Episode Description:

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

This week Alaska Airlines closed on their merger with Hawaiian Airlines. The government laid out a ton of rules for the new airline to follow including keeping the value of points and allowing points to be transferred 1:1 between programs. This has opened up some opportunities to get Alaska miles as Amex is now basically a transfer partner.

In other news tons of new increased card offers dropped this week including Southwest, Hilton and Marriott. We also discuss the new way to change your Southwest companion and the best strategy to get two years of the Companion Pass with these new offers. Other topics include: The Top Gun bar in San Diego, a suspended soccer field in China, how Citi is going hard for the AA card business, Jetblue's new lounges and how to get free points or coffee from Starbucks and Marriott

Episode Guide:

• 0:00 Hangovers are temporary travel meme
• 0:32 Alaska now a defacto Membership Rewards transfer partner
• 2:15 Government lays down several rules for Alaska merger
• 4:07 JetBlue announces airport lounges coming to two major airports
• 5:14 JetBlue’s new premium credit card?
• 6:03 Visiting the Top Gun bar in San Diego
• 8:31 Other takeaways from Mark’s San Diego trip
• 9:41 Southwest increased offers & companion pass strategy
• 12:03 Increased offers for Hilton cards as well
• 12:59 Playing the Amex upgrade/downgrade game
• 13:57 Bonvoy Business 5 free night offer returns
• 14:45 Citi is going hard for the AA credit card business
• 16:28 Big payday coming for American Airlines?
• 17:43 How to change your Southwest Companion online
• 18:38 Starbucks/Marriott partnership - Free points or coffee!
• 21:00 Suspended Chinese soccer field 600 feet above the ground

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.