I will be speaking at two different frequent flyer events this October. The first, the Chicago Seminars event (Oct 21-23) is detailed on Flyertalk, here (Nearly the entire FM team will be there!). The second, the Travel Summit, will be held in Toronto October 29 and 30, 2022.
At the Travel Summit, at 2:30PM on Saturday, I’ll present “Build Your Own Round-the-World Flights.” While I’ll talk a bit about ANA’s Round the Word awards, I’ll also dive into options for building your own Round the World adventures using sweet-spot awards from programs like Air Canada Aeroplan, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and more.
Travel Summit Details
In addition to my presentation, the schedule is packed with interesting presentations from many experienced speakers. Here are the primary details of the event:
- Dates: Oct 29 and 30, 2022
- Location: Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) in the North Building. 255 Front St W, Toronto, ON, M5V 2W6, Canada.
- Cost: $399 CAD + taxes. Save $50 CAD with coupon code FREQUENTMILER (Frequent Miler will also earn a commission when you use this code). Alternatively, use this link to auto-populate the coupon: thetravelsummit.com/FREQUENTMILER. After taxes and the discount are factored in, the total comes to $394.37 CAD (~$307 USD).
- Ticket Inclusions: Access to all presentations and networking sessions. Lunch will be provided on both days. Your ticket will also include a digital copy of all of the presentations, which will be distributed after the event.
- Sessions & Schedule: Found here.
- List of Speakers: Found here.
- Accommodations:
- Hyatt Regency Toronto: The Travel Summit rate is $229 (CAD) plus nightly taxes and fees.
- InterContinental Toronto Centre: $255 CAD
- St. Regis Toronto: $425 CAD (book before August 29)
- Prizes: Every few weeks leading up to the event, there will be a prize drawing among those who have purchased tickets. Buy by August 14th for a chance to win Star Alliance Gold elite status. Here are the relevant dates by which you must purchase a ticket in order to be in the prize drawing:
Purchase by August 14: Chance to win Star Alliance Gold airline elite status, valid through 2023.August 15–August 28: Free hotel stay for the event- August 29–September 11: Credit card annual fee waiver. Chance to win the annual fee of any credit card publicly issued in Canada or the U.S. (Centurion card excluded). Hint: think $695 Platinum card.
- September 12–September 25: Prize to be revealed
- September 26–October 9: Prize to be revealed
- October 10–October 28: Prize to be revealed
Is it worth it?
No doubt many readers will wonder if it’s worth the cost of the event plus hotel and travel expenses to come to this event. I’ve never been to The Travel Summit, so I can’t speak from specific experience. However, for those new to the game, I’m confident that you’ll get a ton of value from this. And for those further along, I’m sure you’ll still learn some valuable tips, but more importantly you’ll have a chance to meet others in the hobby. There are countless things in this hobby that are made easier and better once you build a network of friends (travel with friends, learn underground manufactured spending tips, find friends with Hyatt Globalist status who can share their benefits with you, find out about deals that haven’t yet hit the blogs, etc.).
The next reasonable question is whether to do The Travel Summit or Chicago Seminars (or a future Frequent Traveler University session). That’s tough to answer. Chicago Seminars will probably be significantly cheaper, so if price is your driving concern, that will probably be your better bet. But while there will be some speaker overlap between the two events, I expect that the content will be very different. If you’re on the fence, wait for Chicago Seminars details to be announced so that you can compare the schedules to see which holds more interest to you.
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How can I get the Travel Summit discount at the Hyatt Regency? Thanks!
Going to Chicago Seminars, looking forward to meeting you all.
will attend chicago event if not too pricey.
Greg – will your schedule in YYZ allow for a FM mini meetup outside of the event?
I don’t know yet
Just checked out of the Hyatt Regency Toronto today and love the hotel. Used a 15K cert. The room was good. I’m only discoverist but was given a high floor corner room and 2pm checkout. The service was also excellent. The entire front desk staff and housekeeping were very responsive to my needs. Didn’t eat at the hotel but there’s so many options nearby. The location can’t be beat on King St just a few blocks from the Roger’s Centre and the CN tower.
Will the Chicago seminar be a Frequent Miler hosted event, or will you/Nick/team be a speaker at the larger summit?
No, we don’t host the Chicago Seminars. It is a long-standing event (more than 10 years I believe), but Greg has been speaking there for most of those 10 years at least (and I’ve spoken there as well over the past few years before the pandemic).