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Episode Description

This week Southwest announced a huge milestone as part of their huge recent transformation. For the first time they have added an international interline partner with the addition of Iceland Air. Soon you'll be able to connect on to Iceland and Europe, but the airline isn't done yet with another partner coming soon. Are they turning into a "real" airline?   In other news Alaska continues to have problems showing phantom award availability on some of their partners. This is a huge issue with points transfers, but is there anything you can do about it? We also discuss: Chinese nail houses, the quirks of Japanese trains, increased Marriott Bonvoy offers, a new Hilton timeshare deal and how to score 75K points on a very good no annual fee card. Episode Guide

• 0:00 China’s crazy “Nail Houses”
• 0:53 Southwest adds Iceland Air as interline partner
• 2:12 How Southwest’s new partner is a huge change to the airline’s business model
• 2:52 Flying over 800MPH with the jetstream
• 4:00 Increased welcome offers on Marriott Bonvoy credit cards
• 5:27 Why the Bonvoy Bold no annual fee offer is probably the best
• 6:08 Amex Blue Business Plus 75K no lifetime language & how to check
• 7:50 Why you probably shouldn’t be afraid of bank issues 1099s
• 9:30 Hilton’s new timeshare offers - How to score an even better deal
• 10:45 Why do people still buy timeshares in 2025?
• 12:20 Alaska’s frustrating phantom award availability
• 14:08 Why Alaska’s tech issues with partners are a big problem for points transfers
• 16:19 Cool S - Japanese trains and quirky features
• 18:00 Japan train tips & what you should know

Links

• House inside highway - https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1882906853690204271
• Southwest/Iceland Air - https://milestomemories.com/southwest-airlines-and-icelandair-expand-interline-partnership/
• Jetstream flight - https://x.com/bbcweather/status/1882013275132477779?s=46
• Blue Business Plus 75K - https://travel-on-points.com/targeted-75k-blue-business-plus-cash-offer/
• Thoughts on 1099s - https://travel-on-points.com/what-to-do-with-referral-1099s/
• Hilton Timeshare deal - https://milestomemories.com/new-hilton-timeshare-offer-6/
• Alaska Phantom - https://travel-on-points.com/alaska-partner-booking-error/
• Japan trains - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgJBJa3whEc
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ArK5grG7ZY

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