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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!)

Oh man, my back hurts this week. 

Carrying all these deals to you might just send me to the chiropractor.

I’ve got deals, I’ve got new tools, and I’ve even got some sneaky change you need to be aware of.

Let’s get started, because there’s a hotel I need to talk to you about.

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A Message from me

Earn Up to $1,000 in Travel with Capital One's Limited-Time Offer ✈️

Missed out on one of last year’s most popular credit card offers?

Capital One is back with a huge bonus on the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. This was one of the most popular offers last year.

Here’s what you’ll get:

• ✅ $250 travel credit Use it within a year for flights, hotels, vacation rentals, or rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

• ✅ 75,000 bonus miles (worth $750 in travel) after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months.

• ✅ Earn both bonuses, The Capital One Venture and Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card are considered separate products, so you can apply for both.

👉 This offer is a limited-time offer, so lock in up to $1,000 in travel rewards today.

Travel News

2 Months of Flying w/ a Companion for Free (LINK)

If you’re not familiar with the Southwest Companion Pass, it basically lets you book a ticket and bring someone along for just the taxes and fees.

Normally, one way to earn it is through a Southwest credit card, but this deal is way easier.

It’s pretty straightforward:

1. Register and purchase a roundtrip ticket (or two one-way tickets) by today, February 20th

2. Travel by March 31st

3. Receive a Companion Pass valid from August 7th – October 8th, 2025

Tempting, right?

For under $120, I could book a roundtrip flight from AUS to DAL, be back the same day and lock in a Companion Pass for two months.

If you already have a Southwest flights booked, it might be worth canceling and rebooking just to score this deal.

Even though the pass only lasts about two months, you can still change your companion up to three times, giving you the flexibility to bring different people along for the ride.

Definitely something to consider if you already have travel plans between August and October.

Alaska 3-Day Spring Travel Sale (LINK)

Alaska Airlines is back with another sale, and guess what? Today is the last day. 😂

I’d be lying if I said I love sending out deals right before they expire, but hey, what can I do?

I wasn’t even planning to cover this one, but, of course, my obsession took over, and I started digging.

And what do you know? I found some solid flight deals.

I came across some decent redemptions for flights from/to Maui, plus even better ones from Kona.

Surprisingly, some of these dates might even work for spring break if you’re flexible and want to go to Honolulu.

Now, I know not everyone has Alaska miles, but if you have Amex points, you kind of do.

Just convert Amex points to Hawaiian miles, then link your Hawaiian and Alaska accounts and transfer those Hawaiian miles to Alaska miles.

It’s a bit of a workaround, but it’s an amazing way to get Alaska miles, and it probably won’t last much longer, so take advantage while you still can.

New Award Search Tool (LINK)

Hot off the press, I’m burning my fingers trying to deliver this to you.

My buddy Jack just launched Award Travel Finder.

I’ve been messing with it all day to search for business and first-class award seats on British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Qatar, and Etihad.

And the best part? It’s free right now, so go mess around with it and see what you find.

I already spotted some Qsuite availability and first-class seats from Houston to London, which I’ll be dropping in the Flight of the Week section.

🤓 Hacks

• Uber is trying to screw us, so watch out. They just rolled out currency conversion on the platform, but the catch? They’re charging you to convert it.

  If you have a card with no foreign transaction fees, make sure to turn this off ASAP. Here’s how:

  1. Open your Uber app

  2. Go to Account > Wallet > Currency Preference

  3. Switch it to No Preferred Currency (Always pay in the local currency of your ride)

  

  Switch from your currency to No Preference to avoid 1.5% fee

• If you used a card’s travel credit to book an Alaska Airlines flight, here’s a little trick: wait until after the 24-hour cancellation window, then cancel. Instead of going back to your card, the refunded amount will go into your Alaska Travel Bank.

  That means you can combine it with any travel credits or certificates you have and use it to book whatever flight you want.

  You can do the same with Delta, but just a heads up, the refund will be in the name of the person on the ticket. So if you booked for yourself and someone else, keep that in mind.

🧑🏿‍💻 Luis’ Corner

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.

So I have 3 things today

Hotel La Compañia Del Valle is finally bookable with Hyatt points.

I’ve been keeping my eye on this hotel ever since staying at the original Hotel La Compañia in Casco Antiguo in Panama.

Right now, more than half of the rooms are available, and by May 2025, the entire property will be open.

But what really piqued my interest was the state of the art, 18,000 sq. ft. spa complete with a saltwater pool, Roman baths, and something called chocolate and wine therapy.

I have no idea what that includes, but sign me up.

-

Now, I don’t like just talking about credit cards without showing what they can actually do.

I can tell you all day that a card will give you 75K points, but that doesn’t really mean much unless you see the value.

So let’s take the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card 75K intro bonus (after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months) and show you that’s enough for

✅ Three roundtrip economy tickets to Panama (for most the U.S. or even Canada) on Copa Airlines
✅ A roundtrip business class ticket with some points left over

Which would pair perfectly with going to check out the new Hotel La Compañia. 😂

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Last thing, I’m working on something new.

Not sure if it’ll work, but I’m excited about it.

If you want early access, just reply to this email.

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.

• Award Availability for British Airlines flight from Houston to London for all of March 2025

• March 3rd and 4th both have 1 first class award seat available

👀 My Favorite Finds

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

• These newsletters are changing the game (LINK)

• 30K miles to Australia and New Zealand on AA (LINK)

• Best Airlines to book for infant seat award prices (LINK)

• New award flights to Europe showed up for Fall/Winter (LINK)