Cracking the Code on Affordable Flights with Matt's Flights

Ever wondered how to stretch your travel budget without skimping on experiences? This is the episode for you! Special guest Matt Guidice of Matt's Flights and Craft Food Tours spills the secrets to his cost-saving strategies for flights and local travel. With a history of venturing off the beaten path, Matt brings a unique perspective on exploring the globe and embracing local culture.

Don't hit 'pause' just yet. We're also whisking you away to Santa Fe's hidden treasures and offering essential tips for shedding your tourist persona. Plus, don't miss out on our exclusive Virgin Voyages seven-night cruise giveaway—you could be our lucky winner! Whether you're planning your next getaway or just dreaming, we've got actionable insights to make your travel more enriching and economical.

Virgin Voyages Giveaway and Raffle Information

Mike: Hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of No Tourists Allowed. Before we dive into today's episode, let's get straight into the heart-pounding excitement we've got for you. For those of you who've been tuning in, you already know about our once-in-a-lifetime giveaway. If you're new here, let's lay down the groundwork.

We're giving away a seven-night Virgin Voyages cruise, and you'll be sailing in high style in a Sea Terrace. You've got the freedom to choose from all available ships, dates, and ports at the time of booking. Just be sure you set sail by June 30th.

Every week we're announcing a fresh, fun raffle entry option right here on the podcast. Last week we offered five points for signing up for our newsletter. This week, for the raffle entry, all you have to do is answer our quick poll asking, "What is your favorite destination?"

Earn another five points right there. Mine would be London, but I probably can't play. To make it really easy, just head over to our website, No Tourists Allowed, where you can both sign up for the newsletter and take the poll. We save all your info and points for next week's raffle entry options.

Extra pro tip: you can still get those special bonus entries by following us on social media and subscribing to our YouTube channel. All the links are in the episode description. We just launched our YouTube channel last week and we've had a lot of good feedback already. All you have to do is listen in, earn points, and who knows, your dream destination might just become your next reality.

Introducing Matthew Guidice of Matt's Flights

Now let's jump into today's episode. Good day, everyone, and welcome to No Tourists Allowed. We are without James for the moment. He's having some technical difficulties. He's traveling today and trying to connect, but having some difficulties.

Hopefully he'll be able to join us shortly as Nathaniel, our producer, is helping him. But I am very excited today to have a special guest. Matthew Guidice is on from Matt's Flights. Good day, Matt. How are you doing?

Matthew Guidice: I'm fantastic. How about yourself?

Mike: Doing really well today. Matt has an interesting product for the travel business where he keeps people informed of special pricing on flights, specifically in regions. We'll hear more about Matt's product in a little while, but I've certainly enjoyed being a subscriber for quite some time. It’s saved me a few bucks and it's one of the tools in my arsenal of travel tools.

Matt, let's tell the audience a little bit more about you. Where are you from? What's your travel background?

Matthew’s Early Travel Experiences

Matthew Guidice: My name is Matthew Guidice. I live in Delray Beach, Florida, which is a wonderful beach town here in Southeast Florida. My travel background actually did not start until a little later in life. I didn't travel too much as a child. My family didn't travel a lot, so I never really went overseas until I was nineteen years old.

When I was in college, I met a wonderful girl before my wife. Hopefully she doesn't listen to this; I won't show her it. But she was an avid traveler and she opened my eyes to travel. Once we graduated university, we actually did a backpacking trip to Southeast Asia, which completely changed my life.

I got to go to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and all over China. It really sparked something in me and has opened up wonderful doors in my life and given me countless blessings. It's been a great ride ever since.

Mike: Well, that's awesome. So you were a little bit later on in your life in beginning to travel, but it sounds like you made up for it pretty quickly through your years in college. What were some of the interesting things that you found in Asia that might have helped guide you towards a travel career?

The Inspiration for Craft Food Tours

Matthew Guidice: It actually guided me towards my first business. Traveling through Thailand in Bangkok, I saw a food tour going on. It was a guided food tour through a night market and I thought, "Oh, that is so cool to watch people walk around, try different foods, learn about the market, and learn about the history of the area."

Ever since I got back from that trip, I started traveling around the world doing food tours. I've done maybe over fifty food tours all over the world as a guest and I thought, "You know what? I could start my own food tour."

I actually started a food tour here in Delray. I have one in Fort Lauderdale and on the beach side in Fort Lauderdale as well. Being in Asia and seeing that food tour guided me into this whole food tour travel industry. I still run that business today. I'm seven years in, and without going on that trip, I would have never known about food tours.

It's kind of crazy. People always ask how I found this idea. I tell them I traveled and saw them all over the world and thought, "Why can't I do my own version of this where I live?" It was a crazy trip and I'm glad I did it.

Mike: I had no idea you were in that space of the travel sector as well. If somebody wanted to go on one of those tours, do you have a website or somewhere they can look you up for that?

Matthew Guidice: It's called Craft Food Tours. It's just www.craftfoodtours.com. It's a wonderful way to see Southeast Florida. The food tours were definitely my first excuse to start traveling. I fell in love with the concept of eating and drinking around town with a local. I continue to do them. I just got back from San Sebastian, Spain, a few weeks ago and the reason I went was to do a food tour.

Mike: Really cool. That's part of our ethos too—traveling uniquely, not traveling like a tourist, and being able to spend some time with a local person. I'm assuming on your tours, you're not taking people to Hooters or places like that. Probably something a little more authentic and local, exposing them to some local culture.

Matthew Guidice: Definitely. People want to travel and see the mom-and-pop shops. They want to support local businesses. That's what I do in my travels and that's definitely what people are looking for when they come on the tour. They're looking to support the local small businesses here.

The pandemic even heightened that more. People really wanted to get behind their local small businesses. So the food tour has been a hit. In the Matt's Flights business, there has been a huge push as well because people are reaching out to go to those off-the-beaten-path cities and live like a local. It's cool that the second-tier and third-tier cities around these major cities are getting some love now.

Developing the Matt's Flights Newsletter

Mike: It's amazing that you and James haven't crossed paths because James's company, InteleTravel, has its headquarters, or at least where the majority of the employees are, in Delray in Delray Beach as well. As all of our listeners know, James loves food. When we connect, I'll definitely get him on a tour so you can come check it out.

Tell us a little bit more about Matt's Flights. It's a great tool that I've put into use quite a few times, but give us a little background about how that got started and what it does.

Matthew Guidice: Matt's Flights is an email newsletter that we send our subscribers. It's a free newsletter that goes out about three or four times weekly for destinations in the US domestically as well as international flights. We have a premium version where we charge a fee to get the premium features.

You will get more deals as well, plus you can reach out to us directly for custom searches. At any time, we have a support team that will do custom searches for you wherever you want to go, an unlimited amount of times, as long as you're a premium member. We've been in business for about six years and it's been wonderful.

I have two business partners, Brandon and Hunter, who have been in the online space for quite some time. They saw me doing my food tour and they said, "Hey, we have this other opportunity for you." Here we are six years later.

Mike: How did it become Matt's Flights rather than Brandon's Flights?

Matthew Guidice: They're behind-the-scenes guys. I like to travel a lot, so they wanted a face for it and made me the face of it, which is fine. They gave me the name. There are other travel newsletters out there, and we want to do something unique and different. We just scour the internet every single day looking for cheap flights.

Mike: The way I use the product is as a premium subscriber, and it's well worth it. I'll hear people say, "Where can I find a deal?" and I share with them to get on Matt's newsletter subscription.

I'll give a great example. InteleTravel, James's company, has a big event in Cancun in December. It’s been booked for a year and there will be several thousand people there. He asked me to come and speak and I happened to see in one of your newsletters that the prices had dropped significantly for Cancun for the period of October through the end of the year.

The nice thing about it is it doesn't just say prices are lower. It actually gives you twenty-five or thirty different departure cities, the range of dates when you might be able to find those deals, and any other requirements. It gives actual sample pricing.

Oftentimes you'll find travel deals newsletters that give a rock-bottom price, but it's really hard to find or you have to wear one orange sock and stay two weeks. But these deals—although you don't generate the pricing yourself—you're going out and ferreting these deals out and sharing them.

I took that email and I shared it with the event coordinator, who then had all of the participants book their travel within that span. It ended up saving the company about thirty percent, and it wasn't just thirty percent on one ticket; it was thirty percent on twenty or thirty tickets. It was a great application of how you can use that.

Benefits for Premium Subscribers

Matthew Guidice: That's amazing. We love to hear that. We're kind of your eyes and ears in the airfare world. I have a wonderful team built out that's constantly looking for flights. Once you become a premium member, you have direct access to my team and myself. I still log on and respond to people who write to us. We set up trackers for people and go above and beyond for our customers.

Mike: For a premium subscriber, how would they interact with your staff for help?

Matthew Guidice: Once you become a premium member, you get a login and you can reach out to us via the login. It sends us an email. Typically people say, "Hey Matt, I'm flying to Los Angeles from Denver, August 5th to August 12th."

We go in, we look, and we do the custom search for you and send you back a few options. We go back and forth until we find the best option that suits you. It's not always the cheapest; sometimes they are looking for a more convenient flight or maybe they want business class. We do all the searching and all the heavy lifting for them.

Mike: But you don't process the tickets, right? You just give them the itineraries and tell them where to book?

Matthew Guidice: Correct. We do not work directly with the airlines. We don't make commission on the airfare. Our entire business is to find you the cheapest flight, and that's what you're paying the subscription for.

Mike: If our listeners are interested, how can they sign up for the newsletter or find out more information?

Matthew Guidice: I would just go to mattsflights.com. From there you'll sign up. It'll be a free newsletter and you'll start getting our newsletters right away.

Expert Travel Booking Advice

Mike: Listen, we never let one of our guests get off without asking them to share some travel tips. Is there a certain thing you always pack, or a way you get through the airport quicker to make travel less stressful?

Matthew Guidice: This might sound like everyone does it already, but I would book as far in advance as possible. That means your airfare, your hotel, your attractions, and tours. I would book at least three to six months in advance for overseas travel, and at least one to three months for domestic.

They play this supply-demand game, and the longer you wait, the higher the price is going to be. It's no longer about last-minute cheap flights or cheap deals anywhere. It's very difficult to get those. It's about being as proactive as possible when you're traveling.

Mike: Great. That's some great advice. So again, if somebody wants to find out more information about the food tours, it's craftfoodtours.com, and then mattsflights.com. I really do appreciate you taking the time and sharing with us today. Thanks, Matt.

Matthew Guidice: Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.

Destination Spotlight: Santa Fe, New Mexico

James: So, Mike, I am here with you from incredibly beautiful Santa Fe. Those of you who've been watching this on our YouTube channel can see my little kiva, my little beehive fireplace in this room. You can probably see this beautiful wood ceiling, all very traditional.

This property that I'm at is run by Hilton, but it's a Native American casino and resort called Hilton Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino. It's very famous just outside of Santa Fe city limits, in the foothills, with an incredible desert landscape and beautiful gardens.

Mike: And you said there's a casino there, James?

James: There is, yes, a big casino. You can see that the property is designed to look like a traditional Native American pueblo, like you would see at Mesa Verde. In fact, Mesa Verde, the famous archaeological site, was the inspiration for this particular hotel.

There is a beautiful spa here and a golf course. I don't know how they do that out in the desert foothills. But anyway, very beautiful spa, casino, restaurants, really very lovely. And Santa Fe is a wonderful destination. Have you ever been, Mike?

Mike: No, I have not been. I have not been to New Mexico, period.

James: It is one of my favorite places on the planet, I have to say. I find this landscape beautiful and the Native American culture so inspiring. This hotel is filled with artwork and pottery displays from the local Native American tribes.

When you go into Santa Fe, it's all artisan crafts and beautiful art galleries. If you're into art, jewelry, turquoise, and precious stone, Santa Fe is the place to be. It wouldn't be James if I didn't mention the food. It's also a foodie capital.

Mark Miller, one of the famous celebrity chefs, opened the Coyote Cafe here in Santa Fe thirty years ago and it is still going strong. I ate last night in a famous hundred-year-old hotel called La Fonda, right on the historic square in the middle of Santa Fe.

The hotel itself was built in 1922 in a beautiful adobe style, but on that site, there have been coach stops and hotels since the early sixteen hundreds. They claim that is the oldest hotel site in the United States.

Mike: I was not aware of that. Interesting.

The Traveler’s Manifesto: Blending In

James: So anyhow, a great experience here, and I highly recommend Santa Fe as a destination. We're enjoying this Hilton Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino very much. So, Mike, the last time we were together, we were talking about our manifesto for No Tourists Allowed.

Our ideas for how our listeners can travel better, in a more memorable and authentic way, not getting caught up in overly touristic sites, but experiencing more local culture.

Mike: I think part of that is up to the traveler. We talked last week about graduating from a tourist to a traveler. It's up to the traveler to keep a couple of rules in mind. When my kids were growing up, we traveled quite a bit and they had this thing about spotting people who were tourists, and they called them "tourons."

Nothing against the German people, but they would tend to have the cameras dangling around their neck, but also have the kind of kulak pants which don't go down to your ankles but do go below your knees, and loud flowery shirts.

When you're at a popular destination, it's easy to pick out the tourist. If you dress like a tourist, you're opening yourself up to being taken advantage of by pickpockets. In general, just don't wear things that look like a tourist. Try not to wear fanny packs. I know those are convenient, but try not to wear those.

When you're in another country, like India, people just in general don't wear shorts. It can be really hot there, but in general, men just don't wear shorts; it's just not necessarily accepted. Do a little bit of research before you go to your destination. Find out what the norms are in terms of dress and just don't look like a tourist.

Respecting Local Culture and Etiquette

James: Absolutely. Last time we talked about having a genuine interest in the local culture and eating locally. Now you've mentioned some other important ideas. Another one is to attempt to speak the language. It is the polite thing to do, rather than show up in someone else's country and expect them to speak your language.

I'm not saying you need to get fluent. How about just learning "hello" and "thank you"? Those two things will change the way people treat you. You walk into a boutique in France and you say "bonjour," and they'll start talking to you in French.

You will quickly explain that you don't understand, but the attitude you will get from that shop person will be that this customer just attempted at least to speak my language. There's a kind of respect that comes from that. It's very simple.

Mike: And on top of language, etiquette. There are some different etiquettes that come to mind. In India, people typically shake with their left hand rather than their right hand. When you're in Japan and you're greeting someone, rather than shake hands, you stand back a bit and do a half-bow or a three-quarters bow.

If you're presenting a business card—and this has helped my business career in Asia—you provide the bow and then with two hands you present your business card face up so that they're reading it. Just a couple of small etiquette things like that go a long way to set up a genuine relationship with locals.

James: And when someone gives you their business card, in Japan this is really important. It might be a reflex reaction for you to accept the card and shove it into your pocket. What you should do is look at the card carefully as if you've been given something of value. Treat the card like it's valuable, look at it carefully, thank the person, and then put it away.

Closing Thoughts and Giveaway Reminder

Mike and I are big readers and we both love to quote from authors. I have a quote I want to share: "Respect and acceptance stem from simple acts, such as remembering a person's name and using it. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language."

That was Dale Carnegie who wrote that probably seventy-five years ago. My tip here is to remember names when you're traveling and meet people. Remember those names and use them. That is another bridge into a culture.

Mike: That's a good quote and a nice thought to end our show with today. I'd like to thank all of our listeners. Please go to notouristsallowed.com to register for our fantastic giveaway, the seven-night cruise for two on Virgin Voyages. We look forward to speaking with you again next week where we've got some exciting guests.

James: Absolutely, Mike. We have a season of guests and more points in our manifesto at No Tourists Allowed. We'll be sharing more of those next week. On the Virgin Voyages giveaway, I hope everyone understands this is a swanky cruise. This is not some same old, same old seven-day cruise. Virgin is doing a really premium, high-end job with their cruising and this is quite the giveaway.

Good luck to all of you and we'll see you here next week. Thank you for being here at No Tourists Allowed.