Episode Description On this episode Shawn is joined by former MtM Contributor Ryan Smith to discuss his recent accomplishment of visiting every single country in the world. We'll discuss his journey as a writer in the miles and points space plus dive into his country collecting. Find out how his journey began, how he chose his last country and all of the amazing and challenging things along the way.  Episode Notes  0:00 Freelancing in this space & what it is like being a writer. 08:25 The community of country counters & proving your “track record” 16:59 Setting a goal of visiting every country 24:56 Most challenging countries/experiences 38:27 Favorite countries/experiences through Ryan’s entire journey 47:57 The exposure to travel via social media 53:47 Choosing the “last country” and completing the journey  Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at podcast@milestomemories.com.  You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Sticher, Spotify, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, or via RSS. Don't see your favorite podcast platform? Please let us know!

Traveling to Every Country in the World with Ryan Smith

We celebrate the fun side of miles, points & travel including the memories we make along the way. Get inspired to travel, hear about the latest deals and learn how to maximize travel rewards to save money, accomplish your goals and to form memories that will last a lifetime!

Shawn Coomer has spent the last 15 years circling the globe with his family and has shared his passion for award travel on the Miles to Memories blog since 2013. He is currently a semi-nomad, using miles & points to fund almost all of his travel. Shawn is joined each week by semi-regular cohost Joe Cheung and a variety of points experts to discuss how miles & points can enrich your life in so many ways. 

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Personal Journals

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Places & Travel

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Leisure

Episode Description In this episode, Shawn and Grant discuss their experiences in the miles and points hobby. They talk about the evolution of the space, the changing credit card landscape, and strategies for maximizing rewards. They also touch on the importance of organization and tracking, especially when it comes to credit card offers and free night certificates. Finally they dive behind the scenes of upcoming trips, share their love of Scandinavia and discuss how cruise hacking has become such a good opportunity lately.  Episode Notes  0:00 - Introduction to Travel with Grant 7:58 - Keeping up with the changing game 16:29 - Keeping track of credit cards and various offers 21:51 - Dealing with free night certificates 28:17 - Are Hilton cards changing again? 32:06 - Higher annual fees are a challenge 35:04 - Why people shouldn't underestimate InKind 38:21 - Behind Grant's upcoming bookings 44:03 - Enjoying tons of free cruises     Shawn's InKind referral Grant's InKind NYC Article    Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at podcast@milestomemories.com.  You can subscribe on  Apple Podcasts,  Google Play,  Spotify, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, or via RSS. Don't see your favorite podcast platform? Please let us know! Music: Rewind by Jay Someday | https://soundcloud.com/jaysomeday Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

Evolution of the Miles and Points Space, Extreme Tracking & Picking Cards with Grant Thomas

Episode Description   In this episode of the Miles to Memories podcast, Shawn and Joe discuss their experiences recording on the road and share some travel hacks for setting up recording equipment in different environments. They also talk about their missed opportunity to see the solar eclipse and the impact of the eclipse on wildlife. The conversation then shifts to regional food chains like Bojangles and Waffle House, and the excitement of these chains expanding to new locations.      On the credit card side of things, a new offer for Chase Disney Visa cardholders has been released, but is it actually good? Other topics discussed include: turning down an amazing Amex retention offer, the importance of doing the math to determine if the annual fee on a credit card is worth it, a 250K Amex welcome offer, the strategy of using 0% APR offers to earn interest on money while avoiding interest charges on credit cards and Shawn shares his upcoming trip to Nashville with Hilton and his plans to explore their different hotel brands.    Episode Notes  0:00 - Recording on the road & Eclipse FOMO 8:56 - Chase Disney Visa card offer - Is it good? 13:36 - Changes to Disney's Disability Access Service - More planning required 19:58 - Turning down an amazing Amex retention offer 23:41 - 250K targeted Business Platinum Offer 26:15 - Interesting Amex referral offers you shouldn't overlook 28:12 - Pursuing credit cards without a sign-up bonus 32:28 - Taking advantage of 0% APR offers & why what is old is new again 35:35 - Preview of Nashville & meeting with Hilton  Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at podcast@milestomemories.com.  You can subscribe on  Apple Podcasts,  Google Play,  Spotify, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, or via RSS. Don't see your favorite podcast platform? Please let us know! Music: Rewind by Jay Someday | https://soundcloud.com/jaysomeday Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

Maximizing 0% APR Offers, Turning Down An Amazing Retention Offer & Is Chase's Disney Offer Good?

Episode Description We discuss Shawn’s experience with the Wynn status match, Hilton buying the Nomad brand, increases in Global Entry fees and much more! Plus some quick deals to help you along your way. Episode Notes 0:00 - Eclipsing 7:05 - Wynn status match experience 12:07 - Joe booked a Spirit flight 28:04 - Nomad hotels are going under the Hilton brand (except Vegas) 31:50 - Global Entry and NEXUS costs increasing 38:13 - Quick deals Benjy’s Choice Hotels article Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at podcast@milestomemories.com.  You can subscribe on  Apple Podcasts,  Google Play, Spotify, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, or via RSS. Don't see your favorite podcast platform? Please let us know! Music: Rewind by Jay Someday | https://soundcloud.com/jaysomeday Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

Global Entry Price Increase, Spirit Airlines Booking and Wynn Status Matches

Episode Description Joe’s back from an epic Disney trip, Shawn visits the Tropicana before it closes and a ton of credit card news in this week’s podcast. Plus, Joe considers booking Spirit and we discuss what’s going on with the blogosphere and Google’s negative SEO changes (negative for independent people, that is). Episode Notes 0:00 - Joe just got home and is Disneyed out 6:43 - Tropicana closing 10:01 - Booking Spirit Airlines 18:41 -  Amex updates Delta card rules to minimize churning? 23:11 - Amex Hilton Business updates 26:26 -  Chase Sapphire Reserve removes Priority Pass 30:13 -  Robinhood 3% card 35:10 -  Founders Card and Caesars 39:32 - The value of the Swan Reserve 44:36 - How Google is hurting independent blogs Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at podcast@milestomemories.com.  You can subscribe on  Apple Podcasts,  Google Play, Spotify, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, or via RSS. Don't see your favorite podcast platform? Please let us know! Music: Rewind by Jay Someday | https://soundcloud.com/jaysomeday Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

Down a Hilton in Vegas, Amex Changes Again, 3% Everywhere Coming & More!

Episode Description On this episode Shawn and Joe dive into a lot of recent happenings in the travel and miles & points space. From hating on budget airlines to United's new pooling feature there is a lot happening in the airline space. Other topics discussed include: how the Timeshifter jetlag app works, why the Meta Smartglasses are worth a consideration for upcoming trips and how the Rio/Hyatt integration is working in reality.  Episode Notes  0:00 Rayban Meta Smartglasses (Amazon affiliate link) - A new must have for travel? 10:09 Timeshifter app experience - Does it work to save you from jetlag 12:18 Rio/Hyatt partnership - On the ground experience 18:49 IHG Diamond Treatment & spending towards status 22:33 Being done with Spirit Airlines 25:26 Frontier's new seating is an elite downgrade 28:04 What the heck is going on with Boeing 30:05 Great Chase Disney card offers & why you might want one 34:07  United's new pooling feature  Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at podcast@milestomemories.com.  You can subscribe on  Apple Podcasts,  Google Play,  Spotify, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, or via RSS. Don't see your favorite podcast platform? Please let us know! Music: Rewind by Jay Someday | https://soundcloud.com/jaysomeday Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License Advertiser Disclosure: This site/channel is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site/channel (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers.

Traveling to Every Country in the World with Ryan Smith

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