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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!)

Alright everyone, we’ve got some good news this week but it comes at the cost of one of the best sweet spots in the game disappearing.

There’s a lot shifting right now, great first class availability popping up, cards getting nerfed, and loyalty programs making moves that’ll definitely change how you book.

So grab your tea, points spreadsheet, or whatever you use to scheme your next trip and let’s dive in.

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A Message from Me

There’s a limited-time offer on a popular travel card right now ✈️

and if you play it right, it could unlock:

✈️ A business-class flight to Europe
🏝️ A luxury resort stay using points
💰 Over $1,250 in travel value through the bank’s portal

Here’s how it works:

✅ After meeting the spend requirements
✅ Earn 100,000 points
✅ Use them to book premium travel for a fraction of the cost

👉 Learn More Here

Travel News

ANA Devaluation and Round The World Changes (LINK)

It’s a sad day as arguably one of the best ways to redeem points is coming to an end on June 23, 2025.

If you’re not familiar, ANA had one of the craziest sweet spots in the game. An around the world trip for around 125,000 points. But unfortunately, that’s coming to an end on June 23rd, 2025. You have until then to book this kind of ticket.

Starting June 24th, ANA will allow one way award bookings, which is actually a nice change up until now, you could only book round trip awards for ANA and its partners.

But of course, it comes with a downside... or two

• ANA is devaluing its award chart, meaning you’ll need more points to book the same flights.

• They’ve also introduced seasonal pricing low, regular, and high each with specific date ranges.

So while we gain the flexibility of one way bookings, it comes at the cost of higher points and more complexity.

The one silver lining? ANA still uses a published award chart, so at least you’ll know what to expect before booking.

Now we wait to see how award availability shakes out once these new changes kick in.

RIP to the 4% cash back US Bank Smartly (LINK)

The U.S. Bank Smartly Card was just too good with one of the best cash back earning setups out there. So good, in fact, that businesses started jumping on it and racking up huge rewards.

And of course, U.S. Bank didn’t like that so they put a cap on how much cash back you could earn. And now? They’re back at it again, making the card even worse.

The cash-back cap will be lowered to $400 per billing cycle. And you’ll be required to keep the qualifying $100K balance in a checking account, rather than in a savings or investment account meaning it’ll earn essentially zero interest.

The card was honestly too good for its own good, and now it’s basically getting nerfed into something that’s no longer worth the hype.

If you’ve been thinking about applying, it might still be worth grabbing before the changes kick in, you might get grandfathered into the old benefits. But with all the changes flying around, there’s no guarantee those perks will stay forever.

Just a good reminder that if something seems too good, it probably won’t last long. Always get the getting while it’s good.

Cathay Pacific First Class Availability, HKG & JFK (LINK)

We’re starting to see a good amount of first class availability on Cathay Pacific for 160,000 Asia Miles one way to Hong Kong, with open dates between 10/27/25 and 12/3/25.

If Asia’s been on your list and you’ve got the points to transfer, I’d seriously consider jumping on this especially since many dates have two seats available, which is rare.

Personally, I haven’t seen this much Cathay Pacific First Class space in a long time, so it’s really cool to see it popping back up.

If you have Amex, Citi, Capital One, or Bilt points, you can transfer them to Asia Miles and combine balances to make this redemption happen.

Also added some extra dates out of Chicago to the Flight Of The Week section.

🤓 Hacks

• You can currently buy Hilton points at a 100% Points Bonus until May 29. This a great opportunity to pay for a Hilton property for a lot less and be able to take advantage of booking 5 nights for the price of 4 (one of Hiltons perks when using points) helping your points go even further.

🛋️ 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.

A lot of people think you need a stack of credit cards to really get the most out of points and miles but honestly, you could get away with just two and still do really well.

If you travel often, I’d go with either the American Express Platinum (hello, Centurion Lounge access) or the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which gives you great travel protection and insurance.

Now, if those annual fees feel a little steep, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a solid option. It’s got a 100K welcome offer right now and only a $95 annual fee, which is tough to beat.

Pair any of those three with the Capital One Venture X, and you’re pretty much set. It earns 2x on everything, and with the $300 annual travel credit and 10,000 bonus miles each year, the card practically pays for itself. Plus, you get access to Capital One Lounges, which is a nice touch.

With just these two cards, you’d honestly be 80% of the way there—no overanalyzing, no stress, just a simple setup that works.

P.S. I’m getting ready to launch a workshop on learning how to use your points to book travel. If your interested join the waitlist by clicking the button below.

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.

• All these dated have two seats, White you cant search Cathay on this platform take these dates and award availability should show up for less points usian Asian Miles

👀 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)

• LOT Polish Airlines and ITA Airways enter codeshare (LINK)

• How credit card blogs rank in site visits compared to last year (LINK)

• You’ll need to give Brazil a copy of bank statements showing $2,000 to get E Visa (LINK)