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

Watch Us On YouTube! 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.   Get hydrated like Ed in Vegas with Nuun Use my Bilt Rewards link to sign-up and support the show! If you enjoy the podcast, I hope you'll take a moment to leave us a rating. That helps us grow our audience! If you're looking for a way to support the show, we'd love to have you join us in our Travel Slack Community.  Join me and other travel experts for informative conversations about the travel world, the best ways to use your miles and points, Zoom happy hours and exciting giveaways. Monthly access Annual access Personal consultation plus annual access We have witty, funny, sarcastic discussions about travel, for members only. My fellow travel experts are available to answer your questions and we host video chats multiple times per month. Follow Us! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milestogopodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@milestogopodcast Ed Pizza: https://www.instagram.com/pizzainmotion/ Richard Kerr: https://www.instagram.com/kerrpoints/