Video: Points Guy and Airfarewatchdog Debate the State of Loyalty

For the Skift Global Forum 2016 we held in in New York City last month — our biggest gathering yet — we wanted to mix up the format so that there were more opportunities for debate than we have had at past events.

And while arguing about distribution systems and point-of-sale technology may be fascinating to some, you can’t enthrall an audience of 1,000-plus people with it. So we turned to a topic we’ve been arguing about, loyalty and the modern traveler, and got two of the smartest people on the subject to talk about it.

One the pro-points side, we called on Brian Kelly. As the creator of the Points Guy, Kelly makes clear his position on the matter. To discuss the merits of price, we asked George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog to argue for why money mattered more. Skift’s aviation business reporter Brian Sumers moderated the debate with the skill and discipline of a young Chris Wallace.

While neither Hobica nor Kelly called the other nasty or a bad hombre, they did carve out differences on the issues that the modern traveler struggles with as they balance loyalty to a hotel or airline against price.

You can watch their full discussion, below.

Read more coverage of Skift Global Forum 2016

At this year’s Skift Global Forum in New York City, travel leaders from around the world gathered for two days of inspiration, information, and conversation for panels such as this as well as solo TED-like talks on the future of travel.

Visit our Skift Global Forum site for more details about 2017 events, including our London event in April of 2017.