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Big Sapphire Bonus, Virgin's Fantastic Cruise Offer, Hyatt Suite Space Hack & United Devalues Again!

20 Minute Travel

Release Date: 05/08/2024

2025 Trending Travel, 5 Free Hyatt Nights, Paid Hyatt Place Breakfast, LoungeBuddy Dies & Newark! show art 2025 Trending Travel, 5 Free Hyatt Nights, Paid Hyatt Place Breakfast, LoungeBuddy Dies & Newark!

20 Minute Travel

Episode Description: As a reminder you can watch this show as well at: - You can also find the show along with our sister show MTM Travel in the combined MTM Travel feed. . This week Chase was in the news a lot for a number of different reasons. To start, they added Air Canada lounge access for Sapphire Reserve cardholders. This is a good perk, but it has a huge downside. Chase also released their Q4 spending offers on cards with targeted deals giving 5-7X back on grocery and more. Finally, Chase also has newly increased offers on Sapphire Preferred and the World of Hyatt credit card. The...

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Amex Kills Popular Cards, China's Insane Drone Show, Alaska Transfer Drama, Tricky Hyatt & New 100K! show art Amex Kills Popular Cards, China's Insane Drone Show, Alaska Transfer Drama, Tricky Hyatt & New 100K!

20 Minute Travel

Episode Description: As a reminder you can watch this show as well at: This week American Express announced the death of several of their cards including the Cash Magnet and the popular Everyday cards. With the loss of Everyday, is Amex retooling their lineup in preparation of a new card or are they trying to push customers up to their more expensive Gold card? In other news the Alaska/Hawaiian merger drama continued this week as transfers from American Express broke briefly, but then came back again. Some terms leave us a bit worried about the future of transfers, but the big question is...

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Alaska Scores Big, Citi Fighting Hard, Free Starbucks from Marriott & Visiting the Top Gun Bar! show art Alaska Scores Big, Citi Fighting Hard, Free Starbucks from Marriott & Visiting the Top Gun Bar!

20 Minute Travel

Episode Description: As a reminder you can watch this show as well at: This week Alaska Airlines closed on their merger with Hawaiian Airlines. The government laid out a ton of rules for the new airline to follow including keeping the value of points and allowing points to be transferred 1:1 between programs. This has opened up some opportunities to get Alaska miles as Amex is now basically a transfer partner. In other news tons of new increased card offers dropped this week including Southwest, Hilton and Marriott. We also discuss the new way to change your Southwest companion and the best...

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Southwest Airlines Shakeup, Priority Pass Downgrade, Amex Uber Change, MGM/Marriott Quirk & Concorde show art Southwest Airlines Shakeup, Priority Pass Downgrade, Amex Uber Change, MGM/Marriott Quirk & Concorde

20 Minute Travel

Get an easy $200 from Melio for making your first payment! (Affiliate link. Terms below)  Episode Description: As a reminder you can watch this show as well at: This week Southwest continued on its path towards huge changes with the announcement of a shakeup on their board. 6 members will leave and the chairman will retire as they move to make more money and change their model. Will this change the Southwest culture forever? In other travel news some very popular benefits with Capital One and American Express are being changed, removed or downgraded. Specifically we are seeing changes...

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DOT Investigates Airlines, New Chase 90K, TSA Tik Tok Trend, Gates of Hell &  New 4% Cash Back Card! show art DOT Investigates Airlines, New Chase 90K, TSA Tik Tok Trend, Gates of Hell & New 4% Cash Back Card!

20 Minute Travel

Get an easy $200 from Melio for making your first payment! (Affiliate link. Terms below)  Episode Description: As a reminder you can watch this show as well at: This week the DOT announced they are going to be investigating the major U.S. airlines and their loyalty programs to ensure consumers are being protected. These programs have become huge profit centers for the airlines, but should they be investigated and exactly what will come from it? In other news a new Tik Tok trend is holding up airport security lines. Is it a problem or a fun fad? We also discuss the "Gates of Hell", a new...

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Insane Chase Tik Tok Trend, Hotel Loyalty Dying, Ghost Cities, New 5/24 Rule & Meltdown in Denver! show art Insane Chase Tik Tok Trend, Hotel Loyalty Dying, Ghost Cities, New 5/24 Rule & Meltdown in Denver!

20 Minute Travel

Get an easy $200 from Melio for making your first payment! (Affiliate link. Terms below)  Episode Description: As a reminder you can watch this show as well at: This week an insane Tik Tok trend took off that invited people to take advantage of a "glitch" with Chase ATMs to score money. Chase says it amounted to fraud and people have had their bank accounts wiped out. Are these trends fundamentally changing our society? In other news Wells Fargo may be implementing a tough new 5/24 rule that is similar to Chase. When did it start and what do we know? We also discuss: Chinese ghost...

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More Boeing Problems, Americans vs. Europeans, Southwest Card Trick, Chase Ink Changes & Bilt Bonus show art More Boeing Problems, Americans vs. Europeans, Southwest Card Trick, Chase Ink Changes & Bilt Bonus

20 Minute Travel

Get an easy $200 from Melio for making your first payment! (Affiliate link. Terms below)  Episode Description: As a reminder you can watch this show as well at: This week Chase is making some big changes to their Ink business products. This includes the end of one of the best offers of the year with the 120K Ink Preferred offer coming to an end very soon. The bank is also cutting back their referral offers in half, but you still have a little bit of time. Should you tell friends about a better deal or cash in on a referral that pays you and gives them less? In other news with the Amex...

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Southwest Hawaii Struggles, Big $2K Bonus, Amex Southwest Hawaii Struggles, Big $2K Bonus, Amex "No Lifetime", Train at Sea & Stranded by AA!

20 Minute Travel

Get an easy $200 from Melio for making your first payment! (Affiliate link. Terms below)  Episode Description: As a reminder you can watch this show as well at: This week we saw a number of notable credit card offers that are worth considering. We dive into recent Amex "no lifetime language" offers for both the Platinum and Gold cards plus the World of Hyatt Business card and the Citi AA Platinum card. We also discuss a huge $2K bonus that may be worth pursuing, but isn't for everyone. In other news Southwest has made waves with their Hawaii expansion these past few years, but it isn't...

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Hyatt Hotel's Crazy Demand, Plane Crash, Big Amex Card Offers, VR Waterslide & Spirit Evolves! show art Hyatt Hotel's Crazy Demand, Plane Crash, Big Amex Card Offers, VR Waterslide & Spirit Evolves!

20 Minute Travel

Get an easy $200 from Melio for making your first payment! (Affiliate link. Terms below)  Episode Description: As a reminder you can watch this show as well at: This week Spirit Airlines finally evolved into a more normal carrier with the introduction of their new fare buckets. Depending on what you choose you can get anything from a basic fare all the way up to the equivalent of domestic First Class, but will this end up costing consumers more in the end or is it a good thing? In other news American Express has some good card offers out right now including two increased Bonvoy offers...

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Airline Social Media Scams, United's Bad Basic Economy, Bilt Responds to Changes & Easy $200 Bonus! show art Airline Social Media Scams, United's Bad Basic Economy, Bilt Responds to Changes & Easy $200 Bonus!

20 Minute Travel

Get an easy $200 from Melio for making your first payment! (Affiliate link. Terms below)  Episode Description: As a reminder you can watch this show as well at: This week brought a lot of bad news in the travel space as Delta continued to struggle from their meltdown. We also learned about some potentially negative changes to Amex Gold and Bilt's Rent Day. To pile on, Southwest announced a ton of major changes as well, although these might be seen as positive by a lot of people. Bye bye cattle call boarding! In other news Wyndham has a great new promo where you can buy points at an...

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More Episodes

Episode Description:

As a reminder you can watch this show as well at: https://www.youtube.com/@20minutetravel

Perhaps the most popular travel card now has an increased offer, but you can do even better! Find out about Chase Sapphire Preferred's increased welcome offer, why we love Ultimate Rewards and how a little patience can score you even more valuable Ultimate Rewards points if you are going to pick up this card.

In other travel news Virgin Voyages has a new points promo with Virgin Red that is a great deal for Shawn's favorite cruise line. We also discuss United's sudden devaluation on some awards, why you should proceed with caution when using Buyers Groups, a great new Freedom Flex offer, a trick for opening up award space when using Hyatt suite upgrades and a hack to keep the seat next to you empty when traveling!

Episode Guide:

  • 0:00 The ultimate travel hack for seat anxiety?
  • 0:55 Chase Sapphire Preferred increased offer - The ultimate travel card?
  • 2:28 Getting an even better Sapphire Preferred offer by going in-branch
  • 3:33 Virgin Voyages has a great new points deal
  • 5:40 Current transfer bonuses & why you should use caution with them
  • 8:16 Great targeted offer for Chase Freedom Flex
  • 9:55 A warning about Chase’s 5/24 rule
  • 10:32 Hilton’s new Summer promo
  • 11:53 United devalues even more awards without notice
  • 14:17 A cool trick for Hyatt’s Suite Upgrade Awards
  • 15:52 How miles & points can make you lose perspective on travel “costs”
  • 17:02 A warning about Buyers Groups
  • 18:42 How to avoid risk when finding new ways to earn points

About the Show:

We love to travel and love to laugh! 20 Minute Travel is designed to get you all of the info you need to supercharge your travel by utilizing credit cards, travel rewards and other tricks to pay pennies on the dollar. 

Shawn Coomer is the founder of Miles to Memories and has traveled all over the world with his family utilizing miles & points. He has been writing and podcasting about miles, points and travel since 2013 and has earned and spent millions of points & miles across dozens of programs.

Mark Ostermann is the former Managing Editor of Miles to Memories and is the Managing Editor at Travel on Points. He has been writing about his travel experiences since 2017 and loves to dive into the weeds so you don't have to. He also enjoys a good beer and a laugh or fifty.

Each week tens of thousands of people tune into our MtM Vegas news shows at http://www.YouTube.com/milestomemories. If you like this show check it out!

Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at [email protected].