FTU Dallas 2026 Preview | New Venue, Speakers, Tours, Live Podcast Studio & Earn/Burn Points
Frequent Traveler University Dallas is back for 2026, and host Justin Vacula is joined by returning guest Hunter Threadgill to preview everything attendees can expect from FTU Dallas, May 1–3, 2026.
In this episode, Justin and Hunter discuss the new FTU Dallas venue at NYLO Las Colinas, part of Tapestry Collection by Hilton, located near DFW Airport, along with expected attendance of around 200 people. They break down what makes this event appealing for points and miles enthusiasts, including a refreshed conference structure with Saturday focused on earning points and miles and Sunday focused on burning points for travel.
They also cover what is new for 2026, including a Friday airline tour, open-bar happy hour, a Friday night game show, and a new live podcast studio. The conversation highlights ticket pricing, FTU membership benefits, hotel options, included lunches, speaker topics, sponsor involvement, and the networking opportunities that make Frequent Traveler University events valuable for both beginners and advanced travelers.
Topics discussed include:
FTU Dallas 2026 conference overview
New venue: NYLO Las Colinas near DFW
Ticket pricing and FTU membership benefits
Friday airline tour, happy hour, and game show
New live podcast studio
Saturday earn and Sunday burn format
Hotel rates and nearby options
Included meals and dietary accommodations
Featured speakers and session topics
Award tools, travel insurance, elite status, partner awards, status matches, gift card reselling, gold buying, and more
Dallas food options, card credits, and upcoming travel plans
Whether you are new to miles and points or already deep into advanced travel strategies, this preview gives a helpful look at what to expect from FTU Dallas 2026.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:32 FTU Dallas 2026 Overview
01:59 Weekend Format: Earn and Burn
02:30 Tickets and Membership Perks
04:02 What’s New in 2026
05:54 Behind-the-Scenes Planning
07:21 New Speaker Highlights
10:25 Returning Favorites and Travel Legends
14:33 Hotel Deals and Nearby Stays
16:52 Announcements and Useful Links
18:39 More Speakers and Sponsors
20:24 Sponsors and Sessions
21:05 Conference Fun and Networking
22:13 Using Card Credits in Dallas
22:52 Tex-Mex and Restaurant Picks
24:30 Next Credit Card Applications
24:51 Status Goals and Priorities
26:23 Bilt Credit Hotel Win
29:33 Chase Edit and IHG Stacking
30:37 Upcoming Trips: Miami and More
31:33 Big Trips: Island Stay and Asia
33:06 Cherry Blossoms and Washington, DC Plans
35:27 FTU Dallas Final Reminder
36:03 Plum Card Roast Tease
37:04 Wrap-Up and Support Links
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Rough Transcript:
Travel at low cost with points and miles. Credit card rewards bring the smiles. Many adventures tales to be told, make and save money, the world will unfold.
Fight the war on happiness. Pick up the gold. Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast breaks the mold.
You’re listening to the Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast, I’m your host, Justin Vacula, here to help you make money, save money, and travel the world, at next to no cost with credit card points, miles, benefits, and loyalty programs. Hunter Threadgill, returning podcast guest, of frequent traveler University, joins me to talk about the upcoming FTU Dallas event
may 1st through the third 2026. I’ll be there speaking and networking. Join us for educational sessions, [00:01:00] socializing and fun. Welcome back to the show, hunter Recording today, March 10th, 2026. Thanks for having me, Justin. Really looking forward to being here to speak with you. We chatted last episode about the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and
we’re here today to talk about FTU Dallas. Can you tell listeners about this upcoming event? Yeah, it’s gonna be a really great event. It’s from May 1st through third taking place at the Nylo Los Colinas, a Tapestry Collection by Hilton. It’s gonna be a really fun conference. We’re expecting to have about 175 to 200 people there.
Whether it’s on Friday where we’re doing an airline tour and having a happy hour with an open bar. To our Saturday sessions and our Sunday sessions. We believe there’s gonna be something there for everyone so that way they can learn how to earn and burn some points and miles.
I like it. Learn, earn and burn.
We [00:02:00] thought a lot about how we wanted to structure this weekend. On Saturday we’ll be doing the earn side, where, how do we earn points outside of the box. Really trying to bring in new voices.
We’ll also bringing back some of the old favorites and what’s really great too is that on Sunday we’re gonna be doing the burn side, where we really seek to understand how do we maximize our points and miles to get the most value out of them to redeem across airlines and hotels. We’ve had various sales for tickets.
We’re recording here March 10th, 2026. Tickets are still available, although running out. We are getting about two months to the event, so hopefully the maybes will convert to yeses. What are we looking at for the cost of the event at the moment? That’s a great question. So there’s two price points.
To become a member, you get not only the discount for FTU in Dallas, you also get access to a variety of other [00:03:00] great opportunities such as discount codes with our sponsors. As well as a monthly FTU virtual summit, which takes the learning that we’re having from Dallas and extends it into a monthly session.
If you can’t make that specific virtual summit, which take place on the second Saturday of the month, all of the videos are uploaded to the website. You have the access to a database of the best and brightest minds discussing points and miles. And if you’re there live for those virtual seminars, there’s a live chat.
The chat is usually active. You could comment on the presentations and socialize. Absolutely. We have a great group of people that are there every month. I see a lot of the same names month after month, which is really wonderful to see. It just makes it so much more fun to be able to
begin chatting with people and I’ve actually met one or two of them outside of the virtual summit just because we found out we lived close to each other, which was really great. Points and miles [00:04:00] connections. Good to hear. And what’s new about FTU Dallas in 2026 compared to previous years? We’re gonna be doing a couple of new things.
We’re moving away from the Hyatt Regency DFW for this year, we’re gonna try out a new location at the Nylo Los Colinas, the Tapestry Collection by Hilton. It’s a updated and really new hotel. I think it’s gonna be really fun. There’s a couple of bars and restaurants within walking distance, which I think are gonna be really great.
We also have the way we’ve structured our days. Instead of it just being a hodgepodge of, what’s happening when we really worked hard to make sure that earning and burning and keep them consolidated in a single times with multiple opportunities for you to be able to go around different rooms and listen to people.
One new thing also that we’re working on, that I’m really excited about is that we’re actually gonna have a live podcast studio. People like you, Justin, with the Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast can record a session [00:05:00] live at FTU with having audience members listen to what you are doing to be able to see not only
how the sausage is made of making a podcast, but also meet some of your favorite podcast creators. And a game show as a fun event. Yes, we’re putting together a game show on that Friday night after the happy hour. We do have something really good that we’re cooking up.
We wanna make sure that we get it right before we announce it to the world. And an airline tour is also planned. That’s right. We’re still confirming with the airlines. We’re hoping to not offer just one but two separate ones.
We are going to hopefully have multiple airline tours that can take place after lunch on Friday. You fly in Friday morning, you can go on the airline tour and then head back to go to the happy hour at the back of the hotel.
And you’ve been working on the planning for several months now. What’s that looking like [00:06:00] behind the scenes? We’ve worked really hard to make sure that we have the best conference possible. I have been to three FTUs. It’s my favorite points and Miles conference to go to. This is my first time working in the actual FTU. I spoke last year, but now I’m putting it together.
It’s been a lot of work. We’ve really gotten to get in there and find people that we personally like that we’re interested in. Both old favorites, but also those new names who are working up and doing really cool things within their own content creation.
What that allows us to do is get these new unique perspectives that you might not have heard before that challenged me in a new way of thinking about how to earn points and miles. And nice that the cost of the event around 200 to 300, depending on when you buy your ticket. We have the early bird sales, the Black Friday sales, but of course the price goes up as we get closer.
And there are also meals included too. That’s right. In [00:07:00] addition to the happy hour that’s gonna take place on Friday night, two lunches are included.
Being in Texas, we’re gonna be leaning heavily into what Texas is known for great Tex-Mex and barbecue. And vegetarian options as well? Of course we’re more than happy to accommodate any dietary restrictions that might be necessary.
And about the speakers, you mentioned some new faces. Let’s start with some of those who maybe haven’t spoken at FTU event or maybe some in the audience might not know too much about.
I had the pleasure of interviewing every single one of them if I hadn’t known them, if they’d were recommended. I’m very excited to hear what we have to say. Ross Alcorn from Itinerary Boss. He’s gonna talk about real estate and business owner best practices. Now, part of any good credit card strategy is incorporating business cards, we should actually have a business to go with it.
As someone who is building, trying to build a business to at least be a good side income. I am very excited to understand [00:08:00] more about this particularly ’cause I also own a piece of rental real estate. So how can I maximize my rental income, maximize working on my own property to earn more points than miles at greater scale.
Another one is the Savvy Travel Mamas. I came across them back in August and what’s really great about them is that they’re just two wonderful people, Joy and Maura they’re from Nashville, the Savvy Travel Mamas. Maura has been doing this for over 25 years. At one point they’re gonna be talking about how can you use timeshare incentives to earn more opportunities. I’ve heard lots of things about it, but I’ve never actually done it. But they have actually taken it to the next level. They do three to four a year to help pay for their vacations from what I understand. Another person that I am very excited to hear from Betsy Wilson from Become Travel Rich.
She is the queen of Alaska Airlines, and with all the changes at Alaska, it’s going to be very interesting to see how she breaks down, how to [00:09:00] best utilize it. One other one been a super great guy to work with is max Craig from Points of the Max, he is a Southwest guru. He’s from just outside of Nashville, which is a huge Southwest hub.
First is how do we earn a list status? What are some ways that we can do that, but also taking part in a future of Southwest panel with Carissa Rawson of Rove and John Ryan, who is also from FTU. On the burn side, i’m really looking forward to a couple of new speakers We have, so for example, Deb Dunham from Explore More Deb, she’s gonna be talking about using award booking tools as well as how to use points and miles for a topic that is very close to my heart, which is domestic travel.
We talk a lot about, how do we use this for business class seats and international flights. Most points are redeemed in domestic. It’s gonna be a really good conversation. And then additionally, what I’m also really excited about is towards the end of the burn day, we’re gonna have some really unique ways of looking [00:10:00] at travel.
For example, using points and miles for wellness travel and that’s gonna be from Adam Hill at Miles To Smiles. We also have the points page. He’s gonna talk all about travel insurance. I work in the insurance industry in my day job and travel insurance scares the heck out of me, but I’m really excited to hear from someone who is able to break it down so that way we can protect ourselves as we’re going after these amazing redemptions.
Great Ross the boss will be there, not to be confused with the heavy metal Ross the boss, but we’ll take the itinerary boss for sure, and we have the classics or the more frequent flyers, the more frequent speakers. I’ll be there. I’ll be speaking about high spend goals on credit cards. If you have a lot of spend, which cards should you target?
And talking about upgrading and downgrading, trying to maximize the cards you already have. What about some of the others? You mentioned Carissa Rawson from Rove. [00:11:00] Yeah. Carissa is really excited to be here. She’s gonna be speaking twice, once as a presentation, and then once on the Southwest panel. She’s gonna be talking about how we can stack going beyond credit cards, which as the director of travel for Rove this is a new platform that allows you to stack even more points and miles onto your earnings. It’s gonna be interesting to hear what she has to say.
She was with Just Plane Points. That’s her brand before she moved into this current role, and she’s got a wealth of knowledge from a decade of experience. It’s gonna be tough to know who knows more about Southwest, whether it’s Max or Carissa, to know those little nuances.
It’ll be good to hear from both of them as we talk about the future of Southwest from a consumer perspective. Okay. And some of the other classic speakers. There’s always the Ben Komenkul from Ben’s big deal. Everybody loves Ben. I don’t know anyone who’s ever interacted with Ben and said, I don’t like that guy.
I, he’s a, [00:12:00] if he has any enemies, I need someone to show me who they are. I don’t sound off in the comments. Comments if you don’t like Ben. Yeah. There, there was a server in. Lake Tahoe, Ben approached the server we were asking for a table to seat, maybe about eight people, and they were telling us to come back in an hour and we couldn’t put the tables together.
We told them that we would just seat separately, and then they agreed for us to put the tables together. That was a fun story with Ben. It was quite a waste of time. And there was nobody in the restaurant and they gave us a hard time. Some haters out there, some servers with agendas.
I can’t think of anyone who’s ever, I’ve ever said Ben’s name and they’re like, yeah, I don’t like that guy. Justin, you’re not gonna have any comments on this episode. ‘Cause everybody loves Ben. And we have Clint Henderson from the Points guy. He’s always really wonderful and lovely to speak to.
We also have people that sit outside of points and miles, which I’m always excited to hear from. So for example, Rudy Maxa from Rudy Maxa’s World is gonna be there. Always a wonderful [00:13:00] person to speak and hear from. We also have Tom Stuker, the world’s most frequent flyer. We’re gonna hear from him.
One of my favorite memories of last year’s FTU was sitting at the hotel bar talking with Tom for about an hour and a half. I can think of very few times where I have laughed harder than I laughed with Tom. We had an amazing time, so it’s gonna be good to see him again and hear what he has to say.
And we have Brooke Merkle from CardPointers. Yeah, good old Brooke. She’s also on the board of the FTU, so we’ve worked a lot together, gotten to know each other really well. If you really wanna have a good time, you need to ask to meet Darrell, her husband, who might be one of the funniest people on earth.
Yes, Daryl, definitely a good sense of humor and a laugh. And have we confirmed Dave Ramsey? Will he be speaking about how he converted to miles and points? He’s been trying to sell people on a cruise, asking for a $600 deposit. Maybe you’ll have to spend about 3000, $4,000 to go on a cruise with Dave Ramsey.
Of course, I have a better plan than [00:14:00] that. I’m going to be cruising with Virgin Voyages. I paid $150 taxes and fees and maybe about a hundred in gratuities. Will Dave be speaking? I don’t think Dave is gonna make it to our credit card conference. Oh not this time. All right. Yeah, I think we’ll work on it.
You asked him to come, right? Justin? And you called him. Hey, Dave, it’s your buddy Justin. He’s on speed dial on my old phone. On your flip phone where you hit like star and then one number, and it goes to that person. Yep. Ancient. Ancient, yeah.
Very good. And this is once again at the Nylo Las Colinas. This is close to the DFW airport. It is a Hilton property, so many will be able to use their credits from business Platinum Hilton Surpass. And other cards, perhaps generic hotel credits as well? Absolutely. Once you get your FTU ticket, we have a special link for $99 plus tax per night [00:15:00] at the hotel for Friday and Saturday night. Nice.
So if people have the Business Platinum or the Surpass and they wanna stay at the host property, they can get their $50 off and perhaps split tender at the property or more ambitiously use Hilton gift cards if those are still clanging around for some, I’m sure the hosts will like us bringing all the different credit cards to checkin.
It’s gonna be a slow trickle of people checking out on Sunday, how many Hilton Diamonds might be there at the same time, might we break a property record? That is a complete possibility, I should probably go and get an Aspire card just so I can add to that total. Ooh, sounds good.
And if the hotel becomes sold out or people wanna stay somewhere else, is there a local Hyatt? There are two Hyatt properties. There’s a Hyatt Place and a Hyatt house. I’d say within walking distance, but you gotta remember, you’re in Dallas, Texas, so you might have to dodge a car, a [00:16:00] big truck or two but definitely with sidewalks to get there.
$10 ride share credits. I have heard that the Hyatt Place is not exactly the nicest Hyatt place in the world to put it judiciously, but they’re both category one, so you can easily burn 3,500 to 5,000 points to stay there. Book early book often before possible devaluations or changes or hotels being sold out, they are refundable
after all. If you book with points. Yeah, absolutely. I’ve heard from previous conferences, oh, I wanted to go, but the hotel sold out. If you were a maybe, then you could book it and just cancel at a later time if you happen to not be able to go. That’s my strategy for all of these conferences. Yes, the answer to everything is more credit cards, so put your cards to work, earn those points and be ready to use them. 100%.
Very good. We’ll take a quick break for announcements. For more content between shows, follow Hurdy Gurdy Travel [00:17:00] Podcast on Facebook and x. Follow Justin Vacula on Instagram. Subscribe to Hurdy Gurdy Travel podcast on YouTube for daily content, including travel videos, podcast clips and posts. Find more information including select episode transcripts at
HurdyGurdyTravel.com. And Hunter, where can people find you on social media? You can follow me on Instagram at Professor of Points. I write over at thepointsanalyst.com. Very good. And visit meetup.com/phillymilesandpoints to RSVP for monthly Greater Philadelphia Travel Credit, miles and Points meetups I host in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
The next meetups in 2026 are March 22nd, April 19th, and May 9th. May 9th is a special meetup featuring Rove and Carissa Rawson. Find a link in the show notes. I’m also a proud affiliate with CardPointers if you have multiple credit [00:18:00] cards like me, the CardPointers app and browser extensions automatically activate bank offers and tells you which card to use for maximum rewards. CardPointers saves me time and money.
Use my affiliate link in the show notes, CardPointers.com/HurdyGurdyTravel for a discount on annual and lifetime plans. Finally, I’m also an affiliate with SaveWise. SaveWise helps you automatically clip grocery coupons at Acme, Kroger, and about 5,000 other stores. SaveWise also helps you compare shopping portals and offers and has many other features.
Use my referral link in the show notes. Get SaveWise.com/HurdyGurdy. Back to the show here with Hunter Threadgill, professor of Points, talking about FTU Dallas Frequent Traveler University Conference in Dallas, Texas, May 1st through the third. Any other thoughts on the conference?
Any other plans in motion leading up to the event? We’ve [00:19:00] got the schedule on the website. We gotta make a few little tweaks to it, things change a little bit, but the schedule’s up there we’re finalizing the airline tour and we are all set to go.
We have Kevin Song, FTU Facebook Group moderator. He’s been a familiar face at conferences. Yes. And he’s gonna come and speak about American Airlines elite status.
If anyone knows anything about American Airlines, it’s him. We’re very excited to have him come and speak. Brian from Award Magic. He’s going to be there as well.
Absolutely, he’s gonna be speaking on quirky partner awards because as we all know, the best way to get maximum value out of your points and miles is not always just a book it on the airline that the miles belong to, but to actually go and look for partner sweet spots. I’m really looking forward to this.
He owns an award booking service, so he’s seen it all. Hopefully we learn something really niche and interesting. I wonder how quirky he’s gonna get. [00:20:00] No more ANA around the world war on happiness, RIP ANA around the world, but more options
surely with all of his experience booking for others, finding flights for himself, surely, lots to share. Absolutely. I’m really looking forward to what he has to say. Oscar Lopez from Expert Flyer. All of our sponsors are gonna be speaking. I’m really looking forward to it. We have a wide array of sponsors on both the earn and the burn side.
We have Taylor Thomas from QCGC a gift card reselling site, as well as Logan Robinson from Aligned Incentives. Both of them will be there to discuss gift card reselling and gold buying.
We have Mark Ross Smith from Loyalty Status Co gonna come and talk about loyalty status and how that works within the airlines and how we can maximize status matches. We have the teams over at PointsYeah, Seats.Aero, and expert flyer. All of them will be there to discuss how to maximize using [00:21:00] their tools.
It’s gonna be a really great time and I’m really looking forward to hearing from all of ’em. We’ll set up a wrestling ring and we’ll have a triple threat between the award booking services. A cage match actually. Ooh. And we have Tommy Danielson, the chair of FTU. Yes. Tommy will be there. He’s the chair of the board, and he’s been our fearless leader in helping us get this all set up.
It’s just gonna be a comedy session with him and Darrell. Oh man. I don’t know if the world can handle that. That would be a bit much, and Brooke would just be turning blood red on the sidelines. She’d be wearing purple, but red and purple. Yeah, her card pointer purple for her outfit, but blood red in the face.
It’s gonna be a really great time. I hope everyone’s able to make it. It’s gonna be one of the best conferences that we’ve had in a very long time. Come see old friends, make new friends, hear from old speakers, and hear from up and coming speakers.
And it’s FTuniversity.com/Dallas. [00:22:00] And in the show notes, I have an affiliate link, so if you could use that to sign up, I would much appreciate that and of course I’ll be social throughout the event. Happy to chat with people. And we also have lots of opportunity with Chase Sapphire Reserve exclusive tables, the $150 CSR credit, many restaurants in the area, Resy restaurants in the area, and of course it is a Hilton property.
You could use those Hilton credits and probably use Hilton gift cards as well.
Absolutely. One thing that we wanted to do is give people the opportunity to use those credits. We’re working on a curated list of chase tables and resy restaurants that we think look good within the area that you could either walk to or take a quick Uber ride to.
Hang out with new friends. Lots of Mexican themed restaurants. I’m seeing on the Resy list, Las Palmas, Muchacho [00:23:00] TexMex, Cantina LaRosa, and Casa Brasa. That’s on the climbing list. And on the top rated we have Shoyo Japanese Cuisine, Clifton Club cocktail Bar, Saint Emilion French, Lucia or Lucia
italian St. Martin’s French American, lots of Resy options in the area. Listen, as long as I get my margarita, I’m gonna be happy. And my queso. Margaritas, quesadillas, fajitas. I need my queso, good old fashioned TexMex cheese dip.
And I am looking at the Chase Sapphire Reserve exclusive tables, Mr. Charles American, Jose Contemporary Mexican, Delilah American, Nick and Sam’s Steakhouse, sister an Italian restaurant, Thai Ann, if I’m saying that correctly Japanese. El [00:24:00] Carlos Elegante Mexican. Several options for both the Chase $150 credit and the Resy credits.
I’m just gonna ask them to bring an IV bag full of margarita mix and one bag full of queso, and I’ll be fine as long as they can do, there is no greater food in the world in my mind than Tex-Mex. I’m so excited to be back in Dallas. Lots of reasons to come to FTU Dallas.
See Hunter, take a Margarita IV.
How about upcoming credit cards? It’s been a while since you were on the show. Do you have any applications planned for the next few months? One thing that I wanted to do the last time we spoke, I talked about how I had 50 credit cards in my wallet.
I did just apply for the BILT Palladium card back when you could get that big bonus. Currently working on that signup bonus. I don’t wanna open up a lot of credit cards ’cause I plan on hopefully buying a house early next year.
My goal is to focus on my spending, making sure I get my elite [00:25:00] statuses. I have some big things happening in my personal life that won’t allow me to travel as much, so I’m gonna have to work a bit harder just to make sure I keep my elite statuses for next year when I do get to resume travel on a much grander scale.
Really focusing on three things. One that’s on BILT platinum status, and the only reason I want that one is because you get the best transfer bonuses with that. As someone who rents in a high cost of living area, it is super helpful to earn points on my rent. And it really is just a bonus.
For me too, Hyatt Globalist. There’s still a lot of value there. Particularly too, even though I might not be transferring my chase points to Hyatt as much, there’s a lot of unique opportunities to redeem chase points and build points through their own portals, get and be able to get loyalty benefits.
If you know me, the one status that I always go for is Hyatt Globalist. Not because of how they treat me, but because of how they treat my family. Whether they’re traveling with me or whether using a guest of honor [00:26:00] certificate. That’s super important to me and they’re often in the places we want to go.
And then finally I’m gonna be working on one World Sapphire status. I’ll begin my trips back up to London next year for work and being able to have that sapphire status will get me the extra leg room seats at a time of booking, as well as access to the Cathay Pacific and Qantas lounges in terminal three of London, Heathrow.
And one of those BILT paladium benefits is the $200 hotel credit. That’s stackable with BILT cash to get $300 off a two night stay. You recently stacked and had a successful stay with that. I always try to stay Hyatt, but this trip, I actually didn’t use Hyatt.
I was in Munich, Germany for two nights. I don’t think there was any Hyatts in the area which, given Hyatt’s footprint. Not always possible to stay there. There’s an Andaz there, but it was really far away from Old Town.
It was like three miles and we wanted to be really close to Old Town. I ended up meeting
the points [00:27:00] analyst himself, Kevin Zanes and his family out there at the Andaz, which is a beautiful hotel. There was a couple of Marriotts, a couple of IHGs in the area, but I wasn’t really feeling them. There was a courtyard just west of Old Town, but reading their reviews there are tons of strip clubs and people throwing up all night here.
I’m like, yeah, I’m not there. Too many margaritas for them. Yeah, I guess so. I don’t know if a strip club in Munich, Germany is the best place to get a margarita and I have no intention of finding out. But yeah, so I was like maybe I could use some of my credits.
Check the chase, the edit credits, the cheapest hotel was like $500 a night. Nope, not doing that. And then I checked my Amex Fine Hotel and Resort. There was a couple of options to the south, I keep these in mind. I just got my BILT Palladium card.
I could check that out. And I actually found, about a quarter of a mile from Old Town itself. An independent hotel group called design Jams. It looked like brand new rooms and it is a hotel that is entirely [00:28:00] based upon vinyl records, the jams part. I spent $200 of my BILT travel credit for two nights for me and a buddy in two twins size beds.
I also spent a hundred dollars BILT cash and then I had about $34 left that I needed to cover. Oh, nice. And it was wonderful. It was lovely. I showed up there, they had me all good to go. I had no issues.
I know people have been having a lot of issues with BILT, I have not had any issues whatsoever. Had to relearn a little bit of the app, but haven’t had any issues. We stayed at the hotel. They have a record player in every room and a record library in the lobby where you can go and take a record up to your room.
We did that sometimes. The only weird thing about the hotel was that the toilet was in its own room, like with a door, but the sink and shower for the bathroom were behind a curtain. Like for me and a buddy, it was like, okay.
But the curtain was really good. It went from floor to ceiling. Nothing showed. It was easy to get ready, but just took a little bit longer because we both had to take our time in there. They got it confused with the strip club maybe? Yeah, I [00:29:00] guess so. That courtyard known for its sexiness.
It was a really great hotel. I’d recommend anyone staying there. It did not come with breakfast. It’s not that hard to find coffee and a pastry right down the street. I booked in Miami. That also didn’t come with the breakfast, but the total was about $320.
So I paid the $20. Used the BILT cash use, the BILT hotel credit. It was a seamless process showing the discounts at checkout. It wasn’t even something like you had to charge it to the card. You get a statement credit at a later time. That’s going to work really well. And with the edit credit, podcast listener and past podcast guest, Beth is on her way the day of recording to the Kimpton Taconic Hotel in Manchester, Vermont, allegedly 250 with the edit credit and another 250 as Chase added benefit.
Getting $500 off the all in price, around 480. I might be going to Vermont in the future to take advantage [00:30:00] of that. Vermont’s a beautiful state and I like staying at Kimptons. I stayed at one that, it wasn’t Old Town Alexandria. It’s rebranded to a different hotel.
And it was a lovely time. It’s a great little series of hotels. A lot of people have been down on the edit, and I think rightfully but maybe this is one way to reclaim it if they’re giving that extra $250 at select properties. What I like about it is, even though they know that the $250 edit credit has to be used on two nights stays, the $250 IHG stay stacks on top of it, even on that two night stay if my memory serves me correctly.
And besides London, any other upcoming travel? I’m heading to Boston next week for work, but that doesn’t really count. That’s not really fun Travel. I’m going to Miami and I was gonna go with a buddy. We were gonna stay at the new Andaz Miami Beach, formerly known as the Confidant.
I’ve stayed at the confidant probably half a dozen times. It was one of my favorite hotels. In the USA, I know people have a love hate [00:31:00] relationship with it. I loved it. But they did not have all the award space that I needed, so we’re gonna be staying at the Hyatt centric Brickle as of right now.
I love the Brickle area. Lots of the food stands, the art. And they have a rooftop pool that overlooks Biscayne Bay. other than that FTU in Dallas gonna go visit some family just north of Nashville.
I think around October or so, we’re gonna try and head to Virginia Beach, stay at the Hyatt Place there at Virginia Beach which is a really great hotel right on the water. Looking forward to that. And then we’ll just see what else we’ll do. Do you have any travel coming up? Ooh, yes. I’m going to be going to Calala Island.
There was a wonderful promotion for a $2,510 cash incentive. If you’re to stay four nights, I use Hilton Free night certificates happen to have a spare four hanging around, so I use those for the four night stay and I’m going to Taiwan and China a cruise out of China [00:32:00] thanks to MGM Rewards, platinum status, largely due to credit card spending.
Those are the next two big trips, and I’m just back from Brisbane, Australia. That is incredible. Have you ever been to Taiwan and China? First time for both. I spent a lot of time in China what cities are you gonna be in?
This is a stay at Hyatt on the Bund in Shanghai. That’s pretty close to the cruise port. Oh, very nice. So you’re staying in like the center of Shanghai? The bund is very famous. It overlooks the river and then it overlooks the tallest towers. It’s been a while since I’ve been there, so I can’t remember the name of it.
That’s a really cool place to stay. I really enjoy Shanghai. Never been to Taiwan though, so you’re gonna have to let me know how that is. Hyatt Regency, if I pronounce it correctly here, Taiwan International Airport. Do you know why it’s called The Bund? I have no idea.
Anything else? [00:33:00] No, that’s all I got. I’m really excited for FTU and I really hope all of your listeners can come and join us. How’s it in Washington DC where you are? Cherry Blossom season Coming up, we’re recording March 10th.
Yes, they predicted peak cherry blossom March 29th through April 2nd. We’re actually really excited because for the first time one of the big things is to hire a professional photographer, to get family photos. And we scheduled ours for March 31st, which is supposed to be the peak of peak bloom.
We get there super early and we’re gonna get some family photos. Peak cherry blossom. That’s right. Sea of pink, close to the CardPointers purple. It would be interesting if they’re redoing all of the tidal basin and they removed a bunch of trees.
Japan sent 250 more cherry blossom trees to the US to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. It’d be hilarious if some of them actually were purple and not pink. Ooh, that’s [00:34:00] something to look forward to. I’ll be taking Amtrak to Washington dc I earned the select plus status.
It gives me lounge access on departure and arrival for me and a guest, and it’s a direct train on the next Gen Acela in business class from Philly to dc so I’m looking forward to that. It’s an easy train ride. I really enjoy the Acela. March 14th, I’ll be headed to DC for a two night stay. Where are you staying in the area? This is the Georgetown Hyatt place and I booked an FHR night to stay at the Park Hyatt. Yeah. Ah, so Georgetown Hyatt Place, that’s one of the only hotels in DC that are Hyatt that I have not stayed at.
Make sure to get breakfast at the Blue Duck Tavern. People either love it or hate it.
I love it. I think it’s delicious and I always [00:35:00] look forward. It’s the only time I’ve ever gone to a hotel and eaten a meal without actually staying at the hotel. Oh, interesting. You liked it that much. A five star hotel. And the rates were really high for the month, but this one was around that 300 price point for the FHR credit to cover.
Yeah, the hotel’s nice. It’s really kept its age well, it really holds the Park Hyatt standard in terms of the hard product itself. You’ll have a really nice time. And to remind listeners final time, this is the Frequent Traveler University conference that’s coming up in Irving, Texas near the DFW Airport, May 1st through the third 2026 at the Nylo Las Colinas Hotel by Hilton.
Ticket Sales are live. Grab an FTU annual membership for online courses, monthly virtual seminars, member perks and a discount for FTU Dallas. Find my affiliate link in the show notes for membership and conference tickets. And listeners, feel free to leave [00:36:00] your comments on YouTube. We’ll hear from you.
Maybe some Ben fans. We joked about ’em earlier in the episode of course, and I’m sure the fans will be in there too. Like I said if you’re a hater of Ben, leave it in the comments so that way you know, Justin will not have any comments on this video. I predict that lots of haters on the Amex Plum card.
I know that’s one of the least popular American Express cards honestly dunno much about, I do know about it, but it’s, that’s how bad it is. Yeah. It’s one of those things where it’s like, this exists. Okay, bye. FTU Dallas. Bonus session. What you’re missing about the Plum card, we have a good session on underrated credit cards.
Who knows? Oh, devil’s advocate for the Plum card. Maybe someone has figured out how to use the plum. We’ll find out. Buy your ticket now to hear about whether or not our speakers will endorse the Plum card. The business Green. I’ve kept it for 15 years and I love it.
The bonus session, the [00:37:00] Roast of American Express. Absolutely. All right. Thank you so much for coming on today. Thanks for having me Justin. And look forward to seeing you in Dallas. Thanks everyone for listening and stay tuned for future episodes. For more content between shows, follow Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast on Facebook and x.
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