Mike and Joe discuss new airport lounges, Hilton and Hyatt independent hotel affiliations, tipping culture and the broader featured topic of how travel teaches us new things about every place we visit.

The Award Travel 101 Podcast is brought to you in part by Thrifty Traveler Premium. Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT10” for $10 off your first year. Recent finds include:

• Business Class to Stockholm for 54,000 points
• Round-trip to Rome for $586
• First Class Suites to Hawaii for 31,000 points

You can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium

For a full details, check out the blogpost on AwardWallet.

Where to Find Us

1. The Award Travel 101 Facebook Community.
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at [email protected]
4. Buy your Award Travel 101 Merch here
5. Reserve tickets to our Spring 2026 Meetup in Phoenix now. award.travel/phx2026

Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions!

Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card!

Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.