Mistake Fares & Award Availability: Insider Tips from Peter Thornton

This week, we interview the most interesting man in travel: Peter Thornton! As Thrifty Traveler’s Senior Award Deal Analyst, Peter is responsible for finding all the best uses for your points and miles, but his long career in travel has touched nearly every aspect of the industry. From being a flight attendant to finding mistake fares for Airfare Watchdog and now analyzing points and miles deals, Peter knows more about airfare than anyone out there. And he’s the only one who played guitar for Ja Rule, Paul Walker, and Vin Diesel at MTV Spring Break 2001…yeah, we get that story on the pod, too!Watch us on YouTube!Special shoutout to the sponsor of this week’s episode, Abundo Wealth!00:00 - The worst airline websites that expert Peter Thornton has to deal with04:50 - Something Hot: Peter’s favorite flight deals of all time - including some classic mistake fares09:50 - Why you should never drive in London – and what not to put on your immigration documents12:10 - This week’s show is sponsored by Abundo Wealth!13:00 - Road tripping, the Rand McNally Road Atlas, and falling in love with travel with Peter Thornton15:25 - Becoming a flight attendant and getting into the industry with North American Airlines18:15 - Joining Airfare Watchdog and pioneering the cheap flights game21:00 - Accepting his job offer to Thrifty Traveler at Carnival in Rio de Janeiro22:30 - How to find points and miles award availability as TT’s Senior Award Analyst25:00 - Calling the airlines so you don’t have to – and the worst airline hold music28:00 - What do you wish more travelers knew about award travel? 32:00 - What’s to blame for what Gunnar calls “Hot Flight Summer?” Why has points and miles availability been so good?35:00 - Looking forward: Making predictions about airfare, points and miles availability, and more in the world of travel39:15 - The legend of “Cave Matthews Band” and why Peter was featured on a game show called “Dude This Sucks” for MTV Spring Break42:15 - Listener Question: How far in advance should you book award travel to get the best rates?46:00 - On the Spot: Overlooked destinations that should get more love than they doProduced by Gunnar OlsonEdited by David StruttShow music: “All That” by Benjamin Tissot Support the show by leaving us a rating and a review wherever you get your podcasts! Have a question you want answered on-air or an idea for the show? Let us know at [email protected] 20% off your first year of cheap flights and points and miles deals with Thrifty Traveler Premium - use promo code TTPOD to save even more!See what we’re all about at https://thriftytraveler.com - or subscribe to our free weekly points and miles newsletter, The Extra Mile!Follow us on…InstagramYouTubeFacebookBluesky Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.