{"podcast":{"title":"MTM Travel - The Fun Side of Points & Travel!","slug":"mtm-travel-the-fun-side-of-points-travel-251388","podcast_index_feed_id":251388,"rss_url":"https://milestomemories.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"https://milestomemories.com/podcast","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/4/b/a/f/4bafcdeae464719de55e3c100dce7605/Copy_of_Copy_of_Copy_of_MtM_Vegas.jpg","author":"Shawn Coomer","episode_count":403,"summary":"The fun side of miles, points and travel! Hosted by Shawn Coomer and Mark Ostermann, MTM Travel dives into the points hobby & the lifestyle of travel with topical conversations and plenty of laughs along the way. Mark & Shawn have a combined 18 years of experience covering these topics on Miles to Memories and Travel on Points and are cohosts of the popular MtM Vegas Youtube Show on the Miles to Memories Vegas channel. They also host the 20 Minute Travel news show on this same feed where you can keep up with the latest deals, news and happenings.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-17T08:17:05.407415+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mtm-travel-the-fun-side-of-points-travel-251388"},"episode":{"title":"Why Hotel Owners Are Fighting To Cost You More and Is Points Even Fun Anymore?","slug":"why-hotel-owners-are-fighting-to-cost-you-more-and-is-points-even-fun-anymore","published_at":"2026-06-18T23:10:15+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mtm-travel-the-fun-side-of-points-travel-251388/why-hotel-owners-are-fighting-to-cost-you-more-and-is-points-even-fun-anymore","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mtm-travel-the-fun-side-of-points-travel-251388","url":"https://milestomemories.libsyn.com/why-hotel-owners-are-fighting-to-cost-you-more-and-is-points-even-fun-anymore","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/milestomemories/MTM_Travel_Jun_18_26_audio.mp3?dest-id=1462559","summary":"Get 50% off Cardpointers+ - Track cards, automatically load Chase & Amex Offers + a lot more. Lock-in lifetime membership at half off. (affiliate) https://milestomemories.com/go/cardpointers/ Shawn's Capital One Shopping referral - https://capitaloneshopping.com/r/424785a3-c3f2-4b84-a077-f724abcd89ff It was a wild week in the points world. An email to Chase Ink Plus cardholders made it look like 5X on office supplies was getting axed, the internet panicked, and we called it as a likely mistake before Chase confirmed it was just human error. We also break down the Paze spend 10 dollars get 10 dollars promo that people abused so hard with New Egg gift cards that Chase started shutting down options in a single day, and the new Amex Resy credit changes coming August 1 that may or may not be a big deal. Then we get into the meatier stuff: a great One Mile at a Time piece on hotel owners pushing Marriott for a bigger cut, why that means points will likely cost all of us more, and Ben's editorial on whether miles and points is even fun anymore. Plus a Capital One Shopping shout out and why those targeted offers are worth a look. Episode Guide: 0:00 - Intro: The Great Office Supply 5X Scare of 2026 1:37 - Chase Ink Plus 5X Email: Mistake or Devaluation? 3:55 - The Paze Promo That Got Abused (and Nerfed) 6:54 - Amex Resy Credit Changes Coming August 1 10:14 - Capital One Shopping: Don't Sleep on the Offers 12:09 - Hotel Owners vs Marriott: Why Points Will Cost More 17:01 - Is Miles and Points Even Fun Anymore? 20:08 - Better Earning vs Worse Availability 22:20 - Going Mainstream Killed the Simplicity 24:55 - Social Media Killed the Loophole 26:52 - A Tip of the Cap to Lucky and Wrap-Up ✈️ Track your travel credit cards for free 📧 Free newsletter 💳 Join our free Facebook group (…","meta_description":"Get 50% off Cardpointers+ - Track cards, automatically load Chase & Amex Offers + a lot more. Lock-in lifetime membership at half off. (affiliate) https:/…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1691,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/mtm-travel-the-fun-side-of-points-travel-251388/episodes/why-hotel-owners-are-fighting-to-cost-you-more-and-is-points-even-fun-anymore/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mtm-travel-the-fun-side-of-points-travel-251388/why-hotel-owners-are-fighting-to-cost-you-more-and-is-points-even-fun-anymore.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}