A Conversation with Julia Menez — TripIt Blog

Going Areas is a new series from TripIt that highlights frequent travelers to showcase their exceptional vacation styles and insider guidelines. 

Just before the COVID-19 pandemic, you could discover Julia Menez, founder of points-and-miles system podcast and consultancy, Geobreeze, country-hopping about Europe or Asia. She typically took 4 or far more worldwide trips a calendar year normally flying in economy—and generally on points and miles. Her go-to manner for place-hopping? Cruises. Her favorite quit? Tallinn, Estonia. 

“I’m a massive “Game of Thrones” lover,” Julia instructed me. “And Significant Valyrian has roots in the Estonian language, so I was obviously drawn to the location. Tallinn was so charming. I propose it to absolutely everyone!” 

Rapidly ahead to 2022, and travel appears a little bit unique for Julia. 

“Now, I vacation a lot extra domestically—and maybe 2 times a calendar year internationally. I also choose for company or initial course when I do. It is fewer trips, but a nicer experience—and nets out to be the very same price-smart,” she said. 

She’s also been scheduling outings that entail a lot less hopping around—and more being put—as a consequence of the heightened border-crossing requirements in place because of to COVID-19. 

Details and miles—a match where anyone wins 

When she’s not traveling, Julia runs her podcast the place she interviews details strategists to study how they journey for absolutely free. She’s also a details method coach, aiding people today level up their points-and-miles recreation. 

Of system, she’s usually on the lookout to set her have points and miles to use. 

“I maintain a bucket checklist of award-travel sweet spots, and then retain an eye out for superior award availability,” she claimed. “When it will come to reserving, I always grab an offered award first—whether that is a flight or a hotel—and then I construct the rest of my itinerary from there.” 

So, what’s on her bucket record of award-journey destinations? “For starters, Greece! I turned obsessed with Greek mythology at a young age. It is been my desire to visit, but it’s generally been so highly-priced to go when you’re spending with income. I’m hoping to go this yr working with details and miles.” 

Keeping organized—from planning to landing to loyalty status 

When it comes to setting up a trip, Julia and her partner split up the responsibilities. She handles reserving flights and lodging with their points and miles he handles the on-the-ground facts.

But when it comes to organizing their travel designs, Julia relies on TripIt. 

“I use TripIt to retain all my affirmation quantities in 1 place. I really don’t have to dig as a result of my email messages, especially when I’m examining into a flight. I also use it to confirm I’ve booked the appropriate lodge dates. When you’re finding in late, the past detail you want to be wondering is, did I e book a home for tonight?”

When she’s on the go, Julia takes advantage of TripIt’s airport maps to navigate the terminal and find out what lounges are close by. She also checks the COVID-19 travel steering function to know what to hope from diverse countries’ entry demands. 

And when she’s back again home, Julia employs TripIt to enable her estimate when she’ll get paid loyalty application standing. “Both the Place Tracker attribute and the way TripIt organizes itineraries are seriously valuable for holding keep track of of when I’ll get status just about every 12 months.” 

With much more luxurious travel encounters on the horizon—and a lot more nations around the world to declare on her scratch-off environment map—you’ll most likely catch Julia folks-watching at an airport lounge, aiding another person guide their have desire trips with points and miles (test her out on Instagram for helpful strategies!), or a bit of equally. 

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