flight as an eligible card member to enter Centurion Lounge.
00:01:36:21 - 00:01:56:20
Chris
That means you won't be able to bring in a guest who's flying on a separate reservation or a different itinerary. Basically, if you want to bring a guess, they have to be on the same flight with you, so that's tough. Second card members will be able to access the Centurion lounges during a layover up to five hours before the departing flight.
00:01:56:20 - 00:02:21:04
Chris
So I know that's bad news for you, because I know you like those long stays. But yeah, we now are capped at five hours even if you're on a connecting flight. And listen, we all know Centurion lounges become increasingly busy in recent years. And the policy tweaks are, you know, part of Amex broader effort to reduce overcrowding. We'll see if it works, but that is kind of a negative development.
00:02:21:06 - 00:02:34:02
Katie
Yeah. You know, I guess I get it. But like how many people are really on an eight hour layover and when you are like lounge access is just so important. So yeah, kind of yeah.
00:02:34:03 - 00:02:45:02
Chris
Hopefully get some other options in your wall. I know if you have an platinum card you can have a priority pass, so maybe hop around and check out a game. We play some video games and maybe a minute sweet for a little bit.
00:02:45:04 - 00:02:48:07
Katie
That's true. That's true. There's there's still options. So.
00:02:48:09 - 00:02:58:19
Chris
All right. Well, that's bad news, Katy. I know you had some bad news recently. I saw you talking on slack about it. Please give us an update. What happened with the passport?
00:02:58:22 - 00:03:26:06
Katie
Yeah. So to catch everyone up, I on, I discovered I lost my passport on July 4th. I had an international trip on July 7th. So I panicked. First is what I did. I tore my house apart looking for this thing. I know I had it. My last trip was in May, I know I had it and the kicker and it is 100% my fault.
00:03:26:06 - 00:03:35:14
Katie
It was sitting on my desk and I tend to not put things away right away. It. No, no, I didn't find it. I was saying before I lost it, I was sitting am.
00:03:35:14 - 00:03:36:00
Chris
I okay?
00:03:36:01 - 00:03:43:03
Katie
Yeah. And I looked at it and I thought I should put that away in the special place where we keep our passports so it doesn't get lost.
00:03:43:04 - 00:03:43:13
Chris
Right.
00:03:43:14 - 00:04:07:02
Katie
Okay. And then I went on and did something else so I cannot find it. My theory is that it somehow got knocked in the trash, like in a pile of papers that got moved around and then put somewhere weird or thrown away or something, I don't know. My husband and I looked everywhere, including places that it would have no business being in.
00:04:07:02 - 00:04:28:17
Katie
So that was all day. The fourth, nothing was open. I had googled like, what do I do? And it turns out you can in some situations get a same day passport. So my plan was to call the number, try to get an appointment, try to make that happen on Monday. I was scheduled to leave on Tuesday morning. Well, there's not passport offices that do this just anywhere.
00:04:28:17 - 00:04:49:11
Katie
So there was nowhere in Columbus. The closest one was Detroit. There were no appointments available. They said, well, we do have an appointment in Chicago on Monday morning. So I was like, okay, book it. I went online, I booked myself a flight to Chicago. I got up bright and early, flew to Chicago on Monday morning. I was actually feeling pretty good about myself.
00:04:49:11 - 00:05:07:08
Katie
I had gotten over the like, just horror that I had lost my passport. And I was, you know, I was on the plane. I'm like, I'm making it happen. It's going to be it's going to be fine. I'm getting there. I'm taking care of my problem. And I take the subway into the city. It was perfect. So it's so easy to take that from O'Hare.
00:05:07:12 - 00:05:26:11
Katie
The stop was right at the building, so I get out onto the street, I'm feeling good and there's a huge line and I'm like, well, surely that can't be where I'm going. So I get out my information and I'm double checking the address and sure enough, that was where it is. And then I see everyone holding like the the pile of papers that you need, and I'm like, oh, crap.
00:05:26:14 - 00:05:48:22
Katie
So it looked weird, like it wasn't moving. So I got in line and I sort of started talking to people and they said they're not letting anyone in. So eventually a security guard came by and just said, the system is down, just hang tight. He came by a little bit later and told us the system was down nationwide.
00:05:49:00 - 00:05:53:18
Katie
So we're all just like, okay, well, I guess we're all standing here like, okay.
00:05:53:19 - 00:05:54:13
Chris
Oh, God.
00:05:54:14 - 00:06:03:19
Katie
So we end up a very long story short, I end up standing out on the sidewalk in Chicago outside of the passport office all day.
00:06:03:21 - 00:06:05:04
Chris
In July.
00:06:05:06 - 00:06:25:08
Katie
And the one thing I will say, though, it had cooled down, it was like mid 70s and the line was in the shade. So like temperature wise it was fine, thank God, because had it been like the week before, when it was 90, it would have been miserable. The thing that made me really mad was, yes, I was very mad that I had to fly to Chicago to get this passport.
00:06:25:08 - 00:06:49:06
Katie
But and I know sometimes outages can happen. The thing that really, really upset me, though, was there was no communication from the passport office. Not one person from the passport office came and talked to the 200 people sitting outside on the sidewalk. The only information we ever got was from this one security guard who came out and was going down the line just saying, like, there's an outage.
00:06:49:06 - 00:07:08:00
Katie
We don't know anything. Hang tight. That was it. Later in the afternoon, a couple of us, because by this time we are all best friends. We've all talked all day. A couple of us went in and talked to some one of the security guards right on the inside of the building, and we said, you know, the first guy had said, like, they'll come out and tell you something.
00:07:08:00 - 00:07:31:05
Katie
And this guy is like, oh, yeah, they're not going to come out and tell you anything. And so we're like, okay, well, is there any chance it's going to be up and running today? And he said, well, he didn't think there was, but he didn't know. He didn't know if it would be up and running tomorrow. And he said, and you know, by the way, even if it was up and running right now and you got in today, there was no way you'd get a same day passport, because only the morning appointments get the same day passport.
00:07:31:07 - 00:07:50:17
Katie
And by this time it was almost 3:00. The office closes at four and I was like, excuse me. So like obviously at some point people in the passport office knew that this was the case. And 95% of the people in this line are people that need same day or like they're traveling the next day or in two days.
00:07:50:17 - 00:08:10:23
Katie
So it's not just regular. I need a passport. In six months. They have 200 people ish in very, very dire situations for various reasons that need a passport. And they know at some point that day that that's not going to happen. And there was not a single word like just the lack of common courtesy and respect was infuriating.
00:08:11:00 - 00:08:28:23
Katie
By that time, we went and started telling everyone in the line, and the line had gotten a lot smaller. A lot of people had abandoned ship by this point, and I was like, okay, well, there's nothing I can do. So I turned around, went back to the airport, did a standby for the earlier flight, and came home. Obviously, I did not go on my trip.
00:08:29:00 - 00:08:57:22
Katie
I had to cancel it. And, you know, I'm working through all this. I'm kind of over it now. Like it sucked. But I was going on a work trip that could be rescheduled. I was bringing my mom, so I was a little disappointed that it affected her as well. But there were a lot of people on that line that were going on big family trips or had, you know, something happened kind of quick, and they needed to get somewhere with a lot of hotels that were not cancel anymore expenses.
00:08:57:22 - 00:09:22:06
Katie
So as much as it sucked for me, like I was probably in one of the better situations, even though I was flying the next day. And that was really frustrating. So it was just it was an annoying, frustrating experience. I ended up just coming back, and the next morning I went to my like post office and did the I submission by mail expedited service I paid for.
00:09:22:06 - 00:09:32:20
Katie
I told the guy, I said I want any upgrade you can give me because he was like, well, there's a 2 to 3 day shipping and there's an overnight shipping. I'm like, yes, I don't care what you charge me, give me everything you can give me.
00:09:32:21 - 00:09:34:19
Chris
It's already cheaper from what you spent.
00:09:34:20 - 00:09:58:08
Katie
Yeah, because you can't get that same day appointment unless you have to travel within 14 days. And by this time I had canceled my trip. So I didn't have that. So I couldn't do the same day. So hopefully they said 2 to 3 weeks. My next trip was four weeks from that day, so fingers crossed. I'm hoping by the time this publishes I will have my passport in hand.
00:09:58:09 - 00:10:16:10
Katie
So I'll put a note in the show notes just to let everyone know how long it did take. But it was just it was frustrating and I wish I had a lesson for everyone. Just like, put your passport away in the place where I supposed to be, you know, just it was it was a frustrating, frustrating experience. But it happens.
00:10:16:11 - 00:10:18:19
Katie
I guess it happens. It wasn't the only one.
00:10:18:20 - 00:10:20:05
Chris
You're not the only one.
00:10:20:06 - 00:10:28:09
Katie
I was, you know, talking to some of the people of mine. And a lot of people had the same. This was like, well, I it was in my house, I don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:10:28:09 - 00:10:36:15
Chris
I don't know what the solution is. It's like getting a passport cover with an Apple AirTag in it. And then it's like, do you do that with everything you own? I don't know.
00:10:36:17 - 00:10:42:16
Katie
When I did that with my luggage, I lost the apple. Like I lost connection to my AirTag.
00:10:42:18 - 00:10:44:15
Chris
So okay.
00:10:44:21 - 00:10:45:06
Katie
I don't.
00:10:45:06 - 00:10:47:03
Chris
Have good. We don't have an answer. Strokes.
00:10:47:09 - 00:10:50:23
Katie
No, I'm I'm yeah. It's not going to work out.
00:10:50:23 - 00:10:53:04
Chris
Well, at least the weather in Chicago was good.
00:10:53:05 - 00:11:14:07
Katie
Yes. And you know, I'm glad it happened. For my work trip, I was I was excited about the trip. I was going down to the Aruba marriott to see the new renovations I'd been a couple of years ago. And they've done some reservations, reservations, renovations on the rooms and the spa, so I was excited. But you know, I'll get it rescheduled.
00:11:14:07 - 00:11:38:09
Katie
It'll be fine. My next trip is my big family trip. We're doing a cruise in Europe, and I am just so happy that this happened. Now, on a trip that could be rescheduled relatively easy and does not affect a lot of people, because if this had happened on the next trip, I would have been devastated. So I'm trying to look at the bright side and just, you know, be positive about it.
00:11:38:10 - 00:11:44:03
Katie
I was not if you had talked to me on Saturday or Sunday, though, I was. I wasn't there yet.
00:11:44:03 - 00:11:44:20
Chris
But not there.
00:11:45:00 - 00:11:46:19
Katie
Have you ever lost a passport?
00:11:47:00 - 00:12:03:13
Chris
No, but I don't know if we talked about on the show or not, but we went. We had some emergency passports. The purple ones. Me and my. Me and my two kids or me. It was just my two kids either way. But we. We live in Brazil and we needed passports, and we usually get them at the consulate.
00:12:03:13 - 00:12:26:07
Chris
And we went to go, we made an appointment and it was like a month before an X trip or whatever, and like it's not going to be ready in time. I was like, well, it has to be. I have I'm going home for Christmas and we're going on a cruise and like, sorry, I mean, what we could do, we can give you an emergency passport and then when you get back, you can apply again for a real one.
00:12:26:08 - 00:13:00:01
Chris
And I said, okay, fine. The emergency ones are good for one year and great. We got to the US and we had Christmas. And after Christmas we went down to Florida to get on a cruise ship and they refused us boarding because emergency passports are not valid for cruises, because cruises are not an emergency. Yeah. Turns out that may not be totally true because when we we got on the ship, we they after, you know, an hour Royal Caribbean I was like, okay, if you can prove there I don't know if you have your their birth certificates.
00:13:00:02 - 00:13:18:09
Chris
Anyways, my father in law went to our apartment and sent us their birth certificates, and we were able to get on the ship. And then after we're getting off, when we were going through customs, I asked the guys like, what's what's the deal? He's like, no, you would have been fine. Like, okay, so I don't know what the lesson there is either.
00:13:18:10 - 00:13:29:06
Chris
Royal Caribbean I don't know, maybe they had their information mixed up, but I guess I wouldn't recommend going on a cruise with an emergency passport if you can avoid it.
00:13:29:07 - 00:13:33:21
Katie
Probably not. Yeah. Just yeah, keep your passport with you when you need it.
00:13:33:22 - 00:13:37:14
Chris
And be better. All right.
00:13:37:15 - 00:13:38:07
Katie
Well.
00:13:38:09 - 00:14:00:07
Chris
Let's move on to some news. New segment we're working on. This is going to be this or that kind of a little debate that Katie and I we made up. There's some real examples here, maybe some hypotheticals. But we want to do a little debate on some classic travel debates. So we're going to do that now and then.
00:14:00:07 - 00:14:26:18
Chris
We want you guys to jump in the comments and let us know if you agree with us or disagree. But I'm going to kick things off. I'm going to read this one to Katie. Now. I think I already know the answer, Katie. But the first one, if you could choose, would you choose business class on a budget airline or premium economy on a premium carrier, something like Singapore or Cathay Pacific?
00:14:26:20 - 00:14:31:09
Katie
Well, what's your budget carrier that has this business class that you speak of?
00:14:31:10 - 00:14:44:14
Chris
Well, I guess you could do something like maybe zip air. I mean, that's a budget airline that has lie flat to Japan. Or would you fly Japan Airlines and premium economy assuming the price the same.
00:14:44:15 - 00:14:48:05
Katie
I mean.
00:14:48:07 - 00:14:57:08
Katie
I was going to say business. I would probably stick with business, although I'm pretty happy with premium economy. But to Japan, I think I would have to stick with business.
00:14:57:10 - 00:14:57:23
Chris
Okay.
00:14:58:00 - 00:14:58:04
Katie
Yeah.
00:14:58:05 - 00:15:04:00
Chris
I mean, you were talking about those that the business class for sure. Girls.
00:15:04:02 - 00:15:10:18
Katie
Oh yeah. No. Yeah. Premium economy I like it. And that's why if you're talking like Japan Airlines premium economy and like, that could be pretty nice.
00:15:10:19 - 00:15:11:19
Chris
That'd be good.
00:15:12:00 - 00:15:14:03
Katie
I'd probably still have to go with business.
00:15:14:04 - 00:15:18:08
Chris
Yeah, I would do for for a long flight. Yeah. Having that lay flat is going to be good.
00:15:18:09 - 00:15:21:00
Katie
Yeah. That's that's hard to turn down.
00:15:21:03 - 00:15:26:12
Chris
Yeah. Economy is a lot cheaper. I'd probably do that though. I guess that really.
00:15:26:14 - 00:15:29:03
Katie
That's hard. So like this is all going to be this hard.
00:15:29:04 - 00:15:46:00
Chris
I don't know. That was pretty easy. We both came to that conclusion pretty easily I don't know. All right. Let me give you let me give you a harder one. All right okay. This one. Would you rather have unlimited Amex and train lounge access or a $500 annual travel credit that you can use anywhere?
00:15:46:02 - 00:15:54:09
Katie
Okay. Do I still have my Amex Platinum or is this, like, hypothetical on top of that, or do I have no Centurion Lounge access?
00:15:54:15 - 00:16:00:16
Chris
Well, I mean, you would have you would be able to go apply for an Amex Platinum card and pay the 95 fee if you wanted.
00:16:00:17 - 00:16:19:17
Katie
Because if that was just offered to me right now, I would probably take the $500 because I don't think I'd pay. Right now I have access and my husband has access. I can't bring my kid, but I don't think I'd pay $500 to bring her because we don't go to Centurions all that often, because there's there in places that maybe have other options.
00:16:19:17 - 00:16:27:04
Katie
So if I, if I, if we're taking my antique platinum way and I had no other way to get it, I would probably take this injury and lounge access.
00:16:27:06 - 00:16:42:08
Chris
Yeah, I would too. I think without an Amex Platinum card, I would definitely take it. And especially with a guest, because, I mean, if you're yeah, unlimited access with a guest, you could make that worth it in like two visits. So. Yeah.
00:16:42:10 - 00:16:44:00
Katie
Yeah.
00:16:44:02 - 00:16:59:12
Chris
All right. I'm gonna make it a little bit harder for you, okay? Okay. Next 1 in 1 year. If you could have only one incredible trip or four solid trips for the same total cost, which would you take?
00:16:59:14 - 00:17:15:05
Katie
That's an easy one. I'm taking more trips. Like the thought of just having one trip would be depressing for me, and like that would get me really sad. So I would much rather take four smaller trips. Maybe not as exotic than one big one. What would you do?
00:17:15:07 - 00:17:42:15
Chris
I would, I'm going to disagree with you because I want, I think those big trips, that's what you know when I look back, those are the ones I remember the most. And I know I'm not taking anything away from these smaller trips that I also take in love. But if you could do one big trip a year, whether that's Japan, maybe it's Antarctica, maybe it's Hawaii, I don't know, I just feel like I'm going to remember those more.
00:17:42:17 - 00:17:54:10
Chris
So I think I'd go for the big one, big trip. I wonder what the our listeners would say. Drop it in the comments. If you would rather one big trip or for smaller trips spread out. I know what you mean about being depressing.
00:17:54:11 - 00:17:55:02
Katie
Like, yeah.
00:17:55:04 - 00:17:58:06
Chris
Imagine if you take that one trip in January and then get away the whole year for another trip.
00:17:58:07 - 00:18:08:13
Katie
Yeah, well, there's a lot of I like the anticipation of knowing I have a trip and planning it. And yeah, if I only have one of those a year, I feel like I get a little sad.
00:18:08:15 - 00:18:15:23
Chris
Yeah, I guess if it's big, you'd be planning at the entire year. And then a finally comes. It's like Christmas morning.
00:18:16:01 - 00:18:20:01
Katie
I can see the argument for that, but I'm still sticking with more trips.
00:18:20:03 - 00:18:36:01
Chris
All right, I got another one for you. Would you rather always fly economy with a perfect itinerary, routing and everything? We always fly business class with one or more connections.
00:18:36:03 - 00:18:39:09
Katie
Business class with a connection, no question.
00:18:39:10 - 00:18:44:09
Chris
I know I do the same thing. If it's if it's a nice business class, I'll probably had connections.
00:18:44:10 - 00:18:49:18
Katie
Yeah, I mean more time on the plane than better. Let's go. Like, let's fly around the world.
00:18:49:19 - 00:18:52:07
Chris
Yeah, exactly. Okay. I'm sorry, with the same page here.
00:18:52:08 - 00:19:08:04
Katie
Okay, cool. Okay, I got I got a couple. These are you're going to answer these first. Okay. I really like this one. Would you rather have 500,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points or 500,000 Hilton Honors points.
00:19:08:06 - 00:19:33:01
Chris
And this is the silliest question we've got so far. Katie. Obviously I'm taking the chase points. I mean, I love Hilton. We're getting criticized because I talk about Hilton so much. But 500,000 Chase points, I mean, that's a lot of nice park hits. That'd be like 2 or 3. Waldorf. Yeah, something just purely for hotels. I would stick with Chase.
00:19:33:03 - 00:19:35:09
Chris
Why would you not?
00:19:35:11 - 00:19:39:18
Katie
Well, okay, I might get some criticism for this.
00:19:39:20 - 00:19:40:08
Chris
Yeah, I.
00:19:40:08 - 00:20:02:14
Katie
Guess you will. Until a couple weeks ago, I would have absolutely said Chase. But I actually think I might say Hilton, because you can now redeem points for Explore Journeys cruises. And I really want to go on one of those and they're gonna be expensive. And like, I have a lot more chase points in Hilton Points right now.
00:20:02:14 - 00:20:24:13
Katie
So while that's probably not the best like best value decision, that seems really appealing to me right now. If someone would just hand me 500,000 Hilton points, so I get that, I might be the only person who says that. And I'm sure anyone in the points and Miles world is going to disown me for saying that.
00:20:24:15 - 00:20:29:08
Chris
Drop your Kate in the comments, please.
00:20:29:10 - 00:20:48:11
Katie
There might be one person out there to someone else. If you agree with me, please drop a note in the comments because those Hilton the Explorer journeys look really cool and I don't know. At the time of recording this was just announced. I don't know what the price is going to be. It might be ridiculous and maybe my plan is silly, but I really want to go on one of those cruises.
00:20:48:11 - 00:20:53:00
Chris
So yeah, I'm sure 500,000 will give a nice little chunk towards it. Maybe.
00:20:53:01 - 00:20:55:01
Katie
So I'm going to stick with my answer.
00:20:55:02 - 00:20:59:07
Chris
Okay, good. Okay. We don't want to agree on everything so that's good.
00:20:59:08 - 00:21:05:00
Katie
We know okay. Next one. Would you rather miss your flight or lose your luggage.
00:21:05:02 - 00:21:12:15
Chris
Oh for me that's another easy one. Lose my luggage all day long. I actually love it when airlines lose my luggage because I know.
00:21:12:20 - 00:21:16:09
Katie
Me a couple of times. You've gotten some windfalls there.
00:21:16:09 - 00:21:33:22
Chris
I have my last one. We went to Disney American, lost my luggage and they paid me up. They paid for all my family's Disney souvenirs, pretty much that we had to buy in the gift shop because we had nothing. But I all my important stuff comes with me. So I'm assuming that we're not losing my checked bag. I mean, my carry on bag.
00:21:33:23 - 00:21:36:06
Chris
So I mean on my laptop, that's a tech stuff. Yeah.
00:21:36:06 - 00:21:37:16
Katie
That's different.
00:21:37:17 - 00:21:50:19
Chris
And I always pack, you know, some backup workout clothes and underwear and that kind of stuff. So I I'd survive, you know, a day or two and then go shopping. What about you?
00:21:50:21 - 00:22:05:11
Katie
Same. Exactly. I don't pack anything in my checked bag that I would be devastated to lose. So, yeah, I can replace things like all day long. But missing a flight is just the worst feeling.
00:22:05:13 - 00:22:16:02
Chris
Yeah. Oh, it can be very frustrating. Especially even if, like, we travel a lot, missing a flight, like, sometimes my my brain doesn't even work. Like, what am I doing?
00:22:16:04 - 00:22:22:07
Katie
Yeah, I've made some bad decisions. When things happen and you just get flustered and you, like, forget everything, you know?
00:22:22:09 - 00:22:37:04
Chris
But that's also like a good reminder for people like, don't put like, stuff that's super valuable in your check bags. I mean, maybe you don't want to carry on bag, but I mean, I don't know unless it's like prohibited. Yeah. Anything that's important is coming with me.
00:22:37:05 - 00:22:57:07
Katie
Anything that's important. Any medications, any, like laptop situations, anything that's, like, irreplaceable always goes in my carry on. Okay. Next one. Chris, would you rather fly everywhere in first class but stay at a one star hotel or fly economy and stay at a five star hotel?
00:22:57:09 - 00:23:19:15
Chris
You. I don't like any of those options. Can I combine them somehow? Can I just fly everywhere in first class and stay in five star hotels? Okay, I think I'm going to take the five star hotel. I mean, I know business first class, I mean, that incredible. I mean, take Emirates first class everywhere, but then stay somewhere. Seeing a one star hotel.
00:23:19:15 - 00:23:29:11
Chris
Now I'm going to take the five star hotel because it will last longer. Even if it's a really long flight, it's not more than 24 hours. So I'll take the five star hotel. What about you?
00:23:29:15 - 00:23:36:09
Katie
Yeah, yeah, I agree with you on this one. I. Yeah, a one star hotel would ruin my trip.
00:23:36:11 - 00:23:41:01
Chris
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm getting off that flight and then.
00:23:41:03 - 00:24:14:23
Katie
No. Yeah. No, I, I'm very particular about hotels and we've done a couple trips. We had one in Germany. I think we're Frankfurt maybe. And we had like one night I had like a fine hotels and resorts credit. So we stayed at a really nice place for one night. And then for whatever reason, the next four whatever nights we ended up moving to like a courtyard or something, which usually is fine, but this one was real bad and it like really affected me probably more than it should.
00:24:15:02 - 00:24:28:17
Katie
I mean, yeah, everyone I was with did tell me I was being dramatic and I probably was, but that's how I am. So yeah, as much as I would like to fly first class everywhere, if I had to choose, I would go with nice hotels all the time.
00:24:28:19 - 00:24:31:01
Chris
Okay, good. We're on the same page here.
00:24:31:07 - 00:24:46:09
Katie
Okay, let's take a quick break and then when we come back, we have a couple more of these. This are that travel edition.
00:24:46:11 - 00:24:53:00
Chris
Hey, real quick before we jump back in, if you're listening to this podcast, you're exactly the kind of person we built our free newsletter for.
00:24:53:02 - 00:25:03:06
Katie
We break down the best credit card offers, transfer bonuses, award alerts, and travel news that actually matters. No fluff, no spam, just the stuff we text a friend if something big dropped.
00:25:03:07 - 00:25:08:04
Chris
A lot of the deals we talk about on the show don't last long. The newsletter is where we flag those fast.
00:25:08:04 - 00:25:20:11
Katie
It's totally free, and you can sign up at upgraded points.
00:25:20:13 - 00:25:41:08
Chris
Okay. Welcome back. We're going to move on to round three. And I want to talk about hotels. And anyone that has elite status can probably guess where this is going. Katie. If you could have one guaranteed benefit on every stay, would you choose a free room upgrade or free breakfast on every stay?
00:25:41:08 - 00:25:52:02
Katie
I think unless the room upgrade was a guaranteed like nice suite, I would choose breakfast and even, you know, even if it was a guaranteed sweet upgrade every time I think I would choose breakfast.
00:25:52:03 - 00:25:52:21
Chris
Really?
00:25:52:22 - 00:26:13:00
Katie
Yeah, I enjoy eating breakfast in a nice hotel. I like not having to think about it. I like just knowing it's there, especially when I'm traveling with my family. It can be a really valuable perk if we're getting breakfast for the three of us. And sometimes, you know, my mom's coming, we get all of us gets breakfast. So yeah, that's a perk that I really do value.
00:26:13:00 - 00:26:16:17
Katie
So I think in most circumstances I would choose that. What about you?
00:26:16:19 - 00:26:37:09
Chris
Okay. I was going to take well, yeah. I think it depends on who you are. So as a couple of solo I'm taking the upgrade because I mean let's hope it's a sweet. But yeah, as a family breakfast is nice. I mean, I don't. Me and my wife, we don't really do big breakfast. So we are in a city.
00:26:37:09 - 00:26:49:04
Chris
We'll head out and grab a cup of coffee and maybe a snack somewhere. But yeah, with the kids, it's more important to give them something solid. So as a family, I'll take the breakfast. But solo a couple. I'm taking the upgrade.
00:26:49:09 - 00:26:57:04
Katie
Yeah, yeah. And I wouldn't want to risk that on getting upgrade to like, the better view or something. Usually that's I know, completely worthless.
00:26:57:06 - 00:27:09:15
Chris
All right, well, here's the next one. Katie, would you prefer a luxury hotel in a bad location or a budget hotel in a perfect location?
00:27:09:17 - 00:27:11:14
Katie
That's tough, Chris.
00:27:11:16 - 00:27:13:14
Chris
It is. That's why I made it up.
00:27:13:15 - 00:27:35:09
Katie
Gosh. You know, I location is really important to me, and I think it depends on what kind of trip. If it's like where I'm going to an island, I just. I want the luxury hotel. I don't care where it is, because a lot of times if you're one of the Caribbean or something, the location of the resort really doesn't matter, especially if it's just one of those lay on the beach.
00:27:35:11 - 00:27:52:02
Katie
Yeah, but for like a city trip location is super important to me. Yeah, but I do know that I was really grumpy on that trip when we had the bad hotel in a decent location, so I don't like I don't I want a good hotel and a good luck.
00:27:52:04 - 00:27:54:19
Chris
Yeah. I think we could just change all these questions.
00:27:54:21 - 00:27:56:11
Katie
That's a terrible question.
00:27:56:13 - 00:28:00:07
Chris
Would you like a luxury hotel in a perfect location and a first class flight?
00:28:00:08 - 00:28:02:10
Katie
I would say.
00:28:02:12 - 00:28:05:16
Chris
What would you like with points of miles? Katie? We can make that happen.
00:28:05:17 - 00:28:06:12
Katie
There you go.
00:28:06:13 - 00:28:25:16
Chris
I'm gonna. This is boring because I'm gonna agree with you. But I think like a budget hotel on a city trip for me is probably fine, right? We want to get out and explore and blah, blah, blah. That's great. But at the same time, a luxury hotel, if you're going to a resort, I don't care where it is, I'm going to be at the resort.
00:28:25:16 - 00:28:42:17
Chris
So I mean, yeah, it's kind of like to think about like Hawaii. I mean, you flying across the ocean to get to the to essentially a resort in many cases. And does it matter what part of the island is on? Yeah, sometimes I don't know.
00:28:42:18 - 00:28:43:06
Katie
Sometimes.
00:28:43:07 - 00:28:56:09
Chris
Yeah. Okay. All right. Let's give you another one. Katie. Global entry for life or Priority Pass with unlimited guests for life.
00:28:56:11 - 00:29:07:03
Katie
My first instinct was to say Global Entry because I have a lot of other lounge access, and I'm really impressed with Priority Pass lounges. What do you think?
00:29:07:03 - 00:29:10:05
Chris
So you're you're going with Global Entry?
00:29:10:06 - 00:29:11:14
Katie
Yeah.
00:29:11:16 - 00:29:14:14
Chris
Yeah I disagree strongly.
00:29:14:15 - 00:29:17:04
Katie
Strongly disagree.
00:29:17:06 - 00:29:37:09
Chris
Not too strongly. But I mean priority passed with unlimited guests like you go on on a group trip, everyone in the lounge together. That's that's fun. And I've I've only heard good things about mobile passport control. I have global entry so I don't have to use it. But people are saying that it is a great tool. So I could never have Global Entry.
00:29:37:09 - 00:29:43:19
Chris
I would be certainly using mobile passport control and then hanging out in the lounge with my friends.
00:29:43:21 - 00:29:53:10
Katie
Yeah, the mobile passport controls an interesting point. And actually that would be a good workaround because those lines are pretty much empty because no one knows how to use.
00:29:53:10 - 00:29:54:12
Chris
It, right?
00:29:54:13 - 00:30:08:13
Katie
Go back to I don't remember the episode, but we did cover this on an early episode. We'll drop that in the show notes. When I kind of educated myself about it, I was pretty impressed with how it worked. So yeah, okay, I like your answer. I like your answer.
00:30:08:14 - 00:30:11:10
Chris
All right. Good. We disagreed, and I almost converted her. All right.
00:30:11:11 - 00:30:13:23
Katie
Yeah. I'm close. Yeah, I'm close, but just.
00:30:14:00 - 00:30:23:02
Chris
I think we disagree on this next one. Katie. Okay. Window seat or aisle seat for life.
00:30:23:04 - 00:30:51:05
Katie
I like a window seat for a short flight and long flight. I like an aisle. And I'll tell you why. Because I get a lot of anxiety about, like, if I'm in a window, which actually I prefer the window seat, but, like, I'll sit down and if I know I'm on, let's say an eight hour flight, I constantly think about, okay, I have to make sure I plan my bathroom breaks around whenever this person's going to get up next to me, and then I spend the whole flight like, worried about it.
00:30:51:06 - 00:31:08:20
Katie
I'm not someone who can just be like, I'm going to get up and go to the bathroom or get up to stretch my legs whenever I need to. I'm very, like concerned about bothering the people next to me. So I've I've moved now towards longer flights when I'm not in like a business class to an aisle seat. What about you?
00:31:08:21 - 00:31:28:16
Chris
My wife is the same way. So. But I have no problem. I can be window all the time and I will just hold it. I will just I'm enjoying the view and leaning when I can. So yeah, I'm assuming this is like economy where where it matters. Yeah. Business class doesn't matter. But now I'm taking the window and I'm going to.
00:31:28:17 - 00:31:31:11
Chris
And I'll suck it up.
00:31:31:13 - 00:31:51:09
Katie
Okay. Our next section. Let me ask this. This is round four I think it is our final round okay. Would you choose never checking a bag again are never paying for seat selection again,
00:31:51:11 - 00:31:54:11
Chris
Never checking a bag again. So?
00:31:54:14 - 00:31:56:20
Katie
So you'd never be able to check a bag again?
00:31:56:21 - 00:31:58:14
Chris
Oh.
00:31:58:16 - 00:32:05:13
Katie
At the time. Yeah. You'd never be able to check a bag again. Oh, you never have to pay for seed selection again.
00:32:05:15 - 00:32:18:08
Chris
I'm. I want to check a bag. I like having that opportunity. I and yeah, I'm. I'm confused about this question that I helped prepare.
00:32:18:09 - 00:32:22:16
Katie
You wrote it?
00:32:22:18 - 00:32:26:09
Chris
Yeah. So does that make my answer correct?
00:32:26:11 - 00:32:30:20
Katie
Yeah. I don't I don't even know what your answer is, so.
00:32:30:22 - 00:32:33:14
Chris
Well, I don't know what would you pick?
00:32:33:16 - 00:32:58:05
Katie
I mean, it's a tough one. I am very particular about where I sit, and I, I value being able to pick my seat. So I think I would have to go with never paying for that again. I only check a bag on long trips, so 90% of the time I don't check bags. So I feel like I could train myself to pack really, really light if I knew I was always going to get to choose my correct seat.
00:32:58:08 - 00:33:13:23
Chris
Okay, well, actually, I guess I could answer my own question because I've already did. Tomorrow we're flying on an international flight and we do not have a signed seat yet. Yeah, but I do have bags.
00:33:14:00 - 00:33:18:00
Katie
You're handling it very well. So there. Yeah. You answered your question right there.
00:33:18:00 - 00:33:20:01
Chris
There we go. Okay. Next.
00:33:20:02 - 00:33:25:13
Katie
Okay. Next one. Perfect weather on every trip or never having a flight delay.
00:33:25:15 - 00:33:46:12
Chris
Oh. Perfect weather, I think. Because. Yeah. Delays. Yeah. Delays happen. But I mean, having perfect weather, I mean, who perfect weather is amazing. Like a nice day at Disney where it's not like melting you or. Yeah, I'm taking weather. What about you?
00:33:46:14 - 00:34:11:00
Katie
100%. Whether we completely agree on this one. This one was so easy for me because I have had a lot of trips that have, I'm not going to say ruined because they were not ruined, but where weather has a really affected the trip negatively. We've been in Switzerland in the end of May and we went up to the Grindelwald, one of those mountains that's supposed to have just amazing springtime views.
00:34:11:04 - 00:34:28:17
Katie
And it was so foggy and snowy, like the photo of us. It's us on the like, the lookout and completely white background, so we have no idea what the view was. We looked at I've been on a Disney cruise that couldn't dock at whatever they're. I forget what their private island is because it was too windy.
00:34:28:23 - 00:34:29:06
Chris
Oh.
00:34:29:08 - 00:34:42:11
Katie
And on my Ireland cruise last summer we missed two ports because the weather was bad and we couldn't. And that was. There were huge bummers like, we laugh about them now, but if I could have perfect weather, that would just be amazing.
00:34:42:15 - 00:34:48:05
Chris
Okay, yeah, that's those are legit real good answers. Okay. Yeah.
00:34:48:09 - 00:34:58:04
Katie
Okay. Next one. Would you rather stay two weeks at one incredible destination? Only spend your two weeks traveling across six different countries.
00:34:58:07 - 00:35:16:11
Chris
I'm going to spend two weeks in one incredible destination. I used to be all for, you know, running all over the place. But, I don't know, maybe I'm getting old. I don't know, I'm just enjoying just, you know, taking it slow and enjoying, you know, one spot lately. What about you? Would you choose?
00:35:16:13 - 00:35:34:17
Katie
Yeah. I think right now I would still choose the six countries over two weeks. But I do look forward to at some point. I know my husband and I talk about my daughters. Maybe in college when she's older, we want to do some more, like long term travel, where we go someplace for a few weeks or a few months.
00:35:34:17 - 00:35:47:06
Katie
So that really does appeal to me. But right now, if I had to answer that, I would say, let's go, go, go and check those countries off that list and see everything we can see. And then later I can go back and spend more time in the places that I liked.
00:35:47:10 - 00:35:49:11
Chris
Okay. Good answer.
00:35:49:13 - 00:36:00:15
Katie
Okay, we have one more question. Would you rather travel solo forever? We always travel in a group of six or more.
00:36:00:17 - 00:36:04:00
Chris
Depends how much more. I mean, we're talking here.
00:36:04:01 - 00:36:05:09
Katie
Or who the six were.
00:36:05:10 - 00:36:23:11
Chris
Yeah. That's cool. This could be a whole episode. I'm going to take the six or more because, I mean, I'm already four, so we're just adding a couple people or another family. I think I could handle that. Get that group chat, get the group trip out of the chat and take them all the priority Pass lounge that I just.
00:36:23:12 - 00:36:26:18
Chris
Yeah, just voted for. What about you?
00:36:26:20 - 00:36:49:09
Katie
100%. Six or more. I don't like traveling by myself. I do it, but I like it's fine for like, a day, but then I'm, like, missing my people. And when we travel, like, my most memorable trips are the ones that we go on with our family. And we travel a lot with my husband's family and my mom, and occasionally some of my other family.
00:36:49:14 - 00:37:04:01
Katie
So we very often have a group of seven or more. And as much as yeah, that that's hard to like manage if you're just visiting a European city. But I would still choose traveling with them over being by myself every day of the week.
00:37:04:03 - 00:37:31:14
Chris
All right. Great. Well, I think that wraps it up. And I think we can all agree that there's no universal right answer, especially in travel. Maybe the best redemption, the best seat, the best hotel. It all depends on you and how you travel and who you travel with and what you value most for that specific trip. But I think the most important thing is just having a framework for making decisions quickly so you can stop overthinking and start booking anything.
00:37:31:15 - 00:37:32:10
Chris
Katie.
00:37:32:12 - 00:37:49:05
Katie
Absolutely. I agree with everything you just said there and any comments. Let us know if you have a different answer to one of these questions. Feel free to drop us a line. You can always reach us at podcast at Upgraded Points. We love reading your emails. That's going to do it for us today. We will see you next week.
