
224 episodes

Miles to Memories - Fun Side of Miles, Points & Travel Miles to Memories | Shawn Coomer and Friends
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- Society & Culture
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4.6 • 258 Ratings
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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.
http://www.milestomemories.com
http://www.milestomemories.com/diamond
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Redefining Loyalty? Hyatt Announces Huge Changes for 2024!
Episode Description
Disclosure: Hyatt invited me to their headquarters in Chicago to learn about this announcement. They provided my room, meals and flights, but did not dictate how this news is covered.
On this episode Shawn discusses the big changes coming to the World of Hyatt program in 2024. He flew to Hyatt’s headquarters in Chicago to get all of the details and shares them here with you! Shawn and Joe also discuss positive IRS changes, de-briefing from Black Friday and more. Joe rants about streaming.
Episode Notes
0:00 - Breaking News! Big Hyatt loyalty changes!
11:22 - Normal intro
17:13 - NYC hotel recommendation requests (Hyatt)
24:32 - Black Friday streaming deals (+ rant)
35:03 - Black Friday portal bonuses
46:15 - No 1099s?
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!
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 -
Following the Rules, Southwest Devalues & Amex Concerns
Episode Description
On this episode Shawn and Joe discuss a recently announced devaluation by Southwest Airlines. As a revenue based program should they devalue their points? They also discuss some of the concerning changes with Amex, how you can earn thousands of bonus points with portal bonuses right now, some positive United changes and the points & travel rules we don’t mind following.
Episode Notes
10:00 - Is AMEX devalued?
15:27 - Southwest devaluation
20:17 - United status earning change
24:22 - Portal bonuses
26:48 - Miles and points rules to follow
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!
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 -
More Consolidation, Bonvoy Gets Better & Top 50 Travel Destinations for 2024
Episode Description
On this episode Shawn and Joe discuss even more consolidation happening in the travel realm. Similar to hotels and airlines we are seeing two major amusement park operators join forces, but will it be good for consumers? They also discuss the return of a good 3 free night Marriott offer, how Bonvoy is making a popular perk better, custom liveries and the top 50 travel destinations in the world.
Episode Notes
6:52 - Six Flags/Cedar Fair merger
13:03 - Alaska Airlines Mickey’s Toontown livery
17:21 - Marriott Bonvoy card offer and suite upgrade changes
24:14 - Jetblue tile bonus offer
33:48 - Lonely Planet top 50 destinations
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!
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 -
Chase Just for You, Wyndham Vacasa Deval & Andaz Costa Rica
Episode Description
On this episode Shawn and Joe discuss the recent tragic storm in Acapulco and how people are being impacted. They also look at some big targeted Chase offers, detail how Wyndham devalued Vacasa redemptions and Shawn reviews the Andaz Papagayo in Costa Rica.
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!
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 -
Citi’s New Transfer Partner, Amex “Upgrades” Hilton Cards, Delta Backtracks & Seats.Aero Sued
Episode Description
On this episode Shawn and Joe discuss some recent changes in the hotel space. These include Hyatt’s Home & Hideaways launching, Chase expanding their Luxury hotel collection and Citi adding a transfer partner that may actually present a great value. On the loyalty front just as Delta backtracked some of their many negative changes to SkyMiles, Southwest announced tweaks to their program that may make some flyers happy. We also discuss the Seats.Aero lawsuit, the changes made to Hilton’s Amex cards and whether the new “Amex family rule” will spread to all cards across their portfolio.
Episode Notes
8:53 - Shawn’s headed to Costa Rica
14:04 - Seats.Aero sued by Air Canada
18:45 - Delta partially walks back its changes
24:40 - Southwest improves A-List
29:06 - AMEX lifetime language changes
35:19 - Hilton Surpass and Aspire updates
38:45 - New hotel booking options news
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!
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 -
Chicago Seminars Drama, Hilton Timeshare Windfall, Buyers Group Dangers & Crazy Choice Deal with Mark Ostermann
Episode Description
On this episode Mark Ostermann returns to the show to discuss his recent trip to New York which was driven by a very lucrative timeshare offer. He discusses what it was like to deal with the presentation and how he earned 150K points in about 15 minutes. He also dives into Roosevelt Island, the Conrad Midtown and how New York feels a bit different these days. Other topics discussed include: an amazing and profitable Choice experience deal, some of the past Buyers Group deals gone wrong, an update on the Travis Scott ticket deal fiasco and a recap of the Chicago Seminars including how it went and a little drama that happened along the way.
Episode Notes
0:00 - Chicago Seminars recap and drama
14:42 - PFS and Travis Scott issues (update)
23:51 - Mark in NYC - hotel experiences
31:46 - Mark’s super secret way to get out of timeshare presentations
40:16 - Mark’s amazing Choice Privileges redemption (in New Jersey!?)
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!
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
Customer Reviews
Love this show!
Thank you for what you do!
Please Keep SPORTS out of my TRAVEL podcast
I wish you didn’t waste the first half of your travel podcasts chitchatting about SPORTS. If I wanted to hear about sports, I’d seek out a sports podcast. Your travel information is helpful, but I often have to fast forward quite a bit until I get ahead of the sports crap. I have limited time daily to listen to podcasts that interest me. I don’t want to waste one second of my precious life hearing about sports. Life is too short and I’ve got too many places to see.
Not Boring
This is a show that talks about points ( and other stuff ) but isn’t boring. Great hosts and great content.