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🤙🏿 Welcome back to the Better Than Points Newsletter - the premier place for all things Credit Card Points News and Travel

My name’s Luis and I’m the one writing this (hit me up here!)

I have a confession... I'm starting to feel old. I see all these pictures of baby hippos and have no idea what's going on. Videos of rookie football players can't name a floppy disk or VHS tape, and my bones hurt from sitting. At least I have you all to keep me young and sane. Now, let's get to it!

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🗞️ Travel News

Point.Me is giving away 1 million Flying Blue miles (LINK)

With PointMe recently releasing their list of the world's best airline rewards programs, they've decided to give away some of those rewards.

Can you guess who got first place? That's right, Air France - KLM!

As a reward, they're giving away 1 million miles. If you know me, you know I'm a sucker for a good deal, so I had to try my luck at this one, especially considering their program is ranked the best.

Make sure you enter the sweepstakes and when you win, I'll help you plan some trips for a cut. 😜

Hilton adds 102 more SLH properties (LINK)

It's great to see Hilton adding more SLH properties that will be bookable through Hilton.

They now have nearly 400 of the almost 600 total properties, which could surpass the number of properties bookable with Hyatt.

This means there might be some destinations that were never bookable with points that will be soon. 🤩 While they didn't release a list of the 102 newly added properties, here's a list of all the current participating locations.

Do read the fine print when booking some of these locations. I've seen some articles mention additional fees if there are more than two guests per room.

I'm not sure if this is a one-off, but it's something to be aware of. In one case, they were charging $500 for each additional guest, ouch.

New Sweet Spot Award for Europe (LINK)

With so many recent increases in award flight redemptions, it can be discouraging at times.

Luckily, with Air France/KLM taking a stake in Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), we can now book those flights through their award booking portal.

Even better, people are reporting business class redemptions as low as 35,100 miles, where before the lowest we would see was 50,000 miles.

Given that Flying Blue miles are easily transferable from all major credit card issuers and we often see transfer bonuses, you might be able to score a business class flight across the pond for under 30,000 miles.

200,000 Hawaiian mile giveaway (LINK)

It feels like everyone is in the giving spirit with all these sweepstakes going on.

Hawaiian is jumping on the train and partnering with Hyatt to give away 200,000 Hawaiian miles and 9 free nights at various Hyatt locations.

All you have to do is follow them on social media.

While the chances of winning might not be the best, at 25,000 points for a first-class flight, that's four round-trip flights to Hawaii.

🤓 Hacks

• I've got a two-for-one hack for you. The latest iPhone update includes a new feature on the calculator: a currency converter. Here’s how to pull it up.

  Also, if you're automatically approved for the Apple Card, consider freezing your credit before accepting it. This way, it won't pull your credit. Here's a video walking you through the process.

• A word of caution: If you're planning a trip to Rome next year maybe don’t. The Catholic Jubilee is about to start. This major event happens every 25 years and starts in December of this year, continuing until December 2025.

  Due to the expected influx of 35 million visitors, hotel prices are already rising. Consider planning your trip for a different time or be prepared for higher costs.

🧑🏿‍💻 Question From You

Every week I answer one question from the community. Reply to this email with yours because you’re probably not the only one that has it.

Question

Chelsie asked me how she can maintain lounge access if she wants to get rid of her American Express Platinum Card.

I let her know that she should downgrade the Platinum card to the Amex Gold given that she spends a lot on eating out and groceries and would get 4x points.

It's better to downgrade versus canceling the card since she doesn't want to lose all the Membership Rewards points she currently has (287,000).

A good card to combine with the Amex Gold card is the Capital One Venture X. While it has a $395 annual fee, it also comes with an annual $300 travel credit that's easy to use. It's a great catch-all card, offering 2 points on all purchases along with access to Capital One, Priority Pass, and Plaza Premium lounges.

If at some point she stops traveling, she can downgrade her Venture X to a Venture and still get 2 points on all purchases.

👀 My Favorite Finds

This section includes some of the best links videos and articles of the week around the points and travel community

• Hawaiian just got better by adding FREE WiFi to Entire Airbus planes (LINK)

• Starting April 2025 Cathay Pacific will fly nonstop HKG to DFW along with 20 other locations (LINK)

• Eurostar a train operator will join Skyteam in 2025 (LINK)

• Oman Air is now bookable with Alaska Miles (LINK)

🏨 Hotel Of The Week

• This resort in Phuket is definitely somewhere i would go just to for the hotel. I mean just look at where it is.