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TPG Talks episode six: A new era of flight deals with Scott's Cheap Flights
Richard Kerr
Contributor
Richard Kerr is a veteran naval officer and founder of the Award Travel 101 Facebook community. He’s one of the foremost experts in points and miles strategy, featured in Forbes, US News, Money Magazine, Kiplinger Personal Finance and presented at #SXSW 2017. Richard has visited over 45 countries, lived in England and Japan, and spends his spare time dissecting loyalty program award charts to maximize the value of points and miles. Richard holds a BBA in International Business and has his wife and two small children in tow for his travels as often as possible.
May 23, 2020
•
3 min read
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In episode six of the TPG Talks, Scott Keyes — founder and Chief Flight Expert of the airfare deal subscription company Scott's Cheap Flights — described what he sees happening to prices in 2020 and beyond. COVID-19 continues to have substantial effects on the airline industry. When carriers cut their route networks, park hundreds of aircraft or suspend operations entirely, what does that mean for the future of flight deals?
Register for our next TPG Talks webinar at this link
If you've been wondering about that very question, make sure to watch the replay of this week's episode with Scott. Then, head over to the TPG Lounge on Facebook and join the conversation on today's episode at this thread.
Scott started out by giving us the current deals landscape, where his team of flight deal researches have seen an increase in the number of deals since the current pandemic began. We then talked the latest developments on whether mistake fares are being honored, best practices for booking great fares and looked to the future of the deal's landscape as well as the airplane experience in a COVID-19 world.
Show Notes
- 3:45 - Introduction to Scott Keyes and Scott's Cheap Flights
- 6:00 - Secret Sauce of How Scott's Team Finds Cheap Flights
- 7:24 - Overview of the Current Deals Landscape
- 9:35 - How the Deals Have Changed
- 11:30 - Scott's Personal Experience with the Pandemic
- 15:06 - Premium Fare Deals
- 18:44 - How Scott is Sharing Flight Deals During the Coronavirus Outbreak ("The Mom Test")
- 21:58 - Mistake Fares vs. Great Deals
- 27:55 - Tips for Booking a Mistake Fare
- 32:33 - The New Era of Deals
- 39:50 - How Scott Classifies Flight Prices
- 43:22 - Future of the Aviation Industry from Booking to In-Flight Experience
- 49:30 - Q&A
Follow on reading and important links
- When will we start traveling again?
- Now may be the time to book future travel
- When will international travel return? A country-by-country guide to coronavirus recovery
- Airline coronavirus change and cancellation policies: A complete list of major carriers
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Bottom Line
TPG Talks is a series of live webinars hosted by team members from The Points Guy, covering various aspects of the travel, credit card and loyalty industries. Join from anywhere in the world on any device to learn tips and tricks that'll get you closer to your next dream vacation.
For a list of previous sessions, visit our TPG Talks hub page, or click on any of the links below for individual recaps:
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Apply for Capital One Venture X Business
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Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees
Best for businesses with high spending
TPG Editor‘s Rating
Go to reviewCard Rating is based on the opinion of TPG‘s editors and is not influenced by the card issuer.
Rewards Rate
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
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Intro Offer
Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
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Credit ranges are a variation of FICO® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.740-850Excellent
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
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- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
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- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month