The 25,000 Mile Clawback, Amex Closes a Loophole & Why We Can't Simplify Our Wallets

• Get a $200 gift card after your first payment of $500 with Melio (affiliate) - https://milestomemories.com/go/melio/
• Get 3 free months of Audible - https://milestomemories.com/audible-subscription-offer-2/

The AA glitch is over. American clawed back the 25,000 miles from that AAdvantage Business promo code, reversing transfers and apologizing with 5,000 miles, and we make the case that they actually handled it well, which is more than we can say for hotels that walk you or open late with a shrug. Speaking of, we get into why Hyatt stopped offering real compensation on delayed hotel openings and what they should be doing instead. Amex is also tightening things up, changing the terms on the streaming credit so bundles like Peacock with Apple TV Plus no longer count, and linking multiple logins on the back end so you can no longer use separate accounts to see different Amex Offers. We reminisce about the golden era of Amex Offers, the Staples and Smart and Final days, and the offers that were worth flying across the country for. Plus Olive Garden's Unlimited Pasta Pass is back for the first time since 2020, still $100 but now good for 13 weeks, with only 10,000 available. We close with our buddy Travel with Grant's wallet simplification article and admit none of us are actually simplifying anything. Let us know in the comments if you got the pasta pass.

Episode Guide:

• 0:00 Welcome to MTM Travel
• 0:18 Canadian Wildfire Smoke & That Train Video
• 5:02 AA Claws Back the 25,000 Miles
• 8:11 Why Hyatt Stopped Compensating You
• 9:43 The Pasta Pass Returns
• 12:40 Amex Tightens the Streaming Credit
• 14:01 The Subscription Mess (& Rocket Money)
• 16:11 Amex Links Your Multiple Logins
• 18:11 The Golden Age of Amex Offers
• 20:35 Can Anyone Actually Simplify Their Wallet?
• 24:20 Final Thoughts

Links

• Pasta pass - https://milestomemories.com/olive-garden-never-ending-pasta-pass/
• Amex streaming - https://milestomemories.com/amex-platinum-tightens-digital-entertainment-credit-rules/
• Amex logins - https://milestomemories.com/american-express-can-now-see-across-multiple-logins/
• Simplify your wallet - https://travelwithgrant.boardingarea.com/2026/07/12/one-year-later-an-update-to-our-simplified-wallet-strategy-for-2026/

✈️ Track your travel credit cards for free 📧 Free newsletter 💳 Join our free Facebook group (16,000+ members) 🏆 Diamond Patreon — bonus shows + Slack community 🥇 Gold Membership ($10/mo) 🎧 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts 📖 Miles to Memories website