08.10.26 Breaking Phone Addiction / Know The Affinity Fraud Trap

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast
Episode: 08.10.26 – Breaking Phone Addiction / Know The Affinity Fraud Trap
Date: August 10, 2026
Host: Clark Howard

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Clark Howard tackles two main topics affecting listeners’ financial and personal lives:

1. Breaking Phone Addiction – exploring methods to reduce compulsive screen time, including a new device and lifestyle tips.
2. The Dangers of Affinity Fraud – highlighting recent high-profile scams affecting NFL players, and practical advice to avoid falling victim to similar schemes.

The show also features listener Q&A segments covering family travel on a budget, the risks of debit vs. credit cards, maximizing high-interest checking accounts, prescription cost savings, and travel planning for Asia.

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Main Theme 1: Breaking Phone Addiction

(Timestamps: 00:18–07:32)

Key Discussion Points

• Pervasiveness of Phone Addiction:

  • Clark explains how people get hooked on games, social media, and other apps, to the detriment of real-world relationships and work focus.
  • Personal anecdote: Clark’s relative is “so into Facebook” he’s not present much of the time.

• Clark’s Screen Time Management:

  • Relies on his weekly phone screen time notifications to monitor use, noting spikes occur when traveling.

• The “Brick” Device and App:

  • Introduction of a new $60 device and its app, popularized in a Wall Street Journal article, designed to restrict access to selected apps by “bricking” them temporarily.
  • Procedure: User selects problematic apps, taps the brick, and those apps become inaccessible.

• Clark’s Reluctant Endorsement:

  • Not typically one to suggest spending $60 on behavioral solutions, Clark concedes:

    “If it’s harming your relationships or you at work, and nothing else has worked for you, then this is something you should consider.” (05:07)

• Real-Life Challenge of Phone-Free Living:

  • Krista (producer/co-host) shares an evening experiment going without her phone and the resulting difficulties accessing digital tickets due to security restrictions and two-factor authentication.
    • “The one night I’m so proud of myself, and then—yeah—forgot about that.” (07:04)

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Main Theme 2: The Affinity Fraud Trap

(Timestamps: 18:42–23:53)

Key Discussion Points

• Recent NFL Player Scam:

  • Clark references a current news story and Barron’s Magazine investigation, where NFL players lost millions to a fake Shopify-powered investment, allegedly orchestrated by a con artist flaunting a wealthy lifestyle.

• Psychology Behind Affinity Fraud:

  • Scam relies on trust within a group (team, community, church, political party, etc.).
    • “Once someone within a group is recruited, others let down their normal suspicion.” (20:00)
  • Peer pressure and validation make these schemes hard to resist.

• Staggering Losses:

  • Ernst and Young report cited: over $1 billion stolen from athletes via affinity scams in recent years.
  • Not exclusive to athletes:
    • “It’s any of us who let down our guard and trust the smooth-talking salesperson can end up having their money take a one-way trip without you.” (22:50)

• Actionable Advice:

  • No matter how much you trust someone, always independently verify investments.
  • Don’t skip due diligence just because “someone you know, like, and respect” is participating (21:30).

• Memorable Quote:

  • “Just because someone you know, like, and respect has, quote-unquote, invested in something does not mean you can just do it without doing normal thinking...” (21:38)

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Listener Q&A Highlights

Family Travel on a Budget

(Timestamps: 07:32–10:46)

• Camping and Outdoor Lodging:
  • Fees often are per vehicle or site, not per person, making it affordable for families.
• Airfare Tips:
  • “Go Wild” passes from Frontier Airlines let families fly last-minute for about $15/person, at the cost of flexibility and comfort.
  • Suite hotels (TownPlace Suites, Staybridge, Hyatt House/Place) offer apartment-style rooms with free breakfast and kitchens.
  • Krista mentions Airbnb and VRBO for additional savings, but notes some caveats.

Debit Cards vs. Credit Cards Protections

(Timestamps: 10:47–12:53)

• Credit cards have stronger protections under the Fair Credit Billing Act.
• Debit cards: Immediate withdrawal, minimal recourse if a supplier goes bankrupt, greater risk of prolonged loss of funds.
• Notable quote:
  • “We never got [a written statement of protection from Visa] because the protections are not the same.” (11:37)

High-Interest Checking Accounts & Debit Card Risk

(Timestamps: 12:53–15:00)

• Clark’s View:
  • If a credit union offers 4.25% APY on checking with no limits for required debit transactions, “absolutely take advantage,” but avoid risky places (e.g., don’t use debit at the gas pump due to skimmers).

Downloading Financial Statements: Screenshots or PDFs?

(Timestamps: 24:39–25:56)

• Clark’s Advice:
  • Screenshots are “just fine” if the phone is password/biometrically protected.
  • Krista prefers official PDFs due to authenticity concerns, but Clark emphasizes “not letting perfect be the enemy of good”—any record is better than none.

Prescription Price Shopping at Costco

(Timestamps: 26:50–28:51)

• Insurance vs. Member Pricing:
  • Example: $110 insurance copay, $39 direct-pay member price—always ask at the pharmacy counter.
  • Corrupt system of kickbacks between pharmacy benefit managers and insurers keeps prices high.

College Alternative & Asia Travel Tips

(Timestamps: 28:51–35:33)

• Clark cheers on a listener’s daughter who chose technical school and adventure via Semester at Sea.
• Asia trip tips:
  • Travel on Christmas Day for lowest airfare.
  • Fly from West Coast to Asia for best deal; use reputable Asian airlines (Skytrax 5-star rated).
  • Recommended stopovers for first-timers: Japan, Korea, Taiwan (user-friendly).
  • Avoid naming “the dogs,” but use reviews and frequency of flights for reliability.
  • “Once you visit Asia, you’ll catch the travel bug—you’ll want to go again and again.” (33:55)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On phone addiction interventions:
  • “When would you ever hear me say, go pay 60 bucks for a behavior?” (05:05)
• On debit cards at gas pumps:
  • “Do not pay at the pump at a gas station to be one of your 12 transactions. That is the greatest danger of skimmers that exists in the marketplace.” (13:51)
• On affinity fraud risk:
  • “Just because someone you know, like, and respect has, quote-unquote, invested in something does not mean you can just do it without doing normal thinking...” (21:38)
• On prescription pricing:
  • “I save so much money just being private pay instead of using my insurance benefit for prescriptions, just paying the member price at Costco.” (28:39)
• On travel:
  • “If I didn’t have [my wife] in my life, I wouldn’t even own a home, would I? … I would just live in hotels out of a suitcase all over the world.” (36:22)

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Segment Timestamps for Quick Reference

• Breaking phone addiction & “Brick” device: 00:18–07:32
• Q&A: Family travel with kids: 07:32–10:46
• Debit vs. credit card protections: 10:47–12:53
• High-yield checking and debit card safety: 12:53–15:00
• Affinity fraud & NFL scam: 18:42–23:53
• Q&A: Financial statement downloads: 24:39–25:56
• Q&A: Prescription cost savings: 26:50–28:51
• Q&A: Asia travel tips: 28:51–35:33

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Final Thoughts

This episode is a blend of timely reminders and actionable financial guidance, delivered with Clark’s signature blend of humor, skepticism, and encouragement to always “save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off.” Whether you’re fighting your own phone habits, planning a family adventure, or guarding against the next too-good-to-be-true investment, the wisdom here is practical and empowering.

Transcript

[A]

I'm not giving up. I am selling the building. The final season of FX is the Bear.

[B]

The restaurant is flooded. Everything's either gonna be okay. No, stop. Or not.

[A]

We are outgunned and we are outmanned, but we have each other. FX's the bear, the final season, all episodes now streaming on Disney. I'm so glad you're with us on the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. And first, I want to start off by thanking you for starting off your week with me. And I hope you learn something new that you can put to work in your life on this podcast or YouTube show. Speaking of YouTube, I'm going to begin today with something we all struggle with, our screen time. So I've talked about this before, but there's a device that I was. I rolled my eyes about. It's about 60 bucks that claims to help break the addiction. And I need to tell you the reports, overwhelmingly, it's the only thing that people have found that works to get them to reduce their screen time. And later, have you heard about this terrible thing with the NFL players who lost much or all of the money they made from their time being football players? It's an affinity fraud. And I want you to watch out for identity fraud in your own life. And that's coming up later. So a lot of people get addicted to their phones. They get addicted to a game on their phones. They get addicted to social media on their phones. I have a relative who cannot get his face out of Facebook. He is on it. It feels like there's only 168 hours in the week, but it feels like he's on it 175 hours of the week. He's not present a lot of times because he's so into Facebook. It could be a game you play on your phone. It could be any of a number of social media things. It could be people on a dating site who keep scrolling endlessly, mindlessly, over and over and over again and separate from real life because of all the time, they are just drawn to that screen. And for me, my big thing is reading news sites. And I've been okay with that because I get a simple warning on my phone that tells me every week, it gives me a checkup on my screen time. And if I'm using it less than before, more than before. And what I've discovered is a pattern that my abusive screen time is when I'm on A trip somewhere that I'm using my phone for every last thing when I'm on a trip. But if I'm stationary for a week, fortunately, I'm lucky. So far, my screen time hasn't gone crazy. But if I'm talking to you and your screen time is bonkers. I remember when I first heard about this thing called brickphone. What's funny is that this app is one that actually overwhelmingly people say it works. And what it is is basically, you get the brick, you download the app, and then you go in and you have to discipline yourself. You select the apps that you know are your downfall that you're just spending way, way, way, way too much time on. Once you've set it, you use the app and you tap the phone to the brick, and then you can't access the apps anymore. Nothing is showing up from any of those apps now. The brick is not a physical brick. Have you ever seen one, Krista?

[B]

I have not.

[A]

Well, what. What made me think of this? I saw someone asked him, is that the thing they call the brick? And she was telling me, I mean, just fully animated, how much it changed her life. And the next day, I saw a story in the Wall Street Journal about how this thing is really growing because people find it's the only thing that worked for them. When would you ever hear me say, go pay 60 bucks for a behavior?

[B]

Never. Never.

[A]

So I'm not. I'm not saying spend the 60 bucks, but I'm saying if it's harming your relationships with people is harming you at work, whatever it is, and nothing has worked for you, then this is something you should consider, maybe, because I'm not going to say, you know, yeah, go spend the money.

[B]

So I haven't told you this story yet, but last weekend I was with a bunch of people. We were going out for the evening, and I've been really conscious, and I just had a conversation with one of the people, and we were talking about how into our phones, you know, people get and how addictive it is. And she and I are both like, yeah, we really want to do it less. Well, we're leaving, and I realize I forgot my phone. So I'm like, I start to go back into my house to get my phone, and I was like, you know what? No, I'm going to be without my phone this whole evening. I'm just going to focus on who I'm with. There's no reason I need a phone right now. So we went. We went out to dinner. It was a wonder like long dinner. So fun. Didn't even think about it. Didn't need my phone. And then we went to go to the concert we were attending that night.

[A]

Your ticket was on your phone.

[B]

I had two tickets. Two of the tickets were on my phone on the app. So I start to panic. So other people there have, you know, they have phones and websites login. So I try to log in to the website, can't remember the password and then I think I remembered the password. But it wants everything, wants two step verification. So it wants the verification sent to my email. Well, I can't log into my email, their phone because that wants a two step verification. Everything, every corner I went, it was blocking me because of the security things that we have set up. So I was very lucky that I went to the box office and they were able to pull up my email and I showed my license which I had with me, even though I have that saved on my phone too. I did have my physical driver's license and we were able to get the tickets. But I was like, wow, the one night I'm like so proud of myself. And then, yeah, forgot about that.

[A]

Do you know why there are more cell phone accounts in the United States than there are people?

[B]

Why?

[A]

Because so many people now carry two cell phones.

[B]

Oh yeah, for work.

[A]

And they carry one that they do the things they have to do on and the other could be it could be a work and personal or it could be a work and it's one for playing or that would be the one you brick burner phone for some people. Well, something, whatever. Yeah, something they shouldn't be doing.

[B]

Okay, okay, we'll go to questions now. Katie in Tennessee says I'm writing to you from Clarksville, Tennessee. And no, despite the name, you do not own the town. Though your money saving advice certainly rules our household. My Amazing kiddos are 6, 5 and 3 and they're starting starting to enjoy travel along with us. Since we're now navigating the world with young elementary age children, does any of your standard travel advice change with a family of five? Standard hotel rooms and flights get expensive quickly. We are big fans of the outdoors and are definitely not a go into debt for Disney family. Are there specific strategies for this age bracket regarding outdoor lodging, gear packing or flights that we should adjust to keep costs low down? Thank you for everything you do. Hashtag Roth first.

[A]

Very nice, very nice. So Katie, the good news is that when you go camping, when you do an outdoor trip, the expenses don't multiply out by the number of People, you know, you rent the campground, same cost for one person is for five. I mean, a lot of the things you do, camping, you enter a park, you pay one admission, usually for the vehicle, not per person. I mean, you're already thinking the right way. Flights, okay, Flights. The only thing I know that works for families is, and I've read about this and I've seen it on YouTube is they buy the Go Wild pass from Frontier for everybody in the family and they know they're going wherever they can go the next day for about. Works out to be about $15. And your kids learn that life is not always cushy when they're at a Frontier Airlines gate.

[B]

But, well, they do like to camp. It's kind of equivalent, right?

[A]

It is equivalent to camping. And then the other thing that I think has been the greatest thing for people with multiple small children is the proliferation of non expensive suite hotels that you can pile the whole crew in one hotel suite. Think of there are a variety Town Place suites, Staybridge suites. There are so many of these brands now and it's a great marketplace for families because you pay for one. They're really not suites, they're more like apartments. Hyatt does it a lot with their Hyatt place or house that has the apartment kind of things. So this is a big area in the hotel business. And then a lot of them come with free breakfast so the kids, you don't have to pay to feed them. You got the kitchens. And there's a lot of really, really good things with this development in the hotel business.

[B]

I did a lot of Airbnb and VRBO when my kids were young. I'll just say that I know there are issues, but it can really be a money saver.

[A]

Okay, Jake, you and I, you and I always Airbnb. You've been obsessed with Airbnb for since.

[B]

Well, it saved me a lot of money for sure.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Jake in Georgia says I keep hearing on some financial shows that I have the same protection with a debit card if it has a visa or MasterCard logo on it as I do with a credit card. When I, when I investigated this, I found that debit card transactions are governed by the Electronic Funds Transfer act and credit cards by the Fair Credit Billing act. Who is correct?

[A]

The Fair Credit Billing act has a lot more consumer protections. There's basically with the debit card you have no protection. If you buy something in advance and the supplier goes bust or absconds with your money, you have don't have the chargeback Rights you do with a credit card, you don't have the time period where you have not paid the credit card company yet. With the debit card, the money goes right away. The reality out there, I remember years and years ago when I first went on the rampage on debit cards, Remember we had the media spokesperson on from Visa, they said, oh yes, if it has a vegan logo, it has the same exact protections. I said, really? Can you supply us with that in writing? And he said, yes, we're still waiting. You know, what happened is he lost your email address, didn't know where to find us. Now we never ever got that, did we? Because the protections are not the same.

[B]

Well, and the big problem, like you always say, you know your money is gone temporarily anyway when you're trying to fight it so you could end up bouncing other payments.

[A]

And clearly if you read the rules and you read if there is a problem with the debit card, how horrible the roadblocks are to you having your money restored. And we'll hear from people who say you said the debit card was so bad, but this happened and they gave me my money back. Right, because it was your money.

[B]

Right. With a credit card, your money doesn't leave your pocket while you're fighting it.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Catholic in Washington says my credit union has a checking account that pays four and a quarter percent on as much as you have in the account, no limit.

[C]

Really?

[B]

You must make 12 debit card withdrawals per month of at least $5. I would like to move my savings into this much higher rate checking account, but I'm somewhat concerned the safety of using the debit card in this age of skimming. I only use this card for making the 12. I would only use it for making the 12 required withdrawals. How concerned should I be?

[A]

Absolutely take advantage of what the credit union is offering. It is highly irregular that they pay the four and a quarter without limit. Most of the programs where you have to do the 12 debit card swipes as credit card because of all the merchant fees that it generates for the bank or credit union. They limit what you can earn interest on, usually up to 5,000 year account, 10,000 year account, something like that. If you can do it without limit, absolutely take advantage of this. Know that when I talk about all the problems with the piece of trash fake visa or fake MasterCard, the debit card, that even though the risk is there, it's only a risk. But you know you're going to make the four and a quarter, which is great on the idle money that is in your checking account or was in your savings account, you move over. So I would absolutely take advantage of this. Now the skimmer thing, what it means is you do not pay at the pump at a gas station to be one of your 12 transactions. That is the greatest danger of skimmers that exists in the marketplace. Coming up ahead, speaking of a risk in the marketplace that never stops, affinity fraud. And it can hit close to home or hit somebody who you only know from watching a sporting event or watching a concert or whatever. We're going to talk about that.

[D]

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[C]

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[A]

Tennessee 2012 Barron's Magazine did a huge investigative report on the news story you may have seen just heard in general news about the NFL players who allegedly had much or all of their life savings stolen from them. Money that they were earning from the very short cycle. You make money as a professional athlete, but you're in big money. Players have a target on them where scamsters want to rip them off. And in the scam you may or may not have heard of where unbelievable millions of dollars allegedly have been stolen from high earning NFL players. They were conned with a Shopify powered website business where they were shown all kinds of fake simulations that they didn't know were fake. Allegedly of all the money they were going to make having this Shopify business. Barron's has seen a lot of the stuff. It is all unbelievable, this alleged scam, I have to say. Alleged because no one's been convicted yet. What is key here is the athletes didn't look for normal red flags. Why? Because once someone within a group is recruited, others let down their normal suspicion. They say, oh, wow, I want in on that as well. Look how much money he's making. I want to make that money too. And then another, and then another, and then another. The guy behind this one, it's been running around on private jets, yachts, has a Maybach, and has been living large off the money from all these athletes. And eventually it will come out. But what's just unreal is how much money has been stolen. Listen this. An Ernst and Young report found that over the last many years, over a billion dollars has been stolen from athletes. A billion dollars. I had the privilege or responsibility or whatever you would call it over the years to talk privately to a number of sports teams, to talk to them about money. How to remember that the earning period they have at the very large money, it's a very short window. And then there's a lot of life left. Some of the professional leagues, over 80% of athletes end up bust within just a short period of time after their playing days. But this isn't about athletes, it's about you. Over and over again, people get taken in what are known as affinity frauds, where people of the same organization, same religion, same community, same private club, whatever it is, hear about this great, can't lose opportunity at investment, investment. And then another. They tell a friend, they brag to another friend on like that. And before you know it, that con artist pitching is the hottest ticket in town in that social circle, in that religious congregation, whatever it is. And this happens over and over and over again. Just because someone you know like and respect has, quote, unquote, invested in something does not mean you can just do it without doing normal thinking, not being a cynic, but taking the proper steps to, quote, unquote, check something out thoroughly before your money goes in it. Because what happens in every one of these scams, it's like the ones I was talking about last year with people that were buying promissory notes being pitched to them because they were members of the Republican Party and they were buying these because other Republicans were buying them that they really liked and respected, and they all got taken. None of the people were perpetrators, but it was another form of affinity group. Bernie Madoff, all the people who lost money with Bernie Madoff by the billions. So beware. It's not just a professional football player getting ripped off. It's any of us who let down our guard and trust the smooth talking salesperson can end up having their money take a one way trip without you.

[B]

You mentioned religious affiliations. I can't. I mean, I've seen so many examples of like churches, they are trying to help their congregation and the people running them, they're not. They don't understand that this thing could be dangerous. A financial person in quotes says, you know, I want to help educate your parishioners. And they do a program and of course, like, you know, you think this would be a great thing to do

[A]

because it feels like the church has already blessed it.

[B]

Right, right. And they're trying to just help people. So yeah, it's a huge bummer. All right, questions for you. Jane in California says Clark recommends downloading financial statements. If I'm using my cell phone app, it's much easier to take a screenshot. Is that sufficient proof of account?

[A]

Jane, that's just fine. Just make sure you have your phone properly password protected. Because if you lose your phone and you don't have it with a password or biometric protection, the criminal who finds your phone could also see those pictures of your account.

[B]

Well, I don't. I was thinking you would say no,

[A]

no, I'm okay with that.

[B]

I think you could probably download statements from the app. Usually it depends on the financial institution. I would prefer that, that you download a PDF of a statement because, I don't know, screenshots could be altered. You might have a harder time proving things right, don't you think?

[A]

I'm not necessarily as worried about that. I want you to have something that shows, hey, my September statement shows, blah, blah, blah. I want you to to have something that shows that if there was a successful hack by China or whatever that wiped out the records at a bank, at least temporarily or brokerage, having something that shows dated, I mean anybody, I guess today with, with the ability to create anything could do so well.

[B]

I just mean the bank could then question you more than if you had an official downloaded statement.

[A]

But either way, well, I just want what I'm trying to do. I don't want perfect to be the enemy of the good.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I want people to have some kind of paper trail or digital equivalent of their monthly statements. And once you get the next monthly statement, you can delete the prior one. But I want you to have something that if you don't think at some point we're going to have a problem where people's accounts disappear. Remember, we told the story. This all came up with the Fidelity Investments thing, where an unknown number of people's accounts with Fidelity just vanished. It was not a foreign actor. It was an internal problem at Fidelity. And Fidelity, I still remember one of the people profiled being told, oh, you sure you don't. Your accounts aren't at Schwab. And they were even more freaked out at that point because Fidelity had no record at all for a period of time that person existed.

[B]

Mark in California says when picking up a prescription at my local Costco pharmacy after receiving a text message that it would cost $110, I remembered Clark's advice to compare the prescription cost using a drug insurance plan and the Costco member price without insurance. I was shocked and happily surprised to learn that the Costco member price for the same prescription was only $39. So, of course I asked them not to use my drug plan and I saved $70. I asked the pharmacist why Costco doesn't inform the member of the lower price option. The response I got is that they've been asking Costco management to provide the information to the Costco members. My question, who is benefiting from the higher margin on the insurance company or big pharma? And I want to mention I was picking up a prescription at Costco and the pharmacist did say, you know, if you paid the Costco member price, it would be this much. It just doesn't count towards your deductible. So they did offer it to me in a Costco.

[A]

I'm not sure I'm glad about that. So your question, where's the ripoff coming? There's these insanely corrupt kickbacks that are paid to the pharmacy benefits managers to overprice meds, and then they overcharge you and then the pharmacy benefits manager gets the kickback. Congress has had hearings on this for years and years and years, but the lobbying power of the insurance companies is so strong that Congress has never outlawed this practice. It's way past about time. But what is the stunner is, yes, you're not helping to meet whatever your drug plan deductible is. I save so much money just being private pay instead of using my insurance benefit for prescriptions, just paying the member price at Costco, and I don't think I've ever in recent years filled a prescription at Costco through my pharmacy benefits manager.

[B]

Christy in South Carolina says, I wrote In a few years ago to tell you how excited my husband and I were that our 14 year old daughter at the time had just gotten her first job and asked about opening an IRA like her siblings.

[A]

No way. No way. I love that.

[B]

Well, fast forward four years and this daughter, our fourth child, has just graduated high school. After several stressful weeks of trying to decide where to go to college, she has chosen a path you often promote. Technical school. She has a 529 account, but she ultimately decided it didn't make sense to spend so much money on a four year school. She's a student choosing a non traditional path. Because she is planning on a healthcare degree at a technical school, she can afford to use some of her 529 money to participate in the Semester at Sea study abroad program which she is super excited about.

[A]

Okay, people who've gone on that don't just love it. What is beyond love? No, seriously, they, they just have the best time.

[B]

She will take classes on a cruise ship while visiting 11 countries over three and a half months. While it's an expensive venture, it's far less than what it would have cost her to go to a traditional four year school and she will have the experience of a lifetime. I plan to go with her to Bangkok where she will board the ship. I hear some say that I should go to Tokyo first while headed that way. We are a traveling family, but I've never visited any of the Asian countries. What are your best recommendations of places to go for about 10 days including travel time before I leave her on the ship. I'm looking for the best bang for the least buck and I know you're the man to ask. Yes, he is. She, she has to be there January 5th. So we'll travel right after Christmas. Not the best time financially, I realize. Also, I see airlines I've never heard of any I should steer clear of.

[A]

Okay, so first we're going to talk calendar. All right, don't hate on me. I want you to fly Christmas Day. Have Christmas early because Christmas day is going to be the cheapest day to go during the time period that you've got to get there. I mean, you start looking after Christmas. You can check day by day. The fares are going to get a lot higher. Second thing, you live on the east coast. The fares from the west coast to Asia are usually a third the cost of airfares from the east coast. So you'll want to go first on a domestic ticket to depending. Seattle often is the cheapest gateway to places in Asia. But la San Francisco. Check all three. But the odds are you're going to pay so much less money than you would from the East Coast. There are a lot of airlines in Asia that are the world's best and it's not even close. The best airlines in the world are all Asian or maybe Middle Eastern. But there are also some terrible airlines in Asia. The Taiwanese airlines are great, the Korean airlines are great, Japanese airlines are great. Hong Kong has a really great airline, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Air is often rated the world's best airline. So you want to pay attention. You want to fly on a Skytrax five star rated airline. Doesn't matter if you haven't heard of Skytrax, just go look at Skytrax and stick to one of the Asian airlines. It's a five star where you end up stopping on the way. They're all going to be different, they're all going to be fun to experience. Is really going to be based on where you're going to get your best deal as a stopover with the flight going all the way to Bangkok and for you back. So just shop around with Google flights you'll be able to limit after you've looked through sky tracks and find the best airlines to fly on. You'll then be able on Google flights to be able to select only those and then again shop them from the three west coast airports, Seattle, San Francisco, LA to see where you're going to get the best deal in total. Going to somewhere in Asia, doing a free stopover and then continue usually be the hub airport of whichever airline you pick and then on to Bangkok. It's going to be cold in northern Asia in December, early January. It's going to be hot in Thailand so you have to prepare for dressing potentially two different ways. But it's going to be an experience of a lifetime for your daughter. You're going to have a great time and just be prepared. You're going to catch a bug. Not a bad bug, the Asian travel bug because most people when they've been to Asia, once they've been once, they want to go again and again and again. First trip though I would say the most user friendly places for your stopover are going to be Japan, which is crazy user friendly for tourists and Korean Taiwan also. Both are good. Hong Kong's a little bit more difficult as a destination for a first time traveler stopover for a first time traveler. But you got plenty of airlines to pick from and I just love this whole thing we're talking about.

[B]

I would also suggest the Islands in Thailand, because they're going to be.

[A]

Go to Phuket. Go to Krabby.

[B]

Phi Phi Islands.

[A]

Yeah, you can go up to. Instead you can go up to. Where are the elephants? Chiang Mai. Go up to Chiang Mai. I mean, it's. You could. If you found a really great fare to Thailand, you could travel around Thailand and have just the best time ever. There are shuttle flights from one place to another in Thailand that almost are like getting on a bus. They fly so often.

[B]

Ty. Or was any other airlines that.

[A]

Well, there are a bunch of airlines that fly within Asia, but.

[B]

Yeah, but she asked, like, it's. She doesn't need to avoid any.

[A]

Well, that's what I was saying from the tip top is there are airlines that aren't so hot.

[B]

Right. But you don't want to name. Okay.

[A]

I'm going to stay away from naming who the dogs are. Just. Skytrax does a great job tracking international airlines. Use it. You can find online reviews that will tell you how awful every airline in the world is at one point or another. Right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The best thing would be airlines that have multiple flights a day, though, for sure. Because then if one gets canceled, you're not stuck for days.

[A]

That is true. All right. But I'm excited. I want to. I want to go to Asia again. You got me all thinking about it. Oh, well, not today, but have a great day, and I'm so glad you've joined us on this Monday. And as always for me, there's never a bad moment of the week to talk about travel. I love it so much. Oh, just imagine if my wife is a good counter to me, because Lane is not. She doesn't have my wanderlust, and she keeps me more grounded. If I didn't have that in my life, I wouldn't even own a home, would I?

[B]

No, we'd never see you.

[A]

I would just live in hotels out of a suitcase all over the world.

[B]

Yeah. I would say Lane likes to travel, like, probably like a normal, average person does. You know what I mean? Like, you are.

[A]

Just the fact that.

[B]

Yeah. The fact that you'd live out of hotels makes you the extreme one for sure. And there's nothing wrong with it.

[A]

Oh, man. Anyway, thank you for being with us today. We're going to be with you all week, serving you every possible way with our podcasts, YouTube, YouTube Shorts, our websites, our newsletters, social media. Oh, me on. I'm on TV every night of the week in a variety of markets, on the news, a number of radio stations carry me morning and evening during morning and afternoon drive. So the idea is wherever you want to be reached. Wherever you want to see us, read us, us, hear us, we're there to serve you so you will be empowered with knowledge in the format you prefer so you can save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. Have a great rest of your day.

[C]

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[D]

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[C]

of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms.