Frequent Flying with iflyflat founder Steve Hui

#103 - Steven Hui (EDITED)

Thu, Oct 24, 2024 6:24AM • 37:05

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

freedom and adventure, business travel, self care, frequent flyer points, points management, travel conferences, points workshops, points strategy, points booking, points value, points earning, points spending, points cost, points freedom, points advice

SPEAKERS

Emma Lovell

Emma Lovell 00:00

Emma, do you want to live a life of freedom and adventure? Are you wanting more than the daily grind? Me too. Welcome to the Emma Lovell, show a place where we talk about living a life you love. Now I'm your host, Emma Lovell, and my number one value is freedom. I've spent the last 14 years running a business and traveling the world, and now I take my husband and toddler along for the adventure too. It's possible, and I know you can create a life doing what you truly love as well. This podcast will inspire, motivate and encourage you to go after your dreams, to create a life you love and to live it now, not wait for a time and or someday in the future, I'll be sharing episodes weekly about how I harmonize business travel and self care. I'll also bring on incredible guests to share their journeys, the wins, the challenges, and how they're creating a life they love. Let's jump in and get dreaming. This is a space for you to manifest a life you love. I would like to acknowledge and recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first peoples of this place, now known as Australia. I am grateful for the continuing care of the land, waterways and skies where I work, live, listen, learn and play from here on you, Emma country and from wherever you are listening, I pay my respects to the elders past and present. Welcome to today's episode. I'm not gonna lie, I think this is probably the most excited I've been to speak to a guest, which says a lot, because I've had some pretty amazing guests on this podcast. This episode is with the points whisperer of Australia, Steve Hui, who is the founder of iFLY flash. Steve is all about frequent flyer points. He's all about how to make your points work for you more. And if you didn't already know it, I'm a big fan of this topic. There's an episode about frequent flyer points on this frequent flyer hacks on this podcast. But there's also a section in my book, The Art of pleasure about this, which Steve actually read and endorsed that section after reading it, which was like, oh my goodness, the best. But let's learn a bit a little bit more about Steve before we get on. He established, I fly flat in 2012 and it's the leader in rewards points management. They're the experts in points advice and flight bookings. They provide fully managed service, helping businesses and individuals to undercover the true value of the airline and credit card points, Steve has applied his skills over the past 17 years to solve complex problems, from being having a CPA and being a senior finance roles to now flying business class all over the world and helping other people to do the same. Steve is the leading authority on maximizing the return from reward points for business, and he's regularly invited to speak at international and local travel conferences, as well as running points workshops for corporates and professional organizations. I could talk to Steve all day about points, but you are going to hear an abridged version of that and some amazing, amazing inside tips right here. So can't wait for you to listen, and I'd love to hear how you start applying this so that you can travel more as well. Please welcome Steve Huey, welcome to the podcast. Steve Huey,

03:33

oh, thank you. Thanks very much for having me, Emma. Not

Emma Lovell 03:37

gonna lie. Um, as I saw Steve speak in at the business chicks conference earlier this year. Well, not earlier this year a couple months ago. Gosh. Well, Douglas, yes, and a couple months ago, and I you were one of the speakers that I've been the most excited about. So I'm very, very delighted to have you on here. And if anyone has met me in the last year or so, they know that I am very passionate about the topic that you're also passionate about. But let's give the listeners a little bit of background. Steve, who are you?

04:09

I am, well, I'm the points for that's what the media calls me. But I'm Steve hooey. My background is in accounting. So did a Bachelor of Commerce, of accounting. Then I worked in travel agency. It's my very first job. And must, I must say that actually was what gave me the spark around travel, because that first job in a travel agency gave me an idea that not everyone pays the same price. Some people pay very little, and some people pay a lot, and they fly on the same seat. So travel, travel is one of those weird things where the person next to you could be paying completely different price, but you're getting exactly the same experience. And being an accountant, the way I am, it's like, well, how do I be one of those people that are flying for cheaper but the same experience? So that got my mind working. I. And then in my next job, I was in in finance, accounting at Macquarie Bank, so saw their financial wizard tree and how you got me an air sitting next to interns, just open plan, just doing their craft, and then no excellent at it, and there wasn't any real hierarchy. What one thing I learned from that was that it's just that you just gotta be good at your job, and you get paid accordingly. There's nothing about who your boss is, whatever. Everyone took ideas, as long as they were smart ideas. And no, if you were good at your craft, you got paid you were bad at your craft, then we went to find another job. So those are the two things that sort of shaped where I am now. And then, yeah, then I figured that actually, using freaking fly points is actually the most valuable thing in the world. In my eyes, awesome because it gets you travel, which is the most desirable thing in the world. The travel industry is humongous, mainly because everyone wants to travel.

Emma Lovell 05:58

Yeah, I agree. And then you started. When did you start? I fly flat.

06:04

Yeah, 12 years ago, I

Emma Lovell 06:05

started that. That's wild. It's a

06:10

proper business, business to help people

Emma Lovell 06:15

their points. So you do, yeah, you do a lot of media. There's, you've definitely been in a lot of articles. You share a lot of wisdom and tips and things like that. But what does iFLY flat do? Like, what are the services that you offer through the business?

06:29

Yeah, we have two key services. One is booking flights. So we have a points flight booking concierge, or people who have accumulated points over time, they might say, have 300,000 points or half a million, or sometimes we have clients with 10 million points they've accumulated through their business or through credit card sign ups. But they don't know how to use them. They don't know how to find flights. They don't know how to find the best value flights, and they don't know how many points flights should cost. So they come to me, and we have a team of nine people that spatially specializes finding booking these points flights. So that's all to help people with who have existing points. Whether you are individual or business owner, doesn't matter. You bring the points, and we'll find the seats, and we charge a booking fee, so sort of like a travel agent, but just specializing in points flights. And then we have a points strategy piece where we've advised more business owners on how to earn more points, paying wages, ATO, paying supplies, which credit card to use, which payment service, and basically, like a whole sort of like financial analysis on earning points at the right price, and then they go hand in hand in you gotta have points of library points? Yeah,

Emma Lovell 07:49

absolutely. And my father in law has sitting on about 850,000 at the moment, and I'm always, I'm always offering to help spend them. I don't know why he doesn't want that help, but that was something that, really, I thought was profound, that you said to me, and I did ask you over breakfast, I did come up and I saw you. I was like, I've got one question. I had about five, but you're very kind to you me, but I have a colleague who's been accumulating the points. And I was, I sort of, I definitely don't have the problem spending them. Sometimes I probably could go a little bit towards the middle with that. So I know how to spend them. But you talked about that, the risk of accumulating them, and that, that thing that I learned from you too, which was in the session, was that points actually have a cost more, like a price. And I never thought about it like that.

08:43

Yeah, so I think you asked me about Where was you should stockpile them for, like, a super superannuation fund. And I always would have thought that sure you might need stockpile some in the future, if you think your earning rate will slow down. But it's like, like, if you had a garage full of CD players that you bought back in the day, they'll be worthless. Now, actually, they might be worth, they might actually be worth a lot of money now, but it's sort of worthless, because if you stocked up the the value is in the use. And I believe that travels one of those things where the earlier you use those points for a trip, the more valuable those memories are. Because you've you had that trip, you had, the fun you had, the photos you've experienced it, and those memories last will be forever. So they actually become even more valuable than if you were to push that later and have that trip at a later time, or Sure, you might have more time later, but you also your fitness and your health will be a little bit different, and you're just not going to have to same out fun and enjoyment than when you're over a little bit younger. So travel is one of those things where the earlier you have, the more valuable is because it sits in your mouth. Forever. So stop calling your points. It's a balance. It's a balance between how many points you can earn and how many points you're using. So just, I guess, just like money, you don't want to spend all your money, because it all comes down how much you can keep earning. But actually earning points is way easier than earning money. It's long she's got the right structure, plan and ideas in place, you find there's points everywhere, whereas making money is a little bit more difficult than that.

Emma Lovell 10:27

Yeah, it was that was like mind blowing to me. And then also the value of it, because I think if you don't understand, like, you can go on right now, and you could see a flight to from Sydney to Melbourne, and you go, Oh, 100,000.0 great. I have 100,000 points. That's fine, but that that's that's a crazy use of points, because I can pay 100,000 points to go return to Sri Lanka with paying a couple $100 in taxes. So if you don't have a comparison, you don't know if you've never seen the cheapest rate. So even you might start to think that Sydney to Melbourne is always 20,000 points. So it's not like the cheapest rate I think I've ever seen. It's 9800 points. I'm talking virgin, by the way. Case study on velocity, so I use virgin. But if you didn't know that, if you don't go and have a look at that and understand that, then yeah, you have all these 100,000 points you could blow it on one, one trip, yeah, because

11:21

you don't have to context. Contextual, actually 6200 points on velocities, plus taxes. So it's like you've gone into Maya David Jones, and there's no price tag, and you've only got maybe, say, $200 budget, but with no price tag, you don't know what to buy. So you think you can buy everything. But the magic of points is actually, all the information is out there. All the information is on the airlines websites. They don't hire them. It's all out there. It's all very easy to digest, but yet no one ever looks and goes, Oh, wow. So Sydney to London economy is only 55,200.1 way, sometimes, when they go to book, they say, for half a million points. Well, if they never knew it was 55,200.1 way, they'll think half a million points is the price.

Emma Lovell 12:16

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely, it was. That was a little bit mind blowing to me. I mean, I've seen it in terms of I've witnessed, but I didn't sort of put points to but also an earning thing. So you sort of go, Oh, I've done it before. I've gone, oh, I've got 40,000 points, and that's that cost that much. I'll just use it because they're there, and it'll save me the money whatever, or I really need to get there. And sometimes it's really helped. There have been times where I haven't had much cash flow, and it's really helped to be able to use those points. And I do tend to keep now at least a certain amount, so that I go, if I had to get to Sydney quickly, or if I had to get, you know, and I didn't have a lot of cash flow, I can just use I always know that I can buy at least one or two flights by at a very low

13:06

emergency piggy bank type of thing. So because I'm an accountant, no, the thought of numbers is always in my head, and for me, I'm very comfortable with numbers, but it's literally like running a business. It's like, buy low, sell high. It's just like buying stocks, right? Everyone knows the whole way to make money is to buy buy low and sell high. You make the gap. So the same thing with points. So you think about points as a little piggy bank that you deposit a little bit away each time. And if your piggy bank added up to be, say, $200 worth of coins, you don't want to go buy something that's only worth $100 because you went you went backwards. You want to buy something that's worth more than the the $200 in your piggy bank. And I think most people don't know how much, how much you send in piggyback, so they don't know how much they pay for these points over time. So hence, when it comes to use it, they just more like, oh, well, I've got these points. I'm going to save X dollars on my flight. Damn. I just use my points. But over the years or months, you could have paid more for those points than what you're getting in return, then you actually go backwards. I thought in life and business, you're supposed to go forward and get a deal, not get ripped off. Yeah,

Emma Lovell 14:29

totally, it's, yeah, it's, it's, and it is you said, we said it to me off air, but it's just that little bit more effort, like there is the information there, and what got me into it? Because I just, I used to not not brag about, but be quite vocal about that. I wasn't loyal to an airline, and I wasn't I didn't really care about points, because they just it did feel, at a time that it was hard, and I was really looking at it predominantly through earnings, through the flights. Yes, yes, that, and that was, didn't feel very rewarding. What I also had a misconception of was that my business was too small. And it was like my business was too small, of course, my friend, who has 12 staff is able to have a credit card that then they earn so many points that they're flying to the UK on points like of course. But that's not the size of my business. Like, that's what, you know, I had this. It's not for me. I'd seen also my dad, which I sent Steve a photo the other day, of my dad just sort of signaling subtly that he was in business class, because he's done that through work. So work would buy the business flights and through because he was the CEO of a company, the company couldn't keep the points, so his all the points had to be allocated to a person. So Dad, that's been something that I've seen for years. But I just didn't think at the level I was at, it was possible. Since I've got a few points earning credit cards that are attributed, you know, that do send because that's the thing. I have a credit card that earns points, but it won't go to the airlines. That's a really frustrating card that came through my mortgage trying to get rid of it, once I saw the power of that and that, my spending through the business little, how little, how little or big it was, how much that added up. It was a game changer. Hey, Lovell, I want to open the doors to incredible opportunities for you on an all inclusive luxury retreat, exclusively for people who are ready to live a life they love. I invite you to join me for five inspiring nights in sensational Sri Lanka for the rest and receive retreat posted from second to seventh of November, 2024 by yours truly, Emma Lovell I ask you to disconnect your senses and immerse in this exotic culture while you reconnect with yourself, you get to share this luxurious experience with 12 incredible people while forming connections that last a lifetime. I really cannot undersell or overestimate this incredible retreat and the magic of going to a place to give yourself space and time. I want to share it with you, and if you are interested, then please head to my website. Emma lovell.au/sri, Lanka retreat. I'd love to see you there, and I'm happy to chat. If you have any questions whatsoever, please take this opportunity to come along and join me in stunning Sri Lanka.

17:33

Yeah, like, what? How you felt. It's actually really, really common, because, I guess unless you sort of need a spreadsheet to really see it clearly, because if you try to do the sums in your head, it gets really confusing. So, and of course, most people don't want to just fire a spreadsheet because they feel like it's work, but I think it's actually more like play, because if you get the numbers right, because it doesn't matter how big your business is, there's the whole concept is that using points equals a cheap flight. And of course, the bigger your business means that more opportunity to earn more points equals more cheap flights. But even if you can just get one cheap flight using points, that's still one cheap flight ahead of not doing anything. There is definitely the general conception that earning points is fly flying, and that's probably, I'll say, probably 15 years old. Now, the idea that earning points through flying is the only way that right right now, it's all about earning points by spending and then that shortcuts and taps into the loyalty program that airlines had created. So airlines had created the loyalty program, bit like a copy card scenario, where every 10 flights you do on money, you earn enough points to get roughly one free flight on the same flight. So in the past, the only way to earn those points was by flying 10 of 10 of those flights. But now you can get those points through other sources. So it's bit like saying that your favorite coffee shop will know. Of course, every coffee you get, they stamp you one time, but if you went elsewhere, they'll give you two stamps on the same card, and then you can go back and redeem their coffee card. Back at the coffee shop is sort of like this. There's other ways to be a little bit smarter to tap into the reward system. So that's sort of like the analogy is that if you could get, if one coffee shop will stamp your cart five times, you will go there when you Yeah, it's more logical. Of course, it's a copy of the same price. Yeah,

Emma Lovell 19:37

yeah, absolutely. And it's, I mean, I think they've got much better systems now. I think some of the airlines, they've got much better partnerships, and when you see it, but I know that from, you know, I got so excited about and I've helped a few colleagues to get set up. And I think that there is that I can see that hesitation, and that like, this feels like a lot when you're setting it up for the first. Time you're setting up your account, you're setting up the business account, which is great through like corners and velocity both have business flyer accounts, and then you're attaching things. So even I use 711 we get our petrol at 711 now, because it gives points to Virgin. And you know, even that was kind of they were like, oh, so then you gotta get the app, and then you gotta do this. And it's like, yeah, but if you do that today, yeah, we're doing a little bit of work while I'm sitting with you today, then you get all the benefits, like, forever. And,

20:29

yeah, it's a lifelong benefit. So you know the fact that people are going to travel for the rest of their lives, everywhere around the world, like, if you were just going to travel over the next two years and then stop then, yeah, maybe not worth the effort, but this is one of the things where you basically set up the rest of your life. It's a system that works on the heat. So yeah, definitely, yeah. Encourage all my friends. But then there are sometimes some friends, they just don't like it, they just won't do it, and you can't force them, and then you just send them photos for your trips. Just,

Emma Lovell 21:04

I love it. Just one a. I'm just in I'm just in one a today, I'm just in two. Just that, what's one of your Do you have a memory of, like, maybe it was the first time? Or, like, Do you have a time where it was like, wow? Like, this really works. Like, a trip that you took that you just thought, I can't believe I'm doing this.

21:22

I think every time when the plane takes off, so when the plane rolls onto the actual runway and it actually takes off, that's what I call the moment of truth. That's when that you know that someone can't come on board and take you and say, Hey, this isn't your seat. That's when you know that you're officially flying and you're flying on points, whereas anything after a time or take off is I feel, I feel like someone could tap you on the show say, Sir, are you sure you're supposed to be here? And that's what I call the moment of truth, when someone who's a first time flyer has bought the ticket on points, gone there, checked in, got on board, but nothing matters until the fact that you've taken off in that seat. So every time I take off, I feel like, Yeah, I think I've worked this system really well.

Emma Lovell 22:14

This is my seat. This is my seat. Oh, good. And I loved you. Actually said something really great at the conference as well, which is about because the next level of it is like at the moment, predominantly for me and probably the level I'm talking to. And I did share tips in my book for frequent flyer hacks and for points earning, but people I met probably wanting to save money or to do some more travel and so but then the next level you're talking about is that flying flat, and so the the business class level, and a point that you brought up that was like, I can't get out of my head now, is that your seat is your seat, and you have the freedom in those seats, especially more so on an international flight that you don't have to walk past somebody to go to the loo. You get to put your stuff wherever you want to put it. And we, unfortunately, had a flight last international trip where it was my husband, myself and my and my son, like three of us, but they put us in a row of four. I didn't even think to ask. I'm just so used to them doing it. And they put us in a row of four, and we had someone on the end. And it just was, like, just made things that little bit more difficult to move around. And it was like, I kept trying to, like, make sure that our stuff didn't kind of overflow into him, or my kick him or something. And, you know, maybe business class for the three of us isn't man, we'll see, but it's not there at the moment. But I just thought, even for yourself, yeah, that that seat is your seat, and that space is your space.

23:43

Yeah, that's right, yeah, your business class is although, of course, every, every flight can be potentially a long flight, but I think, yeah, if you're, if you're flying business class, if that space is your space, and you can plan what you want to do with it, you can watch a movie, you can work, you can lie back, and no one can encroach or interrupt your plans. Whereas in the economy, like you just mentioned, you may have plans, but they were just your plans. When they come in contact with other people's plans, everything changes. And just like what Mike Tyson said his famous quote, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. Or flying economy is like being punched in the face. You just don't know who's going to be doing it, because you don't know the guy in front is going to Guy girl recline their seat. You don't know the person at the back, so kick your seat. You don't know the person next to you is. What type of traveler are? They would fly out the front. They could be all type of travelers, but they can only ruin their own space, and not yours.

Emma Lovell 24:47

Yeah, no, it's really powerful. That was such a amazing, just something to think about, and very aspirational, I think, as well the classes that you would. Talk about first class, business class, that's, it's very defined on a plane, but I don't like it. I always do walk past those people and think, how did you get this seat? Like, you know, especially sometimes the more mature people. I'm like, do you just, oh, no, you need the comfort. But I'm like, Are you just paying $10,000 every time you fly,

25:21

someone has to, otherwise the plane won't make any money.

Emma Lovell 25:25

So some people may well be but then some people aren't, and they're there because potentially it's points, or potentially, well, through other, other means. And I just, I think it's fascinating. I always look at them and it's like, how did you get this? And I think it

25:43

was so interesting. If there was, like, an interview of who on the plane, and you asked them who they were, what they did, and I did a buy to ticket, how much they'll be such that they'll make a real interesting reality TV show, because everyone, because when, actually, when you talk to people on a plane, they're very happy to have chit chat, because when you meet people at an airport or on a plane, it's very bizarre because they don't believe that they'll ever see you again. The most interesting conversations, because it's literally just a one time encounter. Yeah,

Emma Lovell 26:14

some of the best conversations I've had on planes, you just pull your heart out, or have your D and M story, and have that emotional moment. I had a very special moment on the way to Port Douglas, because I was taking a video with my book on the plane, and I was sitting there, and the woman next to me said, is that you? Is that your book? And she said, Can I hold it? And she'd written a book. Her and her husband had written a book too. And she said, I know what this feels like. And I just said I was like crying and having this special moment with this, people from Utah who were going up to Cairns on a trip. And it was just, I think those are the moments that I travel for. I think those special little moments. And yes, it's so nice. It's so much nicer being more comfortable on the planes. Definitely, I've enjoyed the more comfort of the travel. But like you said, we flying not for the status. We're flying for the because we enjoy it, because we want to,

27:14

and because you're getting there. And those moments on a plane, I think they occur because you're both going to the same place, and you sort of like in it together. You're on this plane, there's nowhere to go or set for time. So whereas if you can meet the same person in a hotel, it wouldn't be the same because you just don't know how much time they've got, they might be meeting someone in five minutes, or they might be hurrying to a room. So whereas on a plane, you know that, well, I'm going to be sitting here, you're going to be sitting here for the next seven hours. There's nothing else to do,

Emma Lovell 27:50

so have a nice chat, or at least need simple I do look at people in the airport too and think, Where are you going, or why are you going? Because I've always got a reason for my travel, I've always got a purpose, whether it's for visiting a family member or it's for work or I'm doing the work along the way. I actually don't often take a holiday or pick a place at random, and so I just do think these people, and you're like, how did you choose this destination? Like, why Thailand, or why Philippines? Or why are you going to the US again? Or, you know, thinking they could be looking at me saying the same thing, but I'm like, Well, I know why I'm traveling, but why are you and I just the idea of just having holidays, it's very baffling to me. Well, I

28:31

think everyone's going for a reason, and that's why it'll be really interesting show to people, to interview people at airport. Why are you going? Where you going? What for that? I can't wait

Emma Lovell 28:46

for that show. Let's go pitch it. We'll go. We'll be on planes all the time. I'll pitch it. We'll go in and do that. That sounds fun to me. Reality, the reality,

28:55

because you get, you get to sort of see all these dreams, because people going for all different purposes, for for work, of course, for conferences, meaning their loved ones, family, friends, weddings, parties, anything, right? Yeah, so interesting. And

Emma Lovell 29:16

I've just thought of one question that might not be a fun question for you, but How were things for you in the time where we couldn't travel? What happened with during that time, and how did, how did a business that's based upon travel? How did you communicate during that time?

29:32

Yes, and of course, that's like a enforced shutdown at that time. I've probably been running my business for about nine years, so I took it as a advanced, long service leave. There was time to stop doing work, because there's no work to be done. And just basically, the thing is, I knew that travel will return. So even though you were not allowed to travel and borders were closed, that when the borders would open, travel would resume. The. Huge. So that in my mind, I even questioned myself, like, now that my business has stopped, if I was going to do something else, what would I do? And I thought about that, and I thought, well, actually, there will be nothing else I would do, because this is the skill set I've got. This is the passion I've got. Like, why would I start something else when this is exactly what I want to do. I just need to wait to the clock ticked over or the dates ticked over until travel will resume its normal course, and it has. And actually, recent reports show that it's even more than pre pandemic, because people are now realizing they love travel, and they haven't been for a while, and there's so many places they're still yet to go. One

Emma Lovell 30:45

of my colleagues called it revenge travel, which I definitely engaged in. But I don't know I had the same sense of calm. I think people were worried about people in the travel, people who loved travel, or who worked in travel, they were worried. But I feel like for someone like you and I, and I had another colleague in travel, there was a very there was a calm because it was like, one we're not sad that we're not going to be able to because we've done so much. So it was like, actually, I took the say. It was like, it's quite nice to be home for a couple of months. I didn't know how long would be, but forced and to enjoy my local area, but you know, we had all these beautiful memories to look back on, and didn't have any regrets because I'd already been doing it. And yeah, there was more to do, but it's like, it's okay, and then also that trust that, that it must, it has to resume at some point, and just how will it look? I guess that was the only thing. And so there were the people who were panicking and worrying, and some in the industry, but the others saw that very grounded, and they're the ones who've done well. You know, my colleague who runs a travel advisory like to just keep treating people well, to keep helping people as much as they could, and if they had difficulties, and just to stay the course and be like, well, here before, and we're going to be here after. And this, they are still here and and doing better than ever. Yeah. And

32:03

I think just being the beacon to hope, although I had really interesting conversation during that time about helping people earn points, and they were like, Why do I want more points? Well, I can't travel. Yeah, okay, you can't travel now, but are you not going to travel in the future? And, and interestingly, people didn't really want to plan for the future. So because they know, of course, we were doing our point surviving service as well about helping people earn more points, and last year, they were just not interested in earning more points because they were stuck in there. Well, we can't use them. Yeah. Kept saying to know you can't use them today, but he is like money. Are you going to stop earning money because he's not using any What about? What about next year? You might want to change your mind then and then, of course, everyone's super keen on earning points again. Now,

Emma Lovell 32:53

good. It's all taken off. Now I ask everyone a question on this podcast, and it's sort of a main message of my what I do at Steve, what does living a life you love look like? Now,

33:07

I think it's the sense of freedom. So because I'm involved in travel and involved with points, points give you this sense of freedom that if you have some points in the bank at a time, you can actually take off anywhere at any time. So you talk about at the airport, you're looking at people so where they could go in? Well, sometimes, some people do this spontaneous trip that they just would not think of going anywhere yesterday, but today, they go somewhere for a whole variety of reasons. So same as money. If you've got money in the bank, you can do anything anytime, but I for me, points for me is the freedom that I can go anywhere anytime, using just points and not money. So never have to worry about how much a flight costs, because when you think about money, you always have comparisons that this same money could be used to buy something else, yeah, points, you can't buy something else. You have to do travel. So is there a this travel or that travel? And no matter your points is fixed price. So whether you fly today or you fly next year, the same number of points. So for me, it's all about the love of the freedom to travel, even though you may not, you may not travel that frequently, but at the back pocket, you had the sense that you could travel more frequently if you wanted to, and whenever that wanted to, moment comes along, is there waiting for you? So that's how that question, Oh,

Emma Lovell 34:38

I love it, Steve, and it's such a gift you have there, and the work that you've done because to make this thing that it could seem complex, as you said, it's all available, but you've done the work for people to bring it together and to make this thing more accessible. There were so many ahas. I think the room was lit up at the comp. Conference, so we were all very delighted and excited about how we could do more with what we had. And it's a yes, it's a conversation I could have till I'm blue in the face. So thank you for making the time for me at the conference to ask you extra questions, and for making the time today. I just I love your work, and I can't wait till I see you in business class TV show. TV show. I'll

35:24

be at airport interviewing people about where they going. Try and pitch that actually, at least on tick tock. You know, people doing on street all the time. Maybe the airport might let me do it.

Emma Lovell 35:37

I love it. Partner with one of the airlines. Jump on board. Richard Branson's always jumping on planes. I know he owns one or two, but you know he's doing that. Why not people? Either be fun. I look forward to seeing that. Thank you so much, Steve. And how can we find you? Where can we connect with you?

35:52

Thanks, Emma. You find me on I fly flat, so I F, l, y, flat.com, dot, a, U, and I'm always on LinkedIn as well. So find me under Steve hooey on LinkedIn or Instagram, just at I fly that all those three places you find me hanging around and available to chat anytime

Emma Lovell 36:09

you are very generous with your time, and, yes, very engaged, and it is the real Steve behind all of those channels and wonderfully engaged. So thank you so much for your time today. Steve,

36:20

thank you, Emma,

Emma Lovell 36:24

thank you for listening. Lovell one. I hope this has inspired you to dream big and start creating a life you love today. If you love what you're hearing, don't forget to follow and rate on Spotify and rate review and subscribe on iTunes. It helps other awesome people to find this podcast and get motivated and inspired as well. Want to stay connected. Come and join the live a life you love, group on Facebook or connect with me on Instagram. Emma lovell.au the same as my website, but all the details are in the show notes. Lovely. I'll see you next episode for more inspiration, motivation and freedom seeking Now go out there and live a life you love. I.