131. Agree to Disagree: Best Lounge Access, Hotel Loyalty Programs, and More

Points Talk®: Your Travel Dreams, Made Possible by Points

Alex, Pam and Jess

Places & Travel, Education, Society & Culture, How To

4.9 • 734 Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you love points and miles, you know there’s no shortage of opinions on how to get the most out of credit card rewards and travel programs. In this fun and honest chat, Alex, Jess, and Pam share their unique takes on some hot topics in the points world.

They dive into everything from which credit cards score you the best lounge access, to whether chasing certain welcome bonuses is really worth it, and how to smartly position for flights. As you'll hear, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer here. The best points strategy is the one that suits your unique priorities!

You'll discover:

How to choose the best credit card for airport lounge access based on your travel style.
Why the Hyatt credit card's second-tier bonus might (or might not) make sense for you.
The strategic importance of considering 5/24 status when choosing which cards to pursue.
How to evaluate hotel loyalty programs beyond Hyatt for aspirational stays.
Understanding different approaches to positioning flights based on personal circumstances.

You can find the full show notes, resources, transcript, and more from this episode here: travelmomsquad.com/best-lounge-access-hotel-loyalty-programs

Ready to get started with NEARLY FREE travel? Click here for the exact offers we would sign up for this month: travelmomsquad.lpages.co/bestoffers/

The Travel Mom Squad is also on YouTube! You can watch this episode here: youtube.com/@travelmomsquad

Let us know what you want to hear on the podcast by sending us a DM on Instagram: instagram.com/travelmomsquad

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	There's a lot that the three of us agree on, but not everything. Listen in as we discuss some of our
0:06.0	differences when it comes to points and miles. Welcome to points talk with the travel mom squad.
0:11.2	We are three moms who've discovered how to leverage credit card welcome offers to get hundreds of
0:16.3	thousands of dollars of travel expenses for nearly free. We've used credit card points of miles to take
0:21.7	vacations to places like Hawaii, Paris, Greece, Maldives, Japan, and so much more. And the best part,
0:28.8	we each still have 800 plus credit scores. Imagine being able to take the vacation of your dreams
0:34.1	for nearly free. It's totally possible and we're here to show you how.
0:39.8	Hey, I'm Alex and I'm Pam, Alex's mom, and I'm Jess. Let's talk points. So even though the three of us
0:47.6	mostly agree on a lot of things when it comes to points in miles, we've been doing this for
0:53.7	close to a decade.
0:55.2	There are still some things that we don't agree on. Like we always say, you do you. So you can
1:01.1	decide which of us you agree with as we go through these. Or maybe you don't agree with any of us.
1:06.6	We do all agree that Hyatt's our favorite hotel chain. We love chase points the most out of all the flexible currencies.
1:13.6	But we're going to get into some things today that we differ on.
1:17.7	We're going to agree to disagree on some things.
1:20.8	So the first thing we're going to talk about is the best card, in our opinion, the best
1:26.8	card for lounge access. So, Pam, what is your
1:32.2	favorite card for lounge access? Obviously, for me, it's the MX Platinum or the MX Business Platinum.
1:41.2	And I just think it has all the way around their very best lounge access. As everyone
1:48.4	knows, I am a huge lounge geek. I like to get to the lounge. I'll get to the airport early just so I can
1:55.1	relax in the lounge and get something to eat, take something to eat with me maybe. I love Centurion lounges. That's the only
2:03.6	way that I'm going to get into a Centurion lounge. I mean, I also use it for getting into
	...

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