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The Thrifty Traveler Podcast

The Current State of Points & Miles Deals in 2026

Thursday · 48 min · Episode 73 · 46.2 MB
0:00-48:05

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The world of all things points and miles is changing rapidly. So to dig into where things are at and what’s ahead, Gunnar and Kyle bring in the man they call “St. Peter” – Thrifty Traveler’s Senior Award Analyst and guru of all things award travel, Peter Thornton – to talk about the state of award availability and spell out the best uses of your points and miles as we enter the second half of 2026. Plus, they recap about some rare business class deals making a comeback, why airlines are throttling award searches … and, for some reason, talk a lot about cycling? 

Show Notes

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00:00 - Introducing “St. Peter” and his adventure across Iowa

03:35 - Rami introduces the show from Emirates First Class!

04:35 - Rare business class awards are … back?

09:25 - Airlines are blocking award searches

15:15 - The Extra Mile: The current state of award availability

20:40 - Where to find economy award availability

23:30 - Where to find business class deals

27:15 - R.I.P. to the deals that got away

36:00 - Peter predicts: What’s coming next?

40:20 - A listener asks: How to find award space before calling to book

44:30 - Peter asks: What state would you bike across?

Produced and edited by Sylvia Thomas

Video editing by Kyle Thomas
Show music: “All That” by Benjamin Tissot

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