• Get a $200 gift card after your first payment of $500 with Melio (affiliate) - https://milestomemories.com/go/melio/
• Get 3 free months of Audible - https://milestomemories.com/audible-subscription-offer-2/

The AA glitch is over. American clawed back the 25,000 miles from that AAdvantage Business promo code, reversing transfers and apologizing with 5,000 miles, and we make the case that they actually handled it well, which is more than we can say for hotels that walk you or open late with a shrug. Speaking of, we get into why Hyatt stopped offering real compensation on delayed hotel openings and what they should be doing instead. Amex is also tightening things up, changing the terms on the streaming credit so bundles like Peacock with Apple TV Plus no longer count, and linking multiple logins on the back end so you can no longer use separate accounts to see different Amex Offers. We reminisce about the golden era of Amex Offers, the Staples and Smart and Final days, and the offers that were worth flying across the country for. Plus Olive Garden's Unlimited Pasta Pass is back for the first time since 2020, still $100 but now good for 13 weeks, with only 10,000 available. We close with our buddy Travel with Grant's wallet simplification article and admit none of us are actually simplifying anything. Let us know in the comments if you got the pasta pass.

Episode Guide:

• 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel
• 0:18 Canadian Wildfire Smoke & That Train Video
• 5:02 AA Claws Back the 25,000 Miles
• 8:11 Why Hyatt Stopped Compensating You
• 9:43 The Pasta Pass Returns
• 12:40 Amex Tightens the Streaming Credit
• 14:01 The Subscription Mess (& Rocket Money)
• 16:11 Amex Links Your Multiple Logins
• 18:11 The Golden Age of Amex Offers
• 20:35 Can Anyone Actually Simplify Their Wallet?
• 24:20 Final Thoughts

Links

• Pasta pass - https://milestomemories.com/olive-garden-never-ending-pasta-pass/
• Amex streaming - https://milestomemories.com/amex-platinum-tightens-digital-entertainment-credit-rules/
• Amex logins - https://milestomemories.com/american-express-can-now-see-across-multiple-logins/
• Simplify your wallet - https://travelwithgrant.boardingarea.com/2026/07/12/one-year-later-an-update-to-our-simplified-wallet-strategy-for-2026/

✈️ 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 a $200 gift card after your first payment of $500 with Melio (affiliate) - https://milestomemories.com/go/melio/
• Get 3 free months of Audible - https://milestomemories.com/audible-subscription-offer-2/

Mark is taking his son to Japan on points, so we walk through exactly how he booked it, snagging American Airlines business class from Detroit through Dallas to Tokyo for 100,000 miles a person, why he locked it in even though it is not the rock bottom price, and his plan to fly Delta One home from Seoul nonstop for 140,000 SkyMiles. It turns into a bigger conversation about how the burn side of miles and points has gotten harder and less fun, and why getting the trip you want now can beat holding out for the perfect saver award. On the news side, there is an excellent Audible deal with three free months plus a $20 credit for Prime members, another two Hyatt hotels dropping suite upgrade awards, and Hyatt dressing up an old 13 month booking window as a shiny new elite benefit. Then we react to a great Benji article full of points assumptions worth rethinking, from not needing to be a credit card travel protection expert, to skipping mediocre free breakfast, to whether tracking every tiny bonus is actually worth your time, and the classic debate of booking flights first versus hotels first. Let us know in the comments whether you are team flights or team hotels, and drop any Japan tips for Mark.

Episode Guide:

• 0:00 What's Coming Up
• 1:35 Why Japan? A 16th Birthday Bucket List Trip
• 2:59 How We Booked 100K Business Class to Tokyo
• 6:02 Flying Delta One Home From Seoul
• 8:58 A Great Audible Deal (3 Free Months + $20)
• 9:59 Hyatt Drops More Suite Upgrade Hotels
• 11:41 Hyatt's "New" 13-Month Booking Benefit
• 14:07 Do You Need to Master Card Travel Protections?
• 16:53 Skip the Free Breakfast?
• 19:27 Are You Wasting Time Tracking Points?
• 23:41 Book Flights First or Hotels First?
• 29:30 Final Thoughts

Links

• Sign-up for Rakuten! (referral) - http://milestomemories.com/go/rakuten
• Hyatt upgrade certs - https://milestomemories.com/hyatt-expands-list-of-hotels-that-dont-accept-suite-upgrade-awards/
• Hyatt 13 month benefit - https://milestomemories.com/hyatt-early-award-access-for-elites-and-cardholders/
• Points assumptions - https://milestomemories.com/travel-and-points-assumptions/

✈️ 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 a $200 gift card after your first payment of $500 with Melio (affiliate) - https://milestomemories.com/go/melio/
• Sign-up for Rakuten! (referral) - http://milestomemories.com/go/rakuten

American Airlines appears to have a coding error letting existing AAdvantage Business account holders add a promo code in settings and instantly get 25,000 miles, and we get into whether AA claws it back. Mark walks through three retention offer results, including an insulting 6,000 Hilton point offer on the Surpass, a $99 credit that saved his Citi AAdvantage business card at exactly the right moment, and no save attempt at all on the Executive card. We also cover Amex randomly handing out $50 Saks credits after killing that benefit, the Rakuten credit card offers that can stack over 75,000 Bilt points, and Mark's Charles Schwab Platinum timing now that Delta and United dropped off the airline incidental credit. Plus, Benji wants an apology. Let us know in the comments if you got your 25,000 miles.

Episode Guide:

• 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel
• 0:39 AA's 25,000 Mile Coding Error
• 5:16 Retention Offers 101
• 5:51 Amex's Insulting Surpass Offer
• 10:29 Citi AAdvantage Business: A $99 Save
• 11:42 No Save on the Executive Card
• 13:28 Amex's Random $50 Saks Credits
• 16:12 Rakuten's Credit Card Offers (75K Bilt)
• 19:20 Bank of America Approvals & Schwab Platinum 23:20 Benjy Wants an Apology
• 24:57 Final Thoughts

Links

• Sign-up for Rakuten! (referral) - http://milestomemories.com/go/rakuten

✈️ 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