Episode Description:

As a reminder you can watch this show as well at: https://www.youtube.com/@20minutetravel

This week brought a lot of bad news in the travel space as Delta continued to struggle from their meltdown. We also learned about some potentially negative changes to Amex Gold and Bilt's Rent Day. To pile on, Southwest announced a ton of major changes as well, although these might be seen as positive by a lot of people. Bye bye cattle call boarding!

In other news Wyndham has a great new promo where you can buy points at an insane discount. We also discuss "surveillance pricing" and why you don't want it, insane travel surcharges, the worst motel brands in America and a Dubai party jet you have to see!

Episode Guide:

• 0:00 The insanity of travel surcharges
• 0:47 Government fighting back against “surveillance pricing”
• 2:00 How surveillance pricing is predatory and unfair for consumers
• 3:06 Southwest’s historic changes - No more “cattle call”
• 4:30 Why many customers are upset with Southwest’s announced changes
• 5:50 Follow up on Delta’s insane meltdown - Still not fully recovered
• 7:10 Why we need more airline passenger protections in the United States
• 8:43 Amex Gold refresh - New credits and higher annual fee
• 9:42 Amex Gold earnings and other changes
• 10:42 What is going on with Amex’s iconic brand image?
• 11:32 Bilt neuters Rent Day with new low limits
• 12:57 Why Bilt made big changes to their most popular promotion
• 14:52 Wyndham’s incredible Super 8 50th anniversary promotion
• 16:46 Interesting Wyndham marketing & worst hotel brands in America
• 18:30 Insane Dubai party jet
• 19:39 Mile High Club & Boeing’s new 777 private jet

About the Show:

We love to travel and love to laugh! 20 Minute Travel is designed to get you all of the info you need to supercharge your travel by utilizing credit cards, travel rewards and other tricks to pay pennies on the dollar.

Shawn Coomer is the founder of Miles to Memories and has traveled all over the world with his family utilizing miles & points. He has been writing and podcasting about miles, points and travel since 2013 and has earned and spent millions of points & miles across dozens of programs.

Mark Ostermann is the former Managing Editor of Miles to Memories and is the Managing Editor at Travel on Points. He has been writing about his travel experiences since 2017 and loves to dive into the weeds so you don't have to. He also enjoys a good beer and a laugh or fifty.

Each week tens of thousands of people tune into our MtM Vegas news shows at http://www.YouTube.com/milestomemories. If you like this show check it out!

Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at 20minutetravel@gmail.com.