Cheers, I might consider that then. Its just weird its that one hotspot on both feet, just screams a little "wider" will help, but you don't really feel it till after riding for ~30 minutes and hence you can't really test it in store either.
I actually ran into a very similar issue with lateral pinky toe pain (I have a small bunion on my lateral feet too) worse on my front foot with pain only starting after riding with Burton boots in particular. It can get intense enough that I need to stop mid-run and rest, and always needed to take breaks in between runs for my feet to recover.
I think it's from the pressure that builds up during the turns while wearing not well-fitting boots. Opening up the binding angles supposedly helps with this pain as well. I'm riding +12/-12 now, but biggest thing is the right fitting boot. When I first started, I thought it was just normal to have that kind of pain, and rode with the pain for quite a long while, but once I found properly fitting boots, I don't have that pain at all!
I tried bunion silicone toe caps and modifying boot liners as well in the past, but those are just temporarily band-aid fixes. My lateral pinky toe joint even got red and swollen for quite a while after riding with those boots, so I definitely don't ride in uncomfortable or poorly-fitting boots at all anymore. After experiencing comfy well-fitting boots, I don't bother trying to mod boots that don't work, I just get different boots.
Right fitting boots makes such a huge impact on riding!!! I'm actually day 12 in a row of full days snowboarding, and 60+ day season so far, and my feet feel perfectly fine. Really only sore muscles and a few bumps/bruises from falls that are bothering me. Back when I was riding boots that didn't fit well, I was already suffering a ton after a few days due to foot pain, and often ended the day early because my foot couldn't take anymore.
Really wish you good luck finding a good fitting boots!! It makes such a big difference - can improve so much more quickly when your feet are comfy while riding!
EDIT:
Imo, you don't need new boots, Angry Snowboarder has some YT videos on boot fitting and mods. Ime, very little mods go a long way.
See the bolded in your quote. A couple of things come to mind.
1. Your fit is almost there if you can do 30 minutes before pain develops...I'd first try the remedies that I noted above.
2. I don't think you need wider boots.
3. Perhaps the pain/hotspots are due to your over-pronation...and thus new boots are just a waste of $ because boots won't fix the pronation issue.
4. So first try the remedies noted.
I respectfully disagree with the poster above. I suffered from the same hotspot issues in the past, and it is a boot shape/fit issue. I have flat feet as well that probably 'overpronate' as well, but that is just the way my feet are. Cutting the liner helps relieve the hotspot, but a different model boot that fits better overall helps a hell of a lot more. I have found different snowboard boot models that are perfectly comfortably without any modifications for all day riding many days in the row.
Just because a boot is comfortable in store while not riding, does not mean it is the right fit!! There are some very subtle differences in boot fit that can cause an issue while actually riding where pressure is pushing at different areas of your foot. If there are pressure-points / hotspots while riding, the boot shape is definitely not right for your foot, and trying to hack it to work will cause more trouble than it's worth. Cutting the liner can definitely improve the comfort, but may not fully the solve the issue. If it fixes the issue, that is great, but I would still recommend swapping boot models. I actually ended up with foot pain that lingered quite a while after my snowboarding trips because I was being cheap and trying to salvage boots with different hacks that are not the right fit. After that experience, I just threw away those boots because boots that cause pain and long-term issues will be more expensive than just buying a new pair of boots.
I originally had that mentality that if a boots feels comfortable before I start riding and the pain doesn't really start until after I've ridden a bit, then maybe it seems like the boots are almost there and should still be workable... but once I started hitting 50+ days per season, I found that it was definitely not the right approach as the more I rode, that area would just gradually get more and more irritated and inflamed. So now, my standard for boots is comfortable for all day riding 9am-4pm, and I have found a few different boot models that can do that for me and I personally won't settle for anything less anymore.
Of course, everyone's experience may vary, but that is my perspective.
