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MTM Travel - The Fun Side of Points & Travel!: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Shawn Coomer & Mark Ostermann
The fun side of miles, points and travel! Hosted by Shawn Coomer and Mark Ostermann, MTM Travel dives into the points hobby & the lifestyle of travel with topical conversations and plenty of laughs along the way. Mark & Shawn have a combined 18 years of experience covering these topics on Miles to Memories and Travel on Points and are cohosts of the popular MtM Vegas Youtube Show on the Miles to Memories Vegas channel. They also host the 20 Minute Travel news show on this same feed where you can keep up with the latest deals, news and happenings.
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- Yesterday24 min
Don't Get Shut Down: What Actually Triggers It, Plus a Wide Open Sweet Spot & Hilton Owner Giveaway
Get a $200 gift card after your first payment of $500 with Melio (affiliate) - https://milestomemories.com/go/melio/ Get 3 free months of Audible - https://milestomemories.com/audible-subscription-offer-2/ Chase ran a wave of shutdowns this week aimed at people hammering the Amazon card, some reportedly cycling millions a month through buyers group spending, and we walk through Doctor of Credit's full list of what actually triggers a Chase shutdown. More importantly, we cover the three things that catch normal people who are not doing anything extreme, bust out risk on a brand new card, credit limit cycling, and sitting on a massive negative balance. Alaska Atmos also added Philippine Airlines as a partner, and business class availability is wide open at 75,000 miles from San Francisco and 85,000 from Los Angeles, though we get into why Manila is a rough connection point and not really a jumping off spot for the rest of Asia. Seats.aero shipped a Chrome extension that overlays award pricing directly onto Google Flights, and it works well right out of the box. We close with Hilton cutting the fees hotel owners pay, which sounds small at 0.3 percent but is a real chunk of what they collect, and explain why less money coming into the program almost always means devaluations for you. Let us know in the comments what your favorite award search tool is. Episode Guide: 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel 0:19 Lake Life & Too Many Houseguests 2:05 Chase Shuts Down Amazon Card Users 3:45 What Actually Triggers a Chase Shutdown 6:43 The Three That Catch Normal People 9:30 Seats.aero's New Chrome Extension 12:13 Alaska Adds Philippine Airlines 16:46 Hilton Cuts the Fees Owners Pay 18:48 Hilton Rise & Falling Brand Standards 23:12 Hotel Rates Have Doubled 24:05 Final Thoughts Links Chase shutdown wave - https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-amazon-prime-shutdown-large-spend-inactivity/ What causes shutdowns - https://www.doctorofcredit.com/what-causes-chase-credit-card-shutdowns/ Seats.aero Chrome - https://milestomemories.com/seats-aero-chrome-extension-adds-award-prices-to-google-flights/ Atmos award space - https://milestomemories.com/book-philippine-airlines-business-with-atmos/ Hilton cutting fees for owners - https://onemileatatime.com/news/hilton-cuts-loyalty-fees-hotel-owners-pay-bad-hilton-honors-members/ ✈️ Track your travel credit cards for free 📧 Free newsletter 💳 Join our free Facebook group (16,000+ members) 🏆 Diamond Patreon — bonus shows + Slack community 🥇 Gold Membership ($10/mo) 🎧 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts 📖 Miles to Memories website
- 3 days ago36 min
Is Premium Economy Actually Fine? Plus Bilt Responds, Hilton Overcharges & Mark Influences Again!
Get a $200 gift card after your first payment of $500 with Melio (affiliate) - https://milestomemories.com/go/melio/ Get 3 free months of Audible - https://milestomemories.com/audible-subscription-offer-2/ Bilt responded to the pricing problem we covered last week, and Richard Kerr reached out directly about the resort fee disclosure issue on their travel portal. There is a toggle that shows all in pricing, but it is buried where almost nobody will find it, and we make the case it belongs right on the initial search screen. Mark also found something stranger, the same hotel priced 10 to 15 dollars differently between his account and his wife's, which opens a real conversation about personalized pricing in the age of AI. On the hotel side, Hilton charged him roughly $280 a night for rooms he booked entirely on points, a good reminder to always check your folio before you leave. Then we get into whether premium economy is good enough for a 13 hour flight home from Seoul, why the footrest works great if you are short and terribly if you are tall, and how the snobbery in this hobby has quietly faded as award space has dried up. Plus Mark's 75,000 point Aeroplan booking to see Wrexham, the transfer bonuses ending this month, and the Virgin points to AMC popcorn trick that finally wore Shawn down. Let us know in the comments whether you would take the nonstop in premium economy or connect in business. Episode Guide: 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel 0:18 Hilton Charged Us for a Points Stay 4:01 Bilt Responds to the Pricing Problem 7:33 We Need a Hotel Pricing Law 10:47 Two Accounts, Two Different Prices 15:29 Is Premium Economy Good Enough? 17:36 The Footrest Problem (If You're Tall) 19:12 The Snobbery Has Faded 22:38 Points as an Emergency Fund 25:41 A 75K Aeroplan Booking to See Wrexham 31:23 Transfer Bonuses Ending This Month 33:07 The Virgin Points Popcorn Hack 35:41 Final Thoughts Links Current transfer bonuses - https://milestomemories.com/current-transfer-bonuses/ ✈️ Track your travel credit cards for free 📧 Free newsletter 💳 Join our free Facebook group (16,000+ members) 🏆 Diamond Patreon — bonus shows + Slack community 🥇 Gold Membership ($10/mo) 🎧 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts 📖 Miles to Memories website
- 1 weeks ago24 min
Bilt Is Hiding Fees, Chase Cracks Down on Abusers & BofA's SEXY New Retention Avenue!
Get a $200 gift card after your first payment of $500 with Melio (affiliate) - https://milestomemories.com/go/melio/ Get 3 free months of Audible - https://milestomemories.com/audible-subscription-offer-2/ Both Hyatt cards have increased welcome offers, and we explain why the personal card's 75,000 point headline is a little misleading since a chunk of it is just base earning you would get anyway. Frequent Miler is reporting that Chase quietly added new terms to Chase Offers warning that abuse may get you excluded from future offers, which leads into a real conversation about where the line sits between an error in your favor and outright fraud. Bank of America is now handing out retention offers through its Erica chatbot, so you can click through your cards quickly without ever talking to a person, though accepting one offer appears to lock you out on the rest. United also has new targeted MilePlay promotions, some of them worth 20,000 plus bonus miles just for getting the credit card and opting into notifications. We close with a real problem on Bilt travel, where a hotel showing $279 a night turned into an $800 plus bill at checkout because resort fees were not disclosed up front, something Expedia's own site does correctly. Let us know in the comments what the craziest abuse story you have heard is. Episode Guide: 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel 0:24 Hyatt's New 75K Personal Card Offer 3:07 The Hyatt Business Card: Who It's For 6:34 Chase Warns "Gamers" on Chase Offers 8:20 Where Gaming Becomes Fraud 11:01 BofA Retention Offers Via Chatbot 12:58 A Rough Citi Retention Call 14:26 United's New MilePlay Promotions 17:29 Bilt Travel's Pricing Problem 18:06 The $279 Room That Cost $800 23:38 Final Thoughts Links Hyatt business - https://milestomemories.com/world-of-hyatt-business-card-70k-offer/ Hyatt personal - https://milestomemories.com/75k-bonus-on-word-of-hyatt-card/ Chase Offers - https://milestomemories.com/chase-adding-abuse-warning-to-some-chase-offers/ BofA retention - https://milestomemories.com/check-for-bank-of-america-retention-offers/ MilePlay - https://milestomemories.com/united-airlines-mile-play-promotion/ ✈️ Track your travel credit cards for free 📧 Free newsletter 💳 Join our free Facebook group (16,000+ members) 🏆 Diamond Patreon — bonus shows + Slack community 🥇 Gold Membership ($10/mo) 🎧 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts 📖 Miles to Memories website
- 1 weeks ago27 min
Delta's Basic BS First Class, a Headrest That Saves Economy & New Partnerships Galore!
Get a $200 gift card after your first payment of $500 with Melio (affiliate) - https://milestomemories.com/go/melio/ Get 3 free months of Audible - https://milestomemories.com/audible-subscription-offer-2/ A huge week of travel news, so we ran through the partnerships and new seat products that actually matter. Delta launched a basic first class following United, stripping out seat selection, upgrades, and same day changes while almost certainly charging you the same, and we explain why it is just a way to make you pay more for what you already got. The good news is United is putting a blocked empty middle seat with its own tray on its A321XLRs, a European style setup that saves them a flight attendant and that we would happily book over regular first, and Emirates is rolling out a folding UDream headrest that could finally make sleeping in economy possible. We also cover the partnership madlibs of the week, Hilton with Explora cruises, Japan Airlines with Marriott Bonvoy, and Air Canada Aeroplan with World of Hyatt, and what each is actually worth. We close with a genuinely useful one, Wyndham doubling its Caesars transfer limit to 60,000 points through September 11th, which is a great way to rescue points before Wyndham's brutal four year expiration hits. Let us know in the comments if a better headrest would get you to fly economy. Episode Guide: 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel 1:10 Hilton x Explora Cruises 4:35 Delta's New Basic First Class 6:47 United's Genius Empty Middle Seat 11:02 The Emirates Headrest That Fixes Economy 15:14 Japan Airlines x Marriott Bonvoy 17:00 Why Economy Is the Real Sweet Spot 20:42 Air Canada Aeroplan x World of Hyatt 23:45 Wyndham Doubles the Caesars Transfer 26:30 Final Thoughts Links Wyndham expiration - https://travelwithgrant.boardingarea.com/2026/06/25/how-to-find-out-when-all-of-your-wyndham-rewards-points-expire/ Hilton cruises - https://milestomemories.com/hilton-honors-launches-explora-journeys-partnership/ United's blocked middle - https://www.united.com/en/us/newsroom/announcements/cision-125474 Emirates headrest - https://onemileatatime.com/news/emirates-u-dream-headrest-economy/ JAL/Marriott - https://milestomemories.com/marriott-bonvoy-japan-airlines-partnership/ Hyatt/Aeroplan - <a href= "https://milestomemories.com/world-of-hyatt
- 2 weeks ago25 min
The 25,000 Mile Clawback, Amex Closes a Loophole & Why We Can't Simplify Our Wallets
Get a $200 gift card after your first payment of $500 with Melio (affiliate) - https://milestomemories.com/go/melio/ Get 3 free months of Audible - https://milestomemories.com/audible-subscription-offer-2/ The AA glitch is over. American clawed back the 25,000 miles from that AAdvantage Business promo code, reversing transfers and apologizing with 5,000 miles, and we make the case that they actually handled it well, which is more than we can say for hotels that walk you or open late with a shrug. Speaking of, we get into why Hyatt stopped offering real compensation on delayed hotel openings and what they should be doing instead. Amex is also tightening things up, changing the terms on the streaming credit so bundles like Peacock with Apple TV Plus no longer count, and linking multiple logins on the back end so you can no longer use separate accounts to see different Amex Offers. We reminisce about the golden era of Amex Offers, the Staples and Smart and Final days, and the offers that were worth flying across the country for. Plus Olive Garden's Unlimited Pasta Pass is back for the first time since 2020, still $100 but now good for 13 weeks, with only 10,000 available. We close with our buddy Travel with Grant's wallet simplification article and admit none of us are actually simplifying anything. Let us know in the comments if you got the pasta pass. Episode Guide: 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel 0:18 Canadian Wildfire Smoke & That Train Video 5:02 AA Claws Back the 25,000 Miles 8:11 Why Hyatt Stopped Compensating You 9:43 The Pasta Pass Returns 12:40 Amex Tightens the Streaming Credit 14:01 The Subscription Mess (& Rocket Money) 16:11 Amex Links Your Multiple Logins 18:11 The Golden Age of Amex Offers 20:35 Can Anyone Actually Simplify Their Wallet? 24:20 Final Thoughts Links Pasta pass - https://milestomemories.com/olive-garden-never-ending-pasta-pass/ Amex streaming - https://milestomemories.com/amex-platinum-tightens-digital-entertainment-credit-rules/ Amex logins - https://milestomemories.com/american-express-can-now-see-across-multiple-logins/ Simplify your wallet - https://travelwithgrant.boardingarea.com/2026/07/12/one-year-later-an-update-to-our-simplified-wallet-strategy-for-2026/ ✈️ Track your travel credit cards for free 📧 Free newsletter 💳 Join our free Facebook group (16,000+ members) 🏆 Diamond Patreon — bonus shows + Slack community 🥇 Gold Membership ($10/mo) 🎧 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts 📖 Miles to Memories website
- 2 weeks ago30 min
Is This A Deal To Japan, Hyatt's "New" Benefit That Isn't New & Points Myths to Drop!
Get a $200 gift card after your first payment of $500 with Melio (affiliate) - https://milestomemories.com/go/melio/ Get 3 free months of Audible - https://milestomemories.com/audible-subscription-offer-2/ Mark is taking his son to Japan on points, so we walk through exactly how he booked it, snagging American Airlines business class from Detroit through Dallas to Tokyo for 100,000 miles a person, why he locked it in even though it is not the rock bottom price, and his plan to fly Delta One home from Seoul nonstop for 140,000 SkyMiles. It turns into a bigger conversation about how the burn side of miles and points has gotten harder and less fun, and why getting the trip you want now can beat holding out for the perfect saver award. On the news side, there is an excellent Audible deal with three free months plus a $20 credit for Prime members, another two Hyatt hotels dropping suite upgrade awards, and Hyatt dressing up an old 13 month booking window as a shiny new elite benefit. Then we react to a great Benji article full of points assumptions worth rethinking, from not needing to be a credit card travel protection expert, to skipping mediocre free breakfast, to whether tracking every tiny bonus is actually worth your time, and the classic debate of booking flights first versus hotels first. Let us know in the comments whether you are team flights or team hotels, and drop any Japan tips for Mark. Episode Guide: 0:00 What's Coming Up 1:35 Why Japan? A 16th Birthday Bucket List Trip 2:59 How We Booked 100K Business Class to Tokyo 6:02 Flying Delta One Home From Seoul 8:58 A Great Audible Deal (3 Free Months + $20) 9:59 Hyatt Drops More Suite Upgrade Hotels 11:41 Hyatt's "New" 13-Month Booking Benefit 14:07 Do You Need to Master Card Travel Protections? 16:53 Skip the Free Breakfast? 19:27 Are You Wasting Time Tracking Points? 23:41 Book Flights First or Hotels First? 29:30 Final Thoughts Links Sign-up for Rakuten! (referral) - http://milestomemories.com/go/rakuten Hyatt upgrade certs - https://milestomemories.com/hyatt-expands-list-of-hotels-that-dont-accept-suite-upgrade-awards/ Hyatt 13 month benefit - https://milestomemories.com/hyatt-early-award-access-for-elites-and-cardholders/ Points assumptions - https://milestomemories.com/travel-and-points-assumptions/ ✈️ Track your travel credit cards for free 📧 Free newsletter 💳 Join our free Facebook group (16,000+ members) 🏆 Diamond Patreon — bonus shows + Slack community 🥇 Gold Membership ($10/mo) 🎧 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts 📖 Miles to Memories website
- 3 weeks ago25 min
AA's 25,000 Mile Glitch, Amex Gets Stingy & The Rakuten Card Stack
Get a $200 gift card after your first payment of $500 with Melio (affiliate) - https://milestomemories.com/go/melio/ Sign-up for Rakuten! (referral) - http://milestomemories.com/go/rakuten American Airlines appears to have a coding error letting existing AAdvantage Business account holders add a promo code in settings and instantly get 25,000 miles, and we get into whether AA claws it back. Mark walks through three retention offer results, including an insulting 6,000 Hilton point offer on the Surpass, a $99 credit that saved his Citi AAdvantage business card at exactly the right moment, and no save attempt at all on the Executive card. We also cover Amex randomly handing out $50 Saks credits after killing that benefit, the Rakuten credit card offers that can stack over 75,000 Bilt points, and Mark's Charles Schwab Platinum timing now that Delta and United dropped off the airline incidental credit. Plus, Benji wants an apology. Let us know in the comments if you got your 25,000 miles. Episode Guide: 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel 0:39 AA's 25,000 Mile Coding Error 5:16 Retention Offers 101 5:51 Amex's Insulting Surpass Offer 10:29 Citi AAdvantage Business: A $99 Save 11:42 No Save on the Executive Card 13:28 Amex's Random $50 Saks Credits 16:12 Rakuten's Credit Card Offers (75K Bilt) 19:20 Bank of America Approvals & Schwab Platinum 23:20 Benjy Wants an Apology 24:57 Final Thoughts Links Sign-up for Rakuten! (referral) - http://milestomemories.com/go/rakuten ✈️ Track your travel credit cards for free 📧 Free newsletter 💳 Join our free Facebook group (16,000+ members) 🏆 Diamond Patreon — bonus shows + Slack community 🥇 Gold Membership ($10/mo) 🎧 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts 📖 Miles to Memories website
- 3 weeks ago30 min
United's First Class Cornflakes, Delta's Worst Seat & TSA Security Gets Better!
Get a $200 gift card after your first payment of $500 with Melio (affiliate) - https://milestomemories.com/go/melio/ Want to work with us? Reach out! inquiries at milestomemories dot com A packed miles and points Tuesday after a big 250th weekend. We start with a wild Delta seat someone scored on a former Lion Air 737 that looks narrower than anything you have flown, which leads into a fun talk about backward facing seats, the death of SeatGuru, and how to avoid the worst seats on the plane. On the news side, Amex transfer bonuses are back, with 30 percent to Virgin Atlantic through the end of July and 20 percent to Hilton through July 14th. Then we get into Benjy's genuinely sad United first class meal, a banana and Kellogg's cornflakes on a flight over 1,500 miles, and why you should never book domestic first for the food, plus our favorite drink and flight attendant hacks. We break down TSA touchless ID now that it is on Google Wallet, why the line moves fast, the frustrating catch that minors cannot use it, and how mobile passport control makes coming back into the country painless. We close with how Mark pulled 350,000 Delta miles and a companion pass out of a single Delta Reserve card, and the tricky question of how to actually value a companion pass. Let us know in the comments about the worst seat and worst meal you have had lately. Episode Guide: 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel 0:23 Our Small-Town 4th of July 2:32 The World Cup & Discovering America 4:51 Delta's Worst Seat 8:01 SeatGuru Is Dead: Avoiding Bad Seats 9:56 Amex Transfer Bonuses Are Back 12:45 United's Sad First Class Meal 16:47 International vs Domestic Food & Drink Hacks 19:19 TSA Touchless ID Explained 22:32 Mobile Passport & Faster Customs 24:47 Valuing the Delta Companion Pass 29:41 Final Thoughts Links Delta seat - https://x.com/itripreport/status/2072741231243694307?s=46 Amex bonuses - https://milestomemories.com/new-amex-transfer-bonuses-30-to-virgin-atlantic-20-to-hilton/ United breakfast - https://milestomemories.com/united-inflight-meal/ TSA Touchless - https://milestomemories.com/tsa-and-google-wallet-launch-new-tsa-precheck-touchless-id-option/ ✈️ Track your travel credit cards for free 📧 Free newsletter 💳 Join our free Facebook group (16,000+ members) 🏆 Diamond Patreon — bonus shows + Slack community 🥇 Gold Membership ($10/mo) 🎧 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts 📖 Miles to Memories website
About MTM Travel - The Fun Side of Points & Travel!
The fun side of miles, points and travel! Hosted by Shawn Coomer and Mark Ostermann, MTM Travel dives into the points hobby & the lifestyle of travel with topical conversations and plenty of laughs along the way. Mark & Shawn have a combined 18 years of experience covering these topics on Miles to Memories and Travel on Points and are cohosts of the popular MtM Vegas Youtube Show on the Miles to Memories Vegas channel. They also host the 20 Minute Travel news show on this same feed where you can keep up with the latest deals, news and happenings.
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