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!)

Another week, another round of travel shake ups.

Southwest is making more changes (again), award space just opened up, and a crazy story about someone losing a lot of points and how they got them back.

I have more but let’s get into it.

Not a subscriber yet? Sign up free here

Get your brands in front of 7,500+ travelers & entrepreneurs. 

A Message from Me

A Limited Time Offer You Don’t Want to Miss ✈️

For a limited time, earn up to 75,000 points (or more) when you meet the spending requirements, enough to cover flights, hotels, and more.

Why travelers love this card:

✅ Earn points on every purchase— travel or not. 🏝️
✅ No foreign transaction fees 🌎
✅ Points & miles flexibility— redeem for flights, stays, or transfer to top travel partners!

This limited time offer won’t last forever! Where would you go with your points?

👉 Lock in up to $1,000 in travel rewards today! 

Travel News

More shake ups at Southwest (LINK)

Southwest’s two free checked bags policy is going away in the future, but if you book before May 27, 2025, you won’t get hit with bag fees.

After that, only higher-end fares will include a free bag, while cheaper fares will not.

What’s unsettling is that late last year, CEO Bob Jordan promised that “bags fly free” wasn’t changing (See Page 6) and now, here we are.

It’s clear that everything is on the table as Southwest tries to compete with major carriers after underperforming.

But the problem? Unlike the other top airlines, Southwest still doesn’t offer premium amenities.

How to Still Get Free Bags on Southwest

Luckily, there are still ways to avoid bag fees:
✅ A-List Preferred members → Two free bags
✅ A-List members → One free bag
✅ Southwest credit card holders → One free bag

While in theory, removing free bags could lower fares to be more competitive, we’ll have to wait and see if that actually happens.

The Real Bummer: Travel Credit Changes

In 2022, Southwest made travel credits never expire but now, that policy is being reversed

New expiration policy:

Travel credits will now expire in 12 months
Canceled flights will only get 6 months to use the credit

This kills the hack of using Amex incidental credits to rack up Southwest travel credits and hold onto them until needed.

Julian recently did a great breakdown in the Miles to Go Podcast on why Southwest points are losing value if these changes keep coming.

Like he said I wouldn’t be surprised if earning a Companion Pass from a credit card bonus disappears next.

4% Cash Back Could be no more (LINK)

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

It looks like you can no longer apply for the U.S. Bank Smartly Card in local banks, which offered up to 4% cash back.

While the card is still technically available online, credit limits aren’t as high, and it may not be around much longer.

If this card has been on your list, you might want to apply now.

There’s talk that it could disappear within the next month.

Not sure if that means it’ll be fully discontinued for new applications or if existing cardholders will be affected, but either way, it was a good ride while it lasted.

Bummer, since it now looks like this was just a short-term customer acquisition play.

From what I’ve heard, U.S. Bank may have been using this to build up reserves before entering the mortgage lending space.

Will be interesting to see if that actually plays out.

Virgin Atlantic award availability (LINK)

Looks like Virgin Atlantic just dropped some solid Upper Class award availability between JFK and Manchester.

These awards can be hard to find, but you can use the Reward Seat Checker to search for availability for free.

And since all major card programs transfer to Virgin, this could be a great option if you’ve been looking to head to Europe early next year.

We’ll add the JFK to Manchester January availability to the Flight of the Week section.

🤓 Hacks

• In this game, things are always changing, and if you’re reading this newsletter, chances are you know more than some of the reps answering the phone. That’s why you need to know HUCA, Hang Up and Call Again. In this hobby, never take no for an answer, there’s almost always a way. Check out this crazy story of how someone lost 750K points (and what you can learn from it).

• If you’re planning to close a credit card, make sure to transfer your points first, either to another card in the same program or to a partner. Otherwise, when you close the card, you’ll lose the points for good.

🛋️ 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.

As someone with a kid and a significant other, booking award flights has gotten a lot harder compared to when I only needed to find one seat.

And I know I’m not the only one dealing with this.

So when I search for award flights, I focus on three programs:
Aeroplan – Adding a lap infant is just $25, which is a steal.
Flying Blue – They often release multiple award seats at once, making it easier to book for a family.
Any program that has all seats available – I’d rather book all seats together on a different date than try to piece together a couple at a time on my ideal date.

Finding multiple award seats can be tricky, but using the right programs makes it way less stressful.

P.S. I am working on What Credit Card is Best for you Quiz. It would help me a lot if you took the quiz and gave me anything that would make it better

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.

• Heading over to Manchester instead of London has slightly lower fees

👀 My Favorite Finds

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

• Amex card is getting more expensive (LINK)

• These newsletters are changing the game (LINK)

• United might be looking at merging with JetBlue (LINK)

• I’m working on a resource to provide y’all with better information, let me know you’d like to see in it in regards to travel, points and credit cards (Email Me)