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Learn how this family of 5 saved a record $10,000 in travel expenses and had so many points, they were able to book the baby in his own seat even though he could have flown free!
Want to make more family travel memories without breaking the bank? Longtime travel journalist Lyn Mettler shares her top tips to help families quickly and easily travel for less using rewards points and inspires you with ideas of where to travel on your next vacation.
Welcome, everyone.
Today I have with
us Thea Cabanilla.
So she and her family
have been Families Fly Free members
for about nine months, I
believe.
So I've invited Thea on to
tell us about her experience.
Offer some of her tips of what's
worked for her as a member
and just show you guys
how Flying Free really does work.
So let me start.
Thea, do you want to tell us a
little bit about yourself?
Sure, yeah.
I live in Chicago with my
husband and two wait,
three kids, soon.
See you almost forgot a kid.
With three kids, soon to be four.
That's why this is also confusing.
Yes, six and under.
So we live by Midway, which has a
ton of Southwest flights.
So we're able to benefit from that
a lot from, you know, a lot of
the things we learn in Families Fly
Free, we use it a lot with our
flights.
So as I said, our kids are young.
So before the kids
arrived, my husband and I traveled
maybe at least once internationally
a year and then maybe a couple
of domestic flights.
But nowadays it's mostly domestic
flights. Wherever there's a resort
or family gathering cruise,
that's where we go, wherever.
It's easy with the kids.
Right. Good destinations that
are good with young kids.
Yeah.
And how do you feel about traveling
with them when they're young like
that? Like, is that worth it to
you? I mean.
Yeah, it is.
It's super worth it.
I mean, it's super hard,
obviously, but I mean, the
more.
I mean, we've taken more than,
I don't know, more than five, maybe
around eight flights this year.
And we've gotten used to it.
Even
the one-and-a-half-year-old. So we've gotten our routine down. We know what works with all the car seats and strollers and carry-ons. We don't check-in. So it's yeah, it's wild, but it's doable and worth it.
And do the kids think it's fun?
Yes.
During our last flight in September,
I told them, oh, this might be our
last flight before the baby comes,
which is in February.
And
the four-year-old was like, Oh, and he used to be so scared of flying.
I remember when I was little flying,
I thought it was exciting, right?
Even it was bumpy.
I thought I was like a roller
coaster, you know?
It still doesn't scare me to this
day because I think I learned
it young that it was just fun, you
know?
I think they look forward to it
because they get unlimited screen
time.
Aha.
There we go.
On the plane.
Yeah.
That's funny.
Okay, so tell us
why you decided to join the
membership to start with.
Yeah. So I think I listened
to a Choose FI podcast back
in the fall of 2021, and
you were a guest there.
And then it just I just kind of
realized I'm like, wait, we have a
ton of points sitting in our bank
account and we never really
use them. I was never really sure
how to use them.
So then, as
I said, we traveled a lot before
kids, but we used cash all the time.
All the time. I don't think I've
ever used points before joining.
And so that just opened my mind to
the possibilities.
And so I wanted to learn more about
it and went from there.
Okay, so let's talk about the
fact that you already had points
already.
So kind of what was your philosophy
in use?
Is it was it a card that you used to
collect the points?
Yeah. So why did you choose to use
the card, say, to collect points
if you weren't sure?
You know, I'm just wondering.
We weren't opening cards for the
points back then, so we were
it was just because we needed credit
cards for our daily expenses.
And so we just sat on them.
So I don't really care about
the signup bonus or anything like
that. We just used it and
just ignorance, I guess.
Nothing. Nothing about it.
Yeah.
It was more about the credit, less
about the points.
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. But then you had an
opportunity to use all those points,
so.
Yeah, exactly.
And then, you know, with our growing
family, I'm like, oh, this will help
us, you know, to trim that budget
down that I set every year for
travel.
Well, trim it down or expand it.
So tell us about some of the things
that you have done, some of the
trips you've taken since becoming a
member.
Oh, gosh, we've been to Hawaii
in the summer.
We've been to Lake Tahoe for my
sister's wedding.
We have to San Diego to go on a
cruise.
And that was a Disney cruise.
That was a Disney cruise.
But flying from Chicago to San Diego
is, you know, pretty expensive
during spring break.
And then we went to South Carolina
just because I signed up for a
conference and then I'm like, oh,
you can all come with me because we
have points.
And then we're going to Mexico, just
my husband and me for a babymoon.
Yeah. And then I just booked another
trip in December, with everyone
just because we still have points
and I will be super large
by then. Yeah.
So it really wasn't their last
flight.
No, exactly.
I booked one. Yeah.
After.
Yeah. So. And were you able to do
those all on points?
Yes.
Yes. Yep. So yeah, I kind
of calculated how much we should
have spent on all those,
but it was going to be around
$10,000.
$10,200.
I think you win for the most saved.
Yeah.
Of everyone I've interviewed.
Yeah. And then we spent $485
for taxes and fees.
You spent $485
instead of $10,000.
For a family of five.
I will take that deal.
And considering Lyn, we
could have had our youngest
travel with us for free.
You know, we don't need to pay for
it. And he's one and a half years
old.
Right.
But we've always paid for him
because we only had because we have
that extra, you know, the extra
funds.
So we always bring his car seat with
him. I can put him down and I can
take a 30-minute nap or 10 minutes,
depending on how he feels.
But there's always that option.
So yeah. So instead of carrying him
in your lap, always you're able to
book the seat in points and
everyone's more comfortable.
Yep, yep.
Well, plus another thing, I
guess it's because we have two
companion passes.
Yup. And Stephanie from your
team helped me do that.
And that's one thing I love about
the membership is we have these
quarterly check-ins,
so you email, you know, your
quarterly check-in's coming up if
you want to meet up.
And I'm like, oh, sure.
And then just checking.
I realize I had so many Southwest
points already, almost halfway to
another companion pass.
So then I kind of picked Stephanie's
brain and you know, what do you
think I should do? And then she
walked me through it and we got the
second one.
So we basically pay for three
tickets for five people.
And are you do you feel like you
have a plan to keep getting that
companion pass even though you
had to?
Yeah, I think so.
Yep, yep. We've kind of looked into
the different scenarios, so we'll be
good until the end of next year.
And then I keep a close eye on our
5/24 and then how to do that?
Yep. The next cycle.
Yeah. So you guys who are thinking
about doing two companion passes, we
will recommend that sometimes for
larger families or like you said,
you're just almost already there
anyway.
You just want to be careful about
that. And that's where Families Fly
Free can be very helpful just to
make sure you're timing everything
right and you're doing it right so
that you're set up to keep getting
it in the future.
Because sometimes if you do that
wrong, you mess yourself up in the
future. So but yeah, that
can really, really reduce
costs for, you know, for larger
families for sure.
So were
these trips would you have taken
these trips if you had
to pay for them?
Probably not all of them.
Like the one for the conferences.
I would have gone alone, which would
have been nice too.
But you know, it turned into a
family vacation with a lot of
memories instead, so.
Right. Yeah.
And do you feel like you have
plenty of points
to do what you want to do?
Like you're not feeling like you're
running low on points or you're
about to run out of points and
you'll never have any again?
No, I think we've set up a system,
you know, where we can keep earning
the points and then keep flying
like this.
And then just with all the other
tips that we learned in the
membership,
you know, since joining the
membership, it's kind of opened my
world, this rabbit hole
of all the travel hackers.
And sometimes, you know, I see all
these tips and I'm like, wait a
minute, that's so basic for me now,
because I've learned it through the
membership. You know, it's it's
something that when
you see out there on social media,
you're like, Oh, this sounds neat,
but it's already ingrained in
you from the membership.
All the Southwest tips.
Yeah. So like the hack flight
and just checking your flights,
making sure you've got the best
price to see if any of that adjusts
all that. It's just all automatic
now.
Just routine.
Yeah.
Yeah. And do you do you feel like it
took you very long to learn the
process as particularly as
a busy mom with little kids,
like is is it feasible
to learn this?
Did it did it take a lot?
No, it did in maybe a couple
of months. And then once you start
doing it routinely, it's just
automatic.
You just do it all the time.
Yeah.
Yeah. You don't even have to think
about it. I agree. You just put it
on autopilot once you learn it and
you don't spend much time on it per
week.
No, I used to check every day to
see if my flight went down, you
know, when I first started.
But now I know maybe once or twice a
week I'll do it.
But yeah. Oh no, it doesn't even.
That doesn't take much time.
Yeah. And then getting organized
like I have all these spreadsheets,
you know, all the tips that you guys
told us. So it's all organized.
Yep.
Yeah. And the getting organized
part, I think, can be a challenge
because it does
take a minute if you really want to
at the front end set everything up
in. A spreadsheet, which we do, we
do offer all kind of spreadsheets
and the inside the membership.
But if you take the time to
do that at the beginning,
you're really set up going forward
to just have that easy system
that you just fill
everything in and makes it easy
to check everything so but
not everyone, I think, takes the
time to do that. And then actually
that ends up costing you time.
I think on the back end, the fact.
That you're always confused,
at least now with a spreadsheet, you
just know where everything is.
You just click and you know.
Right. Exactly.
All right. So tell us,
what has been one of your
favorite parts or most surprising
parts of the membership?
Um,
so my favorite parts of the
membership is just I can ask the
question whatever and get a response
super quickly either in the
community, you know, on the,
in Kajabi, or emailing
any of the team members.
And then I get it within 24 to 48
hours.
You know, you can always research,
but then personal
I don't know personal, somewhat
personal relationship with someone
who, you know, is a real it answers
your question. It's just very
reassuring.
Yeah.
Yeah. You know you're getting a
correct answer.
Mhm. Yep, yep.
And have you taken advantage of the
community forum that much?
Yeah, I have.
Yeah. I check out maybe once or
twice a month
now before I used to check it more
often. But now I'll go through there
and see if there's any tips I can
glean from or learn from
or apply.
And then as a busy mom, I don't
get to go on the webinars live
any time at all.
And so I appreciate that there's
a recording that comes out pretty
quickly, and then I can just go
through those whenever when the kids
are asleep.
Yeah. And I had someone tell me the
other day that
I don't know, we also put them out
on a members only podcast, so
if you like, just to listen to the
audio.
But someone who said they had had a
traumatic brain injury and actually
it was hard for them to sit and
watch a video.
And so the podcast format
was very helpful for them.
I had never did not know
or hadn't thought of that, but so we
do try to offer it in different
formats like that, live recording,
whatever. So you can you can watch
it when it's convenient for you.
Exactly. Yeah.
And for me, that's usually at night
when the kids are asleep, I'm
cleaning up the house or
driving to work.
So yeah, I usually do the podcast
too.
Yeah.
All right.
Tell us,
you know, what would you tell others
who are hesitant
about the cost of the membership?
What would you tell them in terms of
if they should join?
I mean, it's super weird that,
you know, I won't even
remember how much or you might
remember, how much you paid for it,
but it wouldn't really matter down
the road just because you're
learning lifelong skills
that will save you a ton of money
like forever. These are things that
you will never forget.
So it's so worth it.
And there's still that money.
I think the money back guarantee,
right? So there's really nothing to
lose. I mean, you can try it and see
if it's for you, but I mean, if it
works, it's too good.
And that's true.
So I'm just going to ask, is it too
good to be true?
Right. So, yeah, I mean,
it's a big chunk of money, right?
But then if traveling is something
that you really want in your life,
I mean, it's super worth it.
Yeah. So you have,
I don't know, almost ten times
your investment there or your
investment.
Yeah. And then the memories that you
gain with your family or whoever you
travel with, I mean, those are, you
know, priceless.
No price tags on those.
Yeah. And your kids just from the
beginning are going to
be used to traveling right
now.
Yeah.
Yeah, mine sort of got into it in
grade school, you know, they then
they started. Oh, that's when we
started traveling all of the time.
But yeah, I think that's just such a
great gift you can you can give
them. Where are you guys headed
next?
We're laying low in October and then
November. Yeah. My husband and I are
going to Cancun to an all-inclusive
resort, which we also
booked with points.
Awesome.
So we think.
Free hotel stays too.
Exactly, which we never did before.
I always used to just book on,
used to book on Hotels.com and I'd
be happy with that one free night
out after what, ten nights it
up right now it's my
first time booking at
an all-inclusive
and I'm so excited and thankful
for my in-laws who will take the
kids. Well, we're gonna
Cancun and then Phoenix in December.
And so that will be how many trips
for you guys this year?
So seven round trips,
14 flights.
You might beat or maybe tie
us this year.
We should have a contest
in the membership for who can take
the most.
So but most.
But then you have to consider how
many people are going on those
flights to
find out.
So to do it with five
and soon to be six,
will you for
the new baby, will you book
the new baby in points?
Well, maybe not.
We already have a trip.
We already booked the trip in March
because my sister's getting married.
So back to California.
We didn't book one for him because
he would be like a month old
now.
Yeah. So maybe when he's bigger,
maybe six months, I'm sure I'll look
into it because it's just easier
when you have your hands full with
other kids, too, if you have that
option.
Right.
Okay. All right.
Anything else you want to share with
folks who are thinking
about learning how to fly free?
No. I mean, I just it's I'm
so grateful for what we've learned.
And at this super worth it.
I'm so happy we found this community
and no regrets for joining.
Awesome. Okay.
Well, thanks for sharing that,
all of you moms
of young kids out there.
What a great example of
how many trips she's been able to
take and bring everybody along.
And we do have an area in our
community for young families,
too. So if you have those kinds of
questions like what kind
of stroller have you guys figured
out works best, you know, in the
airports? And what different tips do
you have for making it all work with
everybody in a hotel or everybody
you know, on a plane?
You can connect with other folks
who are similar to you
and share tips with one another.
So I love that about our membership.
We have so many different kinds of
people that you can
find someone who
you know is in a similar situation
that you can connect with.
All right. Thank you so much Thea.
You're welcome. Thanks, Lyn.
Happy to be here.