Dave Grossman – MilesTalk.com

Dave’s been playing the miles and points game since 2003 and has collected millions of credit card points and frequent flyer miles.

He’s partial to using miles to travel around the world in first class seats and luxury hotels that would cost obscene amounts of cash and loves to teach others to do the same.

He founded MilesTalk in 2016 as both a blog and Facebook Groups after leading a session at South By Southwest on the topic, and has been featured in publications such as Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and on the Conde Nast Traveler podcast.

He also wrote the book “MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points“ which was just updated as a 2nd Edition and teaches readers the basics of getting started in miles and points.

Jamie Haas – Las Vegas Expert

My name is Jamie Haas, and there is little that I love more than getting out-sized value for my travel dollar, whether it be an upgrade to an amazing suite, an exclusive experience, or an exotic car to drive around the Las Vegas Desert.

I’ve been married to my wife Melissa for 16 years and have a 12 year old daughter Addison and 7 year old son Ashton, who travel all over with us.

Melissa and I enjoy trips both with and without the kids. Although our travels have and continue to take us around the world, some of my favorite repeat-trips are those that take us to Disney World, the Caribbean, and to the mountains to ski and snowboard.

I have been to Disney World every year since I was born, have stayed at every Disney World property, and have been an annual pass holder for as long as I can remember. My favorite resorts are Disney’s Beach Club and Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. I love all things Disney and could talk your ear off about it, if you will let me. I love snowboarding! I try to get at least one trip in per year with the family. My favorite ski resorts are Waldorf Astoria, Park City and Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

Living in the Southeast, I feel like the Caribbean is my home away from home. With the short flights and same time zone, we are in the Caribbean multiple times per year. Baha Mar is one of my favorite resorts anywhere; between its multiple pools, amazing casino, beautiful beaches, it has everything I need. It may not have made my top three repeat-trip list; however, when I think about a “bougie” trip and outsized value, Vegas is the place to be! Between crazy suites, great dining, world class spas, limos, exotic cars, and over-the-top experiences, Vegas is hard to beat.

Justin Vacula – Travel Podcaster

Justin Vacula — host of the Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast — focuses on helping people make money, save money, and travel at next to no cost using credit card rewards and deals. Vacula also frequents casinos using promotions and loyalty programs to make Poker play a more enjoyable and low-cost experience.

Catherine Smalfus – Video Poker and Casino Loyalty Expert

Catherine gravitates towards any activity that has to do with planning and lists. This has served her well while playing optimally in casinos for over ten years and traveling on a budget. She has also been working frequent flyer deals since taking her first solo flight on Piedmont Airlines and signing up for their credit card while onboard. Catherine believes that with a little extra effort you can get a discount and a little extra value for every purchase you make. Few people have such extensive combined knowledge of travel loyalty, casino loyalty programs and video poker. Check out Catherine’s work

Oliver Lovat – Academic, Researcher, Writer and Strategy Consultant

His expertise is in customer-facing real estate and the evolution of Las Vegas, serving as faculty at City, University of London Business School in London, and previously as faculty at The University College of Estate Management, lecturing on strategic asset management.

He has spent the past 20 years in investment, development, finance and strategy,  transacting across multiple jurisdictions, asset classes and ownership structures. His recent focus has been developing and implementing strategies for retail, gaming and hospitality environments, consulting for clients including international casino companies.

Oliver has addressed The World Gaming Executive Summit, International Casino Conference, Global Gaming Summit, International Casino Exhibition, Investment Property Forum and many other notable groups on the importance of learning from Las Vegas.

He is a special features writer at Global Gaming Business, columnist at Gaming America and Gambling Insider Magazines, and has a selection of published papers on strategic trends in Las Vegas.

Originally from Scotland, Oliver spent 15 years working in London before moving to the USA in 2015. He holds a BA in Social Sciences, MSc in Real Estate Investment, MBA with a focus on Finance and Strategy and is a Fellow of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Julia Menez – Geobreeze Travel Podcast

Julia Menez is a points strategy coach, speaker, and host of the Geobreeze Travel Podcast. After traveling to more than 30 countries before the age of 30 and saving thousands of dollars each year with points and miles, Julia distills the strategies from top award travelers around the world in her Geobreeze Travel podcast, and prepares personalized points and miles plans for her private coaching clients

Through her podcast, Julia features a diverse roster of guests with experiences that are traditionally underrepresented in larger points and miles blogs and media. Her episodes often highlight travel hacking women, immigrants, and people of color. Julia has been a speaker for FinCon, a course instructor for Frequent Traveler University, and quoted in publications such as creditcards.com, Money Magazine, Fodor’s Travel, and Business Insider. Her podcast was nominated in the 2021 Plutus Awards for “Best New Personal Finance Podcast”, and she has hosted points workshops for thousands of registered guests across numerous platforms.