Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Coach the Coach radio brought to you by the Business RadioX Ambassador Program, the no cost business development strategy for coaches who want to spend more time serving local business clients and less time selling them. Go to BRXAmbassador.com To learn more. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Coach the Coach Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today on the show, we have coach Chris with Lifetime Leisure experienced welcome coach.

Chris Klesh: [00:00:44] Yeah, it’s great to be here with you, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:46] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about lifetime leisure experience. How you serve in, folks.

Chris Klesh: [00:00:52] Well, we service them because we empower the inside secrets to safe now with everybody concerned about safety with the COVID situation, safe luxury travel for just pennies on the dollar which bring families together so their memories lasts forever. That’s what I’m all about. It’s it’s all about the value of travel. Why people should travel. We travel not to escape life, but for life, not to escape us, but how to afford it, really, for pennies on the dollar.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:22] So now you position yourself as a travel coach. Can you share a little maybe the difference between a travel coach and maybe a travel agent?

Chris Klesh: [00:01:32] Yeah, I’d love to. Basically, I’m not a travel agent. I don’t book your airfares. What I show you is the potential, the resources. In other words, how you go about flying for free, different alternatives in travel and leisure. The importance, the the resources, the websites to how to go about the strategy. In other words, I’m known as a coach. The Game Plan, The X’s and O’s, the inside secrets, the actual place, how to live this lifestyle of privilege and travel and leisure for just pennies on the dollar. Make it affordable for your family and friends.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:08] So how did you get into this line of work? How did you kind of unlock all these tips and tricks?

Chris Klesh: [00:02:15] Well, I’ve always loved travel ever since 12 years old. I’m seventy three now and I’ve been traveling my whole life, and I was very blessed at an early age to travel with my family all over Europe. And as an athlete, I played golf football. I did traveling, so I had to travel blog bug. I’m cultural, I’m a conductor, so I used to go to a lot of Broadway shows. And so I’ve always liked seeing different cultures, different climates, different atmospheres and educational purposes. And then when I retired as an corporate executive with AT&T, I got into the speaking business. People wanted to know, How do you travel all these places? You’re not Donald Trump and and go all around the world. And so I turned it into a basically a business to help other people share the knowledge with them. It’s all about knowing the insights. Like I said, the inside secrets, the resources, the loopholes. How about going about doing it? I did it for myself, and now what I do is a company lifetime leisure experiences. I’m a professional speaker, coach, consultant, podcast guests like we’re doing here, a media interview and show other people that it’s possible that you don’t have to be rich to leverage if you’re well-educated, if you know the inside secrets and you know the loopholes. So it’s the speaker and my professional career. I just transition to speaking about travel and leisure and how to get the deals.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:48] Now, when did you kind of have that moment where you were like, You know what? I don’t have to pay rate card. There’s there’s better deals out there. When did that kind of light bulb go off and go, Hey, if I’m getting a deal here, maybe I can get a deal there? And then it just kept expanding. So how did that kind of come about?

Chris Klesh: [00:04:08] I think it was a transitional experiences. I’ve always been a guy my whole life. It always looked for a deal on everything or, you know, with a student ID. How do I go to shows for free when I was in the military, used my military discounts, et cetera? So I’ve all this one, one of those guys consumer that likes to leverage without being rich. So it was it’s innate to me. And then when I got into the travel thing, I learned, as you start going, traveling a little bit, I interviewed concierges. I read all the travel blogs, I read travel books, et cetera. I’ve interviewed tourists themselves, and so it’s just acquiring knowledge. It becomes a game. It’s like a drug to me. How do I get the best deal there? And I haven’t. For instance, I haven’t paid for a flight in the last 14 or 15 years, and I’m not married to a flight attendant. So, you know, it comes in handy.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:03] So now are you saying there’s a way for anybody who’s listening to not pay for their next flight?

Chris Klesh: [00:05:10] That’s correct.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:12] So there are certain things that, you know, that can help somebody not pay for their next flight.

Chris Klesh: [00:05:17] Yeah, that’s correct. When we talk about travel and leisure now, the value of it, we all know the value of travel and leisure. You know, especially after this COVID situation, family has been cooped up for eight. Months they have weddings, they have graduations, the typical family vacation. It’s for corporate wellness, reduce stress. Reduce burnout. Families need to vacation, but the high expenses of it now. You touched on something. How do people fly for free? Well, here’s how. Every airline, every single one, whether you united your American, your delta, your Hawaiian, your southwest is associated with a bank that has its own credit card. Some airlines have two or three credit cards. For instance, Delta is associated with American Express, and there’s sign up bonuses where you spend a minimum amount, let’s say 2000. Let’s say with Delta now has a promotion with American Express, you get a gold credit card, you spend 2000 on your every day expenses, for instance, myself, I just charge my homeowner’s insurance and I wound up with thousand Delta SkyMiles. You leverage that with your spouse. She gets 70000 miles. If you have a business, you get a business credit card, another 70000 miles. There’s even a credit card out there that I show my clients. With American Airlines, these deals change weekly daily, you got to stay on top of it, that’s why you have somebody like me that reads all the blogs because they change where you could buy a cup of coffee for a pack of gum, make one purchase now on an American Airlines bank sponsored credit card and get sixty thousand American airline Advantage Miles.

Chris Klesh: [00:07:09] So you buy a pack of gum, your wife buys a cup of coffee and her name if you have a credit score. Seven hundred. That’s one hundred and twenty thousand American airline miles. That’s enough to go to Europe twice roundtrip or like four or five destinations in the United States. So it’s a game. Well, it’s pretty much known as travel hacking. A lot of people are into this game. It’s a loophole game. So now every airline has a bank, has a credit card. You want to select the airline that you fly most frequently with. That gets you to your desired destination, vacation destination or business destination or family destination. And you want to subscribe to their credit card and get the sign up bonus, which is generally 60 or 70 thousand miles. And some lot of these credit cards, you got to spend two or $3000 over a three or four month period. But there are some, like the one I mentioned with American Airlines. You buy a cup of coffee, one purchase. The cards free, by the way, no initiation charge. And you’re going to get. That’s the equivalent of $1000 for buying a, you know, these it’s all out there. These are loopholes, it’s available. That’s what I I speak about to my clients

Lee Kantor: [00:08:29] Now is there is a is it a good strategy to kind of have one airline in one hotel so you build up kind of a relationship and and points at those specific ones? Or is it better to just kind of find the best deal and jump on it, whatever it is?

Chris Klesh: [00:08:49] Well, that’s an excellent question. It all depends with hotel chains now the major ones, Bonvoy is now Marriott Rewards Marriott Merge with Starwood West, and it’s one brand. I mean, it covers 20 different from courtyards to Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, et cetera. I would say to build up loyalty with one hotel chain like I have done with Marriott, I’m at their highest level titanium platinum elite and it gets you all sorts of benefits. I’m upgraded to suites in New York overlooking Central Park. Concierge lounges, free breakfast, free, happy hour, late checkout, four o’clock, et cetera. So if you travel a lot, I would stick with one hotel chain when it comes to airlines. It’s a lot tougher to get that loyalty. Where are you going to get upgraded? So I would look for the best rate, the best credit card promotion because different airlines fly different places. And in other words, I use myself as an example. I live in Palm Beach Area Florida, but I have a place in Lake Tahoe and I’m a ski bum in the winter. So I ski in Vail. So I know American Airlines gets me to Reno, it gets me to Vail. So obviously I subscribe to the credit cards with American Airlines that let’s allows me to fly for free. I also travel to New York pre-COVID because I go to about 20 Broadway shows a year, and I know from just a little research that JetBlue and Delta fly nonstop from West Palm Beach to New York.

Chris Klesh: [00:10:24] So I entertain their credit cards and I fly free on them back and forth to New York. So each family, it’s a personal decision. Figure out where you like to travel to or your family reunions are or business destinations and get that loyalty program. But when it comes to hotels, I try to build up loyalty with one of the top chains and I recommend personally Marriott. It’s the Bonvoy program. In other words, you could get their credit card to again, what I mentioned three flights. If you get the associated credit cards with Chase Bank or American Express for the hotel chains like Marriott has Bonvoy, you spend X amount of dollars, you know your normal expenses, whether it be utility, insurance, et cetera. You’re going to get maybe one hundred thousand hotel points and that’s the equivalent of two or three nights, etc. And you’re going to build up loyalty that way. That will enable you to get upgraded to concierge lounges, late checkouts at four o’clock, et cetera. So there is a definite advantage to the loyalty programs.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:40] Now, when somebody is working with you, are they coming to you with a kind of a vacation in mind and they’re saying, Hey Chris, can you help me just kind of wring out the most value for this specific thing? Or is this something that they’re like, Look, I’m I’m at this stage of my life. I want to travel, you know, four times a year, and I’m going to work out a game plan with you to so I can get the most bang for my buck, for my travel, you know, for the next several years.

Chris Klesh: [00:12:08] Yeah, another excellent question. Yeah, I’m a professional speaker. Most of my seminars, I talk about the general benefits to travel and leisure and a few basic tips to save them fortunes, which I’ll get into another tip in a minute. But travel is so individualistic, some people like to go on cruises. Other people want to go on to Europe, other people play golf, other people ski, other people want to sit on the beach in Maui or Aruba. It’s some people travel with eight people their family, their kids, their grandkids, other people are solo travelers or just couples, etc. So what I try to do with my business is I tailor a program after they tell me what their goals are, where they want to travel, because everybody’s different. I know I’m a skier. I like culture. Other people might like camping or cruises or going to European museums, etc. So it’s very individual and it’s very individual. So the the solutions for those individuals change depending on what? They want to do, but there’s a solution for everybody out there in travel. The bottom line is, and this is one of my mantras, we travel not to escape life.

Chris Klesh: [00:13:24] But for life not to escape us, for this, to escape us, after all, it’s not the years in your life, but it’s the life in those years that matter and how important travel and leisure is to health, wellness, reduce burnout, et cetera relationships. And the key is, what’s the problem? People can’t afford it. It’s expensive going to four and five star hotels, getting on a flight expensive. So I created this business really for myself to show people again another one of my mantras that you don’t have to be rich to leverage. Everybody needs an advisor. You go to a doctor for medical advice, you go to your stockbroker or financial advisor for financial advice. And people would come to me as their travel coach, as an advisor. The point I’m in the right direction, they give them the right tools, things to think about, et cetera, how they can, like I say, right, it’s right on my business card. We look forward to servicing your dreams. We bring families together so their memories can last forever without breaking the bank. Now, I hope that answers your question.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:29] Well, I’m just trying to get into the logistics of how this actually works. If I’m like, say, my family have been talking for years, this is one of those things I’m sure every family does us. Wouldn’t it be great if we went to blank and in our case we’re looking at? Wouldn’t it be great if we went into some around the world trip where it was like a trip where we visit, you know, very strategic countries and places that we’re interested in going in? And I call you up. Hey, Chris, this is what we’d like to do in the next whatever year or 18 months, then do you help us say, OK, if you want to do this and go to these whatever 10 countries or 20 countries, this is how to do that. This is how you get the best flight here. This is give you the tactics.

Chris Klesh: [00:15:09] You’re just like a coach. I’m a coach. You can see travel coach, just like a football coach says we give you the plays, the action steps, the resources. How about going to this? How about thinking what airline goes weather, what season to go? What are the the I show people the 10 top blogs because this travel situation changes. I mean, with COVID now and quarantines and rules and regulations, what’s open, what’s not open? It’s a daily test to find out where you want to go, what you want to do, etc. So I try to guide people in the right way. Normally before COVID, I was giving, you know, 20 30 talks a year. People would hire me. I’m also an entertainer, I’m a comedian. So basically to show them the value of travel, not just the value, but again, some of these tips that they don’t have to pay to fly. And then if they wanted to work with me one on one, yes, I would work with somebody one on one to tailor a program, not as a travel agent now, but give them the resources, right?

Lee Kantor: [00:16:16] So you would give us the game plan. Ok, the first thing you want to do is like, OK, if you’re going to this country, think about fall or if you’re going over here, the best deal is going to be in winter, right?

Chris Klesh: [00:16:27] But the two biggest expenses, it all boils down to 80 or 90 percent of the expenses of travel revolve around airfares. Number one. And accommodation, so if we could jump ahead because I’ve done a lot of these interviews, the number two thing we talked about airfares where there’s every airline has an associated credit card. If you sign up for their their credit card, you’re going to get the initial bonus 60 70 thousand miles. You leverage that with your spouse or your grown children or your business, and you wind up flying for free the way I do. The other tip I give people, which is so important, is accommodations. Now everybody thinks when they travel, hotels, hotels, hotels, resorts, I tell people in my talks, in my experience, forget the word hotel. Strike it for your vocabulary. For your typical family vacation. Well, I’m talking five, seven nights, etc. Why? Because Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Westin, Disney, Starwood, Wyndham, even the Ritz-Carlton, they all have the vacation club products. Such as timeshares, where instead of staying in a hotel, you could get on the internet, use this resource for your listeners, read Wycombe and rent from an owner a timeshare. Why pay for a hotel room, 400 square feet, etc. when you could get two bedrooms or three bedrooms with a full kitchen, a washer dryer, underground parking, free health club, free WiFi for a third? The price of a hotel room? It’s possible, and let’s use me as an example.

Chris Klesh: [00:18:18] So I mentioned before I’m an active skier. I’m not rich. I go to Vail for two months, an average hotel room in Vail, Colorado. We’re talking about luxury now. A Marriott. The Marriott and Vail during the ski season goes for about seven hundred a night. Oh, and another 50 bucks to park your car. And yet on tax, you’re talking eight hundred a night for a nice room. Typically a nice four star resort where you could get on the internet. You don’t have to own a timeshare if they call in vacation clubs now from Marriott. And go on the internet and from an owner, rent, a two bedroom unit that sleeps eight, now sleeps eight three flat screen TVs, fireplace washer dryer, free underground parking, a clubhouse with an indoor outdoor pool, sauna, steam room, free transportation to the ski slopes, same beds that are in the Marriott Hotel. They managed the resort. And you’re going to pay to two or three hundred a night. Translation, you’re going to pay one third the price. Get triple the space and triple the amenities. It’s all possible to do so when your listeners are thinking about vacations. Forget hotels or even Airbnbs now with safety. You’re renting a room in somebody’s house. You’re going to save money from a hotel, but you’re not going to get full resort amenities.

Chris Klesh: [00:19:45] If you’re a golfer, for instance, there’s resorts on Hilton Head Island where golf comes for free. You could play golf with your buddies for some for free with card fees, golf fees two or three thousand dollars by renting a timeshare. Robyn owner Marietta comes with free golf, so all this is possible, so wherever you’re traveling, whether it’s Disney World and all these timeshares, vacation clubs buy these hotel brands Hilton, Marriott Hyatt and there’s a lot of other people where they were in Europe. When you’re in Disney World, where you in Hawaii playing Golf New York City? It’s another option for your accommodations, and that’s where you going to save 80 or 90 percent at a time and get all these luxury amenities. And again, we’re talking about safety instead of spending the money, going out to restaurants with your kids and your grandkids. And we’re people worried about crowds and safety still with this COVID environment. You have a full kitchen completely equipped to cook. A lot of them have outdoor grills, so you don’t have to spend that money to save them additional money. It’s a safety feature. And again, these hotel chains have strict sanitization standards. It’s all published on their website. So if you’re concerned about safety, you know all the rooms are basically going to be. Sanitized, free, clean, very well, et cetera, and it’s a great savings.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:13] Well, you say, well, you that that sounds like a great tip when it comes to accommodations, you’ve talked about airfare, you talked about accommodations, don’t you have one more tip before we wrap?

Chris Klesh: [00:21:23] Yeah, well, there’s there’s plenty of other tips besides that, I mean, you’re running a car depending there’s different resources, running a car is very expensive. I say join a loyalty program, I’m with national or enterprise or hertz, etc. Find out what your corporate discounts are. There’s a lot of websites. One, If you’re running a car, use Costco Travel looking at car rentals. Another internet website is auto. These are the major expenses of your travel. It’s airfare accommodations and renting of vehicles. So those three tips are going to save people 80 percent of their travel and they’re going to travel again. This is not tics. Motel six travel this year, all luxury four, five star accommodations and a lot of these resorts. As I mentioned, timeshares vacation clubs come with full resort amenities, the kitchen, the washer dryer, now underground parking the health club. You’re going to have it all for basically Motel six prices.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:31] Now, how do you feel about all inclusive, you know, travel deals?

Chris Klesh: [00:22:37] Well, again, I haven’t I’m not an expert on all inclusive travel deals, but there’s some out there, I would be thoroughly researched them. I look for testimonials, et cetera. I haven’t done those. I prefer, you know, the alacarte ones. But there are some people that want to go to a resort or they’re scuba dove and included lessons, tennis, free drinks, et cetera, if that’s what they want. Yes, there’s a savings to that, but I don’t consider myself the expert on it, but it is an option to consider if you want something like that.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:11] Now, if somebody wants to learn more or about maybe hiring you as a speaker or learning more about your coaching specifically for their travel, what is the website?

Chris Klesh: [00:23:21] Yeah. Well, I would suggest normally I’m a speaker if they they don’t have a group, they have obviously now hopefully speaking is going to come back for their association meetings conventions next year. That’s my forte is giving a presentation, answering their questions. Catering it to the group that you know, the travel tips and benefits of travel, et cetera. But right now, I’m offering a free initial consultation to your listeners. If they go to coach Chris Speakes dot com, it’s an automated calendar. They’ll get a free consultation with me. I’ll be glad to answer their questions if they have where they’re trying to go. There’s a little questionnaire first to make the 15 minutes available. In other words, how many people in their traveling party, what are the desired destinations? Are they a member of a loyalty thing? And I’ll try to guide them in the right way, given the right resources, the right websites, the right blogs to listen to, and if it’s something if I feel I could help them because I have connections with all the major hotel chains and again, I talk about timeshares. Preview tours is another way where you could go for 80 percent off. You have to put up with a sales tour, but you’re going to save 80 percent on the cost of the accommodations and they’re all luxury. So if they go to coach, Chris speaks dot com and it’s an automated calendar, I’ll schedule an appointment with them and there’s no problem. If there’s a problem with the calendar, then they could send me an email. I also have a free e-book for your listeners. Ninety nine travel tips without skimping. Just send me an email to Lifetime Leisure at Bell South Dot Net. And just say they want the e-book and with their name, phone number and their email address, and I’ll get out, it’s an e-book. I’ll be glad to send them my ninety nine travel tip e-book as a as a gift.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:21] Well, Chris, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

Chris Klesh: [00:25:25] Well, it’s been my pleasure, I think. I just want to leave your listeners how important travel is. I interview a lot of people, and in this environment, like I say, we all need COVID or no COVID. We’ve been cooped up. We all need to retreat, relax, renew, rejoice and really create those memories for a lifetime because the best things in life think about it. They’re not the material things what are they? Your health, your family, your friends and those precious memories and experiences. And a lot of those memories and experiences happen through travel and leisure. And what I try to do is make it affordable to them. So they can’t say we can’t afford it because you don’t. You don’t have to be rich to leverage. And I’m glad to help these people out. I consider myself the number one travel guru. It’s it’s in my blood. It’s like a drug to me, and I love to help people out, save money and let them live the dream, so to speak.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:27] All right, this is Lee Kantor. We will sail next time on Coach the Coach radio.