Grand Voyages Weekly Digest

Hello Grand Voyagers! Welcome to another Weekly Digest where I bring you some of the hidden gems and deals in Travel and serve them up succinctly to your inbox.

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*Sorry, I just can’t get enough of these two lol

Any other White Lotus fans out there? I tuned into the Season Three premiere last week with trepidation - Season Two was such a showstopper…..how could this one stack up?

Turns out it was awesome - Mike White delivers again! Tune in tonight for Episode 2… if you’ve ever been to Thailand, you’ll have an even bigger appreciation for what’s being served up. You can check out the Season Three trailer here. 

Warning though: If you have your eye on the Four Seasons Koh Samui though, think again. Not surprisingly rates have shot through the roof. A few years ago we stayed at Conrad Koh Samui and to this day, it’s one of my most memorable hotel stays…. and a full Hilton points redemption at that! 10/10 recommend the property if you’re in the market for a luxury stay on points. These days though, I’m more interested in checking out some of the ‘lesser’ touristed beaches and islands of Thailand… even quieter pockets like Jomtien and Hua Hin. Hopefully we’ll get back to Asia in the fall for a Grand Voyages production and I can bring you first hand intel from the field.

*Lake Como or bust!

My gosh, everyone is flocking to Europe again this summer! In my travel planning business pretty much 100% of my clients are booking for July in Europe 🤷🏻‍♀️ Have at it though if that’s what works for your schedule - just be prepared to pay for the privilege.

For example, luxury hotels in Paris are running up to $2500/night for an entry level room. I mean…wow!

Italy? Plan on the same for the highest luxury properties or you can ‘slum’ it a lower level five star property for $1200-$1800/night. Gulp.

I don’t think I can stomach July in Europe this year so I’m planning a trip over for April which is still considered somewhat of a ‘shoulder’ season and prices thankfully a bit cheaper. However, I’ll still be using hotel points where I can to defray costs, as well as points to fly over and back to save some money there.

Oh and I can’t wait to use my new Briggs & Reilly Cargo Backpack for carrying my share of Production gear! Did I mention we’ll be shooting a Grand Voyages documentary while we’re in Europe in April? Stay tuned for that!

*Upgrade your travel, upgrade your life?

Which brings me to my points strategy for 2025! I’m a decade-long travel hacking veteran and after many years juggling way-to-many cards and transferable currency programs, I’ve chosen to simplify my life and take a minimalist approach for this year.

I personally am a fan of the Capital One program after a long long history with Amex. Why? For starters, the annual fee is $95 vs. $695 and it gives me 2x points everywhere which is just pressing the easy button for me. I got fed up with the ‘coupon book’ nature of trying to justify that high annual fee on Amex Platinum for too long. Now I just put all my spending on this one card and it frees up a whole lot of mental bandwidth which is priceless for someone with a busy career and long list of projects to manage.

Capital One has also beefed up their transfer partners list and I can transfer points to the airline programs that work for my travel patterns and needs (as a west coaster) - Flying Blue, Aeroplan, and Avios.

If you haven’t joined the Capital One parade yet, consider using our Grand Voyages affiliate link to get a 75K welcome bonus + $250 travel credit. I’m using these points to fund my April Europe trip for business class award flights…. ask me how as I’m always happy to share travel hacking strategies 🙌

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In closing, the sweet spot for me in planning a Grand Voyage is combing airline points for long haul business class flights with a mixture of points and paid stays at hotels in the places I visit. As a travel advisor affiliated with Virtuoso, I can oftentimes get perks associated with a hotel booking that outweigh the value of using points.

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What’s your travel sweet spot ?

Are you a White Lotus fan?

What are your summer travel plans?

Hit me up in the comments below or reach out to me via email with your travel questions at [email protected].

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Have a wonderful rest of your Sunday and speak to you again soon!

Stacey

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