Hidden Amex Benefits, Best National Park Hotels, Easy Rental Car Status

Welcome to The Morning Shave for Wednesday, August 10, 2025. Don’t forget to use your credit card benefits, which can offer more value than the welcome bonus. The best hotels inside U.S. National Parks. And an easy way to get elite status with five different rental car loyalty programs. Visit BaldThoughts.com/tms to read all the stories.

We read a ton of travel articles each day for our research to share the best travel tips, tricks, and news with you. Here are the articles we think you should read.

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The Morning Shave

8 of the Best Hotels Inside U.S. National Parks.

What’s better than visiting a National Park? Staying INSIDE a National Park. Sadly, none of these hotels belong to one of the major hotel loyalty programs, so you can’t use hotel points to stay for free. However, you can book rooms through the travel portals by Ultimate Rewards, Citi, or Amex, or with the Capital One Venture card to pay for your stay using flexible rewards. Have you stayed at one of these properties before?

6 Amex Card Benefits I Never Expected To Use But Now Love.

Many of us have multiple cards, yet we don’t use all of their benefits. We focus on the signup bonus, the annual credits, and how many points we can earn on purchases. But, there are numerous benefits that may be even more valuable that are totally neglected. And it could be costing you money. I’m using several of these benefits, but the Delta hotel credit trick is something that I missed before reading this article.

Why airlines’ dynamic pricing plans raise hackles.

Airlines have been moving toward dynamic pricing on cash and award tickets for many years. As computing power increases, it allows them to dynamically price each and every transaction based on demand, weather, loyalty status, and numerous other factors instantly. There is a huge possibility for price discrimination that should concern everyone, especially those with elite status. While you may think the airline would reward its best customers with the lowest prices, why wouldn’t they charge you more since your demand is “inelastic” (aka: you’re going to choose the airline no matter the cost in pursuit of elite status or its benefits) compared to someone without loyalty? Especially as you get closer to the next tier of elite status and are more motivated to hit that threshold.

5 of America’s Quirkiest Themed Hotels.

Why stay in a bland cookie-cutter hotel when you can stay at one that has some style? These themed hotels take it to another level with unique architecture and amenities that you can’t find anywhere else. I like the old-school styling and rooftop pool with a view of JFK of the TWA Hotel, and the guitar shape of the Hard Rock Hollywood is really cool. Have you stayed at any of these properties?

This Amex Card Unlocks Elite Status With 5 Different Rental Car Companies.

I try to avoid renting cars whenever possible, but sometimes you need a ride when traveling. With one credit card, you’ll receive automatic elite status with three different rental car loyalty programs when you activate the benefits. Then, you can use one of those elite status levels to status match to two other rental car programs for even more benefits. To ensure you’re getting adequate value from your credit card annual fees, it is essential that you use all of your perks like this.

Thinking of getting a new credit card?

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