Brian Kelly
Appearances
Apple News Today
Are democratic checks and balances breaking down?
If you're complaining about the ever-shrinking coach seat, which is happening, then you need to go on the offense and say, well, how do I get premium economy for the same price, which is possible with certain credit cards, elite status, upgrade perks. And that is why we are in an unprecedented, incredible era of travel.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Giving. I mean, how does it feel to be a multi-hyphenate? When you became an author, did you notice a shift?
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
It feels really cool. Like I started The Points Guy 15 years ago. I'm like, you know, beyond proud of like what it's become. Never was it meant to become. All of this. So many employees, millions of people. But having a book, I actually just right before this, I went to Barnes and Noble Union Square. The best. Where we will be doing our event. Thank you for doing that.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
And I was walking through the store. By the way, it's popping. It is packed. Books are back, Brian. Books are back. It was so exciting. I'm like... And it makes me so excited to think that this book, which is going to be in every airport in America, Hudson News, just bought a bunch. And like people will buy this hopefully for years to come.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
And that to me is so cool to be able to connect with the whole audience that the twisted Instagram algorithm isn't naturally, you know.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
But to have like a physical book that's around, I'm so excited about it.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
I thought about this, but similar, like in the Jewish faith, where it is like very... Superstitious. Shugana?
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Yeah. So I didn't want it because I had to finish that in October and he was born December. And I'm like, that's a really, I just, you know. Yep. And plus, I'll just dedicate the next one to Cooper.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Wait, where are you on your EGOT? Who do you think will get an EGOT first? I'm.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
What are you... That's actually my worst nightmare. I have dreams where I'm on the American Idol stage and they're like, go out and win it. And I'm like...
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
No, but wait, I firmly believe though, because your voice is a muscle and you can make it better. I sometimes think, and I'm a very competitive person. If I went into like really deep vocal training courses, do you think I could be okay?
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
But I actually, I have a good podcasting from what I hear and like voice and doing my audio book, which, you know, it's available wherever you get your audio books.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
It was like so challenging to do an audio book.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
But you can't do it all. And I'm OK with not being a singer.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Well, I think it's interesting because I feel like I have slowed down a lot. When we first met, like pre-pandemic, when I was CEO of The Points Guy, we were on just growing that business, traveling a ton, doing charity work. It's like I had this beautiful home in the Hamptons that I never slept in.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
So I feel like in the pandemic, when I slowed down, I got my farm, started horseback riding, had Dean. I do realize that I'm still... To me, it seems like a lot less. And even writing this book now, I'm in the honeymoon phase because I was promoting the book I'm so excited about. Writing this book was really, I have severe ADD.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
And I wrote this. I couldn't just give this to a ghostwriter to write. Like this book has me.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
So I gave up like the first five months of last year, even when I was in the Maldives, I was working on my book most of the time that I was on that trip. I went to Tokyo to see Taylor Swift. What people don't know is like I was in my hotel room at the Amman working on the book. But now I'm twisted because I'm excited to write another.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
But the next one that I wrote, this book is like, this is a burger of like real information to save you money on travel, flights. My next book, I want to take a like maybe do a little more visual.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Kind of. Well, I I start the book off saying like we're in the platinum era of travel. I actually think travel today is the best it's ever been for a lot of reasons. But I kind of would like to do almost do like a Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, like super luxury book.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
And if anyone is a horse girly out there, it's expensive. It's six mortgages plus two children, nannies. I mean, I work because I have to, Claudia.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
And I love it for him. He I mean, he's so charismatic, but I feel like he he is the way he is because we've been traveling from the beginning. I mean, his first international trip was Belize.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
I remember we showed up at Newark Airport and he was in his little Duna and you were surrounded by Margot.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
And he I just remembered the girls surrounding him that whole trip. He's so cute.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Um, yes. So pre-boarding, it depends now with the toddler who's two, I try to board that plane the last second, like as little time possible on the plane, the better, but cause I travel with the nanny, I'll have them go on first sometimes, or just to get things on the plane and then I'll board last with Dean. But you know, in the chapter, I learned a ton about traveling with kids, uh,
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
when I started traveling with Dean, there's so many crazy rules. Your kid can fly in your lap for free.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
But then some people will say, but then internationally, they don't even let you put babies in car seats because little, there's so much information as a parent to digest. So I spelled it all out because it's terrible. Infants especially should not be in car seats for extended periods of time because they can literally die. They asphyxiate.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
And I love the Duna, and I'm actually going to do a reel on this soon. The Duna is amazing because it turns from car seat to stroller to car seat. But the problem with the Duna is your child can be in that Duna for hours because you're not having to take them out when you go to a restaurant.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
No, and really, I mean, some people say you're supposed to take your newborn out every 30 minutes. Which most people do not do.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
But there is a rule of thumb is two hours. So like in the book, I actually interviewed child safety, child passenger safety technicians. They're certified people that give their advice on what to do. But the bottom line is, as a parent, there's no cut and dry rule what's safest.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Totally. And you know what's best for your kid. And I think just educating people with here are your choices, the pros and cons. There's no one.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
First thing I would tell you is, especially internationally, I know parents are nervous to travel. First of all, when kids are little, it's easy. Like zero to one. It is so easy in general. Even if your baby cries, you feed it.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
They're not running anywhere. It's like when they become the two to like three is tough because your child may want to run and you got to keep them. But what I say is the flight will always be over. That is the one constant. You'll get over it. Sometimes it feels like it won't though.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
And the memories of the trip, even if your child can't remember the trip, I firmly believe children are smarter than we give them credit for. And I believe experiences like embed in them. So I say take the trip. And also most countries are way more child friendly than the U.S., Really? Europe.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
For example, when you land in Portugal, if you have a small child, they'll take you to the front of the immigration line. Wow. In Europe, in Italy, you'll go and they have family security lines that have no lines so you don't have to wait in line.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Yeah. In Ibiza this past summer, the woman was nursing her newborn at the hottest restaurant in town at 9, you know, 10 p.m. No one batted an eye.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Oh, my God. My mind is racing. So to parents, it can be overwhelming. I get it. Only travel when you want. But I push people. I like being a role model for people to show people it can be done. And yes, I have a nanny. I'm not trying to pretend like I'm a superhero as a single dad. But... Like traveling with your kids can be incredible.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
I just like to be a positive narrative because I find with the whole parenting world and I get it. Like there's a lot of exhausted parents. I'm not trying to downplay that, but it's also amazing. I took Dean on safari, you know, like it's...
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
And your memory, I have like Dean, when we went to the Maldives and he just, I sat and In the white sand, just me and him and just the waves are coming over us and he's in my legs. And I'll remember that moment forever. It was like just so many good memories. And yes, he's cried on flights and like he'll- Torturer. He's like, you know, toddlers throw things, like throw a car across business class.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
But in the end, like you have a right to be on that plane.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Like you're- Flights are public transportation.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
So if you want to control the manifest who flies on an aircraft, you got a charter, honey. So everyone you are taking public transit, even if you bought a business class ticket, it does not give you the right to say who deserves to be on this plane and where they're sitting.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
I think, and as travelers get noise-canceling headphones, there's going to be crying babies. And by the way, I've traveled a lot. I have been way more inconvenienced by drunk idiots on planes causing issues. Adults cause more issues than babies. So true. And I think just have compassion. Like, help a pregnant woman who has bags. Help them put things in the overhead bin. And don't just assume.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Like, have good intent. Don't assume every baby's crying because their parents are doing nothing.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Being a parent, you can have the best... Kid who does crazy things and is inconsolable has nothing to do with your parenting. So stop thinking so negative and maybe help the people out. It takes a village. Even just smiling at a parent who's clearly overwhelmed in a flight, that helps you more than talking crap in your head because smiling at them, hey, do you need a hand? I got you.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
A simple thing like that to a parent can help bring their stress level down, which then in part helps. So help yourself by being nice. That's across the board in travel.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Yeah, I think as we all travel more and you get the bigger picture, I think it does help us all like become better people.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
I think one of our first DMs was me commenting about ALDC.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
So I may not be a good dancer. I mean, I may not be a good singer, but I'm a great dancer.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Celebrity we met on the way to Punta Mita that I was like, oh, I don't even remember. We had a little bit of a boozy flight.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Claudia, you're vaping. You were so brazen. I know. Going to bars with you. You wouldn't even hide it. You'd puff it into the air.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
And then you would. It's electric. You would act aggrieved. You've gotten kicked out of bars.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
So Darcy was on 90 Day Fiance. She just opened her heart looking for love. So I got deep into 90 Day Fiance probably like circa 2018. And that was when I was, you know, we were doing big TPG awards and they would always say, what like celebrity should we invite to the awards? I'm like, frankly, like most A-list celebrities are not coming to like a travel website.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
let's invite so then I mean Darcy Silva is an iconic queen and I would just DM them and I'd be like hey girl hey and she's like oh my god and I could just tell like she needs love yeah and she's so sweet she like DM me so she came to the first TPG Awards very nice and then she had a couple drinks and she came into my green room and like at one point she's like I just need a guy like you and just starts like crying on my lap there's like a photo of her because she's known for crying on the show because she's just looking for real love yeah aren't we so like
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
That was definitely like, I've made it moment. When Darcy Silva, she smells really good.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Yeah, he... That's huge. Yeah, I've met him several times. I mean, Martha Stewart, everyone thinks she travels private. Martha's a commercial queen and I help her team out quite a bit. I help her get the best flights and make sure she's taken care of.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
She's a window girly. She's actually very like low maintenance. Like I've flown, we went to Greenland and we only flew economy. She was not a deep, like she's very well traveled. She's very inquisitive. She's very engaged. Like when we were touring little towns in Greenland together, she would go talk to local people. Yeah. She's very, very inquisitive.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
I mean, she means it when she says like learn something new every day or whatever. It's like... Oh, yeah, that's her thing. Keep learning or die.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Well, when we eat rotten fish on the airline and go viral in Israel.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
For any aviation girlies out there, this is when... It was a big deal. Seven... LL had a 747. It was not the most. It was old. Yeah. But iconic queen of the skies.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Two queens in the sky. Literally. But they served our food and it was rancid.
The Toast
Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
I think I said I would pay you like $500 and I never paid you, did I?