🤙🏿 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’m happy to repost that a lot has happened since last week.
Completed my 1400 mile road trip back to Texas.
Left the -10°F Minnesota cold for the much more reasonable 60°F Texas “cold”
And found some interesting credit card news and crazy December sweepstakes to share.
So let’s get started.
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To be transparent: I may receive compensation through my partnership with advertisers when you click on links to offers in this email. Terms apply & these are my own opinions, not those of any bank or credit card issuer. That said, I only promote products I truly believe in and this one has earned its place in my wallet.
Right now, Chase is offering the best ever bonus on the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, making this the perfect time to get started.
Why this card right now?
🚨 Limited time $300 bonus after spending just $500 in the first 3 months
🆓 $0 annual fee → long term value with no cost to keep
🍽️ 3% cash back on dining and drugstores
💳 1.5% cash back on all other purchases
📈 A strong everyday earner and one of the best cards for beginners
Pro Tip:
This may be a cash back card on paper but if you pair it with a premium Chase card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred®, that cash back becomes transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.
That $300 bonus? It becomes 30,000 points, which can be used for flights, hotels, and more when booked through Chase or transferred to partners like Hyatt and JetBlue.
Bottom Line:
With a low minimum spend, strong rewards, and no annual fee, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is one of the best starter or companion cards out there especially while this best ever offer is live.
🛋️ Luis’ Lounge
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.
Last week’s poll cracked me up.
100% of you picked “hot.” 😂
I guess we’re all done with the cold and already mentally on a beach.
Quick year end reminder since a bunch of you are trying to squeeze value from credits.
If you’ve got the Chase Sapphire Reserve, that twice yearly $250 “The Edit” hotel credit can be great, but only if you use it the right way.
What you need to know is.
The Edit is Chase Travel’s luxury hotel program. The credit only works on The Edit bookings and there is a 2 night minimum.
Budget properties usually won’t show up. The Edit hotels tend to be pricier, so plan to use this on higher end stays.
How it can still be a win.
You get daily breakfast for two, a welcome amenity, a $100 property credit, plus possible room upgrade and early check in/late check out based on availability.
If you don’t have Hyatt Globalist or Marriott Platinum, this is an easy way to gain those perks for a weekend.
How to think about the points math:
If you pay with points in the Chase Travel, points boost makes points redeemable at 2X.
A $250 credit is roughly a 12,500 points discount. Since you get it twice per year, so 25,000 points of total value if you use both.
How to actually book it:
Search The Edit hotels in the Chase Travel portal, pick a 2 night stay, and pay with points but reduce the amount by 12,500 so The Edit credit kicks in.
Two important notes:
Since you are using your Chase points to offset the cash price of the booking. You’ll still earn Hyatt and Marriott points since from their perspective, it was a cash booking.
Aim for higher end properties where the included breakfast and $100 property credit offset more of the rate.
If you want examples and a deeper breakdown, check out this blog post.
In most cases, treating the $250 as 12.5k points back and leaning into the built in perks will get you close to what you would have spent transferring to Hyatt or Marriott, but with breakfast and a property credit baked in.
If you had an unlimited amount of points but could only use them for flights or hotels which would you choose?
🤓 Hack
If you have a card with a high annual fee and are thinking about cancelling it, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, make sure to call in and ask for a retention offer. With the new annual fee increase, we’re seeing some data points of people getting offered $300 statement credit, and even this person getting offered a $400 retention offer.
Travel News
Year In Review Travel (LINK)
November 30th was the busiest flying day of the year.
If you fly at all, Flighty is one of those must have apps for travelers.
It pings you on delays, tracks your flight in real time, and honestly saves you stress.
They also do a yearly wrap up of your own travel, and this year they launched the Global Passport Report, basically anonymized stats from across all Flighty users.
A few cool nuggets:
Most popular route: JFK ↔ LHR
Surprise runner up: Hong Kong ↔ Taipei
Among Flighty users, Ryanair ranked as the most delayed airline
For U.S. Flighty users, the most delayed airlines were:
Frontier – 28%
JetBlue – 25%
Southwest – 25%
American – 24%
Alaska – 23%
They shared a bunch more visuals and breakdowns in their post, worth a look.
And if you don’t have Flighty yet, grab the free version or go Pro.
More than once, they’ve alerted me to a delay before the airline app did, which buys you precious minutes to rebook or talk to an agent before the crowd piles in.
Frontier Denies Passenger Boarding (LINK)
Frontier hit someone with a super weird one.
They denied check in because the credit card on the ticket wasn’t in the traveler’s name.
He called ahead, couldn’t check in online, was told to bring specific documents, showed up, and they still wouldn’t take them.
They cited “policy,” but he couldn’t find it anywhere.
I’ve had other people buy my tickets before with zero issues, but this makes me extra cautious with Frontier.
I’ve also seen Delta ask to see the original card in some situations (especially after changes), so it’s not unheard of, just rare to see it stop someone from flying.
Here are some of my thoughts.
If you’re flying Frontier, try to book with a card in the traveler’s name.
If someone else pays, bring the physical card or a photocopy + matching ID from the cardholder if you can. (Bring a copy didn’t help the other guy)
Worst case, have the purchaser on standby to call in while you’re at the counter. (Frontier wanted the person their physically)
Parents buying kids’ tickets and relatives paying for each other is super common, which is why this feels off.
Edge case or not, I’m putting Frontier on my “avoid this scenario” list.
TSA Will Introduce $45 Fee (LINK)
Back in May, after years of saying they’d start enforcing REAL ID, they actually rolled it out.
And it looks like on February 1, 2026, they’re taking it seriously.
Beforehand, if you didn’t have a REAL ID, they’d hand you a pamphlet, tell you to get one, and let you go on your way.
After a couple of months, they put you in a different line.
But beginning February 1, 2026, if you still don’t have a REAL ID, you’ll have to pay $45.
Not really sure how that’s going to work at the checkpoint, but it sounds like there’s going to be a fee if, after all this notice, you still haven’t gotten one.
So if you still haven’t updated your driver’s license to a REAL ID, I’d get one.
Not sure if the fee gets charged before you go through or what that looks like, but it’s better to avoid a $45 charge that might not even let you on your flight.
You can also use alternatives like.
Adding your driver’s license to your iPhone (in supported states) for domestic travel
Use your U.S. passport
Use your Global Entry card
That won’t help for international flights (you’ll need a passport), but it’s useful in a pinch for domestic.
If you’ve been waiting to get your REAL ID, this is it.
It’s the time to do it unless you want to keep paying a $45 fee.
I’m not sure how this will affect lines or cause backups, but to avoid all that, just get your ID before the new year.
Check out these crazy award deals!
🔬 Secret Travel Research
This section includes some of the best award flights of the week bookable with points and miles.
If you see a flight you like book it as availability is always changing
A lot of award availability to Frankfurt from JFK, EWR and BOS
🖥️ TravelBot
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.
👀 My Favorite Finds
This section includes some of the best links videos and articles of the week around the points and travel community
Nerdwallet is giving away $100k a day (LINK)
These newsletters are changing the game (LINK)
US is checking social media history of visitors before entry (LINK)
Guy filming giving out gifts to Delta employees could backfire (LINK)
Don’t forget about these rules when traveling internationally vs domestically (LINK)
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Appreciate you,
Luis 🤙🏿
When you’re ready, here are 5 ways I can help you:
My Book - I’ve been traveling for over a decade and created the book I wish I had when I first started traveling using points.
My free toolkit - I’m sharing all the tools I currently use in my business to help find and book luxury travel.
My Current Favorite Cards - I always get asked what my current favorite credit cards are. Well, here they are yes, it’s an affiliate link.
Ultimate Credit Card Points Workshop - Learn my step by step system to book flights and hotels with points, even if you’re just starting out.
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