On Display with Melissa Gorga - Getting Straight to the Point(s) (w/ The Points Guy - Brian Kelly)

Episode Date: May 19, 2022

Melissa has a very special guest on this week's episode. He's a Housewives superfan who knows all about traveling on a budget, using points to your advantage, and the do's and dont's of flying. It's The Points Guy, Brian Kelly. What's the best day to book a flight? Which credit card should I use for this purchase? How easy is it to upgrade to first class? Is it ok to take my shoes off on the plane? Brian answers all of these questions while sharing his tricks, hacks, and best approaches to get what YOU want when spending money and traveling.  Melissa also spills the tea on what Housewives trips are really like, including a story of sneaking out late at night in Italy.  This week's sponsors: Credit Karma - Debt Consolidation: creditkarma.com/loanoffers SambucolUSA - Immunity Support: sambucolusa.com, promo code: Melissa (15% off order of $9.99 or more) Splendid Spoon - Plant-Based Meal Delivery: splendidspoon.com/MELISSA ($50 off first box)

You're listening to Melissa Gorga on display with me, Melissa Gorga on podcast one. It scans a website nonstop for you and then whenever appointments open up it'll shoot you an email so you can take it before anyone else. So many of my readers have been here. Are you kidding me? Where have you been my whole life? Hey, guys, so welcome back to another episode of on display. We have a different episode for you this week. I'm super excited. You guys are going to get so much information from this guy about traveling

about how you're going to use your money traveling, how you're going to get so much information from this guy about traveling, about how you're going to use your money traveling, how you're going to use your points traveling, what days to book travel, what airline to

book travel on that's going to give you the most. If you like to travel, you need to listen to this podcast because this is going to be so insightful for you guys. All right, he's basically the expert when it comes to taking advantage of loyalty programs and rewards points so that you can travel and enjoy life in an affordable way. He reaches over 11 million people a month

on his media platforms. You know him as the points guy, ladies and gentlemen, Brian Kelly. Hi. Hello, hello. I'm here to teach everyone how to travel like a housewife today. Oh my god. My listeners are going to be so excited to hear this. I'm actually looking for a bunch and I feel like I use my loyalty points and we'll get into that. But I want your advice. I want to

know how you do this. First off, let's just tell everyone, we did just recently me. I don't, was that the first time we met or we've met before that, I think? I think I was at the Pride, Margaret's Pride party that she did. I think we met briefly last summer, but I think we really chatted at the recent built credit card launch event,

which was so much fun. That was such a big, thank you. I wore all white to that. That space, what was that summit? What oh my goodness the space? Some in a Vanderbilt. Yeah, unbelievable. Like it was almost like there's so many mirrors and it's up so high in this guy It was almost like disorienting. I'm like am I drunk? Am I gonna crash into a wall here? It was disorienting and it was also like you were just floating in the middle of the sky, like no matter where I looked and I got confused at one point because there's some mirrors and I just thought it kept going and going and going and going so completely insane space, insane space.

But yes, it was so nice to meet you. I think and you know a lot of the housewives, you know, Duranda, you know, Margaret, have you met like all of these ladies? Have you met so many? I've met a lot over the years, Ramona, Fajora's a good friend, Fajora's hysterical. It's just kind of funny, like sometimes my friends call me like the housewives whisper, because I'm an avid, you know, die hard fan of the show, and I watch it.

I always bring it on planes with me. It's like my release. It's like everyone on my phone's not on. I'm like, I can just dive into like the latest episode. So yeah, the housewives to me are just like the perfect way, you know, a five hour flight goes by in like 20 minutes when you've just got like a bunch of shows to binge. Yeah, and you get to just watch other people's drama. And it's just kind of like that easy watch as much as stressful as it can be.

Like also easy watching for you people because you're just like, oh, look at these people go. It's just everyone says that we like to break your life feel better by showing you the drama in ours. Well, I'm and I'm actually excited to talk to you today because I want to ask you questions about what it's like to travel, you know, when you're working in production, like you still get a chance to like, like, your hair down or these like, when you come home from a housewise trip or you're like, that was a work trip. Or do you kind of feel like that was kind of a vacation?

Okay, let's talk about this then. There is absolutely no vacation at all, or glamour, or glitz, or enjoyments. And I'm terrible to say that, but it's the real truth. I mean, when you are wearing a mic pack from the second you wake up in the morning and for some reason when we go on these trips, it's more intense than if you're just home, like filming.

They do not take them like the cameras out of your room into your literally in your bed and your eyes are half shut because you drank three glasses of wine. And so you don't, you never take the mic off and you never really get, so I want to Milan, right? We want to Milan. I'm like, oh my God, it was my first time in Italy. No one can believe Melissa Gorgia never went to

Italy. I have the most Italian husband in the world. And like, go and I just started babies really young. And we were just like, you know what, we're not going to leave the babies because you need to go to Italy for like two weeks if you're going to go and you just never did it. So I went to Italy for the first time on the real house size of New Jersey. And I was like, I want to say, yeah, I want to see Milan. This is amazing. And it just, I could, it was like, you know, they need you first seen, they need you to talk over here.

I'm like, wait, I just want to walk the streets. Yeah, and Milan is so fabulous. Fabulous as an understatement. What I will tell you is this Teresa knocked on my door. And she and I remember Joe was home like you're not going to go out when you're done filming right? You guys aren't going to go anywhere because you know Milan is known as the most beautiful people in the world. There's super models like crazy. I was like no I don't think we're going to go anywhere. I like they don't let us stop filming. Well anyway Teresa comes in sneaks because the producers

were like do not leave this room because they let us, we were done earlier. Oh, this is like, this is like prison. Yes, it was like 930. They would not let us out of our room and Teresa knocks and we snuck out the back door. And we went to some like restaurant outdoor club. It was in sad. I was like, wait, this is Milan. This is the producers ever find out or did you really get away? They did. They did. They, they, and we were like, we just did it. Like we just wanted to go, you know, who was more mad? Joe Gorga.

He was like, what, where did you go? You guys went to some nightclub. I'm like, it's your sister's fault. Number one. And like, what do you think I'm going to do with your sister standing next to me? Not much. So,. So, you know, she's going to rat me out. Would you go back to, are you planning to like go to Europe now that the kids are older and every, you know, we're kind of through the pandemic, etc. Yes. Like did they want to go? Yes. So I, I mean, I don't know because it's like one of those things. I don't think it's fair that they get to experience it at least so young. Like I had a way so long. Like I almost just need to go with Joe and

like some couples first and then let them go like I want to go to the Amoffee Coast. I want to go to Pazitano like I you know I want to do these things that I don't know that a child is really going to appreciate the way that it's right right. You're so right there's so many different like northern Italy got it has its own vibe. Florence is amazing you know I even like some people like it has its own vibe. Florence is amazing. You know, I even like some some people like talk down on Rome, but Rome is so beautiful.

The Coliseum, like you really feel like you're transported in time. So yeah, I definitely think an adult trip just so you can really enjoy all of it. Yeah, that's. Yeah, I mean, I we're going to do it. We're going to we had it planned right before the pandemic and we ended up canceling it, but now we we're going to we're going to redo. planned right before the pandemic and we ended up canceling it, but now we're going to redo. All right, so talk to me about this. You're the points guy, right? Okay, so your platform has an incredible reach. You have a lot of Instagram followers. You have over like 600,000 Instagram followers as well.

Yeah, the brand account, you know, we're on TikTok. We've got millions of YouTube views. So I might weekly newsletter, I I think has about half a million people and most like our open rate is crazy on it. So yeah, we've got a super engaged audience because the end of the day, like people should be, everyone wants to travel. Most people don't know exactly how to do it.

And I think our team of writers, we've got a team of over a hundred people now, which is kind of crazy because this did just start as like a little blog when I used to work on Wall Street. You know, I started this in 2010 just to share tips. But there's so many ways to save tons of money to fly, you know, first class for basically cheaper than what coach would cost you. And it's just all about being smart about your points. And I just love kind of teaching people. And once people

are converted into points people, there's no going back. You know, like once you turn left on the plane and instead of being treated like, you know, cargo and economy, when the flight attendants come up and serve you champagne and you've got your life left bed, people are always like, now I know why you travel all the time because it's really nice when you're actually treated like a person. I'm not going to say it. Oh, yeah, it's a horse of a different color.

I mean, it's completely night and day, especially once you start traveling. That way, it's very hard to go back. You would almost sell like anything you had to be like, no, no, no, no, no, I can't go back or like I have to stay. Totally. So you also, I mean, you show people how to save money and take advantage of like loyalty programs. How did this start? How did you learn all of this? Well, it was funny in the 90s. So I was always a computer whiz. So when I was 12, my dad got a job,

and we looked outside of Philly. So he got a job commuting to LA like every other week. So one day he was like, I have all these frequent flyer miles. I have no idea. And if you can plan the trip, I'm one of four kids. And we would go to like the Jersey Shore, we would go to Orlando, like we were I grew up in a very kind of middle class family. We didn't do the international trips. I never went to Europe until I was in college.

But anyway, I figured out how to use this point to go to the Cayman Islands. And it was all about calling up the airline being super nice. And that is like one of my best tips. Like especially these days, I see it every day when I'm in the airport. I get it. People are frustrated. When the flights delayed, here's my tip. Do not take it out on the poor agent who's working the flight. Trust and believe those people want you out of there, you know. So like when there's being nice to flight attendants and to people at the airline can get you so much, because those people are just an underpaid, and they're just be rated all day. So in the 90s, I figured out, you know, call up the airline, be ultra nice, ask them how their day was,

and then those people, like, you know, this person's nice, I want to help you. And the airlines can actually go above and beyond if you're nice to them, like those gate agents have tons of power. If you're a jerk to them, they're going to tell you there's no flight for two more days. But if you're super nice to connect with them, you would be shocked at what, you know, you're going to with vinegar in this situation. A thousand percent. But anyway, so I started doing that in the 90s. It was just like a fun little thing every year. My dad would travel and then he'd be like, Brian, plan our trip. So we go to the Cayman Islands, Barbados, essentially for free. It was cheaper to go to the Caribbean than it was to go to the Jersey Shore, which was awesome. And then long story short, I worked for Morgan Stanley in 2007.

I think I'm going to get rich work in Wall Street, and then of course, the economy implodes. So here I am, and I was traveling like 50% of the time. So all of a sudden, I was kind of like my dad, where I had tons and tons of points, hotel points, airline points. But the big thing for me was the credit cards. So at Morgan Stanley, I was able to put all of my travel expenses on my corporate card

and that you could pay $95 and get those points for yourself. So it's a financial crisis. I never got laid off, but I wasn't getting bonus, disur paid. My currency was points. So it was funny. Like I would have $500 in my bank account. And I would take the sub-weight of JFK to fly Emirates first class to like the Seychelles in a weekend because I had all these points and I was traveling like a millionaire, but I literally was broken so. So that's kind of

yeah. Everyone, everyone truly, I had a lot of friends in those days that were like we thought you were on a trust fund because who else flies first class, like every other weekend. And it was all about cracking the code and maximizing all of my work expense. And nowadays, it's even easier. Like there's so many credit cards out there. Think about how much you spend on groceries. You know, the built card party that we were at,

you can now earn points on rent for no fee. You know, think about how much money for those who spend rent. So nowadays, it's really just about putting all of your expenses on credit cards. And most importantly, you have to pay them often full. So if your carrying huge balances, you know, the interest you pay

is gonna negate the value of those points. But I say instead of paying cash, put it on a credit card, pay that card off with the cash you would have used. And then that way, you're earning the points and your credit score actually goes up the more available credit you have. So I know a lot of people are nervous and saying, Brian, this sounds really dangerous, but if you are diligent and pay your bills every month and you pay them off and full, you break in these points and that's where the fun

begins. And that's what we teach people at the points guy. Joe Gorgah would love to hear this right now because he's huge the fun we teach people at the point obviously we have an AMX right so we do a lot of like the American express points. You know how many shoes I have bought in Neiman Marcus with my American express points. And honestly, because we buy

a lot of like our our American express bill is a couple hundred thousand dollars. I'm on. Right. So it's like totally of course because we buy, you know, there's business expenses. Yeah. Of course, it's business expenses. We build buildings. We build houses. It's would blow your mind what our MX is per month. And you know, so the points add up Joe is that guy who would agree with you 100% that would say to me, oh, I'll say Joe, do you want to pay cash or put it on the card? He always wants to

put it on the card, because even if there's a 4% charge because he's like, no, no, no, get the points. I want the points. Totally. So big on the points. And the points, we fly everywhere on our points. And all my name and Marcus is like, they know, I'm coming with a stack of cards like this. I'm using all my Neiman Marcus is like, they know, I'm coming with a stack of cards like this, because I'm using all my points because I have so many. Yeah, you make a really good

point in that. You don't just have to travel. Like, obviously what I love teaching people is so when you have amics or chase points, you transfer them to airlines and that's where you get the most value. You know, I just flew this past

week to Dubai and it was like 136,000 amics points to fly first class Emirates. And that's like a $10,000 ticket. So, you know, it's Dom Perignon, you can actually take a shower at 40,000 feet in the sky. I mean, it's totally over the top. It's like sex in the city.

It actually exists in real life. And I use my amics points for that. So, you know, at the point sky, we spend a lot of money on Twitter ads and Facebook ads. You can earn triple points on all internet advertising spend on, you know, the AMX and Chase cards. So, it's such a whether you're an interior designer, you know, you're buying products for your clients and then you're getting reimbursed, put all of that on a credit card. And, you know, it adds up really quickly, especially if you could put your small business expense.

But even if you're not just groceries, and here's a tip that for people, so even if you collect points, when you shop online, they're what are called mileage shopping portals. And so basically what it is, you click and it'll give you United or American or Jeff Blue points in addition to for every

dollar that you spend on online retailers. So if you go to sax.com never go directly. Always click through one of these mileage shopping. It puts a cookie on your computer and then you earn bonus points in addition to the credit card points. So that's what we call like double dipping. Right. See? Like we need to know these things. Oh my god, I'm actually good. Because I'll go right to SACs, but why am I doing that? Yeah. Go online. And the thing is, you can go online. So, and for everyone who's might be a little bit confused, so at thepointsguy.com, we've got a whole section called guides and we've got a beginner's guide that will take you through each and everything that I'm talking about. But those airline shopping portals, it's a no brain

or you've put in your frequent flyer number. It'll take you to sax.com. And then they just give you tons of extra bonus points in addition to the credit card. So there's literally no reason. And even if you want to go into the store and exchange, you can buy it online and then go in and exchange it for the size and some bread or anything like that.

It's like a total no brainer. So for instance, if I want to shop at sax, what is this other avenue you're saying, like where would I right now? I'm going to go because I want to buy something at SACs. Like what am I putting in Google? Yeah, so if you go, if you just go like airline, like mileage shopping portals,

it'll give you, you can earn United Miles Delta United. And you literally will go to like American Airlines is called advantageesShopping.com. You put in your frequent flyer number. It stores it on your computer. And then any time you click through and shop through any of their retailers, Neiman, Sachs, you name it, you're automatically going to earn anywhere from like one to 30 extra points per dollar spent. Like people are always blown away when I tell them this because most people just, you know, you go to a retailer and and you just, you know,

buy whatever you want online, but this will actually give you extra free comply or miles, and this is also a good way, you know, if you have miles that are gonna expire, you can buy a single pair of pants online, and the miles that you earn will actually reset the expiration plot. So if you shop through these portals,

it's a good way to keep all your miles, like current and active, even if you're not traveling. Wow, that's insane. So you're like double dipping pretty much. Totally. Summer doesn't last forever. So why spend more time than you need to on meal planning, grocery shopping and cooking. With splendid spoon, you can make more time to enjoy the season and feel great with plant-based meals that require

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capital one venture. Those are, in my opinion, the best overall cards that you're everyday spend on, points cards, that's like your AMX gold, your chase sapphire, capital one venture. Those are, in my opinion, the best overall cards for your everyday spend on, because you can take those points and then transfer them to a ton of different airlines. So all of a sudden, if your friends want to go to Turks and Kicos and you want to fly in the United flight, if you've got all Delta miles, you can't use Delta miles to fly United. But if you've got AMX points, you can transfer them

to United's partners' Aero plan and book through there. So basically, transferable points are the best for the day to day. Now the next type is like you said, the airline, the hotel credit cards, those cards can be great to save on like perks like check bags, boarding early, so you're not having to check your bag, you know, getting the better seat. So I do say, you know, if you're flying an airline a lot and you're paying a lot in check bag fees, it could make a lot of sense to pay $80 for a credit card that saves you 400 a year in check bag fees. But in general, I don't recommend putting all of your spend because, and this is what

a lot of people say, well, I live in Jersey, I apply Newark, I just want to have my United Card and call it a day. Well, what happens when you go to Paris and you want to state the park high, you're paying through the nose for hotels. If you would have had a Chase Sapphire, you can still transfer to United, but you can also transfer to high it to cover all your hotel costs. So just going back, you know, it's like, you really, in general, like the Chase Sapphire's amateurs, golden platinum, Those are the best cards. They come with a lot of perks and tons of flexibility when it comes time to redeem instead of just putting all your miles with one airline.

Got it. Okay. And and I'm and I'm such a Newark United. Like Newark United Newark United. Yeah. I'm just getting into the mint. The, the, the, get blue mint. The jet blue. Pretty nice. Yeah, the food is amazing. So jet blue. The food kills all. It's the best food. It's the best.

The white rice free and fast. You can like watch YouTube. So I also, I, because I live in New York and I have a farm in New Hope, Pennsylvania. So Newark is like perfect for me. I'm like, United all the way. But flying jet blue now, they've got a bunch of those mint

flights to LA and San Francisco. Jepploona is amazing. The issue with Jepploona that are having lately is that they're on time percentages horrific. They're like the worst airline. They've had a lot of pilot issues. So it's like a good airline, but I know a lot of people,

like their flights have been getting delayed like crazy. So every airline people always say, like their flights have been getting delayed like crazy. So, you know, every airline people always say like, what's the best airline? I'm like, to me, the best airline is like, who's going to get me there? The quickest without being delayed. Because I mean, how, especially if you've got a family and kids sitting at the airport with these rolling delays. So one tip I like to give is always, when possible, take the very first flight of the day because those flights go out at the highest on time percentage. So you have to get up early, but later in the day, when storms hit, when those delays start happening,

it's like a snowball effect. So when you get out first thing, especially when you're in a New York Metro or, you know, big city, just try to get there, get out early when possible. Is there a known one right now to be the one that's on time the most if we're leaving from like Newark or JFK like what's the airline? Yeah, I mean, United and Delta are probably the top two of the major

carriers. Delta probably has the edge, but they don't really serve New ark that much, but United's pretty good and they're getting a lot better. Okay, well, let me ask you this because you were saying you book all the travel. Is there truly the better day? Like they say Tuesday's book airfare on two, like for real, I need to know what day and which website do you like for them to like show you all the airlines? So there's no one best day anymore. So that wasn't the old days, the airlines before they had these advanced computer systems.

They would file it on a Tuesday, and then they would have to be very manual. Now they change all the time. And the very best way to find flights is Google flights, free google.com slash flights. And what I recommend is the best way to save money is by being flexible. So check all the airports in a region,

and then it'll also show, say you want to go New York to Miami It'll actually show you on a calendar all the different dates that you can go to get the cheapest flight What I will caution people is I think so many of us are program hit I'm just gonna buy the cheapest flight, right? So whether that's spirit or whatever but when you're booking airlines like spirit where they're gonna charge you for carry on bags or check back for through the nose like always make sure you're like, is this really worth it? Because sometimes like my dad always said, like, cheap is expensive. Like when you buy that cheap light at a horrible time, and especially nowadays with connections,

you want to fly nonstop when possible. So search nonstop, trust me on this, pay a little bit extra. I do not add another leg because these days days travels of hot mess, flights are canceled, you're literally doubling the chances with every connection that you're not going to make it there. And then is it really worth it to say $40 to miss a day of vacation when you're going away for a long weekend? So I say fly the good airline, you know, and also Google flights will tell you whether it's a low or high price.

So when you see low, book it because in general, flights are going to continue going up throughout the summer. So that's my question. So if I'm looking to book, right, I want to book my flights for December. Should I be doing that now or should I be like, no, let me wait till July as it gets closer or like, what should I do? Yeah, I would say go to Google flight, it's check the prices and see what it says. See if the price you're looking at, if it's, I would say anywhere from mid price to lower, book it, if it's a super high price,

you might want to wait. And what they'll let you do is actually set an alert. So when, say you want to go to Aspen, like Newark Denver, whatever, you can set a price, hey, if this hits below 500, let me know. So you can keep an eye on it as things go so on, but if you see it starting to rise,

then just look it now. In general, I do believe flight prices are gonna continue going up and up. I love that, thank you. Another tip I really wanna stress to people is airports are jam packed. So this summer we're now actually going to 2022 summer could be busier than 2019. Like people are ready to travel their pack.

You must, if there's one of the key tips you get today is get global entry. So global entry is $100 for five years and what that gets you is it includes TSA pre-check, which I can't stress enough, like the security lines or staffing shortages. I've seen two hour long security lines people missing their flights. You've got to get TSA pre-check. And when you get global entry, I've knew work, it will save you so much time. So, global entry, it's a little bit annoying, you have to apply of knowing you but global entry also get to the US from abroad. You in like 90 seconds and it

so it's the best hundred and there even like amics credit cards will give you free. So highly recommend me all day me all of my all global entry for free. So highly recommend. Yes, that is me all day. Me, all of my children, Joe, we are all global entry. Do you know, this is so funny you're saying this? I was literally on their website the other day because the kids had expired. It's been five years. Yeah. Trying to get an appointment right now, though, it's very fun to try to go back to your appointment

because they were so little they have to retake their pictures. They're very jammed up right now so get on it right away. I'll tell you that. So Melissa, so funny you said that. So on my personal Instagram app, Ryan Kelly, I have a pins, global entry, whole story, and though getting those interviews is really tough, there's a couple hacks that I posted though at 1 p.m. every day they put new appointments, and there's also this app called Appointment Scanner and you can pay like 20 bucks. And what Appointment Scanner does, it scans the website nonstop for you.

And then whenever appointments open up, it'll shoot you an email so you can take it before anyone else. So many of my readers have been here. Are you kidding me? Where have you been my whole life? I need this personal information to, wait, say that one more time.

Are you kidding? So one o'clock every day, global entry. And what's the other thing? And the other thing is called appointment scanner. And it's like a $20 app that you sign up for. And it works even for COVID vaccines. It would work. It would check the CVS website.

So basically, it's like a bot that whatever you tell it to do, hey, keep checking this website and let me know. Because the government will upload new global entry, you know, sometimes people cancel and all of a sudden 10 appointments are canceled. But unless you're checking it and who has the time for that. So this app, it's like the best 20 bucks you'll spend, it'll shoot you a message whenever there's an opening and you can do it for doctors, appointments and all other things that you're like trying to get, like,

really hard to get appointments. It's amazing. Wow. Okay. So for that alone, I'm so excited to be talking to you. This is genius. Like, how did you figure all of this out? Like honestly, this is crazy. You're just a tech guy. I mean, obviously. Well, it's I like, I mean, social media is amazing. I get so much of this from my followers. Like my my audience is so smart. They're world travelers. So, and even for COVID testing, a tip I really want to get across. So right now you need to get a COVID test to come back to the US

if you go abroad. So anywhere outside the US, whether it's Bahamas or England, here's the thing, never ever ever ever ever get a COVID test abroad. Do not risk because a lot of times they're shady, they're super expensive, and you're going to waste your last vacation scrambling to get a COVID test. What you need to do on emed.com, they

have what's called Binax Now Procter Test, they're $25 when you buy a six-tap, and you pack them in your suitcase. And what happens is on your last vacation, you'll load up your laptop. They watch you do your own test in your hotel room, takes 20 minutes, and then they'll email you the results that you show to the airline, and that's how you come back to the US. And here's a little tip, like so many kids I've seen crying, getting COVID tests, or they jam

it up your nose. So when you do the at home test, you do it yourself, and they can't really see what you're doing. So you can be very gentle is what I'm saying. And for families especially, you know, you get to do that, you know, they can't see how far in your nose it is. Not telling people to forge it and not do it, but you can be very gentle and that's totally acceptable. Oh my goodness. You even knew what we just went through

when we were coming home from Aruba. We just went for our December Aruba trip that we do every year. The panic in all of us, whoever coughed for it, we were like, we're never gonna get out. We're never gonna get out. We hired a woman to come to our room, like from a service to do,

we were staring at her, the kids were screaming because I was with a bunch of couples. Wow, like the anxiety that last day took from our trip was totally. And all in the US government allows these are so the key thing is it has to be a proctor test. You know, the binax now is the brand I use. I bring it everywhere I go. And you know, when you get to the airport, you just show the tests to agent and they're like, okay, okay, they barely have them looking at it. Most of the time, they're not even looking at it. So it's like so many people like you are paying through the nose,

private, blah, blah, blah, at the end of the day, bring your own tests, do your own swab, and then you're good to go 25 bucks each zero stress. We were, we paid over 500 a couple, okay. And we were staring at it. It's poor woman. We were like, try us. And then she's like putting, you know,

she's putting it down on the table each person. And I'm like, go, we were like, try us. And then she's like putting, you know, she's putting it down on the table, each person. And I'm like, God, I'm like, well, who's gonna have to read test? Like it was, it was insane. It was the stress. But we, I think the couples started fighting. So that alone is genius to just help people feel a little bit more comfortable traveling and just because we're scared we're gonna go and not come back. Because we're not able to come back.

Yes. But here's the, yeah, I mean, you're always going to be like, I mean, I know from me, Knoes to Tulum, there's always ways that you can get back into the US. Not that I'm saying if you have COVID to fly, but I just, I see so many people stressed out and it's like, it's not even that serious. I mean, I was just in this temple last week. The agent didn't even look at my phone, you know, like people are,

okay, yeah, all they need to see is the word negative and like, you know, they're like keep it moving. I know. Keep it moving. Yeah. I agree. Let's talk health for a minute because there's nothing more important than taking care of yourself. If you're not feeling your best, you can't be your best. Sam McCall helps you feel your best by supporting your immune system with premium black elderberry. Sambo call is the original black elderberry brand so you know you're getting immune support you can trust.

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get 15% off your order of 999 or more at Sambo call USA.com. That's S-A-M-B-U-C-O-L-U-S-A.com you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know,

you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you week, which everyone is like, I actually got home at like, on Tuesday, it was like 10 p.m. and I just went from this to, well, I tried watching it and like, honked out. Jersey, the season was amazing.

It's a good one. It's a really good one. I love Margaret Joseph. She's a dear friend. So, I'm obviously, I mean, you're a citizen of the store. I mean, actually, I have to say Theresa, I met her at that pride event.

She was so sweet. And at the end of the day, whether you love her, like she's amazing TV, you know? Like, you gotta give her that, but obviously I'm team Margaret, but yeah, it was quite a season. I've really jacquy, so sweet, and I really think it's amazing what she opened up about.

I know so many people, my family have had even disorders, and I think just talking about it and being that open about it. Like I mean, going into that, you know, with her therapist and showing that raw, I think that's gonna help a lot of people. So I just, I just love the season.

It was awesome. The vulnerability she gave to through all of that was great. Wait till you, hello, wait till you see Um, hello. Wait till you see the reunion. You are going to be blown away. Let me just tell you that. It

is a special one. It's a special one. Wait, can I just thought vulnerability? Your daughter and Tony is the cutest thing in the world and like, I just love your relationship. You're such a good mom. You make me excited. I don't have kids yet, but you literally make me excited to be a parent. And I could just, I loved your scenes. And you know, that gentle line of like pushing your child

to be better versus. So I think I just loved all your family scenes as well. How's Antonio doing? Thank you. I appreciate that. She's actually doing really, really good. She has, like, you know, it's not easy being a teenage girl on reality TV. And let's not forget. Antonio has been on you know, it's not easy being a teenage girl on reality TV.

And let's not forget Antonia has been on reality TV since she's four. So she literally has grown up and now is becoming a woman with like, you know, boobs and going through all of her changes and like on reality TV. And I have to say I'm so proud of her because she doesn't allow it to affect her, her personal life at all. We've done a really good job in this house. I would say at like separating the work of the reality television versus family and like real life and like, you know, so, so it's, I have to say, she's doing awesome. It was rough because we moved her in high school. That is, it's like really hard. We moved her in high school.

She tore her ACL, she couldn't cheer, and then she had to join the new team, and she couldn't even show them what they can do. And the pandemic, she was home on a computer, not even being able to, laying in bed, it was making me depressed, watching her. And she's not even meeting her new school classmates because she's home on a computer

and like seeing them through a computer. It was it was a rough year for her. She's doing good now. She's gonna have a hot girl summer, I bet. Oh my God, she's ready for her hot girl summer. She's already told me how many girlfriend she's taking down the shore to my shore house for the weekend for Memorial Day.

And I have really good news actually. Yesterday, she just found out that she's gonna, you know, she's gonna be a senior next year. She is the new captain of Ramapo cheerleading. So she is Oh my god congratulations. So for her senior year, she is the captain. So she's in her glory right now. She's super happy. So she's doing great. But thank you. See, I like that. I like when things resonate that you can see like this small family moments, because sometimes the big drama on these shows, it kind of takes away from like the sweet family moments that I truly feel that a lot of people do watch for. They do watch for that. No, the drama, you got to have the dramatic moment. I mean,

the table flips, which it's just so funny. Ever since Theresa did that, what, over a decade ago, now when you watch the other house, I was just so lamely trying to like throw a glass. Do the table or like, you know, taking a champagne through and dropping it. It's like, if you're not going to do it, do it. Yeah. Right. No, you're so right on that. I feel like we all just started to like everyone just like throws wine across the table and throws like, you know, it's done. We don't need to throw shit anymore, right? It's like we I have to ask you what's your favorite franchise that's you know out of New Jersey? What do you love to watch? And there's a new episode of another franchise. Beverly Hills. I watch Beverly Hills. I just love first, yeah, I just love. First of all, I just

love the city of Beverly Hills. I just want to see the backyard half the time. I want to see like how many brands Duret is wearing in one day and versus Erica. Like, you know, I, I, I just enjoyed the views, to be honest, of Beverly Hills. You know, and I'm good

friends with Kyle. So I enjoy her and her family. They're very similar to like Joe and I. So I Beverly Hills, but what I will tell you, I am super excited about. I can't wait for Dubai. Oh my gosh. I know those girls. Look. By the way, have you been to Dubai? Because Dubai is so chic. You will fall in. Never. Never. And I want to I want to take a shower in the sky, like you said. I will help you. The Emirates A380, when you fly in first class, literally, pavier, unlimited, dumb, you shower,

you take a hot shower, the floors of the bathroom are heated, and you have a whole makeup. So you get it for one hour, so you can get ready before you land, and then you're out the door. I guarantee you, it's like a 12.5 hour flight. You will not want to get off the plane. You're always like, I'm like, come on, just feel a couple. Are you kidding me? Yeah. So you're going to help me set that up because I definitely need to go, but I'm super, super, super excited about watching Dubai. Just because it looks, it's different. We're in a different like, I don't know, it feels different

and they're hot. I'm like, look at these hot bitches. I love it. And the people in Dubai, I mean Beverly Hills is rich, but Dubai is rich, like what the capital are. Like, and Caroline Stammer is just hysterical. Like, they're like the next level kind of rich. Yeah. What do you think? So, ultimate girl strips, you are on the original.

What do you think of the new one? I think it's, I remember, what do you think? I saw the trailer. I mean, I think it ultimate girls trips. You are on the original. What do you think of the new one? I think it's, or what do you think? I saw the trailer. I mean, I think it's gonna be crazy. I think there's a bunch of housewives on there that don't have their jobs anymore also, which makes it even more, like they're coming in there with like something to prove.

Do you know what I mean? So it's like, they're coming in hot. They're coming in hot. They already have big personalities these women, But like also feeling like they have to show Bravo what they're missing. Right? So I feel like it's going to be a shit show, but I'm there for it. I will have my popcorn. I love the manner. Dorenda's blue stone thing. I love it. Have you been, have you been there? It's actually gorgeous. I've been in what last summer. It's like even nicer than what it shows on TV. It's got like a vibe to it.

It's a really cool place. Okay, so she has invited me. I want to say two to three times now, but it's always in the summer. And because I have a sure house, it's always been right to me. It's hard to be like, yeah, yeah, it's cool. She could probably rent that out like Airbnb, that thing for like read after this, especially like ridiculous amounts of money, right? Yeah, I don't know. She did an Airbnb like promotion and it like sold out immediately. She did it as like a PR thing, but yeah, but she loves that house. It's a part of her soul and I could never see her letting because it's really, I mean,

it's her I mean, it like running it like, but to go in the fall, it's there's Mirabal, the new that it's going for the Arizona. We filmed it that it was insane. It was in ask you if where should we go? So we're about to start filming again.

Where do you want to see the Jersey girls go this year? Where should we go? Oh my gosh. Well, wow, wow, wow. I mean, so look, I love, I mean, it's far, and I just don't get to still pandemic, but like Africa and Safari. And I know how so is Atlanta with South Africa.

And that was like a whole shit show. But like, if you could ever, whenever people say, where should I go? Like South Africa, like Cape Town is spectacular. It's beautiful. It's wine country. It's like a European city on the water. And then Safari is just like amazing. But I mean, a little bit closer to home. I mean, I think the Jersey girls would have fun and meet the nose. That could be like the real life. Thank you. I would love to do that. OK, so I'm going to tell all the Bravo gods that Brian says

we need to go to meet the house. Yes. That would be, that would be awesome. I'm down with that one. Hey, everyone. This is Heather Dubrow. And do I have some exciting news for you. We are launching a variety of new episodes that are going to have amazing special guests,

some of my close friends and so much more. It's going to be really fun and we're going to get to hear from fans, new friends and get an inside look of my world. We're really excited for you to listen and join in for Heather Dubrow's World on Podcast Fun. Episodes drop on Thursdays and Fridays, tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, so listen, I love I love listening to all of your points advice. You're really like amazing with it, but we have to do this little segment that I do

with all of my guests. Okay. It's called grilled with gorgah. It's some rapid rapid fire question. Super fun. Super easy. Just give me a that I do with all of my guests, okay? It's called grilled with gorgah. It's some rapid, rapid fire question. Super fun, super easy.

Just give me your answers, okay? Are you ready? Let's do it. Okay, your first celebrity crush. Oh my God, I think it was Kevin Costner in the bodyguard. Oh, me same. God, I love that movie. He's just so like, there's something so manly

and calm about him and that, right? And at bodyguard, I was just like, I wanna have a bodyguard one day. Oh my God, totally get it. Okay, your favorite, like 80s or 90s song. Give me like, like an old school favorite song. Oh, I mean, I was a big Madonna boy, like on my Walkman in the early 90s, a macular collection was like my jam.

So I'll just say the bug because crazy crazy for you, right? That's a macular I died for that as well. Oh my god, the whole blue. I had a walk man. I love that you had a walk man. So what is your biggest regret? So what is your biggest regret? Oh, my biggest regret. That's a really tough question. I would say I came out at age 22, like right after college,

like I kind of grew up in the Philly suburbs and like my family's amazing. And I knew that they would always love me no matter what. So I would say probably my biggest regret wasn't coming out earlier. And I just love how kids these days are coming out. And, hey, I don't even think you should have to come out. And I see that now happening where it's not a whole big deal.

And this younger generation is like, who cares? We all love each other. So I think if I would have been able to come out a little bit earlier, I think that, but it is what it is, you know? Yeah, but you're here now. loud and proud, and I love it. Yes, yes, ma'am. Oh, okay, okay, what's the best decision

you've ever made? The best decision I've ever made was in 2011 to leave my job, my cushy job on Wall Street to do the point sky full time. And I remember so many people were like, Brian, like there's so were like, Brian, like there's so much like, you're not the smartest person in travel, there's other people smarter.

And you can't leave a job and finance to be a blogger. And I remember people were like, the world doesn't need another blogger. You really, you know, people, and you start to believe it, you know, like when people, and even my mom who I love, she's like my biggest supporter, like she was like, what are you gonna do

about health insurance, you know? So it's like, biggest supporter, like she was like, what are you going to do about health insurance? You know, it's like, but I knew I was on the cusp of something and I like when I was I would go to cocktail parties and people like point sky, you help me book a trip. And that to me into this day is like, I'm proud of myself. I just quit one day. Actually, my Celine Dion has a song. You should listen to it today called taking chances. And I was at Selene's my number one like she's my goddess. I've seen her 25 times, I've met her, and she has a song called taking chances. And I literally had not a body experience when I was listening. And I went to my boss's office when I got into work that day. And I quit that day. And it was the best decision I've

ever made. So wow, you were inspired by Selene by the queen of the world, by the way, She is queen of the world, like unbelievable. Wait, I love that though, because you, you, like, look, like your work has more meaning now, right? You're like affecting people's lives. It's just, that's why I always tell my listeners and just anyone in life, like, you have to go for and take the chance. Or else you'd still be just sitting there on your cubicle doing your finance thing, but look at you now, right? So you got to tell people to always take the chance.

And even if you fail, you learn through failure and you're proud of yourself for trying. So, yeah, and a little extra push. I'm telling you listen to taking chances by Celine Dion. It's what you need to get rid of. We're all gonna download it. We're all gonna download it. What is your pet peeve? Like tell me what you cannot stand. I think my pet peeve is, I mean, I know it's broad, but just like toxic people in general. Like I'm an optimist.

Like life's not always gonna, I mean, I'm very fortunate in life, but the need for other people to truly live in chaos. And I see it all the time. And as I get older and older, and I have less and less friends, because I'm like, oh, I don't actually need to hang out with people that make me feel uncomfortable all the time.

Right. So maybe it's a little broad, but just like people who are negative, like, stop, like, you know, like, just, just support each other. Right. There's enough room for all of us to succeed. But I think more people need that mentality.

What you're like traveling pet peeve. Give me one thing with traveling. Okay, so traveling pet peeve. So I don't mind seat reclining, and I do, even though I'm six foot seven, and like you're super tall. By the way, anyone doesn't know this. Super tall.

Now mind you, here's me and Joe Gorga. So like I stood next to Brian, I was like, oh my God, I'm the tiniest human in the world. Six, seven. I mean, that, it's pretty amazing. I mean, you're very handsome, by the way. Oh, thank you, thank you. So yeah, so you can recline your seat, it's your right.

But just don't slam your seat back. Like I call them aggressive seat recliners where you just like with all your body weight, like just do it nice and slow, and also people who cannot wait their turn to get off a plane. Like look, we all want to get off this freaking metal tube. Unless you've got a connection that's leaving in 10 minutes, like just wait, let people, the people in the row in front of you will go. That being said too, though, people who sit in their seat, like don't get their things down. Like when they wait till the last second, I'm like, you just had 20 minutes, as we've been sitting here and now you're just starting to get all your, you know, when 200 people

do that, that's why it takes forever. So just be reproductive, be patient, and we'll all get along. Okay, I have to admit one thing. I am that girl and is this horrible? I do this. I take my shoes off like on the plane. Like when I'm laying there, my shoes come off instantly because I feel like my feet swell. Is that horrible? Yeah. I look at some people will shame people for that. I think as long as you're not putting bare feet like in between the seat or up on the wall necessarily like I think you're totally fine. Look, some people are so judgy, like, I put lulu lemon shorts

and a lulu lemon shirt because sometimes planes are hot. I'm a big guy. I run hot and people like, you wear shorts on a plane. I'm like, F off. Like, yeah, because I want to be comfortable. Like, you know, so I think there's sometimes there's a lot of judgment on planes, but I say be comfortable. And at least, you know, have a manicure or pedicure

or cute socks on. Or the cute socks. I always have socks on. I never do barefoot, but okay. All right. Give me your worst date. Where's date you have ever been on? Oh my God.

Give me something juicy. I was on a recent date with someone and it's always hard to sneak a community. Most people like date like people, you know, a lot of people read the point sky, or, you know, and so it's like when people try to protect, like pretend that they don't or like minimize. Like if they don't know who you are, what you're saying. Like this whole mind game, but actually this one guy was very open.

He's like, you know, I called my parents and said, I'm going to date with the point sky and I should bring my passport on the date in case he wants to take me somewhere. And I was just like, I barely, I called my parents and said, I'm going to date with the point sky and I should bring my passport on the date in case he wants to take me somewhere. And I was just like, I barely knew this guy. And then he went on to say, he's like, my dad has the same name as you Brian. And then he was like, but my dad's not worth,

like, $X million. He kind of apparently had Google what he thought I was worth. I mean, it was just like this total trade. It was so odd. That's odd. That's really strange. It's like psychotic behavior.

So that was a recent one. Be really cool. You guys. You guys were like, oh, yeah. I haven't had too many bad dates. Even if the dates bad, it's like, I was know how to like disengage, you know, like, okay, I gotta go.

That's why I was like, meeting for drinks first, you know, like don't commit to a full dinner. There you go. Okay, meeting for drinks first. You know, like don't commit to a full dinner. There you go. Okay, what was your first concert? Oh, my first concert was actually was in Philly at the core state spectrum center in like the 90s. And I loved like growing up in Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, like the female R&B.

Like I love all my artists that I love are the female like the divas. Love. So it was like Power 99 had a, it was like they used to have like concerts with like 20 different rappers. And I remember me and my white friends from Bucks County, we like went into Philly and we're at a boxy brown. They'll like it was the time of my life.

And I think I'm pretty sure like I had a little too much vodka that I had stolen from my parents and like ended up on the floor of the bathroom. So that was my first concert. So fun, I love it. Okay, tell us something about you that would surprise us. Like what don't we know about you? Ooh, that is good. So I am a jet-setter. I was in Dubai, Istanbul, but my, like, I have a 30-acre horse farm in Pennsylvania, and I just got three goats today. I'm going there this week, and I have a staff that, like, looks after what I'm gone. I don't make, like, my animals, but I also, even being six foot seven in a big guy, I ride horses, so I have four horses. Like, I love being a farmer boy, more than I actually love traveling. Although I wouldn't say more.

It's just like these two worlds that I live in. But on social media, most times people just see me as the travel guy. But actually, like, my true passion is literally, like, I have a miniature horse named Ginger Spice Kelly. And she's just the most amazing. And so, yeah. Stop. Can I come?

I want to come. I want to come. I want to come. I want to come. And goats. And they're on Instagram now at Carbon Ridge is my farm's name. And so we're starting to do more and more content. We've got goats, we've got three llamas. We've got more coming. So it's amazing.

So I love, yeah, I'm a farmer boy deep down. Okay, well, that was definitely a surprise. Love that. What is your favorite late night snack? So if you're watching TV on the couch at night, what are you eating? Oh, that's a good one. I mean, I mean, traditional, like just like crunchy Cheetos.

Like I have like the small little bags because I need portion control because if I get a big bag, it's like crack. But yeah, I'm like a Cheetos. And this is like, yeah, when I'm like splurging on the weekend and just like not care Cheetos are like original Doritos. Like I'm like definitely that. You're a chips guy or a chips guy. Chips guy. The point guy is a chips guy. Okay, I like it. What was your first job?

Oh, my first job was actually when my dad, this is what I consider as my first job. When he got a job working for that startup, he needed to book his own travel. And I was like the computer was, I mean, I was a kid in the 90s on AOL, like hacker, you know, so I knew how to like do like looking online travel through travel So my dad would pay me $10 per trip of his that he would book, because he thought it would take like an hour and a half. Mima was looking at like 60 seconds using like these new online websites that he had no idea about. So kind of being a travel agent for my dad. So when I look back at it now, I'm like, some people are like, isn't it so random that you're like this travel blogger?

I'm like, actually not, because when you look back at like, I love travel. I've always wanted to live a bigger life than what I've been able to afford. And I was like essentially a travel agent for my dad as my first job when I was 12. So. Okay, I always end with how do you treat yourself? So if the day is all about Brian, what do you do? Like what is your day that's just about you? Okay, I have a secret in New York city and there's in other cities, it's a place called Stretched, where you can go and get professionally stretched on a heated table for, and I do 55 minutes, and they basically, because I'm on planes all the time, you're all in our computers, we're on our phones, like massages are great, but trust me, getting stretched on a table by someone

who's like literally pulling your legs back, like it's that hurt, it like hurts so good, but you leave that and you're like, oh my God, my posture and like, and they also do that, yeah, they do that they're going on you. And they'll also do like CBD oil neck massage. I'm telling you, you leave that like, I feel amazing. It sounds like Joe Borgas dream. That's all he ever wants is a good stretch.

Like this, I need this. I need to take this. It's a flat iron and there's one down stretch space. I'm not p that much and I think we posture and like and it out there and like I feel

Oh my god, you've told me today. Incredible. You are so great. You've been so helpful giving us all the helpful hints for travel and lifestyle and now massages. Listeners, you all need to do yourself a favor and follow him on Instagram. He's the points guy, okay. He's got all the tips and all the tricks. He's gonna say do so much money,

so much time with travel and all of your headaches. Brian, thank you so much. I love you to death. When you need to throw another big, like, gorgeous party. Yeah, let's let's let's throw a party at my farm and what like, just ride courses and play with goats and just for anyone to the point guys are like corporate channels. If you want to follow my personal travels or even like the global entry, the COVID testing stuff I talked about, my Instagram is at Brian Kelly. And I also try to respond to like helpful travel DMs and stuff too. So if you ever need help DM me, I can't guarantee it, but I try to help people as much as possible.

And I just encourage everyone get out there and travel, explore the world again, push yourself outside of your comfort zone, eat some amazing food, and I think travel makes us all better people. Awesome. Thank you so much. It was so great talking to you, and hopefully I see you soon. Absolutely. Safe travel. Thanks, Melissa.

Thank you. Oh! Yeah!