Modhop Podcast

It was a bit of a rough start to Anthony’s most recent visit to the Philippines. This time, he’s got his wife along to visit family and TRY to have a great time. Listen on and find out how AR got things back on track.

The podcast returns after a year-long sabbatical and Anthony's been doing all (or most of) the travelling. Hear tales of hawker stands , infinity pools and the great people of Singapore as we try to get our pod-chops back.

Anthony is back from Ireland with stories of beautiful countryside, cows in the road and tips for travel. From Galway to Dublin we dive into the details of his trip and learn what YOU can do to make your next Irish trek a better one.

We were so excited to just sit down an do a new podcast, we forgot that this was our 100TH episode! Our plans for a star-studded salute to our pod-body of work was barely afloat at this point anyway so probably for the best that this is just a low-key event. That said, there was some wacky shenanigans aboard a Virgin Atlantic flight this week so we cover that along with a sweet discount for Uber One and point you to a solid breakdown on the current state of high-annual fee credit cards. Plus, we chat about Anthony’s trip to Texas and commiserate about finding good flight deals right now.

AirBnB axes a covid-era cancellation policy and Jake forgot where Charlotte was in North Carolina…and such. We’re back with a few travel tidbits to cover along with random bits of domestic treks of our own. Get the early Spring vibes of Lake George, NY and Charlotte, NC (Anthony knows where it is) in our latest podcast. Listen now…

The podcast returns after the guys get through another busy holiday season. Jake and Anthony dive into the planned revamp of the US passport renewal process and touch on more unruly behavior in the skies. Amex Platinum is on Jake’s chopping block once the increased new nearly $700 fee comes due so we break down why it’s not the value it used to be. Also, we finally wrap Anthony’s trip to France and Italy with his stop in Milan filled with drinks and apartment balconies with trees.

We dive right into the second part of Anthony's Euro vacation with a chat about Lake Como. He dishes about what to do and what local hops are worth the walk. Plus we dig into changes to the American Express Business Platinum and why it and it's consumer level sibling are losing the war against perk-fatigue. Also, what the heck happened at Southwest? Listen here!

Anthony is back and has lots to tell us about his first Covid-era overseas trip. Because he’s full to the brim with shareable info, we’re breaking it into a 3 part mini-series starting with Nice, France. Everything from how he got there to what you’ll need to do in order to get into a restaurant. Plus, travel news with Jake, parasailing and more!

We start re-shaking off the rust as we dive into the 95th Modhop Podcast and diving into a ton of Chase-related news. Our fave travel points are up for grabs with a generous bonus for an initial spend on Sapphire Preferred AND news of a Sapphire Lounge trickles in. Plus, United's got plans to get places faster (like, BOOM fast) and we explore our bad spelling. It's all here, listen...

Anthony welcomes a new chair to his home office while Jake reconsiders Karaoke. Just a few of the topics the guys ramble on about in this episode of the Modhop Podcast. Plus, we explore a story about a Spirit passenger losing it mid-flight, new British Airways first class meals at home and FREE perks for getting vaccinated. Listen:

Jake and Anthony talk about scooter and bike programs in their respective towns (Hoboken and Jersey City, respectfully). A man is now free after Hertz ponies up his alibi and New York lifts quarantine restrictions. Plus, we toss around the idea of doing live events. Listen...

The guys are back after a couple of months of work chaos. We get some rambling out of our system and chat about being off-brand before providing few details on how to start our own businesses. Travel? Sure, why not. Greece has a big to-do this Summer, we'll talk about that and tell you why stay-cations are still a good use of points. Listen... News Transcription As of today, restrictions for US Citizens travelling to Greece would have you in quarantine for 7 days on arrival BUT that’s a few days from expiring. It could always be extedned but maybe some CAUTIOUS Summer planning? To that end, One of Europe’s oldest festivals is ON for this year. The Athens & Epidaurus Festival celebrates some of the worlds greatest performers in the world of dance, theater and music. The festival has some cool history, it says here that “Up to the year 2005, the Festival was held exclusively at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens and the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus…” , it’s since expanded to neighboring sites as it grows but the original venues are within an awesome archaeological site with tons of history. Hop to greekfestival.gr if you want to take a look AND Modhop for our recent look at top Greek must-see places. Host of one of my favorite OTHER podcasts, Miles to Memories’ Mark Osterman. Wrote up a helpful rant about Chase’s recent 10x points-for-dining promotion, noting that you’ll need to use their own dining portal within the Ultimate Rewards website to get the extra points. Ultimately, limiting who you can order from and it’s highly likely not somewhere that you were considering in the first place. He points out that it highlights a disturbing trend of similarly deceiving offers from card issuers so tage a good look at those offers when you get them. Add the Miles to Memories podcast to your cue, their crew hops on a ton of useful points and miles news and tips like that.

It's our last pod before Christmas! Jake talks about how he used his few minutes with Alicia Keys via a company (SiriusXM/Pandora) sponsored Zoom meet & greet to confirm details of something he saw at the JFK Concorde Room in 2014 (at the start of "#mileburn2014"). Plus we dig up a quick tip on "secret" Chase Ultimate Rewards partners, find out we're not CNN's fave podcast AND finish our interview with our YouTube pal Joel Bruner. Listen now.

Building on the opportunities he's had traveling with and contributing to the blogs of travelling foodie Mark Weins (Migrationology, Eating Thai Food), Joel Bruner is charting his own YouTube course. After hitting some travel headlines, we talk with Joel in part one of our interview about the journey so far and how he's handling his growing popularity online.

We skip the whole news portion to talk with Jake’s longtime radio friend and co-founder of Emotional Support Threads Deena Lang about a whole Thanksgivning-style cornucopia of topics. From cleaning your AirBnB during covid times to travelling outside your political bubble, we cover lots of ground. Strap in for family travel tips and a few laughs. Listen now…

We may veer off course a number of times in this podcast so feel free to skip in a bit for news on an Amex Platinum bonus with tons of potential to earn. We also chat about the major airline alliances pushing for quarantine-free travel soon. Plus, we talk about Zoom backgrounds, seasonal sadness and online chats. Listen now.

Modhop hosts are fairly mild mannered but are apparently a nuisance as neighbors in your building. We talk at length about the noise problems in our respective homes but eventually get to some travel news and talk. Airline lounges are more open than you may have thought while Chase and Amex have some pretty good bonuses happening for existing card members. Plus, find out another reason why being a Federal Air Marshall might be less than fun. Listen…

With Friday naps behind us (well, one of us), we dive into new data about how likely it is that you’ll get covid 19 on a plane. Plus, it looks like United is going to storm back into JFK with a vengance in 2021 and we look at a European airline’s plan to put some chefs back to work. To top it off we’ve got some bad ideas for food on airplanes. Yes, amidst the rambling about sound effects and flu shots, there’s a travel podcast. Listen….

Jake shares an embarrassing moment of lost patience before diving into news about the new Flagship Centurion lounge at JFK, an app that proves you're healthy and an airline that's hangin' in there. Plus, we talk about where we'd want to live in Asia on the arrival of some sort of normal. Dig in and listen now...

Jake sets a record for getting off course talking about his new phone, why he’ll never fly a plane and his drug-dealing high school math teacher. Somewhere in the mix are our chats about the stellar IHG (Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, Kimpton) credit card sign-up bonus and tearful goodbyes from furloughed airline employees. The podcast is here, listen! News Segment Transcript -Chase keeps throwing up credit card deals so it might be time to check your 5/24 again. The bank just posted new offers for the IHG base and premiere cards. The no-fee card signup bonus is up to 100 thousand points (normally, it’s 75 thousand) with a 2 thousand dollar spend in 3 months. The step-up PREMIERE card bonus is up to 140 thousand points for a THREE thousand dollar spend in the same time frame. On top of that, the premier card gets it’s $89 annual fee waived for the first year and comes with a free night after your first year. Just stop it Chase. I’m already in on the Freedom Flex so I’ll skip this one for now but it’s a great bonus if you’re working your way back into business travel and the like. Our pals at Renees Points do the full reporting, check the link at our podcast page. -Did you see??? …the tearful goodbye of that American Airlines flight attendant on Facebook? She’s Breaunna Ross and with the help of her also-furloughed crew-mate on camera duty, gave a tear-jerking welcome announcement upon arrival at Dallas-Ft. Worth. Along with the typical “welcome to dallas” announcement came a thanks to her employer, passengers and all those she’s had the privledge to work alongside in her abliet short few years at American. Her situation similar to 19,000 other furloughed at American and as much as 40, 000 industry-wide. Airlines, Hotels and others are hoping for another round of emergency funds from the government. -Our pals at Boarding Area partner site One mile at a Time did a great but sad piece today on the current state of airline loyalty programs. Airlines have been leaning on these programs in the times of Covid and may do more of it when things get back to some sort of normal. Ben explains how “investors could soon trade frequent flyer miles” saying that it’s hard not to see further devaluations long term for frequent flyers. I’m sorry if that’s more of a tease than a story, but I’m not good at explaining value propositions in detail. I just sort of see where it’s going…SO.. I’ll give you the link to the nice work at Ben’s site.

The guys are back again with some long-winded banter about pandemic times wrapped around some travel-related bits. A couple of airlines are offering Covid testing, we’ll break down who and how much. Plus, we’ll talk about Jake’s unintentionally comical appearance on last week’s #figureitoutfriday with pal Deena Lang. Listen… News Transcript & Related Links: Airlines are doing all they can to jumpstart travel. United announced this past week they’ll be offering Covid testing before flights…F or testing right there at the airport it’ll set you back $250 or $80 for a home test that’ll have to be taken and overnight mailed back 72 hours before your flight. With Hawaii dropping their mandatory 14-day quarantine for incoming passengers beginning October 15th, Hawaiian AIRLINES is offering tests as well. Theirs is a little more affordable, set at $90 for a test that gets results within 36 hours or $150 for a day-of-travel rapid test. I’m now thinking Hawaii for Christmas, no? Boarding Area rock-star level blog OneMileat a time has the full rundown, check the link in the podcast page at modhop. https://onemileatatime.com/hawaiian-airlines-coronavirus-testing/?utm_source=BoardingArea&utm_medium=BoardingArea Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve done a slightly deeper dig into those removal of change fees on the big US airlines. It should be mentioned that (and I don’t know what we might have said about it in the last podcast) …those BASIC economy fares aren’t going to be eligible as part of the QUOTE permanent policy. That’s obviously outside of fee waivers provided during the Covid crisis. SO don’t be surprised once restrictions are lifted that your change fees are still present in those low-level fares. “Miles to go” podcast had a deep conversation with Seth Miller of paxex.aero about the fee changes and talk about what the word “forever” means to airlines. https://milestogo.boardingarea.com/an-awesome-hotel-promo-and-airlines-axe-change-fees/

We’re back to give our pal “Contributing Author” a break. We dust off our talking skills to chat about where US Citizens are currently welcome, why NOT to steal sand in Italy and vanishing airline change fees. Plus, we daydream (out loud) about where we want to go next.

After a few weeks of being too busy to pod, Jake and Anthony are back talking a little about travel news and a lot about continued lockdown. In news it's all about sanitizer on planes, Chase's latest round of perks to try and keep Sapphire Reserve customers and more. Plus, Jake talks to radio pal and host of the new podcast "My Jewish Parents" Mike Klein about what it was like to visit a (sort-of) socially distanced Myrtle Beach, SC over Memorial Day weekend. News Transcript: Sanitizer on Planes I gave some deserved applause to Delta on Twitter the other day for the hygiene kits they’ve been distributing on flights. BUT Have you ever tried to light hand sanitizer on fire? Turns out it’s classified as a flammable liquid, which is WHY (as pointed out on Boarding Area partner One Mile at a Time), airlines need special permission from the FAA to distribute it to passengers. Delta was ahead of the curve in asking by proving they’d only keep fairly harmless amounts packaged and stored safely. The other airlines were a little slower in the process with American just getting approval to distribute the bacteria-squashing liquid in recent weeks. From what we’ve seen airline kits have just tiny packets of sanitizer BUT right now, the TSA allows bottles of up to 12oz in your carry-on. (BUT JUST sanitizer. Other liquids are still capped at 3 oz each in a see thru bag). Chase Adds Perks to Sapphire Reserve/Preferred Well here’s good news for US. As die-hard fans of Chase Sapphire Reserve travel earning in the OLD normal, we’re happy to have some value added to the card in whatever this is that we’re living in NOW. Firstly, the annual fee has simply been lowered back to $450 until the end of 2020…that’s instead of the new $550 fee and a $100 statement credit that was the temporary fix. Effectively the increase to $550 just hasn’t happened yet. The annual $300 travel credit has been extended to gas and groceries …so stuff most of us are actually buying right now. AND, through September 2020 you can redeem Ultimate rewards points at a rate of 1.5 cents a piece for everday things like groceries, food delivery and home improvement. The latter benefit is in play for the Sapphire preferred card but at 1.25 cents per Ultimate Reward point. Boarding Area heavy-hitter “View from the Wing” did a nice writeup ... United Brings Back Lie-Flat to Transcon This was big news yesterday…UNITED is returning to lie-flat seating in first on transcon routes between New York/Newark and Los Angeles and San Francisco. After the resulting demand dropoff after the Covid19 crisis hit they had switched to mainly more fuel efficient 737s with recliner seats up front. Starting in June United will begin using a mix of 757, 767 and 787 Dreamliner aircraft, thus returning lie-flat seats. The airline expects about the same when they get around to scheduling for July but it shows how nimble they’ve had to become in their strategy. Good to see it happening though, hopefully we’re able to continue…WHO KNOWS?!

Antony and Jake barrel through kid interruptions (at Jake's house) with ease while catching up on grocery delivery strategies. We also talk about countries plans to restart tourism from a June 1 plan for Greece to Australia and New Zealand's "bubble" strategy. All that and the latest travel credit card Jake just got rid of...Listen:

Beyond our weekly grocery delivery chat, we peek into possible new solutions for social distancing on airplanes what it might be like to be a middle seat passenger post Covid 19. Plus, Anthony delivers his virtual-vacations online and we find some unusual beds at Tokyo Narita. Listen:

The guys dial up for another check on each other's health and mental well-being. We skim a few stories including what some airlines are doing to keep their money and what hotels are doing to help in the Covid 19 crisis. Plus, Anthony's got some good ideas for passing the time on YouTube that we look forward to chatting about next time. Listen:

Jake and Anthony dial in from their lock-down spots to talk about airlines extending elite status, the struggle to get groceries and what travel might look like in after-times. While Jake continues to build his emergency basement doomsday studio, his 800 square foot “home studio” brings the noise (dishes, kids playing) but we do our best to make a podcast out of it. Listen:

We're working on our connection but are getting some old AM Stereo-style static, so apologies for the fuzz. If you can handle that part, we get caught up on how each of us order groceries and how often we're going outside during the Covid 19 crisis. Plus, we talk about the Chase Sapphire Reserve $100 statement credit for existing members and Spirit Airlines sudden cancellation of flights to/from the New York metro. Listen here...

Our quickly evolving advice on upcoming travel is at a stand-still, much like most of our lives. Anthony is hunkered-down in Jersey City while we figure out how to do this remotely but Jake’s got some ideas for when you might want to start cancelling flights and takes an optimistic (and wild) guess at when we can start post Covid 19 travel-planning again.

The guys talk about old photos before diving into this week's travel headlines. Airlines get new guidance on cleaning planes in wake of Covid 19 fears while AirBnB now recognizes "extenuating circumstances" in it's change and cancellation policy. Good deals are found in Delta SkyMiles deals and why it's better to call to make hotel reservations. Plus, Will Anthony's Dad make it back home?

Jake rambles on about getting a few birthday parties in over the weekend before diving into a refresher course in pre-pandemic hygiene. Skip ahead of if you're already skilled at covering your mouth when you sneeze to hear about something new aboard Delta flights. Plus, Jake is further convinced to keep his IHG card.

Jake and Anthony get to quite a bit of rambling on subjects like outlet shopping, golden birthdays, tax time and more. Somewhere, we work in some sweet Bonvoy redemptions at luxury-level hotels, the new Centurion Lounge at CLT and side-eye an opinion piece from USA today about "free" travel.

Southwest leads the news with an unfortunately needed pre-flight announcement addition. Plus we share speculation about potential pitfalls in Alaska Airline's entry into oneworld alliance and debate the pros of solo travel. Also, I think Anthony is sick.

Jake and Anthony talk alternatives for NY flyers now that Global Entry is suspended by the feds. Plus we're excited about a possible Delta One business class lounge and curious as to why neither of us has flown on Southwest Airlines. Also, Anthony buys BTS tickets.

Jake and Anthony chat about flight cancellations, the extended Lunar New Year and we dig into new rules for "emotional support" animals on planes. Plus, Black Tomato's Tom Marchant stops by to talk about elevating your travel in 2020 and beyond.

Jake tries (and fails) to make his new battle with shingles sound not gross. Once we get past it, there’s news about a pretty fantastic IHG/Chase signup bonus. Plus, United restricts window shade usage and loses those pesky bag sizers at the gate. Listen:

Jake and Anthony go over the newly added Chase Sapphire Reserve benefits to determine if they're worth paying an extra $100 a month for. Plus we give new reasons to love Delta, talk about an out-of-the-ordinary culinary experience in Southern Spain and we check in on the price of shrimp in Chinatown. Listen:

Anthony knew better than to go anywhere near Times Square on New Years Eve so Jake is solo from the SiriusXM Pandora tower in NYC. It’s just a 4+ minute roundup highlighting a favorite year end tradition of someone else’s blog and a peek into some popular travel spots for 2020.

Jake and Anthony get feels for a new (and very temporary) Virgin Atlantic promotion before turning sad about lost bags in Seattle and floods in Ft. Lauderdale. Plus, a quick look back at our favorite travel moments of 2020.

We're both recovering nicely from the SiriusXM Pandora holiday party the night before. Listen as we sleepily slur news on American's new menu partnership, Delta's new anti-upgrade and an IHG hotel booking trick we learned from a Boarding Area partner...

After the guys talk about their favorite grocery delivery services and Jake finishes rambling about last week's sermon at church, we get to the good stuff... Mobile passport is enjoying it's rise while some of it's users get shuffled through customs faster. Plus, a Frontier Airlines reservation scare and more. Listen:

Anthony & Jake mumble plans for our third year of podcasting while getting ready for news. News brings outages for Air Canada, Alternate airport alerts from Google Flights and dig up advice on when to fly in December. Plus, a loose-rules trivia game that lets us know where NOT to visit.

After he rambles on about how tired he is, Jake's airport critique skills are put to the test (using airline-issued pics) as Swiss opens their new Alpine Lounge at Zurich Airport. Plus, get Delta "status" for free and fly a United regional jet...with your bag. All this and Anthony plays game-show host in our first and only "You Can't go There!" segment. Listen now!

An American Airlines flight attendant gets momentary fame for his pre-arrival wakeup call, Delta introduces a status-like subscription and new kiosks make it easier to get into Canada. Plus we discover a guide that breaks down Priority Pass Select membership differences among credit cards that offer them. All that and Anthony & Jake differ on another pronunciation.

United has new rules for achieving elite status beginning next year. We voice our opinion on that and Southwest’s decision to discontinue one of it’s popular discount fares. Plus, an instagram-getter warning if you’re headed to Hanoi. Listen now:

A favorite new travel site of ours, Culture Trip, explores new ways to encourage travel with inciting video and travel guides. Founder Dr. Kris Naudts talks to us about the importance of travel and tells us what the future holds. But for starters, we get into news about a new flight to Paris, a new hotel brand for Hyatt and a way to avoid kids on planes.

Another quick headlines and opinions episode brings news about the return of recently defunct WOW airlines, nasty quipping from United's Twitter team and possible new seats aboard your next Spirit flight. Plus, we'll talk about why it's still a great idea to go to Hong Kong.

A recent American Airlines flight had an unusual passenger this past week. We tell you what it is, talk about our favorite premium credit card and why your Global Entry renewal is taking so long. First, Jake reveals his musical past. Listen now!

More Italy?! Yep. 2019 has been a year dedicated to planning and eventual podcast highlighting Anthony’s trip, but we’re not finished. Former NY Boxing Commissioner and author of the new book “Glove Affair” visits to talk about all-things Amalfi. Plus, we’ve got news on fuzzy-faced flights from Newark and miles that don’t expire!

If plans have you flying to or from Hong Kong, recent protests at the airport mean you’ll need extra time and a map. We touch on recent events there and talk about Southwest’s newest flights to and around Hawaii. Plus, find out why my kids are singing the Canadian national anthem. Listen now!