All Blog Posts 🗺️

🤙🏿 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!)

Do I have a hack to share.

Also some other news.

So you know the drill.

Lets get to it!

Not a subscriber yet? Sign up free here

Get your brands in front of 6,000+ travelers & entrepreneurs.

"I Built This Newsletter to Help You Travel More and Smarter" ✈️

When I started this newsletter, the goal was simple: help more people learn how to book amazing trips using points without paying thousands of dollars.

I’ve used these exact strategies to travel all over the world, and I try to share as much as I can, totally free.

Whether it’s a flight deal, a how to guides, or a breakdown of a new card offer, I do it because I want you to take action and start making memories.

That said, if you’ve been thinking about opening a new credit card, especially with the holidays coming up. It would mean a lot if you used my referral links.

✅ It doesn’t cost you anything
✅ It helps me keep this newsletter going
✅ And it lets me keep giving away even more helpful content for free

Opening a new card responsibly this time of year is one of the smartest ways to earn a big welcome bonus.

👉 If you’re ready, use my links and let’s keep this thing growing. And if you have any questions about which one to get, shoot me an email.

Bilt announced they’ll start awarding points for mortgage payments in 2026.

They’ll be partnering with UWM (United Wholesale Mortgage), the nation’s largest mortgage lender.

Details are light, but my early thoughts are this probably won’t be for every mortgage.

Most likely it’ll apply to loans originated/serviced by UWM, since that’s the partnership.

I could see lenders using points as a hook, maybe slightly higher rates in exchange for earning points, so watch the math, not just the perks.

Big picture, this kind of closes the loop for Bilt: rent → student housing → mortgages.

They’re becoming a points ecosystem a lot of people should at least consider.

If you don’t have (or won’t have) a UWM mortgage, I’d still keep an eye on this.

My guess is Bilt will add more lender partners to widen eligibility.

Avios is a shared points currency across several airlines.

Think British Airways, Qatar, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Finnair, and Vueling.

Now for the handy part, you can use avios.com to link all your Avios programs, tie the accounts together once, and move Avios between them in a few clicks.

Here’s why that’s big.

You don’t have to stress about picking the “perfect” program on day one, earn where it’s easy, then slide the Avios to the place that gets you the best deal when you’re ready to book.

If Qatar is showing better premium cabin space than British Airways, you can shift your BA Avios over to Qatar and grab the seat there.

If Iberia is pricing the exact same long haul with lower taxes and fees than BA, you move Avios to Iberia and book it for less cash out of pocket.

Different Avios programs use different award charts and surcharge rules, so the same flight can cost a different mix of miles and money depending on where you ticket it.

That flexibility also helps when one site has weak availability while another has space on the same route, move the Avios to the program that actually lets you check out.

Bottom line: avios.com turns Avios into a true “earn anywhere, redeem smart” currency.

Link once, move when it saves you points or cash, and book through the program that makes the most sense for that trip.

To clear the confusion:

The Summit Visa ($395 fee) comes with a Global Companion Award for 25,000 points and that only applies to tickets booked with points.

The one I’m talking about is the Ascend and Business card companion fare, the one where your companion flies for $99 + taxes (usually about $121).

Now the bad news.

They tightened the rules on those companion tickets.

You can’t add stopovers anymore.

You can’t book open jaws anymore (no more fly into Italy, fly home from France).

This applies to one ways and roundtrips.

On top of that, you can’t use wallet funds toward any part of a companion booking.

And you’re required to pay with your Alaska credit card.

So yeah, way more restrictive than before.

Not what we want to see, especially since most of the recent changes have been customer friendly. This one… isn’t.

I’m a little concerned this trend continues as the Hawaiian merger finishes up.

Hoping this is a one off and not the start of more tightening.

Each week, I’ll share something cool I’ve discovered or tackle a question from the community. It’s my little corner to explore ideas, offer fresh perspectives, and hopefully spark your own curiosity.

First, with the government shutdown dragging on, know your passenger rights.

If your flight is significantly delayed or canceled, you can ask for a full cash refund back to your card, not a voucher, not credits.

Airlines will often push a coupon first. You don’t have to take it.

Push for the refund if you no longer want to travel or if the delay blows up your plans.

Also, keep an eye out for waivers and free same day changes as delays stack up.

Try to move to earlier flights they’re less likely to suffer rolling delays or cancellations as the day snowballs.

If things look rough, rebook proactively before everyone else piles on.

Second, a quick follow up on Japan Airlines (JAL) becoming a Capital One transfer partner.

That opens another path to JAL’s distance based award chart, which has some legit sweet spots.

Here’s a great breakdown that shows how people have leveraged JAL for premium cabins (think Emirates First among others) at solid rates.

If you’re sitting on CapOne miles, this makes JAL a lot more practical, earn with CapOne, then move only what you need when you find space.

So to wrap it up.

Advocate for cash when delays/cancels wreck your trip, aim for earlier flights, and keep JAL in the toolkit now that Capital One transfers over.

Check out these crazy award deals!

This section includes some of the best award flights of the week bookable with points and miles.

Chat with TravelBot - my AI clone. It’s trained on every newsletter I’ve published along with my 10+ years of points and credit card knowledge 🧠.

It’s also trained on my voice, so you can call it and have a full blown conversations. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

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