Gunnar Olson

3 weeks ago | thriftytraveler.com | Gunnar Olson

This week, Kyle gets to fire up the grill to interview his co-host Gunnar his own career in journalism and travel, why he hates “cents per mile,” his trip to Antarctica (?!), and how he feels about his looming future in family travel. Plus, the guys break down one of the best flight deals of the year, the lingering issues at Newark, and their biggest travel pet peeves.

3 weeks ago | thriftytraveler.com | Gunnar Olson

It may sound absurd, but the 50,000 or so points in your credit card account could be more than enough to book your next big international trip … even if you want to fly lie-flat business class. Business class seats typically cost $2,000, $3,000, or more each way. But by transferring the right credit card points to the best airline mileage programs, you can book those same pricey seats for the miles you're used to forking over for economy.

1 month ago | thriftytraveler.com | Gunnar Olson

This week on the show, we get to know co-host Kyle Potter a little better as Gunnar grills him on everything from his failed attempt at becoming an Uber driver that ultimately brought him to Thrifty Traveler, his punk/hardcore touring band days, and covering state politics as a journalist for the Associated Press (Kyle contains multitudes). Plus, we talk about some sizzling transfer bonuses and help a listener decide if she should transfer points to Emirates speculatively.

1 month ago | thriftytraveler.com | Gunnar Olson

What the heck is going on at Newark (EWR), travelers? According to data from FlightAware, roughly 150 flights a day on average been canceled in and out of the airport since Sunday. Pulling data back to late April, aviation analytics company Cirium showed that 39 flights a day have been canceled – up from the April norm of just four cancellations daily. Even for those flights that aren't canceled, delays of two, four, or even eight hours have become the norm.

1 month ago | thriftytraveler.com | Gunnar Olson

Here's the current situation as it relates to summer domestic flight deals: The getting is as good as it's ever been, but the longer you wait, the harder it will be to find a stellar deal. There are several reasons for that, but here's the bottom line for you: After the month of May, there's going to be a ridge of flight pricing as airlines cut routes and, crucially, Southwest introduces its nasty new basic economy fares.