MTM Travel - The Fun Side of Points & Travel!

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Mark is back from Colombia, and this one's a full Cartagena trip report. He breaks down two nights at the Hyatt Regency Cartagena (a Category 3 gem on points) and three nights at the Dreams Karibana all-inclusive — including the food wins, the brutal heat, the black-sand "beachfront," island day clubs, a killer rooftop bar with a live saxophonist, and the $650 check-in mistake that has one Globalist swearing off Hyatt for good. Plus Shawn answers the Grand Hyatt Athens critics, American Airlines finally drops aircraft trading cards, and Choice Privileges quietly guts its Japan award chart (Tokyo and Osaka properties jumping from 8K to 20K+ points). Is Cartagena worth it? Watch and let us know in the comments.

Episode Guide:

• 0:00 - Welcome to MTM Travel
• 0:25 - Grand Hyatt Athens: The Fallout
• 3:47 - American Airlines Trading Cards
• 5:30 - Choice Privileges Guts Japan
• 8:14 - CardPointers: 50% Off (Sponsor)
• 9:26 - Hyatt Regency Cartagena: Check-In & Rooms
• 11:06 - The Beach Reality & Island Day Trips
• 12:42 - Exploring the Walled City 13:44 - Umbrella Alleys & a Rooftop Bar with Live Sax
• 15:41 - Pools, Cheap Eats & Is Cartagena Worth It?
• 17:16 - Dreams Karibana All-Inclusive: The Food
• 18:31 - Friendly Staff & Entertainment
• 20:05 - A $650 Check-In Surprise
• 22:28 - Hyatt's Antiquated System & Did They Make It Right?
• 26:21 - Pro Tip: The Cancellation-Window Trick
• 27:57 - The VIP Lounge: Premium Booze & AC Escape
• 29:49 - Sharing Lounge Access + Italian Dress Code Drama
• 33:01 - Resort Condition: A Faded Old Conrad
• 35:31 - Final Verdict & Wrap-Up

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• Cardpointers Sale - https://milestomemories.com/go/cardpointers/
• AA trading cards - https://onemileatatime.com/news/american-airlines-trading-cards/
• Choice Japan - http://loyaltylobby.com/2026/06/06/choice-privileges-increases-point-requirements-at-select-japan-hotels-by-up-to-200/

• Get your free travel insurance quote with Faye! https://milestomemories.com/go/faye-travel-insurance/

Chase just refreshed the Sapphire Preferred and buried a bombshell in the fine print. On this episode of MTM Travel Shawn and Mark break down everything Chase changed: the $95 fee stays, you get new 3X categories on gas, EV charging and vacation rentals, plus a doubled $100 hotel credit. The catch? The Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred lose 1:1 Hyatt transfers and drop to 4:3 on October 1. We cover whether the refresh is still worth it, why the $795 Reserve is now the only way to keep 1:1 Hyatt, why Bilt just won, and what you should actually do before the changes hit Monday. Mark's full breakdown is linked below. Let us know where Chase ranks in your points lineup now.

Episode Guide:

• 0:00 – Chase drops a Hyatt bombshell
• 0:22 – Shawn in Casablanca + airport travel tips
• 3:33 – Inside the new Sapphire Preferred (and the 4:3 Hyatt cut)
• 6:35 – Bonus categories & why Chase is devaluing points
• 8:40 – The $795 Reserve push, Mark's article & the Oct 1 timeline
• 12:27 – Will this finally hurt Hyatt?
• 16:18 – Chase's fault or Hyatt's? Plus why Bilt won
• 19:44 – Shawn's points strategy going forward
• 22:48 – Mourning the old Hyatt & should you apply before Monday?

✈️ 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

• Get your free travel insurance quote with Faye! https://milestomemories.com/go/faye-travel-insurance/

American Airlines is quietly blocking last-minute partner award space, Alaska is raising its partner and phone booking fees on July 1, and Shawn just had a really bad "five-star" stay at the Grand Hyatt Athens. On this episode of MTM Travel, Shawn and Mark break down the AA award change and who it actually hurts, the Alaska fee increases and how the Summit card can offset them, and a brutal play-by-play of a Hyatt stay gone wrong — slow undersized elevators, road-noise "motel" rooms, burned eggs, no elite recognition, and a manager who hid in the back — all against a flawless stay at the Hyatt Regency Barcelona. Plus why lounges are cracking down on taking food and drinks, the role of private-equity cost-cutting, and how Hyatt only displays its good TripAdvisor reviews. Let us know your own Hyatt experiences down below, and we'll be back Thursday with more travel news.

Episode Guide:

• 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel
• 0:19 – Welcome back: Barcelona vs. Colombia (and the "Barthelona" debate)
• 1:33 – American Airlines blocks last-minute partner award space
• 5:30 – Alaska raises partner & phone booking fees (July 1)
• 8:40 – The decline of Hyatt
• 9:17 – Grand Hyatt Athens: a "five-star" disaster
• 15:21 – Hyatt Regency Barcelona done right
• 18:46 – Hyatt's rapid expansion & all-inclusive slide
• 21:00 – Every problem is a chance to win (or lose) a customer
• 25:35 – Why can't you take food and drinks from the lounge anymore?
• 28:18 – Hyatt only shows its good TripAdvisor reviews
• 30:09 – Final thoughts & what's coming Thursday

✈️ 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

Bank of America is refunding annual fees for every Spirit credit cardholder and product-changing them into no-fee cards. Mark thought he found a hack in Choice Hotels' gas promo — until Choice's IT outsmarted him. Discover dropped the best welcome offer in its history: $200 after $500 spend, plus double cash back the first year. Then there's the Sapphire Reserve debate — when does pay-yourself-back make the annual fee worth it?

What we cover:

• Spirit credit cardholders get annual fee refunds from Bank of America
• Choice Hotels gas promo: 8,000 points for a $50 card? Not so fast
• Discover's best-ever offer: $200 bonus + double cash back = five quarters of 5%
• Capital One acquiring Discover — could cash back become miles?
• Rethinking the Sapphire Reserve: when couponing actually works
• Pay Yourself Back at 1.25 cents and who should keep the card
• Schwab cashout strategy: turning Membership Rewards into cash

Episode Guide:

0:00 - Welcome to MTM Travel 1:01 - Spirit Credit Card Update 5:47 - Choice Hotels Gas Promo 11:17 - Why Discover Card Right Now 16:13 - Rethinking the Sapphire Reserve 22:08 - Spouse Points & Wrap-Up

✈️ 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

Episode Description

Shawn blew up his Europe itinerary at the last minute, but this one worked. He canceled Condor premium economy through Frankfurt and rebooked American to Athens for fewer miles, less cash and a cleaner connection. The catch was making American economy survivable, which led him to Hyatt's American Airlines status for a day benefit.

Shawn and Mark talk through how the 8,000-point Hyatt redemption worked, why the Main Cabin Extra seat process was clunky, and how his account eventually showed full American Platinum status before travel. They also cover a Royal Air Maroc business class win from Casablanca to LAX, Benjy's strategy for checking AA award bookings after you book, the weird world of backup reservations, and Delta's new second checked bag benefit for eligible Amex cardholders.

Episode Guide

• 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel
• 1:18 Shawn's last-minute Europe rebooking
• 2:31 Hyatt status for a day on American
• 4:32 The status finally appears
• 6:18 Platinum vs. Platinum Pro benefits
• 9:00 Royal Air Maroc business class to LAX
• 10:28 Award space quirks and hotel plans
• 14:18 Rechecking AA awards after booking
• 16:28 Backup bookings and reservation "gardening"
• 19:30 Delta cards add a second checked bag
• 20:35 Carry-on vs. checked bag strategy

Links

• Travel Freely/CardGenie
• Hyatt: American Airlines partnership FAQs
• LoyaltyLobby: Hyatt's American Airlines Status for a Day awards
• MTM: Over 75k Miles Back & 4 Upgrades with 1 Award Booking Strategy
• MTM: Delta Amex Cards Adding New Benefit
• One Mile at a Time: Royal Air Maroc launching Los Angeles flights
• American Airlines: Using miles for travel

Episode Description

Hyatt's 2026 award changes are live, and Shawn and Mark look at what happened after the switch. Some stays barely moved, some got cheaper, Japan got hit hard, and a few members appear to have been charged rates that do not match what Hyatt showed during booking.

They also talk through the points hoarding debate after Benjy's "case for zero" article. A big transferable points balance can feel like an emergency fund, but it can also lose value while cash could earn interest or get invested. Then they close with Chase's new 10X Paze offer, the limited but useful merchant list, and how it can stack with Rove shopping bonuses.

Episode Guide

• 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel
• 0:23 Hyatt's devaluation aftermath
• 2:47 Japan Hyatt awards get hammered
• 4:28 Category 1-4 certificates lose ground
• 6:00 Hyatt booking glitches and overcharges
• 9:30 Detroit seminar tickets and hotel warning
• 10:53 The points hoarding mistake
• 13:52 Investing cash vs. holding points
• 15:10 Shawn's Citi ThankYou redemption win
• 16:21 Cashing out, burn rates and earn rates
• 20:24 Chase Paze 10X and Rove stacking

Links

• Travel Freely/CardGenie — https://travelfreely.com/cardgenie/?bref=mm
• Hyatt 2026 award chart updates — https://newsroom.hyatt.com/awardchartupdates
• Doctor of Credit: Chase Sapphire & Freedom 10X Paze Promo — https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-sapphire-freedom-cards-get-10x-with-paze-checkout-through-2026-united-newegg-shoprite-dunkin-etc/
• MTM: Rove promotion and stacking with Paze — https://milestomemories.com/new-rove-promotion-and-stacking-with-paze/
• Paze merchant directory — https://www.paze.com/merchant-directory
• Points mistake - https://milestomemories.com/points-and-miles-mistake/

Get $200 after making your first $500 payment with Melio! (affiliate) https://www.milestomemories.com/go/melio

Episode Description

Hyatt's award chart changes are arriving, so Shawn and Mark talk through the last-minute bookings that made sense, the ones they skipped and why hotel credits have changed the way they use Hyatt points. They also break down a clean example of partner award pricing: the same American Airlines flight priced at 54K Avios, 36K American miles and 18K Alaska miles.

Then they look at Hilton free night certificates at all-inclusive properties, including the growing SLH options and the downside of possible extra charges for kids. Finally, Mark recaps his completed New York City pub crawl from Central Park to FiDi, with stops at Bryant Park, Moxy, Pub Key, Nancy's Whiskey Pub, White Horse Tavern and The Dead Rabbit.

Episode Guide

• 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel
• 1:03 Hyatt's last call before award chart changes
• 8:08 Same flight, three different award prices
• 13:01 Hilton free night certificates at all-inclusives
• 17:26 Mark finally finishes the NYC pub crawl
• 20:19 Rooftops, local bars and Flatiron cocktails
• 23:34 Greenwich, SoHo and the crawl strategy
• 27:05 Tribeca whiskey bars and FiDi favorites
• 30:20 Dead Rabbit, inKind and final takeaways

• Juice up your earnings with QCGC. https://qcgc.io/?ref=mtmv1 (sponsored)
• MTM Detroit Meetup Tickets - https://mtm.zohobackstage.com/MTMTravelDetroit2026#/

Capital One is facing a lawsuit over canceled rewards, and Shawn and Mark get into the bigger problem with banks treating points like real currency when it helps them and funny money when it helps them. They also talk retention offers, when a card is not worth keeping even for free, and rank the major transferable points programs from worst to best.

What we cover:

• Capital One being sued over allegedly canceled rewards after account closures.
• Why earned points should come with stronger consumer protections.
• How to compare retention offers against referral offers, credits and annual fees.
• Why no-fee cards can still be worth checking for retention offers.
• The Business Platinum changes, Dell frustration and when a credit stops mattering.
• Shawn and Mark's rankings for Amex, Chase, Bilt, Citi, Capital One and Wells Fargo.
• Why Chase has slipped, Citi has become more useful and Bilt may have the most interesting upside.

Episode Guide:

• 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel
• 0:21 Detroit event details and why in-person networking still matters
• 2:52 Capital One sued over canceled rewards
• 7:51 How to think about retention offers
• 11:16 No-fee cards can still have retention offers
• 13:25 Dell, Business Platinum credits and the breaking point
• 14:52 Ranking transferable points programs
• 16:15 Capital One vs Wells Fargo at the bottom
• 19:03 Bilt vs Citi and the middle of the rankings
• 19:45 Why Chase keeps slipping
• 23:07 Amex makes the case for number one
• 26:14 Mark's case for Bilt as the best program
• 29:15 Which programs are essential for most people?

Links:

• Free newsletter
• Join our free Facebook group
• Diamond Patreon
• Gold Membership
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Miles to Memories website
• Capital One lawsuit - https://mtmdiamond.slack.com/archives/C0ACC849Z3J/p1778758564025649
• Retention offers - https://milestomemories.com/american-express-business-platinum-retention-offer/

• Juice up your earnings with QCGC. https://qcgc.io/?ref=mtmv1 (sponsored)
• MTM Detroit Meetup Tickets - https://mtm.zohobackstage.com/MTMTravelDetroit2026#/

Capital One is facing a lawsuit over canceled rewards, and Shawn and Mark get into the bigger problem with banks treating points like real currency when it helps them and funny money when it helps them. They also talk retention offers, when a card is not worth keeping even for free, and rank the major transferable points programs from worst to best.

What we cover:

• Capital One being sued over allegedly canceled rewards after account closures.
• Why earned points should come with stronger consumer protections.
• How to compare retention offers against referral offers, credits and annual fees.
• Why no-fee cards can still be worth checking for retention offers.
• The Business Platinum changes, Dell frustration and when a credit stops mattering.
• Shawn and Mark's rankings for Amex, Chase, Bilt, Citi, Capital One and Wells Fargo.
• Why Chase has slipped, Citi has become more useful and Bilt may have the most interesting upside.

Episode Guide:

• 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel
• 0:21 Detroit event details and why in-person networking still matters
• 2:52 Capital One sued over canceled rewards
• 7:51 How to think about retention offers
• 11:16 No-fee cards can still have retention offers
• 13:25 Dell, Business Platinum credits and the breaking point
• 14:52 Ranking transferable points programs
• 16:15 Capital One vs Wells Fargo at the bottom
• 19:03 Bilt vs Citi and the middle of the rankings
• 19:45 Why Chase keeps slipping
• 23:07 Amex makes the case for number one
• 26:14 Mark's case for Bilt as the best program
• 29:15 Which programs are essential for most people?

Links:

• Free newsletter
• Join our free Facebook group
• Diamond Patreon
• Gold Membership
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Miles to Memories website
• Capital One lawsuit - https://mtmdiamond.slack.com/archives/C0ACC849Z3J/p1778758564025649
• Retention offers - https://milestomemories.com/american-express-business-platinum-retention-offer/

MTM Travel - May 7, 2026

Chase has a massive new Sapphire Reserve offer, but the rest of the episode shows why the points world feels less predictable than it used to. Shawn and Mark break down Rakuten's strange but useful Bank of America and Bilt stack, Citi ending ThankYou point sharing, the refreshed AT&T Points Plus card and Chase's quietly weaker Points Boost values.

Episode Guide

• 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel
• 2:56 Rakuten, Bank of America and bonus Bilt points
• 7:51 Chase Sapphire Reserve hits 150K
• 12:34 Chase spending offers get easier to track
• 13:48 Citi ends ThankYou point sharing
• 16:43 AT&T Points Plus gets a real refresh
• 20:43 Chase Points Boost gets less predictable
• 25:37 Final thoughts on transferable points rankings

Topics Covered

• Rakuten is offering up to $300 back, or 30,000 Bilt points, when applying for select Bank of America cards.
• The Bank of America Travel Rewards card can stack its own offer with the Rakuten payout, making it a strong no-annual-fee play.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve now has a 150,000 point offer after $6,000 in spend in the first three months.
• Chase appears to be matching some recent Sapphire Reserve applicants to the new offer, with reported cutoff dates.
• Chase targeted spending offers are becoming easier to track after activation.
• Citi is ending ThankYou point sharing, removing a useful option for two-player households.
• The AT&T Points Plus card adds stronger AT&T discounts and keeps its no-annual-fee setup.
• Chase Points Boost remains useful in theory, but the changing rates make it harder to plan around.

Links

• Rakuten Bank of America bonuses - https://milestomemories.com/rakuten-offering-extra-bonus-for-bank-of-america-cards/
• Chase Sapphire Reserve 150K offer - https://milestomemories.com/is-chase-matching-the-sapphire-reserve-offer/
• Chase quarterly spending offer lookup - https://milestomemories.com/how-to-find-chase-spending-offer-details/
• Citi ending ThankYou point sharing - https://www.doctorofcredit.com/citi-ending-points-sharing-on-5-16/
• AT&T and Citi enhance Points Plus card - https://milestomemories.com/att-points-plus-world-mastercard-refresh/
• Chase The Edit 2.5 cent Points Boost - https://milestomemories.com/new-2-5x-points-boost-at-select-the-edit-hotels/