Hilton's New Elite Tier & Reward Impacts of the Visa/MC Settlement

Update: 2025-11-12

Description

Thanks to Thrifty Traveler for sponsoring this episode! Visit ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium and use code GO20 to save $20 on annual memberships.

Coming to you from Lisbon, Portugal 🇵🇹—with Julian Keel of PointsPath sitting in for Richard Kerr.

This week we dig into the rumored new Hilton elite tier (80 nights / ~$18,000 in spend), whether it actually "makes the juice worth the squeeze," and what benefits would have to look like to matter.

We also unpack the Visa/Mastercard settlement with merchants—could lower interchange and card acceptance rules change points & miles (or raise fares)?

Plus: Uber credits not applying (again), Julian's infamous Uber ban, current U.S. flight disruptions, and a big PointsPath milestone: 100,000 users.

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