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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!)

Welcome back, everyone!

I just wrapped up a 1,315-mile road trip home. Trust me, after hearing about last week's airport chaos with countless cancellations and delays, I'm starting to think I made the right choice. Especially considering Delta's rough week with the highest number of cancellations some days.

Let's dive into this week's travel news and hopefully find some smoother sailing for your next adventure.

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Here are 3 headlines, 2 hacks, and 1 question answered this week…

3 Headlines

One.

The end of no assigned seating for Southwest Airlines (LINK)

I've always respected Southwest’s “unique” open-seating model, but let's face it, it was a one-trick pony. While I'll miss the thrill of the boarding chaos, I understand why they're switching to assigned seating. It's a big change, but it seems like the inevitable path due to their financial situation not looking too hot. On a brighter note, Southwest will finally be offering red-eye flights to these places starting in February 2025, which is great news for those of us who prefer nighttime travel.

Two.

Airplane upgrades all around

Not sure if you’ve seen them, but Korean Air, Turkish Airlines, and Qatar Airways all unveiled new seats, and all I can say is I’m excited. Love seeing airlines coming out with new premium seats because, in turn, it forces everyone to step it up, making the credit card and points game that much funner when we get to fly in seats like those. While it’ll take a couple of years to see them out in the wild, this is a welcome change. welcome.

Three. 

[Deal Alert] SFO to Vietnam from not through July 2025 (LINK)

If you've been looking to go to Vietnam, here's your chance. There's award availability from now all the way to next year for flights to and from Ho Chi Minh City. While redemption amounts are a little high for Flying Blue, you can also book them through ANA for 136K round trip. Due note that transferring points over to ANA can take up to 3 days and it has to be a round trip fair through the same airline since it's a non-star alliance partner.

Bonus.

American Express Gold Card Annual Fee Increased to $325 (LINK)

The annual fee from the Amex Gold Card jumped $75 from $250 to $325, which at $250 was already somewhat of a stretch. They did add some benefits to soften the blow like a semi-annual $50 Resy credit and a $7 monthly Dunkin' Donuts credit. I'm not much of a coffee drinker so that credit doesn't mean much to me, but it appears that any restaurant listed on Resy where you just use your card to pay will trigger the credit. Just make sure you enroll in the credits before you use the card.

2 Hacks

One.

Given all the cancellations and delays that happened this week, I want to dedicate these hacks to helping you out because I know when the going gets tough, it's a dog-eat-dog world at the airport. These are two links you should have bookmarked on your phone. The first one is FlightAware, which is a real-time worldwide flight tracker that's great for tracking flight delays and cancellations for airports and airlines. Second is the Flighty app, which gets its information directly from the FAA and honestly provides faster updates than some of the airline apps which is crucial when everyone is trying to rebook. Those extra few minutes of head start can be a game-changer.

Two.

This is a little more advanced but well worth talking about. If you know your flight is going to be delayed or canceled, book another ticket with your points. Don't book on the same airline since they will likely end up canceling one of them. You want to book through a different airline. If you end up boarding your primary flight, then cancel your backup flight. Since it was with points, you'll end up getting them back. This is a lot easier to do with points than booking a cash fare. Having a backup flight in your back pocket is great, given that you beat everyone to it on the off chance that your primary flight gets canceled and everyone rushes to rebook.

1 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

Last week, I made an offer a lot of you took advantage of. I offered to help plan a trip with the points you’d earn if you got approved for the Chase Ink Preferred. It did so well; I’ll do it again for a few more people. Just reply to this email.

One question that I kept getting was that because they did not have a business tax ID or an LLC they could not get a business card right?

You don’t need an LLC or EIN to apply for one, you can still apply as a sole-prop. All you would need would be your social security number and your name as the business name. A good rule of thumb is that if you’re making money outside of your W2 you can technically apply for one. Some good examples are selling things online, being a ride-share driver, tutoring, and consulting.