[INTERVIEW] Frugal Flyer – Looking Ahead!

We continue celebrating the lead up to our 10 year anniversary later this year by we are welcoming back the Frugal Flyer team to catch up with how they have been doing since we last interview them almost a year ago. Looks like lots of changed and looking forward to seeing what more they have in store.  Even though they are relative new to the Canadian travel blogging scene, they really came out “flying”! Thank you Reed, Hugh and Daniel for taking the time to answer our questions and we really looking forward to seeing you grow.  

1) Please tell us about yourself and your role with Frugal Flyer?

Reed Sutton

My name is Reed and I am a health researcher by day and travel blogger by nearly all other hours. Travel and travel hacking is something that I’ve been passionate about since 2017-2018 when I decided I needed to find a way to travel for less if I wanted to travel at all. It’s something I quickly realized I have a knack for and the blog, which I created in 2020, was a way to connect with the larger community and share my passion.

In late 2021 my good friend Hugh came on board as a partner and I consider him a co-founder of the current Frugal Flyer. He has contributed significantly to increasing our content output and search engine ranking (and of course a level-head to bounce ideas off of).

Hugh Campbell

My name is Hugh and I’m a Human Resources Manager during the day, and the other co-founder of Frugal Flyer on the evenings and weekends. I’ve been churning credit cards since 2017 but only seriously got into the hobby (now a passion) in 2019 when I met Reed. The hobby became an addiction and I was able to accelerate my point-earning capabilities significantly.

When it comes to Frugal Flyer, I am equal parts content writer, SEO specialist, and manager of the FlyerFunds Rebate program. Similar to Reed, I love that Frugal Flyer has given us the opportunity to share our specialized knowledge with the broader community and we are able to cover some topics that we have yet to see covered by other blogs.

Daniel Burkett

I entered the Miles and Points game in 2021 and have taken the “make up for lost time” mentality. After spending five years traveling for my first career in motorsports and flying 30+ weeks annually in economy class,, I am out for Points Revenge! When I joined Frugal Flyer in early 2023 as a writer, I hoped to share my knowledge with as many travelers as possible, so they can avoid the same mistakes I’ve made.

I still haven’t gotten over the thrill of flying at the front of the plane and particularly enjoy planning trips in the best premium cabins, sometimes even taking an obscure route to do so. Flying ANA’s The Room on 10 days’ notice and sharing that experience with my wife is my favorite redemption to date.

Outside of the world of Miles and Points, I enjoy racing vintage Formula Ford race cars with my dad, skiing, and being disappointed by the Toronto Raptors (aside from 2019 of course).

2) Welcome back. How much has changed since we last interviewed you in May 2022?

It seems like every week, things get busier and busier for us (in a very positive manner). Some of the most significant changes and successes since May 2022:

• We have continued to see significant growth in readership and traffic, and increased partnerships, including with American Express Canada, CIBC, RBC, and more.
• We’ve begun to collaborate with other blogs (yourselves, Prince of Travel, and hopefully many more!) and hosted a few local community meetups.
• Site-wise, the most significant change is an overhauled system for rebates called FlyerFunds, which offers timely payouts and transparent rebate tracking.
• We gave out awards for the best-in-class credit cards, which have been featured now by National Bank and HSBC for their world elite cards.
• We hired a new dedicated content writer, Danny, and are looking to add another writer to our team.

In short, we are very excited for what the rest of 2023 and beyond holds!

3) What are you working on that we can look forward to?

We have pages of ideas that we’d like to do in the future, but also more concrete things we plan to do more imminently in 2023, including:

• More refinements to our rebate program, including the addition of new partners
• Improved social media content (video content with an educational focus)
• Publish tools to help with travel planning
• Continue doing what we’re doing well

And also, we’re hoping to hold a bigger and better local points meetup, probably during the late summer.

4) As we mentioned in our recent refresh post, seeing you guys grow so quickly over the past few years is one of our inspirations to keep going. Do you have any thoughts for us as we embark on our next 10 years?

Keep going! There aren’t enough points blogs in Canada. No matter the size, we love seeing more miles and points blogs pop up as all content creators add a unique lens and can share different perspectives. Try to craft your own niche within the blogosphere and listen to feedback from your audience.

Other than that, we know as well as anybody that sometimes personal life takes precedence. But don’t forget to come back and share your trips and thoughts with the community. Even one blog post a month adds value.