NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast - ‘This or That’: Lightning Round

Episode Date: March 31, 2023

The travel Nerds have all sorts of opinions on when to get to the airport ahead of a flight, what sorts of upgrades or perks are most valuable to them — and of course, whether to check or carry on a bag. In this episode of Smart Money, the travel Nerds answer some lightning-round questions on their takes. To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email [e-mail]. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend.

Welcome to the NerdWallet Smart Money Podcast, where you send us your money questions and we answer them with the help of our genius nerds. I'm Sean Piles. Today we have the final installment of our This or That travel series, and it's a lightning round. Our travel nerds have been doing deep dives with us over the past month with all kind of tips and tricks on travel credit cards, points, and more. So we decided to put them on the spot, like any good TSA agent would, and fire off a bunch of either-or decisions for them to ponder. Okay, we actually didn't let them ponder at all because it's a lightning round.

So let's start with Sally French, NerdWallet travel writer, who joined us to talk about the benefits of a travel credit card versus a cash back card. Here we go. Three, two, one. Sally, carry on or personal item? Okay, I am one of these wild people who not only do I not check bags,

but I intentionally try not to put bags in the overhead bins either. One, it's just like kind of out of spite that they're so full all the time, but also I'm four foot ten, so I can impressively go on like a four-day trip with everything that fits in a backpack underneath my seat. Okay, I have a family of very small people as well. And I think there's a benefit to that. Your clothes are smaller. You can fit them in a smaller space. That is true. I sometimes troll people who bring like five roll-in suitcases, but I do need to be honest that like I can fit way more stuff into a smaller space. For sure. All right. Hotel points or airline miles?

Which one would you collect if you could only collect one? I really don't mind having the middle seat or the tiny seat with a horrible no leg room. So I'm going to go with hotel points because I do like all those fancy hotel upgrades. Early check-in or late check-out? Probably early check-in because I always have lounge access, so I don't mind just hanging out at the airport lounge instead. Yeah, and for late check-out, I want to get my day going. I don't need to hang around a hotel room. Right, I'm totally an early to rise. I'm not laying in bed all day. For sure. Priority pass lounges or restaurants? Well, I do find that lounges can be really relaxing, but I do think the quality of the

food at the priority pass restaurants is almost always better than the lounge food. So if I'm trying to actually eat a meal, I will say restaurants. But if I'm like in a flight delay and I just want to hang out and work, then lounges. Got it. Premium travel credit card or no annual fee credit card? Sean, can I have a premium credit card with no annual fee or is that not an option? I don't make the rules that that's an option potentially, but there's gonna be a compromise somewhere, right?

I will say I don't mind paying the annual fee because I almost always maximize the benefits, in which case premium travel credit cards always deliver me way more value than the no annual fee credit cards. Hotel pool or hotel gym? Sean, did you know that I was a total gym bro? In fact, I can deadlift triple body weight.

You're still a gym bro. I'm still a gym bro. But that said, I obviously love working out on vacation, but usually hotel gyms just don't cut it. There are a few that are amazing, but usually they're just like sad. The dumbbells go up to like 20 pounds, in which case I love me a good pool. Okay, while Sally is checking out the pool, our next contestant is travel writer Sam Chemis,

who helped us evaluate whether it's better to book an Airbnb or a hotel room. Premium economy or economy? Economy. I'm a cheapskate. I'm with you there. Okay. Do you buy your seat or just pray for a good one? Pray for a good one. I can't bring myself to pay for a seat. All right. And do you book last minute versus far in advance? Hotels I always book last minute. It's often cheaper.

And flights I usually book in advance. How far in advance? Anything between two weeks and several months doesn't really matter. Okay. Maybe you can correct me on this, but I found that two months is the sweet spot for me when I'm trying to book air travel. Are there any rules of thumb around that? Earlier is usually better, but anything between six months and a month is usually pretty good. And global entry or a TSA pre-check? Global entry. It includes TSA pre-check. Oh, and what about clear? It seems like a scam to me. Is that legit? It's not a scam, but it doesn't get you that much for the cost.

Okay. What's the benefit of it? You get to skip part of the security line. Doesn't seem better than TSA PreCheck or Global Entry to me. It's an add-on to this, so it's actually a separate thing. I see. Budget airlines or full service carriers? I do full service carriers, mostly because of the cancellation policies. I've been burnt by budget airlines, and so I am a never again-er when it comes to those. All right. Thanks, Sam.

And next up, we have travel writer Alina Geller. We talked with her about the choice to stay loyal to one airline or hotel while you're trying to accumulate points or spread out the love to give yourself more options. Let's see about her options today. Hotel room upgrade or airline seat upgrade? It depends on how long the flight is and how big of an upgrade we're talking for the hotel room. Okay, I need some details. Okay, so if the hotel room upgrade is going to be from no view to city view, but I'm never going to be home, then that's not really helpful.

But if I'm going from a regular room to the master suite with a sunken tub, then yes, I'm going to take that. Nice. Booking two one-ways or round trip? Normally, I would say booking two one-ways because it just gives you a lot more freedom and you don't have to do anything else if, let's say, you need to change your return leg. With the two one-ways, everything is independent. Okay. But can that also be more expensive sometimes or no? Yeah, so just wanted to mention my answers are really about points. When it comes with cash, two one-ways could be more expensive than a round trip. So it really just depends on where you're going and how you are paying for your ticket. All right. Early flights or end of day flights?

Ooh, how early? 6 a.m. And what is end of day? 7 p.m. 7 p.m. for sure. Why is that? Because 7 p.m. means I can work until let's say 4 p.m. and then head to the airport to get there by 5 and then fly at 7. So in a way, I've had one full day in a normal, calm setting, and then I could just go to sleep and enjoy the next day fully versus a six flight, you have to be at the airport at what like four, that means you're waking up at three. So like your whole previous evening and the whole day, you're going to be super tired. Yeah, well, what I worry about with an end of day flight is that all the delays will stack up and there might be a cancellation or a delay on my flight. And I just don't like dealing with that level of anxiety. Oh, that is true. I

guess I roll the dice. Okay. Boutique or chain hotels? I think chain hotels because what I find is with boutique hotels, I can't use points at those. So I feel like, yeah, like on Instagram, it looks really cute when people are staying in these boutique hotels, but they're paying for those hotels. I prefer just a free stay and maybe my room is not as cute and Instagrammable. Because you are deep into the points game. Exactly. Do you pick a hotel based on amenities or on location? I would say location. And why is that? Because the amenities are only so helpful. So if you need the location because you want to be in the center and you want everything to be 10 minutes walking distance from wherever you're

going to be going, that's going to matter much more than if the hotel is going to have some fancy amenities. I mean, of course, it depends on the trip, right? Like if I'm going to a resort, that would be a different answer than if I'm going on a long weekend to a brand new city. Yeah. But if you're going to be in a city, you don't want to be Ubering everywhere because you have a hotel all the way at the outskirts of town. Exactly. Well, now I want to book a resort. All right. And our final contestant in our this or that lightning round is NerdWallet Travel Team editor Megan Coyle, who joined us earlier in the series to weigh using points versus cash for your travel bookings. All right, Megan, are you ready? I'm ready.

Okay, first up, carry-on only versus checked bags. Ooh, I'm a carry-on only girl. I cannot wait for my checked bags at the end of a long flight. You know what I mean? For me, it's a trust thing. I want to see where my bag is. I want it to be by my side. And also, it's the timing. I don't want to have to get there early and have it go through the entire system.

So I'm totally with you. Yes. Oh, my gosh. One time I actually did not get there in time by like one minute. And it was terrible. Oh, no. So what happened? It was Christmas. And my mom had given me like an expensive bottle of wine. And I was like, I had to go through normal TSA,

like security check with that bag. And I was like, can someone please drink this? It's a really nice bottle and I just can't take it. So you mean you didn't just chug it right then and there? I wish. Too bad it was five in the morning. Ooh, yeah. Okay. Well, next question. Early airport arrival or last minute arrival? I'm a last minute girl. I just don't really like waiting at the airport.

I know there are airport lounges, but the whole place just gives me stress. I feel you. But arriving place just gives me like stress. I feel you. But arriving last minute gives me stress, too. Hearing this answer just made me feel stressed out. I like to be there at least an hour before my flight. Oh, no. Yeah.

I'm the kind of person who's going through TSA. I have pre-check, so I'm not even waiting in a long line most of the time. Get there. Go visually. See that my gate does exist. And then I find somewhere quiet to sit and read a long line most of the time. Get there, go visually, see that my gate does exist. And then I find somewhere quiet to sit and read a book. And that's fine. Isn't it funny that we all have to see where our gate is as if we can't count to like 48 and you're like, oh, that is. Next question, public transportation to the airport or an Uber? Okay. I live in LA. There is no public transportation to the airport that's really

feasible. So I Uber to the airport. Or honestly, my other big hack is if you have a partner or a very good friend, the best thing they can do is drop you off at the airport. All right, Megan, favorite in-flight beverage? Ooh, I love having ginger ale on flight. I don't know why. I'd never drink them in real life besides like when I'm sick, maybe. But in the air, that's my beverage of choice. Yeah, I got to say, I'm a big fan of the spicy tomato juice, which people put in Bloody Marys. But for me, it's like having a little snack, a little bit of spicy tomato soup while I'm in the air.

Gazpacho, if you will. All right, and that is it for our lightning speed round. And all four of our contestants are winners because they gave us all such great advice. And that is all we have for this episode. Do you have a money question of your own? Turn to the nerds and call or text us your questions at 901-730-6373. That's 901-730-NERD. You can also email us at podcast at nerdwallet.com.

This episode was produced by Megan Coyle. We had editing help from Tess Vigeland. Kaylee Monaghan mixed our audio. And a big thank you to the pros on the NerdWallet copy desk. Visit nerdwallet.com slash podcast for more info on this episode. And remember to follow, rate, and review us wherever you're getting this podcast. Here is 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 with that said, until next time, turn to the nerds.