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ABOUT JOHNNY
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JOHNNY JET'S Q & A
With The Penny Pincher ~ Joel Widzer

PROFILE

Joel’s interest in traveling has taken him to more than 36 countries, logging over 100,000 air miles a year and in one of his frequent flyer account he has accumulate close to 2 million frequent flyer miles. Joel has developed the unique ability to view traveling from the viewpoint of a consumer as well as from a business perspective. His pursuit of luxury travel while maintaining loyalty earned Joel the coveted Million Miler award from Delta Airlines and invitations from Delta Airlines to participate in their frequent flyer's round table discussions.

Joel is the best selling author of the customer serviced focused book, The Penny Pincher’s Passport to Luxury Travel, Travelers Tales, 1999. Currently, Joel is the Co-creator, Executive Producer and Writer of The Penny Pinching Luxury Traveler; television series, a production of Windham River Productions. In addition, Joel is in development of a radio travel program based in the Los Angels market, with plans to expand nationwide.

Having an innovative approach Joel has been reported on extensively across North America. He has appeared frequently on network and local TV and radio, and print media including MSNBC, The FOX News Channel, The Travel Channel, CNN, and both nationally and in local markets on the CBS, NBC and ABC networks, syndicated radio and profiled in major publications including the Wall Street Journal, Time magazine, Bottom Line Publications, Chicago Sun Times, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. He is a featured expert on web sites including Guidebookwriters.com and Travelerstales.com.

Joel holds a doctoral degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology and a Bachelor of Science (Business Administration), from Pepperdine University.

His Publications include:
The Penny Pincher's Passport to Luxury Travel, the Art of Cultivating Preferred Customer Status, 1999, Travelers Tales. Now is the Perfect Time to Travel, Travelers Tales, November 2001. Customer Retention of Business Travelers in the Airline Industry; United States International University, 2001. How E-Business Is Changing The Paradigm For Organizations, United States International University, 2000. First Class Vacations at a Fraction of the Cost, Woman Now, December 1999. Luxury Travel on a Shoestring, Bottom Line Publication, June 1999.

JOEL'S ANSWERS

HOW OFTEN DO YOU FLY?
The past two years I have made mostly international trips, so my average trips per year has been about 20 to 25.
IN A YEAR HOW MANY MILES/POINTS DO YOU EARN?
My main concern is to be able to travel in luxury while paying discounted prices. Therefore, my focus is on earning based miles. So mostly my miles are limited to my base miles plus the automatic double bonus miles I get, and then any promotional miles my airline of choice might be offering at the time. The only affinity mileage program I belong to is the diner club (last year I earn about 145,000 point with them). For me, it has become far too complicated, time consuming and a hassle to stay in the mileage-loop. My philosophy is that there are enough discounted fares available for me to purchase, thus I continue to build loyalty, which results in getting upgraded.
WHAT CLASS OF SERVICE DO YOU MOSTLY FLY IN?
I guess this question goes to my claim of fame. For the past seven years I have flown over 600 flights paying discounted prices in first class. In other words my success rate of upgrading has been 100%
FAVORITE AIRLINE?
I cannot really say that it is always my favorite airline, but I do fly exclusively on Delta or their code-share partner.
FAVORITE AIRCRAFT?
I like Delta’s business elite cabin in the 767’s and 777.
FAVORITE HOTEL?
I have a few favorites; however, I think the hotel company that provides the best overall consistently high quality service throughout their network are the Four Seasons Hotels. However, individually I do enjoy the Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua and the original Four Seasons in Istanbul.
FAVORITE HOTEL AMENITY?
Being upgraded, quality service, and having morning room service sitting on a veranda overlooking a beautiful coastline/beach.
FAVORITE AIRPORT?
John Wayne (sna), I live close to it, it is not too crowded, and I can get pretty good Delta flights from there
FAVORITE AIRPORT TO PASS TIME IN?
None
FAVORITE CITY?
I am asked this question all the time, and I have to say that I do not have any one favorite city or place. For me each city has its own unique character and charm, so I just try to enjoy where I am.
FAVORITE RESTAURANT?
I forget the name but once while in Rome, I stumbled upon a small neighborhood family ran restaurant. The atmosphere, the service, the food, and prices were all fabulous.
AISLE OR WINDOW?
Aisle—I dislike the confinement of a window seat.
ETICKET OR PAPER?
e-ticket
TRAVEL AGENT OR ONLINE?
I do my initial research on line, but I always book directly with the airline or hotel. By calling direct, I can elicit more information and usually lower rates.
FAVORITE TRAVEL WEBSITE?
Johnny-Jet's, otherwise I think they are all very similar.
FAVORITE TRAVEL COMPANION?
It Depends!
IF YOU WERE STRANDED ON A TROPICAL ISLAND, WHAT THREE ITEMS WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU?
That’s a hard one!
BEST TRAVEL TIP:
Not to shamelessly promote myself, but I believe very strongly in my book and therefore my best travel tip is to buy my book. (Sorry for the shameless self promotion