This isn’t your average travel advice.
Today we’re diving into the real strategies that can turn your everyday spending into bucket list adventures.
If you’ve ever scrolled through Instagram wondering how your favorite creators are jet-setting to Paris, sipping cocktails in Bali, or scoring business class seats—all “for free”—and thought, How the hell are they doing that?, this episode is your step-by-step guide. I sat down with one of my closest friends (and the first person I text whenever I’m stumped on how to use my points), travel and credit card expert Janelle Rupkalvis. She’s saved over $100,000 on luxury travel using credit card points and miles, and today, she’s sharing exactly how to play the credit card game—and win.
We’re talking about how to find the best travel deals, the most common credit card mistakes (and how to avoid them), how to redeem points the smart way, and the exact tools Janelle uses to unlock five-star experiences without the price tag. This episode is perfect if you’re new to travel hacking or if you’ve got a ton of points and zero clue what to do with them. We’re talking business class, tropical destinations, travel insurance, sign-up bonuses—and yes, how to make credit cards work for you, not the other way around.
Here’s what you need to know:
Pick Your Destination Based on Flight Deals, Not the Other Way Around
Janelle explains that the key to affordable travel is reverse-planning—start with the flight deal and let that determine your destination, not the other way around. This tip alone can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
The Number One Credit Card Mistake? Not Transferring Your Points
Many beginners waste points by redeeming them through travel portals like Chase or Amex. Janelle emphasizes the importance of transferring points to airline partners, where you can get significantly more value—like booking a $4,000+ business class flight for just 80,000 points.
Start Small, Then Upgrade Strategically
You don’t need to jump into the world of $700 annual fee cards on day one. Janelle shares how she started with a basic Delta Amex, then gradually moved into more premium cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve once she understood her travel style.
Annual Fees Are Worth It—If You Use the Perks
From TSA PreCheck and rental car insurance to trip cancellation and baggage protection, Janelle walks through the hard and soft benefits that make annual fee cards well worth the cost—sometimes paying for themselves several times over.
You Don’t Need to Be Rich or a Frequent Traveler to Win This Game
A common myth is that only business travelers or high-income earners can benefit from credit card points. Janelle breaks this down and explains how anyone with a good credit score and responsible spending habits can use points to travel for less—even just by buying groceries.
Tools of the Trade: Use These to Maximize Your Points
Janelle recommends websites like point.me and seats.aero to search across airlines and find the best redemption deals—saving you hours of time and ensuring you don’t overspend your points.
Quick tips
- Let cheap flight deals dictate your travel destination.
- Use credit card points for flights—not cash back—whenever possible.
- Transfer points out of portals (like Chase or Amex) to airline partners for higher value.
- Explore foreign airline partners for better deals (e.g., book Delta flights with Virgin Atlantic points).
- Use tools like point.me and seats.aero to search redemptions.
- Don’t overlook “soft benefits” of credit cards like travel insurance, delayed baggage coverage, and rental car insurance.
- Sign up for new credit cards strategically when you have big purchases coming up to hit sign-up bonuses.
- Make sure to actually use the perks that come with high-fee cards (lounges, upgrades, credits, etc.).
- Put large travel expenses (like Airbnb) on cards that offer cancellation or trip interruption protection.
- Know your travel style and tailor your credit card stack accordingly.
Notable quotes
“You don’t have to be traveling to earn points—you just need to be spending strategically.”
“The second you lock in specific dates and destinations, you lose flexibility—and usually, money too.”
“It’s not about spending more to get points. It’s about spending smart on the things you’re already buying.”
Episode-at-a-glance
≫ 00:00 Introduction to Travel Hacking
≫ 04:42 Debunking Travel Myths and Finding Deals
≫ 08:45 Maximizing Points and Miles for Travel
≫ 16:13 Choosing the Right Credit Cards
≫ 27:52 Understanding Signup Bonuses and Annual Fees
≫ 31:22 Evaluating Credit Card Benefits
≫ 34:33 Travel Insurance and Credit Card Protections
≫ 38:50 Travel Hacks and Airline Loyalty
≫ 39:24 Compensation Strategies for Travel Issues
≫ 49:19 Airline Status and Its Perks
≫ 54:54 Choosing the Right Credit Card
≫ 56:10 Budget Travel Tips
≫ 57:52 Smart Spending Choices for Luxury Travel
≫ 01:00:20 Traveling as a Plus-Size Woman
≫ 01:04:53 Handling Online Hate and Discrimination
≫ 01:07:19 Rapid Fire Travel Tips and Hacks
Janelle’s Links:
Mastering SkyMiles course waitlist
Resources:
How to Travel More in 2025 with Brian Kelly (The Points Guy)
Award travel search engine: https://seats.aero/
Search and compare award flight options: https://www.point.me/
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Meet Janelle
Janelle is a travel expert and confidence advocate who has mastered the art of exploring the world smarter and bolder. Leveraging strategic travel hacking and credit card rewards, she has saved over $100,000 on travel while curating luxurious adventures on any budget. With nearly 200,000 followers across social platforms, Janelle combines savvy strategies with captivating storytelling to empower others to see the world and live confidently. Her expertise and authenticity have made her a trusted voice in the travel and lifestyle space, inspiring audiences to embrace adventure without compromise.
Transcript:
Tori Dunlap:
Financial Feminists, if you’ve been watching me and all of the Instagrammers you love traveling for free using credit card points and you’re like, “How do I actually do this,” this is the episode for you.
Hi, Financial Feminists. Welcome to the show. I’m thrilled to see you as always. My name is Tori. I’m a money expert, a multimillionaire, and I fight the patriarchy by making you rich. And today, I not only have a good friend of mine on the show, but it’s such a good conversation. I would recommend first going and listening to our episode with Brian Kelly, who is The Points Guy. We released that a little bit ago. This is a great companion guide to that episode because we are talking about credit card points, how to accumulate them, how to get more of them, but also how to use credit card points to actually travel for free or severely discounted.
We’re talking being able to use these points, redeem them in a way that can get you anywhere from Paris to Japan to even just across the country. And yes, business class seats, first class seats, but also just your regular old economy if you want to go that way too.
I will say before I do her whole official intro, Janelle is the person I go to for advice. The amount of times I have texted her and been like, “Hey, I have this amount of points and this place, what should I do?” And she actually helped me redeem my first ever business class flight to Europe in 2022. So we’re talking about exactly how to do this. If you’ve heard people talk about traveling for free, traveling for discounts, and you’re like, “But how do I redeem these points? How do I make sure I’m getting my money’s worth? How do I not waste them,” this is the episode for you.
Janelle is a travel expert and confidence advocate who has mastered the art of exploring the world smarter and bolder. Leveraging strategic travel hacking and credit card rewards, she has saved over $100,000 on travel while curating luxurious adventures on any budget. With nearly 200,000 followers on all her social platforms, Janelle combines savvy strategies with captivating storytelling to empower others to see the world and live confidently.
This episode is so valuable as a jumping off point. So again, if you’re someone who has been interested in the credit card game and using credit card points and perks for travel, we’re talking about everything from how to choose the best credit card for you, to the travel hacks that no one is sharing with you that you’ve probably never heard before. This is a great episode to share with somebody you love, especially your travel partner, whether that’s your best friend, your mom, your life partner. And a special thanks to Spotify Studios in New York for letting us tape on location in New York City. Without further ado, let’s get into it. But first a word from our sponsors.
What do you do and why is this so important?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I am a travel and lifestyle content creator. I was previously an engineer, and I switched into this space because I just found that there were so many women who wanted to learn how to travel, how to live confidently and be in their own body. I’m a tall plus-size woman.
Tori Dunlap:
We’ll talk about it.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
It is hard to, one, be just a tall plus-size woman, but then also to travel and be in different places where you’re in countries where the average size woman is five feet tall. And so, talking about these experiences and just making people feel less alone online, I found was so important. So I transitioned into this space about two years ago, full time.
Tori Dunlap:
I love it. Was there a particular trip where you caught the travel bug where you’re like, “Oh, this is what I want to do”?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
When I went to Iceland in 2018-
Tori Dunlap:
I remember that trip, I think.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
So I went twice. And so I-
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, maybe I remember the second trip.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I went back, yeah. So the first time, I’d found a crazy flight deal, it was direct from Minneapolis. I was in Minneapolis at the time, based, direct from Minneapolis to Reykjavik, and it was under $300. And I was like, “I used to fly from Michigan when I went to school there back home for like $400. How am I going to Iceland for this?” So I went and my mind was blown. I had never been a hiker before. Hadn’t really gotten into the outdoors because if you’ve ever been to the Midwest, it’s flat.
Tori Dunlap:
There’s nothing there. There’s nothing there to hike.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
People go on hikes, and it’s a nature walk.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And so, I didn’t really understand it, and I went, and I was like, “This is insane. I’ve never seen a place like this. I’ve never experienced a place like this.”
Tori Dunlap:
It’s beautiful.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Just all these world wonders, and that just made me want to see more of the world and figure out how to do it on a budget because I had just graduated college. I didn’t have a lot of PTO. I didn’t have a lot of money to go around. I just bought a house. So I was like, “How am I going to do this?” And that is what led me into the world of travel, travel hacking, and just wanting to explore more.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, a good chunk of my questions today are about basically proving the myths wrong.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes.
Tori Dunlap:
So maybe let’s start with that one, that travel period is expensive or is unobtainable for people. And even if we want to put general travel, but specifically international travel is way too expensive, I can’t do it. Prove me wrong. Tell me why that’s not true.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
There are so many ways to do it. One, there are great flight deals out there. They exist. There are lower cost carriers that go. There’s been like Norse Airlines. There’s been Wow. Wow is now no longer a thing. But there are-
Tori Dunlap:
But even Icelandair, did you fly Icelandair that first one?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No, I flew Delta.
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, wow.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
But their Icelandair has great deals.
Tori Dunlap:
They have great deals.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
If you are not in the points and miles space, which we’ll get into that, I know too, but there are so many cash deals that exist as long as you… You have to start planning your trip backwards from what the traditional planning is.
Tori Dunlap:
Okay, let’s pause there because that’s my favorite thing to do, too. So when we talk about planning backwards, what do you mean?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I mean, let the flight deals pick your destination rather than being like, “I want to go to Mexico on this week, these specific days, blah, blah, blah.” It’s going to be so hard to find a flight that is cheap or within your budget necessarily when you’re doing it that way.
Tori Dunlap:
Or that isn’t a middle seat.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
Or just you’re on a long flight, and it’s terrible, and it’s way overpriced, and you don’t have any pick of how and when you leave. Yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. You’re taking the worst flight route to get there. Instead, you wait-
Tori Dunlap:
You have a 12-hour layover, and it’s not even the fun one.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Right, yeah. You’re like, “Why am I stuck in this middle of nowhere airport?” No, but this way, if you open it up and say, “I want to go somewhere warm in the month of March, and I want to go to a beach,” and then you see what flight deals come out and you let those pick your destination, you are going to save so much money by doing it this way because the second you start putting on dates and you are so finite with it… I get it. It’s hard to plan if you’re going with a group, but it is so much easier if you just say, “Hey, let’s go the week of Thanksgiving. Let’s go somewhere, and we’ll figure something out, and we’ll see what comes up.” And then, when that flight deal comes, you book it. So that’s one way to save money and make travel more affordable and attainable.
Tori Dunlap:
Well, that’s what I did with Kristine for friend moons every single year. And it also opened up our possibilities of where we wanted to go because there were so many places that I wanted to go eventually, but I wasn’t like, “I have to go to New Zealand in the year of our Lord 2022.” But it was, “Oh, I found this incredible deal to Fiji, and then we can get from Fiji to Australia, New Zealand pretty easy.” So yeah, I cannot recommend that more because it opens you up a ton to places that you didn’t even expect or that you thought, “Oh, I’ll do that in 10 years.” But the second thing is, yeah, you’re so right. If you say, “I want to go to Rome in June 1st,” good luck finding a flight.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. You are so limited.
Tori Dunlap:
You’re so limited. It’s probably more expensive because everybody else is going, too. And so, I had to go. I got to go to a wedding that my partner’s family was having in July in Europe, and it was like, “Okay, it’s in Italy in July.” Any flight from Seattle to Italy was bonkers expensive. So what I had to do was fly us into Frankfurt and then find a flight, Ryanair, whatever, from Frankfurt to Italy. And so, that was my way of making something that we had to do slightly more flexible and cheaper. So that’s a version that you can do too when you know you have to be somewhere, especially like Europe where it’s like, just get to Europe and then you can take a train, you can take a quick flight, and you can go to wherever you’re at.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Prioritize getting the cheapest long haul flight that you can into the closest area that you can. I’m helping a friend book a flight to Tokyo right now. The flights are actually crazy in the points and miles world to get to Tokyo. And I was like, “Well, actually, why don’t you try and fly into Seoul?” There’s so many more options to fly into Seoul, South Korea. It is a very quick flight from Seoul to Tokyo. She’s even interested in maybe doing a day or two there. But I was like, that’s an option versus paying so many more points and miles for this business class seat that she’s looking to get just to go to Tokyo-
Tori Dunlap:
Direct, yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, direct. You can be a little bit more flexible with it, and we do the same thing with Europe. I take cheap flights that are directing to Amsterdam or Paris all the time, and then I use that as my jumping off point to go somewhere else. So that is a great way to do it if you are not in this space to get a credit card that earns points and miles and focus on the cash deals. But then, obviously, points and miles, we both have gotten into that world. That opens your eyes to, I think, just different experiences that you would never even think would be attainable to afford. So you can use it towards economy flights. There are some amazing ways to use it if you want to utilize your points and miles that way, which is what I did for probably the first five years in my travel world.
Tori Dunlap:
Or even to just get it across the US.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
We’re both Seattle girlies who happen to be in New York right now.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I know.
Tori Dunlap:
And it’s like, okay, that’s typically not a cheap flight. That’s sometimes a $700, sometimes $1,000 flight.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes.
Tori Dunlap:
So okay, points, miles, especially if you have to go last minute, that helps you get to where you need to be without a huge expense.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Points and miles are amazing for both the bucket list destinations that you plan a year out, but also last-minute flights when you don’t maybe have or want to spend the capital of $1,200 because you have to get somewhere for whatever reason, whether you need to hop on a flight tonight or in the next week. This is a great way for you to be able to save that cash and spend it elsewhere and use these points that you’ve accrued.
Tori Dunlap:
So you’re my favorite friend to reach out to about any sort of travel deal, especially with points and miles. And you helped me book my first big girl business class flight.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes.
Tori Dunlap:
So I had not flown business class prior to working with Janelle, and I was going to Europe with my partner. This was 2023, I think.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I think so. Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
Yep. And I was just like, “Hi. So I generally have an idea of where we want to go. Help me.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I have these points. What do I do with them?
Tori Dunlap:
Truly. Can you walk me through how do we actually do that? How do we find flights for points and what kind of good deals are we looking for?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. So there are actually so many amazing resources that are out there now. So back when I started, these resources were very, very new, and I didn’t really hear about them. They were kind of in the beta phases, and now, they’re really helpful. So there’s point.me.com, that’s a great one. We use that to help book your flights. We’re using point.me. Another one is seats.aero that I use. And basically, what these sites are is instead of having to go to every airline’s site and being like, “What are the points and miles to fly from here to here,” and then you have to go to all their partners too because the points are different with different partners. It’s cheaper to book-
Tori Dunlap:
Or go through the four days around where you’re trying to go.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. And you’ve got to go back and forth and use this calendar tool, and you have to do it with every single airline. Now, there are these sites that aggregate all of these results or a lot of these results. It’s not all of them, it’s not perfect, but it saves you so much time. So now, you go into these sites, you log in and I’ll say, “I want to go from the West Coast to Europe, or I want to go from Seattle to Europe, or I want to go from Seattle to Asia.” You can really fine tune. You can either leave it really broad, or you can really get down into the details. You can say, “I want to do plus or minus 14 days. I have a really wide range or plus or minus one day. I only have a little flexible range.”
You can look at economy, premium economy, business, first class, and it’s just a really easy way to see what’s out there with my points and how can I book it because I think what a lot of people do with points when you first start getting into it is you go… Let’s say you have Chase. You’ve got a Chase credit card. You go into the Chase travel portal, and you look at what the points are for that. Those points are based on the cash rate of the flight. So actually, one of the best ways to use your points is by transferring them out of the Chase platform and into these airlines, which is what we did to book your flights.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. Well, I have to pause this there because it’s, I think, the number one mistake people make because they get into points and they see, “Okay, I have 100,000 Chase points. Ooh.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
“What can I do with these?”
Tori Dunlap:
Exactly. And it’s like, “Ooh, cash back. I’ll just make my points cash back.” God, please no. Cash back cards are for cash back. Chase travel points should… I mean, unless you absolutely need them for an emergency or something, please do not. That’s such a waste of points.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
You’re going to get so much more value out of those points by using them for travel and by-
Tori Dunlap:
And travel outside, like you were saying, the transfer.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. Transfer them out.
Tori Dunlap:
Don’t book the Air France flight inside Chase. Transfer them to Air France and then book it through Air France.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. For example, if you’re in the Chase travel portal and the flight is $800 cash, it’s going to cost you 80,000 points to book that flight. Now, let’s say you go and look at the… Let’s say it’s a Delta flight. You can also book Delta flights with Virgin Atlantic. And so, you can go to Virgin Atlantic site, and they’re way cheaper than by booking it with Delta. And you say, “I want to use this flight from Seattle to Paris on Virgin Atlantic miles.” And for economy, it could be as low as 20,000 miles. So instead of paying that 80,000, you transfer those points out. There’s sometimes even transfer bonuses, so you can earn more miles when you’re transferring your points over.
Tori Dunlap:
So they’ll give you 50% more miles when you transfer it. Yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Most of the bonuses are like 20, 30%.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, I was being nice.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Occasionally, they are 50. Sometimes they’re 100. Delta one time had a 100%-
Tori Dunlap:
Oh my gosh.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… transfer bonus to Air France. The Flying Blue program is such an incredible use of points. So I was like, “I will use these points.” I use them all the time for amazing business class and economy class flights. Through them, I saw 100% bonus. I normally would never recommend just transferring your points blindly. But when you have deals like that, it makes so much more sense to be like… And I’ve already used the program so much. I know that there’s a lot of availability. 100% bonus is enough for me to say-
Tori Dunlap:
It’s really good.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… send those points on over.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, and I think it’s easy to see you or I, especially in that first flight, I’m in business class. These are lie down flat seats that would normally cost $4,000 a piece, $8,000. I’m on Qatar TikTok or Qatar Airlines and what’s the other one, Emirates, where it’s just like these insane-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I just flew Qatar back on Monday with the Qsuites from the Maldives on points.
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, they’re massive, right? So they’re like full beds. Was it shower? Was this the shower one?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No, that’s Emirates, but yes.
Tori Dunlap:
It’s so easy to look at these-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No, it’s incredible.
Tori Dunlap:
… and they’re $15,000 flights, and you’re like, “I could never spend this,” nor would… I would not spend $15,000.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No, no.
Tori Dunlap:
Absolutely not.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
For eight to 14-hour experience? That’s kind of nuts to think about.
Tori Dunlap:
It’s kind of nuts.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, but I would spend 80,000 points, which is what I did coming back from the Maldives. I was like, “Done. Booked,” versus using that Chase travel portal example. That was 80,000 points for probably an economy ticket to Paris. It’s like, no, I’m going to use these points and transfer them out of the portal and use them to book a way better experience and things that, not that my money can’t buy, but I don’t want to spend my money to buy.
Tori Dunlap:
No.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
That’s where, I think, as I’ve evolved from my early 20s budget backpacker travel, I was taking whatever economy flight, the cheapest things I could get both in points and cash-
Tori Dunlap:
Terrible layovers.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… staying in hostels-
Tori Dunlap:
Three different flights, yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. And now, I’ve evolved in my 30s, and I’ve really loved the luxury travel kind of space and using my points maybe less often. I was doing weekend flights to Europe because I had no PTO. Now, I’m like, “Okay, I can go and take these flights, spend a little bit more time in these places, and I want to get there comfortably.” And that now becomes a part of the travel experience. Your travel experience isn’t when you land. It is truly when you step into the airport. You go to the lounge. You get a drink. You have a meal. You’d maybe take a shower on your layover.
Tori Dunlap:
You’ve gone through TSA pre-check and CLEAR-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
CLEAR.
Tori Dunlap:
… so you don’t have to stand in a huge long line.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes, it’s not stressful. You’re so much more at ease, and it just becomes fun all of a sudden versus being like, “Oh my God, we have to sit in the airport. We’ve got to find a spot that’s quiet. I’ve got to call I need to get on,” or whatever, or “I’ve got work I need to do, or I just don’t want to sit in this chaos of people, boarding announcements, and all this stuff.” So it truly becomes so much more of a fun experience.
Tori Dunlap:
Totally.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. I love it.
Tori Dunlap:
So you made a video about the 10 mistakes you see when people use points for travel. It sounds like we’ve already talked about one of those of transferring or not transferring and booking it within the portal itself. Can you walk me through a few of these mistakes you see people make?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Definitely the first one, I mean, we just talked about this, but not transferring your points out of the portals is the number one mistake I see. I did it when I was younger.
Tori Dunlap:
I did, too.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I did it when I was in the beginning. I think everyone does it. And I will say, using your points is never a mistake.
Tori Dunlap:
No.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
If you are using your points for an experience or flight, however you do, even if it wasn’t the best redemption, that is still an experience that you got out of it. So I don’t want people to harp too much. We all look back and say, “Oh my God, I can’t believe I did X, Y, and Z thing.” You don’t have those.
Tori Dunlap:
Well, I use my points a lot too, especially with the higher credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Amex Platinum. You can book hotels using points, but you’re getting a bunch of perks with.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes, yes.
Tori Dunlap:
So if I’m going to stay at a Four Seasons, I’m actually going to book that through Chase and I’m going to book that through the portal because you can’t transfer points to Four Seasons, first of all. But the second thing is, I’m getting free breakfast, I’m getting $100 credit.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
A late checkout, all of these other benefits.
Tori Dunlap:
Free upgrades. Yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. So there’s nuances to all of this. So just don’t stress too much if you’ve made these mistakes or you’re like… This is more like an eye-opening thing. So I think number one is not transferring your points out, but then, two is only looking at US airlines. So I think because most people, I’m sure your listeners are a lot of US-based people, we tend to think of our world as Delta, American, United as the big three. When we go to look at flights, that’s who we’re going to go search and look for.
Tori Dunlap:
Maybe Southwest. Yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, maybe Southwest. When we’re talking international longer stuff, I guess I don’t really fly Southwest.
Tori Dunlap:
I don’t either. I haven’t flown Southwest in a long time.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I know it’s been a minute. I like to pick my seat, which I guess you’re going to be able to do that now soon. But regardless, most people think of these major US airlines when they’re going to it, but these airlines are all a part of these massive partnerships. So there’s SkyTeam, Star Alliance, Oneworld, and these alliances are full of these partner airlines where when you transfer your points… Like I was talking about earlier, Delta might be charging, let’s say, 65,000 points for a round trip economy flight to Europe. You might be able to go to Virgin Atlantic and get that same flight for 25, 30,000 points, maybe even less. I’ve gotten stuff for 18,000 points. It’s nuts. So I think that’s the number two mistake that I see is not using these other programs that we’re maybe not familiar with.
I remember when I first started traveling, I had never even heard of Qatar Airlines, and they’re one of the top airlines in the world. We don’t think about that though because we’re just kind of in our little bubble here traveling. Now, I’m like, Qatar is amazing. I’ll fly them any day of the week. But I think we’re a little bit more timid to approaching these other airlines. Is it a good airline? Do we know if we can trust it? There’s a lot of resources out there to learn about it, so use those resources. Google’s just a great tool of like, “What does this aircraft look like? What is the business class?”
Tori Dunlap:
The Airbus three, whatever. Yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, and looking at the seat to see kind of some differences there and look at these partners. When I say look at the partners, I think one thing I want to clarify is that you’re not necessarily flying the partner. You can book that same Delta flight through Virgin Atlantic using those points. So it’s the same exact flight, you’re just booking it separately. Now, sometimes there are other flights that you can book that are operated by them, but I’m talking about the same physical plane that you are stepping onto just for less points. So that is, I think, the number two thing that I would say is start expanding yourself. And I think the tools like seats.aero and point.me are really great resources for you to start learning about these different transfer partners because they’ll tell you, “Hey, if you have these credit cards, here’s how you transfer them over,” and you’re going to book this United Flight through their partner Lufthansa or something.
Tori Dunlap:
Right. I just flew Lufthansa for the first time. Very impressed.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah?
Tori Dunlap:
They have a lounge in Frankfurt.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes.
Tori Dunlap:
Have you been to that lounge?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No, I haven’t flown Lufthansa yet, but-
Tori Dunlap:
It’s insane. That lounge was nuts.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Anytime you’re able to fly a business class flight and you’re flying through the home airport of that airline, it’s going to be… The flagship lounges are so good.
Tori Dunlap:
Well, because I flew Condor, speaking… Okay, so you’re a Delta girly. I’m an Alaska Airlines girly.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I know.
Tori Dunlap:
It’s the biggest thing we disagree about.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes.
Tori Dunlap:
I love Delta. I want to be very clear. Delta, you can sponsor me, too. I don’t care. I just will never fly United, and I will say that on-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
On air, on record.
Tori Dunlap:
… air. United, I have so much beef with you.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
It’s okay.
Tori Dunlap:
The New Orleans incident of 2018, we do not talk about it, but-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I have the same incidents with Alaska, which is why [inaudible 00:20:50]
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, no. I have nothing but lovely things to say. Anyway-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I’m so happy you have that experience.
Tori Dunlap:
And I’m so happy you love Delta because I do, too. But the thing with, you’re talking about Delta partners. It’s the same thing for me with Alaska is that flight that… Almost said my partner’s name. Hold on. That flight that my partner and I took to Europe this year to go to Frankfurt so we could then go to Italy, that was on Condor. And I had never heard of Condor and was in business class, and I used Alaska points. That was their partner airline. I didn’t actually even transfer it over to Condor. I just booked it through Alaska.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
With points you already had there from earning from normal flying.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. And you can say, “Oh, it’s with our partner airline, Condor,” and I was like, “Okay, we’ll see.” And it was a lovely experience.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes, yes. Honestly, I think sometimes these other airlines, we’re so used to just the American version of these first class flights and whatnot. Oh my gosh, you start flying in Asian or Middle Eastern airline-
Tori Dunlap:
Insane.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… you are pampered. I’m like, “This is incredible.”
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, they’re picking you up in a limo, and they’re taking you to the gate via private security.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Literally like-
Tori Dunlap:
And they’re like, “Oh, do you want a massage before your flight?” And you’re like, “Yes, I do.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes, you set your drink down, and they’re like, “Oh, what else can I get you? Are you okay? Was this lovely? Do you need something else?” And I’m like, “No, I’m good. I just took a sip of water.”
Tori Dunlap:
Totally.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
“I’m okay.”
Tori Dunlap:
This episode is packed with information, and we are just getting started. After the break, we are diving into the myths around credit cards and credit scores, the perks and drawbacks of annual fees, how credit cards act as an additional layer of protection while you’re traveling and more. Stay with us.
Okay, so if I’m a listener though, I’m hearing both of us talk about this, and they know my background of how much money I make. They’re probably like, “Oh, yeah. She’s probably doing okay.” But I think there’s a belief, and even my dad is here sitting in, and one of the things that I’ve talked to my parents about is my mom always says, “Well, we don’t travel for work, Tori, so we can’t earn that many points like you do,” or “I don’t need the business class. I just want the economy, and I’m never going to have enough points.” So debunk the, “It’s just for business travelers. That’s why you’re able to do this,” or “It’s just because you have a lot of money, that’s why you’re able to do this.” Can anybody do this?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. Especially number one, if you have a good credit score, you are able to do so much. That opens so many doors because you are able to start earning through sign-up bonuses, opening credit cards. There’s a big myth that opening credit cards is going to just tank your credit score, but it’s the exact opposite. Using credit cards responsibly will actually increase your credit score.
Tori Dunlap:
As long as you’re not opening them every three months.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Right, right. Honestly, it’ll take a temporary dip, and it goes back up because what you’re doing is you’re also increasing your available credit. So your credit usage is going down, which will increase your credit score.
Tori Dunlap:
That is financial expert approved. Yes. Yeah, yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
So therefore, I think that’s where some of these people think that, “Oh my God, I can’t do that. I’m literally sitting at home.” But what are you spending your money on? Now, let’s say it’s groceries or let’s say it’s going out to eat or let’s say it’s just I like to online shop. Find credit cards that match your spending habits. Then, you are going to be earning points towards your next trip that you want to take just by doing your normal spending habits. I think one of a great credit card for people who are in their 20s who are dining out, maybe living in a bigger city, and spending money on a lot of food and groceries, which is what I like to spend my money on, is the Amex Gold card. The Amex Gold card, you’re going to earn a bonus basically on all of those purchases, which will then help you earn points towards your next trips. So you don’t have to be traveling to earn these points.
Now, there are cards that give you extra bonuses towards specific travel stuff like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Amex Platinum Card where you’re earning 5X on travel stuff, and those are great for people who are traveling a lot because you’re going to earn those benefits, and the benefits of the card are tailored towards a lot of heavy travelers. So if you’re not doing it, those cards won’t make sense, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t a card out there for you that makes sense for you.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. And I also want to say too, similar to your story, when I first started in my 20s, I couldn’t get the crazy metal card that offered me a bunch of benefits nor should you try because typically, you’re not going to get approved. Your credit’s not long enough. Your credit score might not be there. So it’s almost like training wheels. You build yourself up. So my first card, and I still recommend it, is like a Capital One Quicksilver Card that has a dollar and a half or one half percent cash back on everything. So that was great. I got used to using that card. I got used to saying like, “Oh, I can redeem this for statement credit or for gift cards. Great.” My credit score started building. I understood. Okay, I can upgrade the card as my life upgrades, too. And so, I would then got the Alaska Airlines card. Then, I got the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Then, I got the Amex Platinum, and that was over many, many years.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Exactly.
Tori Dunlap:
And I will also say too, it’s just like personal finance where it’s easy to listen to this and just go, “That’s way too complicated, or it’s because Janelle knows so much,” and of course you do, but you and I are regular girlies at the same time.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
This was all learned over time.
Tori Dunlap:
Totally. And again, you can make it as complicated as you’d like. If you just want to just book through the portal, yeah, it’s not the best use of points, but sure.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Exactly.
Tori Dunlap:
It’s really not that complicated, but if you don’t want any sort of complication… I don’t want somebody listening and going like, “Oh, it’s because they know something I don’t.” Not really. It’s just like personal finance. It’s the belief that, “Oh, they’re investing and they know something I don’t.” No, this is all learned and taught, and there’s resources out there to learn.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And it’s not an all or nothing game. You don’t have to just either do everything or nothing at all. There’s so many mid-levels, and I’ve transferred through those different steps throughout my phases of life. When I first started out, my first travel credit card was the Delta American Express Platinum Card because my coworker recommended it to me. I waited for a good sign-up bonus, and he explained the benefits to me, and I was like, “Oh, that makes sense.” That was my first foray into the world of travel credit cards. I held that card and only that travel credit card for two plus years. I had another card that I’d had as my starter credit card. My parents helped set me up with when I went to college and just kind of figured that out.
But that was my first travel credit card, and I didn’t touch travel credit cards for another two plus years after that. And then, I went and opened the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card. That was my next card. I went from the Delta Amex Platinum. At the time, I think it was maybe a $200 fee card, but I was able to use the benefits on it because I was flying Delta. But I went from that to the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which is considered a more elite card. But I had built my credit up, and I had felt like, “Wow, I understand these benefits and these programs a bit more.” I didn’t open another card for probably another one to two, probably one year after that, and then I started opening a few more when I figured out what my travel style is, too.
I was like, “Wow. Okay, I’m flying. I want to access lounges, so therefore, I’m going to open a card that gives me that lounge access.” I’m spending a lot of time in Hilton properties because I was traveling for work at that point, and I was like, “Oh, I’m going to open a Hilton credit card so I can earn more points.” You start learning what your lifestyle is and tailoring your credit cards and your finances and those sorts of things to that lifestyle, and then you earn points on top of that, and it becomes a little bit more passive because you are learning the program as you go. So don’t try and climb the mountain in one day.
Tori Dunlap:
Before we move on to other questions, I want to define a couple of things so everybody knows we’re on the same page. So quick definitions are lovely. You say sign-up bonus. What does that mean?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
A sign-up bonus is when you are applying for the credit card, they will have a specific bonus. It’ll be, let’s say, anywhere from 50,000 points to 200,000 points. If you spend X amount of dollars in X months, sometimes it’s like $3,000 in six months, you will receive these points. That is what a sign-up bonus is.
Tori Dunlap:
So how do you take advantage of the sign-up bonus? How do you make sure you hit that?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
So it depends on per bank. Capital One does a great job of actually has a little tracker in the app and whatnot.
Tori Dunlap:
Fun.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Otherwise, you can pay attention to your statements and kind of keep a mental track or a spreadsheet, that sort of thing. I try to make sure that I put all my spend on those cards so I’m getting it right away and I’m not missing the deadline. Put a reminder in your calendar too, maybe two or three weeks before this deadline is going to hit, and make sure you can call the bank and be like, “Hey, have I hit the bonus yet, or have I hit the sign-up requirements yet?” And I know people who’ve had luck actually getting extensions before too, so you can always call. My whole motto is if you don’t ask, the answer is no.
Tori Dunlap:
And I will say, as your resident personal finance expert, do not sign up for the sign-up bonus as an excuse to spend more money.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No. No, no.
Tori Dunlap:
Right? Do not get the sign-up bonus thinking like, “Oh, okay, I need to spend crazy.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No.
Tori Dunlap:
But you can be strategic on when and how you sign up for a credit card. So can you talk about that?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. Let’s say you were doing a home renovation. You’re going to be spending a lot of money on that. Find a card that fits those bonus categories. Let’s say the Capital One Venture X, you’re going to earn 2X points on everything, every dollar you spend. I’m going to open that up around a big purchase like that where I [inaudible 00:29:29]
Tori Dunlap:
Or I need a new laptop and I’ve been needing it for years, so I’m going to sign up for the credit card now. I’m going to put my 1,800 or whatever MacBooks cost now. They’re so expensive. I’m going to put my $1,500 MacBook on there. I already know I have the money. You’re not signing up for something and just being like-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
You’re not signing up to go into debt. That’s not the point of this. Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
Right. So you’re doing it strategically though, so that way you’re closer to the sign-up bonus because you’ve planned accordingly. You were strategic with that.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, or maybe it’s around Christmas presents or a trip you’re about to take, too. A lot of these credit cards have perks when you’re traveling where it’s 0% transaction fees. You’re not paying for that when you’re going abroad, or maybe you only have Amex cards right now, but Amex isn’t necessarily accepted in all places. It’s getting a lot better, but you might want a Visa now for when you travel abroad. So you have access to Visa when you are trying to put your hotel on this card or pay for a meal abroad. So you can still get those points and not pay the transaction fee.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, totally. Annual fees, I think we feel the same way, which are that usually, annual fees are worth it. But can we talk about what annual fees are and when it does make sense to pay the annual fee?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
An annual fee is something that comes up on your anniversary of your credit card or when you sign up for it. Some cards waive the annual fee the first year, but it is a defined amount of money that you are paying to be a cardholder.
Tori Dunlap:
It’s $95 or it’s $795.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. They range.
Tori Dunlap:
One of the ones I have is $800.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes.
Tori Dunlap:
But you get to decide, it’s basically like the cost of all of the benefits of the card.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
The number looks scary when you’re first looking at it but-
Tori Dunlap:
It really does. And a lot of people push away any cards that have an annual fee immediately, and I think that’s a huge mistake.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Don’t let them scare you because even some of the lower annual fee cards, they’re going to give you… So I like looking at the hard benefits that you’re going to use. So let’s say it is a CLEAR membership or it is TSA pre-check. Those are things that you can say, “I am earning,” or it’s a $200 flight credit, and maybe the annual fee is $300. Okay. That, in my mind, brings my annual fee down to $100. Now, let me look at all the other benefits. Do those other benefits make the $100 worth it? Well, I get one free checked bag every flight. How many times am I checking a bag? Okay, that now brings my annual fee down to X. Maybe now, I’m down to zero. And then, I look at all the other benefits on top of that, and it’s like holding this card actually helps me in a lot of different ways that I wouldn’t have expected.
Tori Dunlap:
I’m at an airport, even if it’s twice a year, and I spend $35 on a Caesar salad and a water when I could go to the lounge.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Right. And I don’t have to worry about it. I’ve got a comfortable space, a quiet space to work, those sorts of things. But then, there are the soft benefits that I don’t think get enough-
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, let’s talk about those.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
They don’t get enough airtime.
Tori Dunlap:
Credit. They really don’t.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
So number one, one of my favorite ones is trip cancellation insurance, trip delay insurance, and lost and delayed baggage.
Tori Dunlap:
Yep. Huge.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Wow. My Minnesotan accent came out there.
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, it was cute though. Your baggage.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Baggage. It comes out sometimes.
Tori Dunlap:
Less baggage.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes, so baggage.
Tori Dunlap:
How do you normally say it? How would you normally say it?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I don’t know. I don’t know the right way. No, it’s one of those things where I’ve heard it said both ways so much.
Tori Dunlap:
I know.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I’m like, “What’s the right way?” I really have to think about it.
Tori Dunlap:
Well, apparently, there’s a Seattle accent, too. I don’t know if you know this.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No, I didn’t.
Tori Dunlap:
It’s like water and bag.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Oh, okay.
Tori Dunlap:
Ours is not bag.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
So maybe that’s why I feel so normal there a little bit because there’s accents all around.
Tori Dunlap:
There are. It’s like bag versus bag.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Big bag. Yeah. Anyways, some of these benefits are great. So a story that I love to tell is that we were going to Palm Springs for a bachelorette party. This is a group of 10 plus girls. We’d rented this massive house. I put it on my Chase Sapphire Reserve Card. Well, the week that we are headed to this, it was an Airbnb, non-refundable at this point, the week we’re headed there, the bride’s family has a health event. And so, we were canceling the bachelorette party, which-
Tori Dunlap:
So much money for 10 people. Is that what you said?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. It was like 10 or 11 girls, and people are like, “Oh my God, are we still going because we still have to pay for this house?” And I was like, “No, we don’t have to pay for this house actually. If people still want to go, of course, just take the trip. You took the time off, whatever.” But I was like, “You don’t have to worry. I will be able to get this money back because one of the benefits is the trip cancellation insurance.” So it’s not only just for me like if I had a health event. It is for me, any of my traveling companions, or their family members. So what we had to do is I had to fill out a little form online stating what had happened with Chase. They sent me a form where my friend had to bring it to the doctor of her family member. They filled out this very simple form. It was like two pages, just kind of like what had happened.
Tori Dunlap:
This is real.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
I’m not making it up.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Signed by the doctor, making sure that we’re not being fraudulent here, and I submitted that to Chase, and they sent me a check. It was that easy. I had to prove… There was one other step. I take that back. All I had to do was go through Airbnb first. So you have to prove that Airbnb’s not refunding me. “Here’s the proof that they’re not refunding me,” and then they sent me a check. And so, that was a check for almost $3,000 for this thing. And so, I thought about that. My annual fee, I think, the annual fee for the card at that point was maybe around $500.
Tori Dunlap:
500, yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And I was like, “This has paid for that card for-
Tori Dunlap:
Four years.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, yeah. Right.
Tori Dunlap:
Five years, more than that.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Six year. Six years now at this point just from that, that one single benefit. We’ve used it for when our bags are delayed. If the airline, let’s say that they are saying, “Oh, no. We’re only giving you X amount of money.” Once you submit your receipts, you can then go to your credit card and say, “Hey, this is what the airline didn’t pay for, but these are expenses that I had to incur on my trip.” And you can submit that to them. So those are the soft benefits that people don’t think about because no one ever wants to plan for when things go wrong with travel, but they do go wrong. Things just happen. Bags get delayed, weather stuff happens, and airlines won’t cover you. If there’s a trip delay due to weather, you’re not covered, but your credit card will cover you in many cases. So looking at those benefits and making sure-
Tori Dunlap:
Car insurance is the other big one, too.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes, rental car.
Tori Dunlap:
You’re renting a car. You don’t have to take additional car insurance. And again, same thing. You think, “Oh, that’s not going to happen,” and it probably won’t, but let’s say it does. And you’re in the middle of Costa Rica with a car towing like-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
We needed it in Italy. We-
Tori Dunlap:
Really?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. We’re driving to the Harry Styles concert in Italy, his last one.
Tori Dunlap:
Casual.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. And it started hailing, just in the middle of it is July in Italy, and it starts hailing. And we brought the car back, and they were like, “Yes, the hail damage.” And we were like, “Yeah, we saw that.” We were able to submit stuff through the credit cards. There’s just so many protections that way they don’t think about. There’s other ones that aren’t even travel related. I know Brian Kelly is also going to be on this podcast if he hasn’t already been. But he was just posting this week. His son, Dean, took a marker to the back of one of his chairs that he had just bought. But under, I think it was Capital One, they have a purchase protection or one of the credit cards. They all have a lot of these similar benefits. He had bought it within the last 90 days, so he’s like, “Actually, I’m going to submit this, and I should be able to get this replaced because it was-
Tori Dunlap:
Even if it was my fault.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, lost or damaged within that time period. So some of those things like make sure when you are signing up for these cards, spend a little time actually looking at these benefits. The way that you access a lot of these benefits is you have to put your trip on this credit card. You can’t just pick like, “Oh, I have the Chase credit card, I’m going to use this benefit.” No, I put that Airbnb on the Chase credit card, which allowed me to use the benefit. So when you are booking your trips, be very mindful about what card you’re putting it on based on these benefits. So that’s why it’s important to read them, understand them, have a general understanding. I know it seems like a lot at once, but then when you got to book, just refresh yourself really quick. Oh, what’s the best card to put this on?
Tori Dunlap:
Or even when something goes wrong and you’re like, “Cool. I put everything on here, so I know I’m good. Oh, I need insurance? I probably can get that.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I probably have that.
Tori Dunlap:
This is what happened to me. My phone got stolen in London right from under me.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Oh my gosh. I didn’t know that.
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, yeah, brand new phone. Had bought a brand new 15. I did something stupid, but it’s also… You know what? There’s… Yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Life happens.
Tori Dunlap:
I had it on the table in front of me, and I didn’t know this was a thing, but a person came up to me in a mask and put a piece of paper down on the table, and the piece of paper was saying… It was very long, but it was like, “Oh, I am asking for money,” or whatever.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
They grabbed the phone?
Tori Dunlap:
And little did I know, they had grabbed the phone under it, and I didn’t realize it until about five minutes after it happened.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Of course.
Tori Dunlap:
But because I’d just bought the phone and I had put it on a credit card, you get lost or damaged cell phone insurance up to, I think, $800. So it didn’t cover the full cost of the phone but pretty stinking close.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
It makes the instance feel a lot less heavy where it’s like, “Wow. Okay, this is just a really frustrating experience,” and it made that a little bit lighter.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. So I could get a new phone and replace it without being like, “I just paid for two phones, and that was so, so stupid.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, in like a month.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, truly. I was like, I’m back at Costco AT&T being like, “I’m back again. I’m so sorry.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Did you miss me?
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, I’m back. You get more money off of me. But it even just happened to my mom. My mom was supposed to be going to Ecuador, and we had family friends she was going with, and he had a really, really serious health incident, and she bought third-party travel insurance. And I think she’s very glad she did that. But if she had one of these, especially the fancier credit cards, easy-peasy.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Well, and that’s where we’re looking at the cost of these credit cards. So let’s say you are someone who buys travel insurance for your trips. You can now think, “Okay, how much does that travel insurance cost me per trip or per year?” And then, when you look at the annual fees, you can start understanding how much the annual fee is maybe not as expensive as you thought when you look at what it can give you.
Tori Dunlap:
Right, right. When we come back after a word from our sponsors, we’re talking about the travel hacks no one’s talking about, the best way to communicate with airlines when you’re trying to get free shit, and yes, you can get some free shit, and why it might matter more than you think to become loyal to one airline. Stay tuned.
Okay. What is the travel hack that no one talks about?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Oh, this is a good question. I’ve got it.
Tori Dunlap:
Talk to me.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Asking for points.
Tori Dunlap:
Thank you. I was hoping you were going to say that.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I ask for compensation.
Tori Dunlap:
She really, really does, guys.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
All the time. I call myself the queen of compensation because if there’s compensation to be had, I will be getting it.
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, and if you think I’m bad, you’re next level. My partner will give me shit sometimes because he’s like, “You’re asking again?” And I was like, “Janelle. Janelle would ask.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
If you don’t ask, the answer’s no, again. And I’m not demanding it. That’s the thing you have to go into this being like-
Tori Dunlap:
And you’re nice. You’re not like, “Give me my goddamn points.” No, you’re nice.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No, I sit there, and let’s say my flight was delayed by three hours. I will text Delta or I’ll use… They have a-
Tori Dunlap:
Twitter even sometimes.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, you can use Twitter sometimes. I don’t use that. That used to be a way bigger thing.
Tori Dunlap:
That’s where I used to go.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. Now, I more so am texting them, or they have a complaint spot on their website, which is actually really useful. I think a lot of people think that that’s a black hole. There’s a box you can check, and you say, “I want a response.” They’re so good. I have status, so I don’t know if mine gets processed quicker-
Tori Dunlap:
Probably.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… or if I get get treated differently. But regardless, they’re so good at it. I get calls from them being like, “Hey, we saw your complaint. We want to talk about this.” The last time this happened was like a week ago when I was on a Delta flight. I got the voicemail when we landed, and I was like, “Okay, that’s fitting. I was on another flight.” But I’ll ask and just say, “Hey, my flight was delayed by three hours. It was a major inconvenience.” I explain the situation. I don’t embellish. I don’t lie. I’m just like, sometimes it’s just an inconvenience. Sometimes I had a ride scheduled that-
Tori Dunlap:
You miss a meeting.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. I flew out for this meeting that I now miss, which has happened before, and I’ll just explain the situation. At the end I ask, is there any compensation available for this inconvenience? And I wait for them to come back. And then, a lot of the times they’re coming back with 5,000 points. Sometimes it’s 20,000 points, which is crazy. One time, I had a three-hour delay out of Paris or Amsterdam, and it was during there was some strikes going on with air traffic control in Europe, and it was out of a different airport, but it affected all other airports that I was at. They came back, and they’re like 20,000 points for a three-hour delay. I was like-
Tori Dunlap:
And she gets to use those points to-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Put it on the trip.
Tori Dunlap:
… go to Paris again.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. In one year, I had earned… I did this math. I started tracking it because-
Tori Dunlap:
There’s so much.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… it had been so much. In one calendar year, I had earned 204,000 points-
Tori Dunlap:
By just complaining.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… by complaining about things that happened that you don’t think-
Tori Dunlap:
I shouldn’t say complaining.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
Submitting real things that happened.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Real incidents.
Tori Dunlap:
Yes.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And this is just with Delta. I’m talking about points with Delta. Not even hotel stuff that goes wrong. Specifically, my Delta, and I’m flying a lot, so I have a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong.
Tori Dunlap:
And again, I want to be clear, she’s not being a Karen, right?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
She’s not just being like making stuff up or going crazy about, “Oh, I didn’t get my drink in time.” I’ve done it where like-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No, no. It’s like, “Oh, the in-flight entertainment didn’t work.
Tori Dunlap:
I was just going to say, I’ve done that before, especially on longer flights where it’s like, “No, I would like a movie on this six and a half hour flight, and my seat back thing didn’t work, or I need to submit this email and the Wi-Fi did not work.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes, I’ve submitted all of that stuff. And a lot of times, these are customer service bonus miles. There is no policy that says that they owe you these miles, but they want keep you happy, especially at some of these airlines that-
Tori Dunlap:
They’re massive billion, billion, billion dollar corporations. They can spare.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
We’re not talking about Spirit. If you try this with Spirit, it’s probably not going to work.
Tori Dunlap:
No, it’s not going to work.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I’ve not tried. I don’t fly them, but-
Tori Dunlap:
It’s not going to work.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
But-
Tori Dunlap:
You have to be like-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
You know this-
Tori Dunlap:
… “Bitch, I’m sorry.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes, but if you are flying these bigger airlines and you are flying them, even if you don’t have status, you will get some of these miles. I do think status can help because they want to keep you happy if you’re flying them a lot. But it’s not that you’re going to get nothing out of this. I mean, some of these airlines even have policies, so both Alaska and Delta have a very unique policy domestically-
Tori Dunlap:
So I was going to ask you about both.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… in the U.S. A portion of that 204,000 miles, I was talking about 45,000 or 43,000. It’s in Brian Kelly’s book, the number is.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, cool.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
The exact one, that number that I got, the 45,000, let’s call it, was from bags being delayed from getting to me. And by delayed, I mean, it took 20 minutes to get to baggage claim. That’s it.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. So they have a guarantee that if your bags aren’t to you after gate, I think it’s gate dock to-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
It’s door open.
Tori Dunlap:
Door open. Thank you.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Door open.
Tori Dunlap:
That’s a difference. That is a difference. Okay. Door open to you getting your bags, it’s 20 or 25 minutes?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
20.
Tori Dunlap:
Okay, so-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Both Alaska and Delta have it.
Tori Dunlap:
If it’s 22 minutes, she gets points. She gets money.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. I submit it every time. I stopped timing it. I used to time it.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. That’s so smart. Just submit it. And if they go, “No, I got here in 18 minutes,” okay, whatever.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Alaska’s program is a little bit different. You have to actually talk to someone at the airport when it is-
Tori Dunlap:
You do, which I didn’t realize until I was home.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I know. They make it a lot harder. Delta’s is a very simple form. It is like, “What’s your name? What’s your miles number? What flight did you take?” Boom. And it’ll tell you immediately. So I do this in the Uber home every single time. I used to time it, and then I realized the system is literally doing it for me. Why am I bothering to set a timer? They’ll tell me if they did it or not, and they’re not wrong. It’s when the bag is being scanned. This is a very automated system, so I just submit it every single time. And maybe it was 19 minutes, maybe not, I don’t know. I’m not timing it. I’m still either getting the miles or not. And I would say nine times out of 10, it’ll depend on your airport, what time you’re flying and stuff. Nine times out of 10, I get the miles.
So I had a follower this week who had reposted that she had used this tip from me, and she had posted a screenshot of her trip and the miles being deposited into her account. She earned 5,000 miles for the round-trip ticket because it’s each way that you get it and because she doesn’t have status and maybe it was a short trip, she’d only earned 700 and something miles from the actual trip itself and then earn 5,000 because of the bags, which is incredible to be able to just rack these up. So that’s also where when you’re looking at some of these credit cards that have the free checked bags, if you’re paying for the bags and you are doing it… If you’re looking and you’re like, “Oh, I should check a bag for the miles,” but you have to pay for it, it’s probably not worth it because it’s a gamble whether you’re going to get it or not.
But if you have a free checked bag, now, I think about it. I’m like, “Oh, cool. I’m going to check my hairspray and some things. Even if I’m packing most of my stuff in a carry-on, I’ll throw a few things in a bag and check it. Worst case scenario, it doesn’t make it to me. If it gets lost, whatever, I’ll still get the miles. If it gets lost, I’m going to get the 2,500 miles and then some because I’m going to text them and ask them and be like, “Hey, my bag was delayed for two days. Is there any compensation available for me?” Another mistake that I see a lot of people make is they’ll go and either upgrade their credit card. They’ll get an email from Chase and be like, “Oh, upgrade your credit card. Spend $2,000 and you’ll get 30,000 points.” You don’t have to upgrade. You can actually just apply for that other credit card outright, and it’ll have, most times, a higher sign-up bonus than if you were to upgrade it. In fact, significantly-
Tori Dunlap:
I think that’s a huge mistakes. It’s like going from the preferred to the reserve, for example. Don’t, keep the preferred, open up the reserve, don’t upgrade your card.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. And now, Chase specifically has some really weird rules around-
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, they do.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… banking or with the credit card sign-up bonus stuff. There’s a 5/24 rule. We’re not going to get into that because that is really down in the weeds. But maybe let’s not talk about Chase. We’ll talk Capital One.
Tori Dunlap:
Sure.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
You’re going from the Venture to the Venture X. That’s a little bit easier one to talk about because they have less rules around their sign-up bonuses. But they’ll send you an offer, and oftentimes, I would say do not take that offer. Instead, sign up for the Venture X card then, let’s say, and then you’re going to cancel your Venture once it’s open if you don’t want that card anymore. But I have multiple cards that are in the same family. So the Delta credit card family, I have the Gold Business, which honestly is actually not that great of a card. I wouldn’t recommend it, but I got that one years ago. So now, I just hold it because it’s been in my wallet for so long, so credit longevity, I keep that one.
But the Delta Platinum Card and the Delta Reserve Card, those are both, again, in this same Delta family, but I am earning so many different benefits from that, and I was able to earn the sign-up bonus for both of those cards. And then, you can get into the business credit cards, too. My gold card is actually a business credit card. And most people think you have to have some crazy LLC for this. If you’re selling stuff on Facebook Marketplace, you can go ahead and sign up.
Tori Dunlap:
You got a side hustle business credit card, and it makes your taxes so much easier, by the way, because anything that’s a business expense goes on the business credit card. So when you’re filing your taxes-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
You’re like, “Look at all these expenses that I have.” Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
Right there in one place.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. So those are some other things that I think people, they see the, “Oh, I’m going to upgrade it.” It makes sense. There’s so many great benefits on it, but you don’t actually have to upgrade, and you can often hold multiple cards in that same card family.
Tori Dunlap:
Well, one of my favorite things you’ve gone viral for is checking a tote bag.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I did. That was a little bit of a marketing ploy.
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, totally. It’s rage bait. It’s such rage bait in the comments.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
But it was fun because I’ve talked about this program. Honestly, every time I feel like I talk about it, there’s these videos that go viral.
Tori Dunlap:
But it is a joke, right?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
So she literally, there’s this video of just like on the carousel is just this little-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
A tote bag.
Tori Dunlap:
… little tiny tote bag. And it’s one of the tote bags too that looks like it’s been very well loved. And so, it’s just-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Oh, yeah. It’s been to the grocery store multiple times with me.
Tori Dunlap:
And the person’s just putting the tag around it very seriously.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And then, he starts just cracking up with me because I go up to the counter, and I was like, “I need to check this bag.” And he was like-
Tori Dunlap:
There’s nothing in it. It’s a tote bag. What are you doing?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I was like, “No, I’m serious.” I explained, and he was like, “Oh my gosh. This is so funny.” I was like, “I’m making a video on it. Do you mind being just his hands and stuff in the video?” He’s like-
Tori Dunlap:
But it’s a good way of learning, and it pissed a bunch of people off.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, it went very, very viral. People are like, “This is abusing the system.” And I was like, “Delta literally markets this program.” It’s not-
Tori Dunlap:
It’s also a joke. I’m giving Delta free marketing telling people that we can do this.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I know. I’m sorry. I’m marketing the program better than they are.
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, gosh.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
So it was funny. I love that one though. It’s just, and I mean, some people really take it far and will check empty Amazon boxes, but I think about it. I’ll bring a duffle bag with me if I go shopping or something. I now always bring a collapsible duffle or backpack. I actually brought it here to the studio today. I didn’t realize I was going to need it, but I was like, “Oh, actually I want to bring X, Y, and Z stuff.” Hold out my little thing. And so, if I go shopping, I’ll put my dirty laundry.
Tori Dunlap:
I always bring a tote bag actually in my luggage because especially in New York, I’m like, “I need to carry my laptop. I need to do a water bottle.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
You just have no idea. So you have that, you check it, boom, it gets your destination, and you are able to get these 2,500 miles more often than not.
Tori Dunlap:
Yep. Okay. So we keep saying status for an airline, explain like I’m five years old what airline status means. And again, it seems like, “Oh, that’s just rude business guys in suits.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Mm-mm. That’s what everyone wants to think it is or does think it is. You can earn status without stepping on a plane with certain programs-
Tori Dunlap:
Wow.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… which is wild to think about. It can be through credit card spend. It can be through shopping through the shopping portals. American Airlines is very popular in the points and miles community for their program because you can earn status without stepping on a plane or help-
Tori Dunlap:
Alaska is doing that now, too.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yep. Delta switched their program. A lot of people hated the changes that Delta made to their program. I actually have a hot take on it, and I think they’ve made it easier to earn the lower tiers of status. They’ve made it harder to earn diamond, which is their top level of status that you can earn. They have an invite only program above that. But that’s, we’re not talking about that for us.
Tori Dunlap:
That’s Mark Cuban.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I don’t even get that one.
Tori Dunlap:
Mark Cuban has a private jet. It’s not Mark Cuban, but you know?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
It’s like the CEOs who are spending $150,000 on these airlines per year.
Tori Dunlap:
Who are on four flights a week.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. But by holding two of Delta’s credit cards, the reserve card and the platinum card, which if you’re flying them a lot like I am, I hold both of those cards, which is another thing we should maybe get into about some of the credit card stuff.
Tori Dunlap:
We do.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
By holding the Delta Reserve Card and the Delta Platinum Card, they have these things called status boost, and you are going to earn… I forget. It’s either 2,500 or 5. I think it’s 5,000 total. So by holding both of those cards, I’m basically earning enough to have silver medallion status without stepping foot on a plane. And a lot of programs are like that. Then, you can earn-
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, the Alaska Airlines Card, they just started that last year. And so, what I did was I travel enough. I travel quite a lot, but not like you. So I was getting to the end of the year and going, “Oh, I’m like 3,000 miles-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
This close.
Tori Dunlap:
… away exactly from status.” And what status gets you is anything from, okay, lounge access. Checked bags is probably the most common one.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Priority boarding.
Tori Dunlap:
Priority boarding. Every time you fly, you’re getting more points-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Miles, you’re earning more.
Tori Dunlap:
… and miles for that.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. It is so-
Tori Dunlap:
TSA pre-check, CLEAR.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Pre-check.
Tori Dunlap:
This is such a minor thing. Alaska, you’re not paying me to say this, but you really, really should. I’ve been trying for a very long time, but they give me, if you have, I think it’s gold status with Alaska, which is 40,000 miles a year, you get a little chocolate on board, and it’s only for people with that status or higher. And they always look at you and they’re like, “Victoria, thank you for being.” I’m like, “You’re welcome. Thank you.” And I don’t know why. Travel’s hard. I look forward to that chocolate. It’s like a really nice chocolate bar. And then, I sit there, and I eat it with my pretzels. And so, it’s a nice little chocolate pretzel, and I don’t.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
It’s recognition.
Tori Dunlap:
Exactly.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
It’s just like, you’ll-
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, the best thing is I get premium seats for free. So I get a premium upgrade no matter when I fly for free.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
You’re automatically in. For Delta, it’s comfort plus whatever. It’s like the premium economy seats. I get upgraded immediately after booking into those, and then I’m on the list for first class. There’s upgrade certificates that you can use to put yourself in there for certain flights.
Tori Dunlap:
I’m flying home from New York with an upgrade certificate.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I flew to and I’m flying home from New York with an upgrade certificate.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, so I’m in first class. I don’t have to worry because of that. So again-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
For drink certificates, just little things that make your life easier when it comes to travel. You have dedicated phone lines. I think that’s another underrated one.
Tori Dunlap:
Huge, massive.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
When things go wrong, my number one tip for when things go wrong is get your flight rebooked if you’re canceled or delayed or whatever. And so, when you have status, there are people who are sitting there and are looking at this, and they’re going to work through the list of people who need to get rebooked, and they’re going to start with the people who have top status. Now, you can be standing in line at the airport and doing all of that too, but there are other people behind the scenes that are actually doing this. So oftentimes, I’ll already have an agent who has either placed me on hold for a certain flight or has rebooked me, and they’re giving me options because of status. So that’s another area where it can really benefit you, and they’ll put me… They’re like, “Oh, I’ve held you on this flight because there’s maybe only a standby seat available, but you’re confirmed on this one,” and they’ll just work with you to keep you flying them happy.
Tori Dunlap:
Totally. Yeah. And I think, again, with earning status, my number one tip is become loyal to an airline. So you’re Delta, I’m Alaska, but I fly Alaska even when it’s slightly more inconvenient because I know that’s going to get me to status quicker. If-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And when things go wrong, they’ll take care of you.
Tori Dunlap:
Exactly. So if you’re bopping from airline to airline, if you’re in your early 20s and you’ve got to do that to travel, fine. But I will say it makes travel a lot easier once you start saying, “This is my preferred airline. This is who I’m going to fly unless it’s like they don’t have a route or unless it’s extremely inconvenient.” When you become loyal to an airline, they’re going to become loyal to you.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. I’ll fly Delta even when it is more inconvenient. Let’s say I have to take a layover there instead of a direct flight, but I know I’m going to be probably in first class. I can enjoy the lounge. I have a way more productive day at the airport because I’m flying, and I’m able to pull my laptop out and not feel like I’m sitting in between all of these people and I am such a nuisance.
Tori Dunlap:
Well, when you’re bigger girls too and I [inaudible 00:54:07]
Janelle Rupkalvis:
My broad shoulders.
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, yeah. That is the worst experience when I’m next to this 6’5″ dude, and I’m just like, “I can’t breathe.” It’s awful.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. And then, I’m just like, someone reclines their seat, and all of a sudden, my laptop is in my chin and I’m trying to work. And so, those sorts of things just make your life so much easier and better.
Tori Dunlap:
Totally.
Still waiting on that sponsorship from Alaska Airlines, but in the meantime, here’s a word from our podcast sponsors. They allow us to do this show that’s so valuable for free, and we appreciate you staying and listening to those ads. After the break, we’re talking more about credit cards and then doing a little rapid fire to end our time together.
Okay. One last question about credit cards, and then we’ll do a rapid fire.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Okay.
Tori Dunlap:
But if I’m trying to decide between airline specific card versus general bank card or hotel specific card versus general bank card, what’s the logic there? What would you rather go with?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I would start first with a general bank card because you have-
Tori Dunlap:
So a Chase and an Amex and Capital One?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes, their version of the card. So not a co-branded card is what the other ones are called, so you’re going to start with those because you have more flexibility with your points because of the transfer partners. You can transfer them to airlines. You can transfer them to hotels. If you have a Delta credit card and you’re putting your spend on it, you only have Delta miles. So when we’re talking about, oh, that Virgin Atlantic deal that you saw, you’re not able to transfer your Delta miles over to Virgin Atlantic. But if you held the Amex card and you put all of your spend on the Amex card or some of your spend or whatever, you can transfer those points to Delta. You can transfer them to Virgin Atlantic. So it gives you flexibility for when you want to use your points.
So I would always start there, but then when you do become loyal to certain brands or you find yourself staying in these hotels or airlines or whatever a lot, it is helpful to open their own card. It gives you a lot of specific benefits just for that airline or that hotel, both in benefits when you’re actually staying there or flying them, but also earning benefits that you’re going to get, too.
Tori Dunlap:
Totally. That’s great. You know? You went viral for eating backpacker meals at a five-star resort in the Maldives and the internet interneted and just absolutely gave you so much shit for it.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
They love or hate it.
Tori Dunlap:
Okay, but what does this tell us about how and when we spend money traveling? So you’re in this five-star resort pool and you’re eating ramen, and people were so angry about it.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, they’re like-
Tori Dunlap:
But tell me, not only why are you doing that, but how can we relate that to our own travel experiences? What can we learn from that experience?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
It’s figuring out what works within your budget. I want to go on these nice experiences more often. And what that means is that I can’t spend $10,000 on a trip, which you will spend if you go to the Maldives for a week because prices there are crazy. So to supplement that, we brought backpacker meals because we knew we had a hot tea kettle that we could use. No microwave, just a hot tea kettle. So we brought ramen, we brought backpacker meals, and people were like, “Why’d you go to Maldives if you can’t afford it?” It’s not that I can’t afford it. I’m choosing to spend my money in other places.
Tori Dunlap:
Yep. And she also went out for a nice meal-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Oh, we did.
Tori Dunlap:
… but if we were doing that every single night-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
The dinners every night were $400, and that’s with-
Tori Dunlap:
Because the Maldives, they ship the food out, right?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. It’s-
Tori Dunlap:
Because very little of the food there. I don’t think any of the food there is-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No, they don’t have crops.
Tori Dunlap:
Right. They don’t have crops. So if you’re getting a steak in the Maldives, that is not from the Maldives. There’s no cows in the Maldives.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No, everything is imported, and then there’s all these taxes. It’s called the plus plus. It’s a service tax and a actual tax from the government. It’s 26% going up to 20-
Tori Dunlap:
26%?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
26% on top of the prices. That’s how you start adding up all of these things. So the price is already high. A cocktail is $36-
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, God.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… and then you have to add the 26% on top, so it’s not including. You know? And so-
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, so it’s like, wow. I want to see this place. I think it’s so smart, and it’s why I love following you is it proves that you can have these luxury, lovely experiences or whatever luxury means to you and also decide, you know what, the reason I can do this is because there’s other places I’d rather not spend my money.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. It’s just like I take the train to the airport and fly business class.
Tori Dunlap:
Yes.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
It’s the same concept of where I’m-
Tori Dunlap:
Literally, I was in the bus in Paris after getting off a flight in business class.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. And it’s just choosing where I want to spend my money, and that allows me… So because we brought backpacker meals, instead of having to be a little bit frugal at dinner every single night and like, “Oh, we’re going to split this meal and not have any drinks or whatever,” we were able to then, when we did go out, not have to worry about it because we didn’t spend it every single day. We didn’t spend all of this crazy money. We were able to just… And honestly, sometimes you don’t want to. I just don’t want to have to go and have a sit-down meal every time. Then, my other option is ordering room service. No, I can have some ramen in my five-star resort pool. And I love it. I’m having a great time. That stuff doesn’t bother me. It might bother certain people, and they’re going to choose not to do that. And they might choose to save in other ways, but I look at the way the things that I-
Tori Dunlap:
I think anybody listening totally gets it. Yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. I think that’s what I want to do with my money, and I don’t regret it. We’ve done it twice now. This was our second time in the Maldives, and we brought the backpacker meals there.
Tori Dunlap:
And she was like, “I’m going to piss everybody off again.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. We do reviews of them. We’re like reviewing our backpacker meal in the five-star resort in the Maldives. And so, we got a whole rating system this year.
Tori Dunlap:
No, I love it.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
It is fun. Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
Taste, texture-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes, all of these things.
Tori Dunlap:
… mouthfeel.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. And so, it’s just like figuring out what works for you just like every personal finance is personal. So you have to figure out what makes sense for you, your lifestyle, what’s important to you. My parents, for example, they’ve never been into fine dining, going out to eat. That’s not how they want to prioritize their money. And so, they’ll spend their money on other things, and that’s totally okay. I’m a big foodie. I love going out to restaurants and trying new things, but I’m going to prioritize then. Let’s say we’re in Italy. I want to go to this Michelin star restaurant in Italy. So then, maybe I’m just going to have a croissant for breakfast, and that’s how I’m able to afford those things. It’s just figuring out what works for you.
Tori Dunlap:
Or I’m not going to get the Uber to the airport. I’m going to use public transportation, and that’s fine.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Exactly. Exactly. So I love finding ways to make things work for you. And you don’t have to follow the traditional model of what everyone else does-
Tori Dunlap:
Totally.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… people going there. Think outside of the box and find something that works for you.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, make it work for you. Okay. You are 6’2″?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Six feet, but with a shoe-
Tori Dunlap:
Six foot?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Six feet with no shoes. So basically, anytime you see me in public, I’m minimum 6’1″.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. Okay, six-foot-tall plus size woman who makes her living on the internet.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
And similar to me, you get a lot of shit for it.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Oh, yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
Why is it important for you to represent fat or plus size girls, especially with travel and content creation? And what ways do you receive discrimination when you’re traveling that maybe somebody in a smaller body wouldn’t?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I think one of the biggest ways that I see discrimination, and it’s not necessarily intended that way, but people think that fat people don’t want to do active things. So this paddleboard isn’t inflated properly. So actually, it’s sinking because it’s underinflated, which will be fine for maybe normal people, but my body needs a fully inflated paddleboard to go on it or this kayak. They’re like, “Oh, you’re going to go on the single kayak and not do a double,” those sorts of things. Or robes in hotel rooms. We’re staying in these five-star resorts now. The one in the Maldives, they ask-
Tori Dunlap:
Or the towels that don’t wrap all the way around you.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Oh my gosh. This morning in my hotel room… Those sorts of things and instances happen all the time. And you kind of have to… I don’t want to say you have a thicker skin about it, but I know I’m going to Vietnam. The average height of a woman in Vietnam-
Tori Dunlap:
It’s like 5’2″, isn’t it?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Five feet.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Five feet tall. This is when I went.
Tori Dunlap:
You got a full foot.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Actually, this whole suit was custom-made in Vietnam.
Tori Dunlap:
And it fits good.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And so, I’m going there, and they’re like, “Oh, you’re going to have to pay a little bit more because we need more fabric for you.”
Tori Dunlap:
There’s more fabric.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
There’s a whole fashion industry conversation we can have about that, but I get it there. I’m going to a small shop. They’re building their prices off of the average person, which is probably between 5′ and 5’4″.
Tori Dunlap:
That lives there, right? Not tourists probably.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Right. Exactly. But even the tourists, there’s not a lot of American tourists that are necessarily going there, so I understand that. And there, I was like, “Yeah, no problem.” I was still able to get a great deal, great experience. I haven’t personally received a lot of mean comments, and I think when I have or seen comments-
Tori Dunlap:
In person at least, yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, in person. Online, that’s a whole other story.
Tori Dunlap:
Online, it’s every second.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
But in person, they all say things more factly-
Tori Dunlap:
Matter of factly?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… more matter of factly of like, “Oh, you’re in a bigger body. We need you to go in this thing. Oh, you’re a big girl.” And I’m like, “I know I am. I’m towering over you.”
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. It’s not a judgment. It’s fact.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes, it is. And so, they’ll say things, but I think we can sometimes internalize that so much and feel bad about it, but instead, just saying, “No, that is a fact. Thank you for finding me the solo kayak that I can go on.”
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, the thing that is going to make this trip successful.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
That allows me to do this. Yeah. And so, I think making sure that you are in a good mindset to just accept those things that are fact versus when I go to Amsterdam, I’m short there. The Netherlands are tall, so I’m like, “Oh, this is amazing.” So every country is a little different. You just kind of don’t know what to expect, but don’t feel bad for asking for what you need. One of my favorite tips is when I go to resorts that are higher end resorts where they have the robes already in the hotel room.
Tori Dunlap:
Spa robes. Yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I call down to the spa and ask them because a lot of times, the spa has a wider selection. The standard robe they just throw in the room is-
Tori Dunlap:
And they put everybody in bigger robes at the spa typically too because they’re comfier.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, so I call down, or I’ll stop by the spa when I’m going to the resort. I’m like, “Oh, do you guys have a larger size robe that I can bring up to my room?” And if they have it, I’ve had no issues with them accommodating it. So those are some of the things that I’ve experienced. But online people are just… I think it’s important to show up online and showcasing that we can do things in bigger bodies, and we don’t have to be ashamed about it. We can be confident with it. We can take up space, and that is so important to me to talk about because people feel like they’ll… I’ll get comments and videos that say, “Oh, did you need a seatbelt extender for this?” So what if I did? I’m sorry. I’m safe.
Tori Dunlap:
Well, and that’s one of the things I love and I wanted to bring that up is I’ve seen multiple videos of you-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
Do you just-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Just asking for it.
Tori Dunlap:
Hi, flight attendant. Can I have a seatbelt extender, please? There’s no shame. There’s no, “Oh, I’m so sorry.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I don’t need to be quiet and meek about it either. It’s crazy. Those videos go really viral, and it makes me happy that people are seeing this, and that’s why it’s going viral. But in the same breath, it also makes me sad that that simple act is so hard for people, and I want to normalize that. I want them to feel like you don’t have to be ashamed for asking these things.
Tori Dunlap:
Nope.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
You are taking care of yourself and doing what you need to do to experience these things. And that is not only okay. You should be doing that and advocating.
Tori Dunlap:
It’s an accommodation, and accommodations are so needed for the vast majority of people. Whether you have a disability, whether you are in a bigger body, these are the things that are so important.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And in the content creator space, I receive a lot of hate online. So many videos go viral.
Tori Dunlap:
You and me both, girl.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Sometimes I limit my comments because I just don’t want to deal with the influx. I want to be able to focus on the comments that are beneficial. So I’ll limit them to just people who follow me and people I follow. So then, I’m able to actually answer questions. That’s more so why I limit them. And it just gets-
Tori Dunlap:
It’s also okay if you’re just like, “I’m done hearing people-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. I just don’t want to hear this anymore.
Tori Dunlap:
… call me a fat cow today. I’m good not hearing that for the 17th time today.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I’m over it. But then, sometimes I have fun with it, and I think-
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, me too.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… I get a lot of comments in person and when people meet me or DMs that say, “I love how you handle the haters online,” because I don’t need to back down to them. I can clap back. It’s a way for me to showcase my humor and wit with my audience, too.
Tori Dunlap:
Same for me.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And it’s really fun that way to showcase and show that it’s not that serious. So then-
Tori Dunlap:
You don’t have to take it.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No. I don’t have to sit here.
Tori Dunlap:
If you are coming into my space, it’s like you’re coming into my home, and I’ve invited you into my home. And if the moment you step foot on my welcome mat, and you go, “You’re unlovable, and you are so ugly and disgusting and fat,” what do you think I’m going to do? I’m going to slam the door in your face. You’re not coming. I’m not serving you food. I’m not here to make you comfortable if you come in and that’s the energy you’re bringing immediately.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And the notion that people… I hate when people are like, “You should just expect this when you go online.” I’m like, “Oh, we’re just expecting that people are going to be assholes, and we’re just allowing that?” I’m-
Tori Dunlap:
There’s no HR for our jobs. Sorry.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No, I am HR. I’m legal.
Tori Dunlap:
I am HR. HR is me.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I’m marketing. I’m sales. I’m everything. So I’m going to handle this how I see fit. Sometimes-
Tori Dunlap:
And especially if you’re coming to me with that energy, I’m going to match you at that energy, and if you can’t handle it, then don’t come at me with that energy.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Right. It’s just fun to poke at these people back because I think sometimes they feel like they’re invincible on this side of the screen.
Tori Dunlap:
Because they’re anonymous and they’re men, typically.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, and it’s worth to shut other people down. So many content creators who have reached out to me saying they appreciate what I post about with these haters, and they’re like, “I’ve stopped creating,” or “I don’t create as much because I’m getting this hate. They’re showing that it’s normal,” and unfortunately, it’s normal. But these attacks, even though they’re trying to come at you as a personal attack, it’s actually not personal at all. They are doing this to everyone. They don’t really care.
Tori Dunlap:
They do not like themselves, and that’s what’s going… Yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. It’s more about them than me.
Tori Dunlap:
Totally.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And so, I think just having fun as much as you can, and then when I don’t have the capacity or bandwidth for it, we limit those comments.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. We’re shutting that shit down.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
Okay, rapid fire. You ready?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
Favorite card and why?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Oh, my favorite card is the Amex Platinum Card because I am a bougie traveler who wants lounge access, and I want to earn more points on my travel, so I can fly business class.
Tori Dunlap:
That is one of my cards as well.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes.
Tori Dunlap:
Worst card and why?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I mean-
Tori Dunlap:
Say some names. Call people out.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Okay. I think any card, if we’re talking like the Home Depot credit card, those sorts of things where it’s like, “Okay, instead use the travel-
Tori Dunlap:
TJ Maxx card.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. Don’t be opening those cards.
Tori Dunlap:
Store credit cards are awful, and they’re usually-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Those perks are not worth it.
Tori Dunlap:
No.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
They might be.
Tori Dunlap:
And they’re usually super predatory. I have a whole section in my book about the Victoria’s Secret card.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. Oh my. That was a huge one.
Tori Dunlap:
They prey on 18-year-olds who now just have their own credit for the first time or the ability to sign up for a credit card without a co-signer. And they don’t know it’s a credit card because they’re not being open and honest. They’re like, “It’s a rewards card.” And there has been so many people in our community who have signed up for one of those cards and went into debt because they had no idea, but-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
That this is what they’re getting into.
Tori Dunlap:
Yep, awful.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I think some of the other worst ones are like if it’s not even necessarily the card itself, but it’s the sign-up bonus when you’re going for. So I think every card can, in the travel space, can have a time and place depending on your life, your credit, what you’re willing to take on. But when you’re signing up for something that has a 20,000 points sign-up bonus, wait until they’re elevated.
Tori Dunlap:
That’s not very good.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, those sorts of things.
Tori Dunlap:
Most overrated card in your opinion?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Is it bad if I say it’s also the Amex Platinum?
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, no. I also agree with that.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I think it’s-
Tori Dunlap:
I love that card, and I also am like*
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I think it’s overrated because a lot of people sell it in the sense that it is the best card, blah, blah, blah. For most people, it’s actually not. That’s why I think it’s overrated. It is great that people-
Tori Dunlap:
I’m fully in the Chase Sapphire Reserve camp again.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Oh, yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
I signed up for that card and was like, “Oh, okay,” and then signed up for the Amex Platinum. Loved that until they stopped letting you bring a guest in to lounges, and the lounges are so… I think they gave way too many people that card post pandemic. And so, it doesn’t feel-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Well, a lot of people are talking about it more, too. So there was a lot of gatekeeping in the travel space, and that’s why people like The Points Guy have done so well because they’re actually putting this stuff out there-
Tori Dunlap:
And you.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… and other content creators that are out there that are talking about it. And so, now, people were able to get this card, and now, they’re changing all of the benefits because they’re like, “Oh, shit. People heard about this card, and now, our lounges are full.” Now, people-
Tori Dunlap:
Every single time I’ve been to the lounge in Seattle in the last six months, oh, maybe one exception, there has been a line out the door. And I’m like, “What’s the point of this?”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Exactly. So that’s where I think maybe they girl boss a bit too close to the sun.
Tori Dunlap:
Truly.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
So I think that that card is also my… It’s my personal favorite because of my travel lifestyle, but it’s also probably the most overrated for most people.
Tori Dunlap:
Best underrated travel destination.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Oh my gosh. Vietnam.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I’m obsessed with Vietnam.
Tori Dunlap:
It’s on my short list.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I think anywhere in Southeast Asia, I think, is incredible for a lot of reasons, the people, the culture, the food-
Tori Dunlap:
The food.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… but also the US dollar goes really far there, and that is a privilege that we have as people who are earning the US dollar. You can go there, and you feel like you are just-
Tori Dunlap:
A king.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. You’re like, “Oh my God. I’m going to get a massage every single day because they’re $12 for an hour long massage.” I’m not kidding you. I went to the spa every single day. Same thing in Taipei I did. I got my hair done in Vietnam. I got Botox in Vietnam. I got this suit made in Vietnam. I’m built by Vietnam right now.
Tori Dunlap:
Built. Made in Vietnam.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes, I am made in Vietnam right now. But I love Southeast Asia for those sorts of reasons because it’s just experiences that you wouldn’t get if you are going to fly to Florida, let’s say. You’re not going to get that same experience with your money. So when we’re talking about finding cheap flights earlier, okay, so you find a flight deal to Vietnam that’s maybe $600 on economy round trip. You could have flown that to Florida. But now, when you get to Vietnam, you’re staying in a nice hotel for $50 a night.
Tori Dunlap:
Truly $50.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes. We’re not… A meal there, the best way to describe it to American travelers that haven’t been abroad much is like a fast casual type of restaurant. They’re these places where you sit down, they have a very short menu, and you order the bun cha or the banh mi, and they make it really, really well. It’s two US dollars. So you can truly go to Vietnam on such a small budget. If you stay in hostels, you can even decrease your daily budget needs. And I love that destination so, so much.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. Best packing hack?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Number one, pack an extension cord. That’s my number one thing that I pack.
Tori Dunlap:
For phone chargers and stuff?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, I mean, especially if you’re on a trip with girls or your partner, you never know what this extension cords or what the outlet scenario is going to be. And then, so I have an extension cord that just sits in my travel bag that has USB, USB-C, all these things. And sometimes it’s like not only is it not convenient, but maybe it’s really wobbly, so you can’t put in your laptop charger in this one. So I got my little extension cord that I plug in. That’s my number one thing I pack. And I mean, packing cubes. I think a lot of people talk about those.
Tori Dunlap:
I love those.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Those are great. Put an AirTag in all of your bags.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, I need to do that. I don’t know.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
If there’s one thing I can tell everyone to do is have an AirTag and make sure you change those batteries, so you’re not using them.
Tori Dunlap:
Yes. I need to do it.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
But when your bag is lost, it’s such a peace of mind to be able to know where it is. One time, I was on a flight, and I knew that my bag didn’t make the flight before the flight took off because I could see that my bag was farther, and it was a snowboarding trip. So I was already on my phone looking up like, “Oh, where can I go when I land to go buy more snowboarding gear?” And it’s just now, airlines are starting to be able to use that AirTag information to actually locate your bag, so also get that
Tori Dunlap:
The place that you think in five years is going to pop off?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
This will be like the Croatia of today.
Tori Dunlap:
I loved Croatia before it was cool. Gosh dang it.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And now, it’s really popped off.
Tori Dunlap:
It was the Game of Thrones effect. Dad, I don’t know if you know this. Croatia is the hot place to go now.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, it is.
Tori Dunlap:
And we went on a Mediterranean cruise when I was 13, and I was like, “This is the best place I’ve ever been in my life. I loved it.” And now, everybody’s there.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I think the next place is Turkey.
Tori Dunlap:
I’m sure.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I love Turkey so much. It was such an underrated destination. I always really wanted to go. I brought my dad and my partner with. We went-
Tori Dunlap:
Did anybody get a hair transplant?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
No, but I was like, I thought it was such a trope. And then, you get on your flight to leave Turkey, everyone has-
Tori Dunlap:
No, you get on the flight, and there’s like 10 people.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Not even the flight, when you’re walking around the city, everyone just has the bandages. It’s so normal. If you ever wanted to get one go there just like in South Korea. I’m headed there in April. People get this salmon sperm injected in their skin. It’s this new thing, and you have all these dots on your face. Apparently, a friend just got it done over there. She was like, “Oh, it’s so normal to walk around here because everyone gets it done.”
Tori Dunlap:
That’s so funny.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Whereas you walk around here and they’d be like, “What is wrong with your face?”
Tori Dunlap:
What are you doing?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
“It looks like you just got run over by a,” I don’t know, “someone’s tread on there.”
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
So it’s crazy, but I think Turkey is going to be the next destination because it shares the Mediterranean with Greece and whatnot. And so, you’re getting that same experience of the Mediterranean-
Tori Dunlap:
Without the Santorini craziness.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… without the Santorini prices, without the Santorini crowds. And the food is so good. It’s so much more affordable. I just can’t wait to go back. I love it so much.
Tori Dunlap:
I haven’t been, but my theory is going to be Latvia, Romania.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, I can see that.
Tori Dunlap:
I think those are some of those countries that are just beautiful and pristine, but also need a lot of our love right now because they’re close to Ukraine. And so, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a couple of those.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, too. Some of those places I think that are gorgeous destinations that just haven’t had maybe the tourism money or investors even to kind of bring more Western travelers over there.
Tori Dunlap:
That’s a larger problem we’ve talked about on the show before of trendy travel and then just absolutely overrunning some places, and especially people who are not considerate, who don’t tip well, who are the classic Americans that we think of when they go and travel these places. And it’s like, it’s really important whenever we travel to show up, to respect cultures, to not just support big corporations while we’re there, but local businesses and everything. So I think that any country that ends up getting on the map, okay, great, but they’ve always been there.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. And your dollar means so much to them in these places too because tourism is a big livelihood in a lot of these locations for how people make their money, and they don’t leave their countries necessarily all that often because it is much more expensive for them and also harder for them to get visas to a lot of these places. So that’s a whole other portion of it, but I think that again, you’re going, you need to be respectful, responsible and know that we have a lot of privilege and share some of that with the locals when you can.
Tori Dunlap:
Tip really well.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes.
Tori Dunlap:
Tip really well.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Oh my gosh, always, and they just appreciated my… I hosted a group trip in Bali, and we had an incredible guide. He was so amazing. We had talked to him. We got to know him over the eight, nine days we were there, and he really wanted a guitar. He had been telling us about this. So we all tipped him really, really well at the end, and we told him, we’re like, “Please use this to go get your guitar,” and he did. Two days later, he sent us a photo, and he went and bought this guitar. I have chills talking about it.
Tori Dunlap:
[inaudible 01:16:34] make me a little teary. That’s really sweet.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, and he was just like, he-
Tori Dunlap:
Everybody’s people, everybody’s human.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yes, and he just had mentioned that this was something that he really wanted to do and get into and a hobby that he wanted to have and just had never had the money to really spend on himself.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, it wasn’t accessible.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. And so, we all made sure we piled up all of this money and we’re like… So he had enough tip money that he could use it the way he normally intends to use it, but then could also buy his guitar.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, which is fantastic.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, he was happy.
Tori Dunlap:
Okay. Anybody listening who is intimidated, overwhelmed by either points, by traveling, by international travel, what is your last thing you have to say to them?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
You have to start somewhere. Travel anxiety, flight anxiety, anxiety over just the complicated systems, visas, all of that stuff, it is difficult, and it’s okay to be overwhelmed by it at first, but know that there are so many resources out there today to learn how to do this. I think about my parents’ generation who didn’t have the internet at the time to be able to learn these things. Now, if I have a question, I Google it. There’s probably a blog post somewhere of someone talking about this, having a similar experience.
Tori Dunlap:
There’s a video from you.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. There’s all of these resources. Go on to TikTok and search your question or your travel destination. And I think with flight anxiety specifically, there are the tools like if you… My mom had a lot of flight anxiety, so she didn’t travel for a number of years really unless she absolutely had to. And we wanted to go to Bali as a family, and my dad, brother, and I booked it together. My mom was on the fence. She did end up booking it, and she was so scared about the flight there. We got her global entry, we got her TSA pre-check, which comes with global entry, CLEAR, lounge access. We flew premium economy. We were able to upgrade our ticket. That’s another way to do all that. But even if you don’t upgrade your ticket, just being able to have some of these little luxuries can help reduce your anxiety so much because it gives you a quite-
Tori Dunlap:
It doesn’t feel like this big buildup.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. You’ve got a quiet space. You’ve got a quiet space to… The lounge is less chaotic. So think about what makes you, if you’re an anxious traveler, what really does make you anxious? Is it the lines? Is it the loud chaoticness of the airport?
Tori Dunlap:
It definitely is for me.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
I don’t have flight anxiety, but I hate… As much as I travel, you’d think I’d like it by now. I like it a lot better with all the fun things, but those are the only things now that have made it doable for me. I don’t think I could travel this often because I hate… I don’t sleep on planes. I can’t. And so, it’s just like anytime I’m on a plane, I’m like counting down the hours. And so-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
The hours. You’re just looking at the plane map-
Tori Dunlap:
Literally.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
… being like, “Are we almost there?”
Tori Dunlap:
I’m like, “Oh my gosh, we’re still 20 minutes outside the city we left.” But when you’re in a nicer seat, even just slightly more room or you’re not in a middle seat-
Janelle Rupkalvis:
An exit row even.
Tori Dunlap:
Right, right. And you had maybe a meal before, so you’re not stressed about, “Oh my gosh, I got to buy the $14, I don’t know, popcorn.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
$14? You mean like 25?
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, sure.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I was like, you’re giving them a lot of credit these days.
Tori Dunlap:
$14, I don’t know. $25 breakfast sandwich.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Whatever, yeah.
Tori Dunlap:
It is. It’s so much easier. And it’s not perfect, but it’s easier.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And go in knowing that it won’t be perfect. Things will happen. Flight will be delayed.
Tori Dunlap:
Yes, things will always happen.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And be calm because yelling at the gate agent isn’t going to help. They are just trying to help you, in fact. So just remember some of these tips. That’s why we’re having and learning about this before you go about your credit card benefits and things can help you stay calm during these situations. Now, when my bag gets lost, I’m like… Bag, bag. Now, when my bag gets lost, I look at it as like, I’m like, “Oh, I guess it’s a shopping spree on Delta.”
Tori Dunlap:
On Daddy Delta.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. Daddy Delta’s paying for this. I’m like, “Oh, they lost my bag on my way to Europe for the Christmas markets trip. I had to buy new snow boots, a new coat, all of these things.”
Tori Dunlap:
You’re like, “Oh, shoot. I have to go shopping.”
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I was like, “Oh, no.” And I mean, it takes time out of it, time out of your trip that you weren’t going to maybe have, that you weren’t planning on spending, but you just try to find some of the small wins in it. And I’m like, “Oh, cool. I just got a partially new wardrobe thanks to this.” You try to find the small joys, and I think traveling has really made me appreciate those small things. So even now, when I’m home, I appreciate my own bed, getting fresh flowers. I appreciate being able to cook my own meal and use some of these things that I’ve learned while I’ve been traveling. So I think it just makes me really grateful overall, and I love that about travel. So try and remember that nothing is perfect in life, but try to find those little moments.
Tori Dunlap:
And again, I think these things that we’ve largely viewed as, “Yeah, it’s just for guys in suits. It’s for people who are multi, multi multimillionaires,” these things are accessible to you. It might not be tomorrow, and it might not be first class shower on a plane, but it might just be… You know what? I can get this free or very discounted flight to go home for Christmas every year.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. Spend time with family, be with loved ones, make memories.
Tori Dunlap:
It’s accessible. It’s more accessible than you think it is.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
And it’s really fun to start seeing some of these travelers and people out. I love going into a first class cabin, seeing younger women in there especially because I started traveling, and I was probably starting to hit first class at 24 because I got crazy and wanted to hit diamond status immediately after I got silver and then went straight to diamond on Delta. And so, I was getting upgraded to these first class cabins, and you’re next to these old guys in suits that are whatever, and people kind of think that you don’t belong maybe. But as we see more and more people learning about these things, you’re seeing these cabins filled up with just so much more diversity, and it’s just so great to see.
Tori Dunlap:
I love you. I love your work. Where can people find more about you?
Janelle Rupkalvis:
My name is Janelle on a Jet on all social platforms, J-A-N-E-L-L-E. I’m on TikTok, I’m on Instagram, I’m on YouTube, so you can find me there. I would love to have you a part of this community. I talk a lot about travel. DM me your questions, let me know you listened to this episode, screenshot it, put it in your story, tag me. I love getting feedback from these types of podcast episodes. I’m so grateful that you had me on this podcast. This is-
Tori Dunlap:
We’ve been meaning to do it for a while.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I know. Not even in Seattle. We both live in Seattle and-
Tori Dunlap:
And we’re doing this in New York.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah. I mean, I guess that really does make it like a travel podcast, right?
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. It kind of is, so there you go.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yeah, so thank you so much for having me.
Tori Dunlap:
Thank you.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
I really appreciate it.
Tori Dunlap:
Yay. Thanks.
Janelle Rupkalvis:
Yay.
Tori Dunlap:
Thank you so much to Janelle for joining us, and thank you for your friendship, Janelle. I don’t know if you’re listening back to this episode, but hi. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate it. Thank you for sharing your expertise with everybody. You can find Janelle at janelleonajet.com or at Janelle on a Jet on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram. She shares so many incredible tips on her social media, including flight deals, strategies for plus size and curvy travelers, but also is just such an inspirational resource. Every time I see her on a flight somewhere, I’m like, “Where’s she going? What’s she doing? I want to watch.” So check out Janelle wherever you can.
Thanks so much Financial Feminists for being here. We appreciate your support of feminist media and the show. Please share it with somebody that you think would also find it valuable. And you can follow us at Her First $100K on Instagram, on TikTok, on all of those places or herfirst100k.com/quiz to get a brand new free personalized money plan.
Last but not least, if you are in a market for a credit card and you’re wondering which ones I use and love, you can go to herfirst100k.com/tools to see my recommendations. It’s a great way to continue supporting our work, and you can find more information about those credit cards if they’re a good fit for you, again, at herfirst100k.com/tools. We’ll link it in the show notes, too. Thank you for being Financial Feminist. Thank you for being here. We’ll talk to you soon. Bye.
Thank you for listening to Financial Feminist, a Her First 100K Podcast. For more information about Financial Feminist, Her First 100K, our guests and episode show notes, visit financialfeministpodcast.com. If you’re confused about your personal finances and you’re wondering where to start, go to herfirst100k.com/quiz for a free personalized money plan.
Financial Feminist is hosted by me, Tori Dunlap. Produced by Kristen Fields and Tamisha Grant. Research by Sarah Sciortino. Audio and video engineering by Alyssa Midcalf. Marketing and Operations by Karina Patel and Amanda Leffew. Special thanks to our team at Her First 100K, Kailyn Sprinkle, Masha Bakhmetyeva, Sasha Bonar, Rae Wong, Elizabeth McCumber, Daryl Ann Ingman, Shelby Duclos, Meghan Walker, and Jess Hawks. Promotional graphics by Mary Stratton, photography by Sarah Wolfe, and theme music by Jonah Cohen Sound. A huge thanks to the entire Her First 100K community for supporting our show.
Tori Dunlap
Tori Dunlap is an internationally-recognized money and career expert. After saving $100,000 at age 25, Tori quit her corporate job in marketing and founded Her First $100K to fight financial inequality by giving women actionable resources to better their money. She has helped over five million women negotiate salaries, pay off debt, build savings, and invest.
Tori’s work has been featured on Good Morning America, the New York Times, BBC, TIME, PEOPLE, CNN, New York Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, BuzzFeed, and more.
With a dedicated following of over 2.1 million on Instagram and 2.4 million on TikTok —and multiple instances of her story going viral—Tori’s unique take on financial advice has made her the go-to voice for ambitious millennial women. CNBC called Tori “the voice of financial confidence for women.”
An honors graduate of the University of Portland, Tori currently lives in Seattle, where she enjoys eating fried chicken, going to barre classes, and attempting to naturally work John Mulaney bits into conversation.
