Explore Ascend: www.joinascend.com
Connect with Zach Resnick: zach@joinascend.com
Connect with Cameron Resnick: cam@joinascend.com
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Follow Behind the Stays on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/
Connect with Zach Busekrus: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharybusekrus/
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Zach Resnick could show business owners how to get far more value from their miles and points. The problem? Even people who paid for the advice often didn't have time to follow it.
That lesson helped turn Easy Point into FlyFlat, and eventually Ascend, a membership travel concierge that handles flights, hotels, and trip changes through WhatsApp. In this episode, Zach and Cameron Resnick explain why better deals got customers in the door, but having someone available when travel goes wrong became the deeper value.
The two share a last name, but aren't related. They met in the Points Guy's Facebook group and built a business out of their shared obsession with understanding travel's rules, rewards, and workarounds.
We get into the shifting relationship between airlines, hotels, credit card companies, and travelers. Cameron explains how transferable points created a kind of free agency. Zach argues that personal agents and concierges could become the relationship travelers trust most. Cameron offers a different view: geography and access to real-world experiences still give travel brands something hard to replace.
For hotel owners, Cameron's wedding story brings the discussion home. He helped guests book around thirty rooms at the Grand Hyatt Kauai using points, but says the hotel missed the opportunity to build a relationship with the group and earn more of their spending.
We also talk about the growing competition for award seats, using points to keep travel options open, and why a great booking experience means little if nobody can help when the trip breaks.
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Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more.
Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of Growth at Journey. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
