Tess Vigeland
Appearances
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Turn to the nerds and call or text us your questions at 901-730-6373. That's 901-730-NERD. Or send us a voice memo at podcast at nerdwallet.com. And remember, you can follow the show on your favorite podcast app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio to automatically download new episodes.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
And here's our brief disclaimer. We are not financial or investment advisors. This nerdy info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes and may not apply to your specific circumstances. And Anna, happy Thanksgiving.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
And this is our weekly money news roundup, where we break down the latest in the world of finance to help you be smarter with your money. We'll go deep into a single topic, then leave you with the latest money headlines. And today we're talking about AI. And shopping. And AI. I think you and I can maybe just sleep for the rest of today's episode and, you know, let the robot overlords take over.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
I'm all for anything that stops the spinning of the wheels. This might be some folks' first time experimenting with AI of really any kind. So where do you suggest people go to get started?
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
So here's what I don't understand as a newbie to this world. If you have to enter a query anyway, why use ChatGPT rather than Google or Reddit or a review site?
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Fun.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
It's really a lot more specific.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Can we work through an example of finding a holiday gift together?
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Okay, so we're actually going to go to ChatGPT now. Yes.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Oh, yeah, I like that. That's much better. So for today's very special pre-Black Friday episode, we welcome not one, but two fellow nerds to the microphone. Amanda Barroso covers consumer credit for us here at NerdWallet, and Kurt Wook covers mortgages. But more to the point is NerdWallet's chat GPT experimenter-in-chief. Hey there to both of you. Hey, Tess. Hi.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Okay, so what happens next?
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
I probably go open a bunch of new tabs to search for them.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Legos, ouch.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Kurt, is that a deal breaker for you? I mean, if I see one price advertised, but then it's a different price when I actually get to the website, I might not be too happy.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast. I'm Tess Vigeland in for Sean Piles.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
So have either or both of you been just waiting for Black Friday to do your holiday shopping, or are you maybe done already with the help of artificial intelligence?
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Kurt and Amanda, is there anything people should watch out for when it comes to using AI?
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
All good advice. And, you know, honestly, I mean, we can't get upset with ChatGPT for not giving us the perfect idea because isn't some of that supposed to be up to us? Right.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Kurt Wook and Amanda Barroso, thank you so much for helping us out today. It's been fun. And happy Thanksgiving.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Up next, a few money headlines from the last few days. Well, Ana, if folks end up using AI to do their holiday shopping on Amazon, they'll be doing it in the midst of a labor action against the company.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Yeah, it's part of a campaign called Make Amazon Pay, launched by a coalition of international workers' rights groups. They say the protests are an effort to focus attention on wages and employee treatment, as well as Amazon's environmental sustainability record and corporate tax breaks.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
All right, Anna, this is the one time of year I'll do this. Gobble, gobble.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Well, that's just gravy, isn't it? The American Farm... Sorry, folks. The American Farm Bureau Federation issued its yearly Thanksgiving dinner cost analysis, and the average this year to serve 10 people is $58.08. That's down from $61.71 last year... and $64.05 in 2022. But it's still 19% higher than the pre-pandemic feast in 2019.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
waiting for the sales.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
I have indigestion just from that list. There is more if you want it. The Farm Bureau has an add-on menu that includes ham, potatoes, and frozen green beans, which would add $19.26 to the bill for 10 people.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Okay. Well, Amanda, why don't you start us off here? Why are we talking about AI?
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
Or green bean casserole, for that matter. We protest. And Anna, on our way over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house, we might pass some areas where folks have new neighbors.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
And sales were up 2.9% from a year ago, likely due to a drop in mortgage rates.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Santa’s New Helper: How AI Can Help You Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping
One final note here. You may have heard about President-elect Donald Trump's proposal to slap a 25% tariff on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico and 10% on goods from China. We'll have an explainer on what tariffs are and what that potentially means for your finances in next week's show. All right, that's it for this week's money news. We always welcome your money questions and comments.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
All right, Sam. Honestly, this sounds a little bit like gambling, and some listeners might be surprised to hear that you are allowed to bet on elections. That's legal?
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
We're going to talk about what they are, how they work, and how the election has raised their profile. Joining us is Sam Taub, the writer of the Nerdy Investor email newsletter. Sam, thanks for joining us again. Happy to be here.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
So it's vindication. What does Trump's victory mean for the regulation of these things? You mentioned that's an ongoing issue as well.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
Just like when you walk into a casino in Vegas.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
We should also mention that if you feel you have a gambling problem, there are resources available to help. The National Council on Problem Gambling offers a phone helpline at 1-800-GAMBLER. That's 800-426-2537. As well as text message help at 800-GAM. And also an online chat to help on its website.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
Go ahead and subscribe to that. Up next, we've got a few money headlines from the last few days. Well, Ana, the Labor Department reported on the latest inflation figures, and hey, guess what happened? What? Not much. The Consumer Price Index ticked up two-tenths of a percent in October. Prices were up 2.6% over the same time a year ago. That was higher than the 2.4% rise in September.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
So-called core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, stayed steady at 3.3%.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
Yeah, the Fed's current campaign of lowering interest rates began in September with a half percentage point cut, then another quarter percentage point a couple of weeks ago. It will meet again in mid-December.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
It's called click to cancel, and the FTC wants it to be as easy to exit those subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up for them. Companies are no longer allowed to force you to contact a customer service agent in order to get this done, and they can't convert a free trial to a paid subscription without getting your say-so.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
The Bureau also noted that some credit cards give users the option to block certain recurring payments. The click-to-cancel rule is supposed to go into effect about five months from now, so if you're desperate before then, there's a pro tip for you. And finally, Ana, it's time to get into the spirit of things. Not the holiday, but bankruptcy.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
Yeah, the discount carrier announced it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This comes after a couple of failed attempts to merge with Frontier and JetBlue. The company was dealing with a debt burden of some $3.6 billion.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
Second, the airline has not said anything about further cuts in routes after axing 30 last month.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
If you have vouchers, though, those should continue to be honored. And that's it for this week's Money News. We always welcome your money questions and comments. Turn to the nerds and call or text us your questions at 901-730-6373. That's 901-730-NERD or send us a voice memo at podcast at nerdwallet.com.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
And remember, you can follow the show on your favorite podcast app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio to automatically download new episodes.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
podcast. I'm Tess Vigeland, in for Sean Piles. And I'm Anna Helhosky. And this is our weekly money news roundup, where we break down the latest in the world of finance to help you be smarter with your money. We'll go deep into a single topic, then leave you with the latest money headlines. Today, we're talking about prediction markets. These are companies like PredictIt and Kalshi.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Just About Anything — But There Are Risks
And here's our brief disclaimer that Sam also read earlier. We are not financial or investment advisors. This nerdy info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes and may not apply to your specific circumstances.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
Among those creators, 44% are working full time, and that figures out to about 12 million full time social media influencers. That's just bananas.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
And this is our weekly money news roundup, where we break down the latest in the world of finance to help you be smarter with your money. We'll go deep into a single topic, then leave you with the latest money headlines. But Anna, before we get started, I want listeners to know that we are not ignoring the elephant and donkey in the room today.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
Well, we're going to hone in on one piece of FinTalk advice that's been making the rounds on TikTok for a while now. Some influencers claim it's better to invest in life insurance than a 401k for retirement.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
So Alana, what is the actual advice going around on TikTok? And is it coming from influencers who are also financial experts?
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
So part of an influencer's job is persuasion, right? So what's their reasoning for life insurance supposedly being a better investment vehicle than a 401k?
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
And I'll mention here that NerdWallet has an article that lays out the best whole life insurance companies depending on your needs. So if you are in the market for whole term life insurance anyway, not replacing your 401k, and you want to prioritize cash value growth, then you can find the best option for that in our write-up, which we'll link to in today's show notes.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
And unlike social media influencers, our insurance nerds have spent more than 2,950 hours reviewing more than 176 products for a little extra context. Wow, that's very specific on the hours there. Anyway, life insurance obviously is not the same as getting a free box of skincare to talk about on a TikTok video.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
But it does sound, Alana, like these influencers are incentivized to disperse this kind of advice.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
Yes. So we are indeed aware of a big news item in the headlines today. We're not ignoring it. We just didn't have all the information at the time of taping. I would imagine we'll talk about it on next week's episode. In the meantime, in case you missed it, we actually ran a four episode special series last month on how the presidential election could affect your finances.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
Excellent advice. Alana Benson, thanks again for helping us out today. Absolutely. Thank you. Up next, a few money headlines for the last few days. Ana, a couple of big economic numbers came out in the days before Election Day. The Commerce Department reported last week that the economy grew at a 2.8% annual rate in the third quarter.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
That's just shy of the 3% rise in gross domestic product in the second quarter.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
Yeah, consumers have really been the heroes of the post-pandemic economic recovery. We keep spending like the Energizer bunny. And in Q3, we spent the most on health care, food and accommodations, non-durable goods, and cars and car parts. I did not help there, though. My car didn't need any parts.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
Oh, no. Mm-hmm. The other big pre-election number is the monthly jobs report. And here the news wasn't so great. The economy added just 12,000 jobs in October, a huge drop from the 223,000 added in September. But remember what happened in October?
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
That's up a bit from a year ago when the unemployment rate was 4.8% and 6.4 million people were without jobs.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast. I'm Tess Vigeland in for Sean Piles.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
We usually hear from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesdays during these meetings. But instead, again, because of the election, he'll be delivering remarks on Thursday.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
And that's it for this week's Money News. We always welcome your money questions and comments. Turn to the nerds and call or text us your questions at 901-730-6373. That's 901-730-NERD. Or send us a voice memo at podcast at nerdwallet.com. And remember, you can follow the show on your favorite podcast app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeart Radio to automatically download new episodes.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
So we'll put links to those episodes in today's show notes in case you're feeling anxious about the results and you can get an idea for what to expect or visit nerdwallet.com slash podcast and you can find the episodes near the top of the page. With that, today we're talking about influencers and the sometimes not so great advice they give.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
And here's our brief disclaimer. We are not financial or investment advisors. This nerdy info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes and may not apply to your specific circumstances.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Life Insurance as an Investment? We Fact-Check the TikTok Trend
Speaking of a big following, there are quite a few influencers who are so successful at what they do, they're able to go full time with that gig. A study published last year that was cited in a recent Wall Street Journal piece claims there are 27 million paid content creators in the U.S.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
Craig, I wish I had had that or known about that when I was abroad. That would have been super helpful. I actually don't remember doing any international transfers of money. I always used either an ATM from a debit card with, again, no foreign transaction fees, and I had two of those from separate banks, or I used a credit card.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
When I did have a local bank in Bangkok, which, by the way, I had to hire a fixer to help me get that account, I literally would go and take money out of ATMs on multiple trips because I had a daily maximum withdrawal, and then I would deposit that in the local bank.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
It really sounds like a bit of a pain, but it wasn't because the rent was pretty low, and I just kind of got used to making those cash withdrawals. I would imagine even in these... Six years since I came back stateside that maybe there are easier ways today, as Craig has just outlined. That also depends on the country that you're in.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
I also did a little digging on the listener's question about banks that the U.S. and Spain have in common. The Euro-American Financial Advisors website points out that there are several international banks that work in this situation, including Deutsche Bank, HSBC and BBVA. Santander is another global bank with a presence in both countries. So you could go that route.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
It's pretty easy to find credit cards these days without foreign transaction fees. And I would echo that it is an absolute must. I also, like Craig, made sure I had a lot of financial redundancies in case I lost a wallet or something like that. So I had multiple credit cards from different banks. I think I took five or six with me abroad.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
And I would leave some behind in my Bangkok apartment when I traveled so that there would be backups at home, not with me. And then I traveled with two or three of my wallet just in case one didn't work at whatever restaurant or store street food vendor. Just kidding, the street food vendors in Southeast Asia generally didn't take credit cards.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
And one other note, it's really important that you get a VPN when you're traveling if you wanna be doing online banking because banks will often flag a call from abroad as potential fraud. So you wanna be able to use a VPN that connects you into a server in the US so that you can then do online banking with your bank. I had this happen multiple times where they would shut down my account
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
because they thought it was, you know, some scamster abroad. So definitely pay attention to that as well.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
Yeah, I lived through three tax seasons abroad, and my best advice is basically the same. Get a tax accountant back home. Have them do it for you. One thing that my tax accountant flagged while I was abroad was that the IRS requires that you disclose any foreign bank accounts.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
As I already mentioned, while I was living in Bangkok, I did have a local account at a bank there so that I could pay rent through them, and that information did go on my tax returns for those three years.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
Oh, delighted, I'm sure. Is this thing on?
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
In late 2015, I decided that I had had enough of normal life. So I packed up my household, put everything in storage, and got a one-way ticket to Saigon, Vietnam. Wasn't sure when I'd return. Maybe after a few months or so, went off with one suitcase, a backpack, and a photography bag. And then, you guys, I forgot to come home for almost three years.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
I lived in Saigon for about four months, then moved to Bangkok, Thailand. Ended up living there for two and a half years and using it as a hub to travel to and spend time in 20 countries throughout Asia, plus the Middle East and Australia.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
Yeah, I maintained the two stateside bank accounts that I already had, used those for cash withdrawals and paying credit card bills. I used Schwab and USAA because they both had no fee ATM reimbursements. Very, very important, as we've already said.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
I made sure that I went abroad with two bank accounts back home, each with significant funds in them, so that if for whatever reason one debit or ATM card stopped working, I had the other one available.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
I also alerted all of my banks and credit cards that I would be traveling abroad for an extended period of time so that they wouldn't look at what was happening and be like, that card is bouncing all over the place. I was bouncing all over the place. And, you know, I've been online banking for a couple of decades now. So doing everything online was just kind of par for the course.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
What to Know About Managing Money Before Traveling or Living Abroad
I managed bills from back home that way. And again, the ATM was very much my friend throughout Southeast Asia and beyond. But you really need to research what's best in the country that you're moving to or will be spending a lot of time in. And there's a ton of info on Facebook expat groups. And I imagine today places like Discord and other social media have those resources as well.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
I did. I went to Central Oregon, the lovely high desert town of Bend. It was beautiful. And I went to a Sting concert, the first one I've been to in about 30 years. And was it solo? It was not. It was with family and friends. So this is not a solo trip for me. How about you, Sally?
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
Exactly, exactly.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
Oh, dear. Did any of them make you lose your lunch?
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
Yeah. Mac and cheese cone? Yes. Sally, I'm on the next flight, and I would like an extra large bullhorn-sized cone, please.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
Well, we'll be getting a lot more details about your, shall we say, epic week?
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
So we established earlier that I am not a tour person. I am also not a line person. Basically, I have no patience. I've been working on that kind of my whole life. But Sally, I'm also guessing the park is not cheap.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
It is. Just you. You don't have to worry about when somebody else wants to get up or go to dinner or anything like that.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
Yeah, still worth it for that alone. And it's not just Epic that's expensive. In fact, NerdWallet just ran a survey about theme parks, and it found that of the 44% of Americans who plan to take a theme park trip, the average total spend is just over $1,400. Now, that does include tickets, transportation, lodging, food, souvenirs, but still, wow.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
Yeah, certainly not. Well, moving over to Europe, I just got back from there, in fact, Hyatt opened its first ever hotel in Croatia. Wow.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
You know, it's been on my list for a really long time. And I would imagine it could more easily become a favorite for a lot of other travelers. Hyatt says this is part of a bigger push to expand throughout the Balkans with plans to grow the Hyatt Regency brand there by 70% by 2027.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
You know, it's evolved over the years, but I'm mostly now a non-planner. Like, I'll get plane tickets, maybe a hotel, but other than that, it's all improv, and I avoid tours like the plane. But partly this is because I usually travel solo.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
This was the workaround people were using to effectively transfer Amex points to Alaska Airlines, right?
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
So once that closes, the only major transferable point currency that partners directly with Alaska will be built rewards, right?
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
We've got some bad news there. Megan is living her best life in Italy now, and I know she's going to be sad to hear this as Smart Travel's resident built fan.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
Built is
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
That's a pretty significant devaluation, and the current deal hasn't been live that long. Just two months ago, they announced you'd earn one point per dollar on rent with third-party cards from Visa, MasterCard, and Discover, so those earnings are getting cut in half. I know, it hurts.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
Ah, yes, the back door, or the front door, I suppose, would be the case. That's it, that's it. All right, well, that's it for this week's travel news, so let's get into your and Megan's conversation about how to save your sanity and your budget when planning your next trip.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
And I'm Tess Vigeland, in for Megan Coyle for this first part of the show.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
How to Plan an Itinerary That Saves Money, Avoids Crowds, and Unlocks Hidden Gems
Yeah, crowded airports, long TSA lines, all that ahead.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
All right, now Megan's off this week traveling for two, count them, two weddings, but you, Sally, are traveling for work. Where are you?
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
Wingardium Leviosa to Florida. Yes. That's a Potterland spell getting me across the country without dealing with TSA.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
All right, but for those of you without the benefit of a wizard wand, if you fly southwest, here's your reminder that all sorts of new policy changes are going to go into effect on May 28th.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
Yeah, I suspect a lot of listeners, though not you, carry on, only Sally, are going to be deeply disappointed to hear that come May 28th, Southwest will begin charging fees for checked baggage to travelers on basic, want-to-get-away plus, and anytime fares. And by the way, the names of those fares are changing soon, too.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
All right, another piece of airline news. Delta just dropped some new fare updates. And while they might look cosmetic, they could hint at bigger changes ahead.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
A travel experience. That kind of sounds like a fancy phrase for cabin class.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
Is it fair to say that you could call these changes extra?
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
Nothing wrong with being basic, I suppose, but not letting you earn miles is downright unclassy on Delta's end. Yeah.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
Imagine if it was only $245 for an annual pass today.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
You know, honestly, I earn way more miles with credit card purchases than I do with flights and airfare. So I don't know. I guess I don't completely hate it either.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
Sally, that is not the kind of seduction I appreciate.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
From anyone, for that matter. Time to hand the reins over to you and Megan to talk all things Disney.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
It's always a trip, Sally.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
Wait, I thought you and Megan were going to do an episode of Disney.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
Now, Sally, I think that would make Pluto's ears stand on end.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
Welcome to Smart Travel, a deep dive into the tips, tools, and tactics to maximize your travel dollars.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Disney Done Right: When to Go, What to Skip, and How to Save at Disney Parks
And I'm Tess Vigland in for Megan Coyle for this first part of the show.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
Megan, how many weddings are you going to again this year? Eight. Wait, who are you and where's Sally? I'm Tess, your producer. And Sally donned a red and white knit cap and left to travel the world and tell us about it. And from now on, the show is going to be called Where's Sally? I'm kidding, of course.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
And when they say largest, they are not kidding. This four-level terminal spans nearly half a million square feet and can check in 36,000 passengers a day for their cruises.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
We'll be doing an episode on cruises, and I'm sure she'll tell us about this once she's back.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
Yeah, creepy and convenient. I do have to say, though, if airports are stress-inducing, this specific cruise terminal sounds like the exact opposite. A calm, tech-powered welcome to your vacation. I do have to say, though, that our new airport here in Portland, Oregon is pretty calming, too.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
It is, you know, and it's this new crown jewel here in the arboreal Pacific Northwest, and they did design it to sort of feel like a forest, and it does.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
Yeah, Delta Airlines is pulling back on its growth plans for the second half of 2025, citing, quote, broad economic uncertainty. What? Translation, bookings aren't coming in quite as strong as expected, especially from cost-conscious travelers and cautious corporations.
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Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
Right?
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
So the airline is withdrawing its financial forecast for 2025, lowering revenue projections for this quarter. and reducing some of the capacity growth they had planned in the second half of 2025.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
Interesting. And we'll have to keep an eye on whether other airlines follow Delta's lead. But for now, it is a reminder that the skies aren't just shaped by jet fuel and weather. They're shaped by Wall Street, Washington, and global confidence, too.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
Probably at a wedding. Yeah. So, oh my goodness, eight weddings. That's a lot of travel to figure out, Megan, especially if it involves flight and what's likely to be at least two nights in a hotel, maybe a rental car, all to celebrate someone else's love story. And you're doing it eight times.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
Good news is the best news.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
Jeez, in this economy where we're usually watching grocery bills balloon, tip screens pop up literally everywhere, it's kind of wild to think that travel of all things is the one category that's actually becoming slightly more affordable.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
Now, what about the listeners who are thinking, wait, flying still feels expensive? You know, I get that base fares are down, but airlines are really leaning into those ancillary fees. You know, the bag fees, the seat selection charges, the boarding zone upgrades, all those extras that are not factored into the sticker price.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
All right, well, Megan, I'm packing my own free checked bags to go back behind the scenes so you and Sally can talk weddings and how to pay for them, both as the happy couple and as friends and family celebrating the big day. Yeah, Tess, are you going to any weddings this year? No, but I am heading this week, in fact, to one of the most romantic places on the planet, Paris. Does that count?
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
If I do, I'll let you know so you can talk me out of it. I think the extent of my relationships in and with Paris should be limited to, let's say, cheese, baguettes, and fashion.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
And I'm Tess Vigeland, in for Sally French. And we're the travel nerds, ready to help you plan your next big trip. At least, we're one half of the travel nerds.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
Thank you, thank you. Yeah, Sally will be joining you for the back half of the show to talk wedding travel. But right now, she's on a giant boat sailing away. And I mean, you know, it is a travel show after all. You both should be hosting from parts near and far every week.
Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
Oh, I can't wait to hear what the trees had to say. Yeah.