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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!)

Hello from snowy Minnesota!

While I’m still here, I’m happy to report that the temperature has warmed up…we’ve finally broken above 0°F.

As the holiday season inches closer and the snow piles up, let’s get to it!

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  Travel News

3 Day Delta Sale Ends Today (LINK)

Boy, for the amount of crap I’ve given SkyMiles since starting this newsletter, I never thought I’d be writing about them back-to-back.

But they’re running a 3-day sale that ends tonight, so if you have SkyMiles to burn, jump on it! Right now, they’re offering flights to Europe in their Delta One lie-flat seats for 196,000 SkyMiles, with most award flights departing from New York (JFK) and Boston (BOS).

Just make sure you’re looking at roundtrip fares, as one-way fares are actually more expensive than roundtrip.

Some quick details:

You need to book by tonight, December 16, for travel between January and April 2025.

Be sure to follow me here since I broke the news as soon as it came out.

If you want the full list of destinations available at 196K SkyMiles, you can check it out here.

And while 196K might seem like a lot of points, keep in mind that these roundtrip flights normally run upwards of 300,000 SkyMiles.

If you have Skymiles, how many do you have?

IHG Loses Venetian And Moves To Hyatt (LINK)

It looks like the Venetian in Las Vegas has just wrapped up a $1.5 billion renovation and its taking its 7,000+ room property to greener pastures.

While the news dropped yesterday in a press release, they haven’t shared any details yet about what category it will fall into or whether we’ll see dynamic pricing.

Fingers crossed it lands in one of the Hyatt categories, because hotel prices in Vegas can get crazy on weekends.

If The Venetian comes in under a Hyatt category, peak pricing will be capped, which would be a huge win.

For now, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Side note, I’ve never been to Las Vegas, but I’ve heard a bunch of hype about it. Is it really that good of a destination to visit?

You Can Now Use AA Miles To Book Hawaii Airlines (LINK)

American Airlines has relaunched the option to use your AAdvantage miles to book Hawaiian Airlines flights.

This is likely tied to Alaska Airlines merging with Hawaiian, and while the idea sounds great in theory, I’m not sure it’s the best use of AA miles.

You can typically book Hawaiian flights for fewer miles through Virgin or Hawaiian directly.

That said, if you’re in a pinch, it’s still a solid option to get to Hawaii.

🤓 Hack

• If you’re looking to fly Emirates First Class but can only find Business Class availability, go ahead and book it. When you book an award flight directly through Emirates (instead of a partner airline), you can upgrade to First Class at check-in if there’s availability. You’ll just need to pay the difference in points to secure the upgrade.

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🧑🏿‍💻 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

Vivian asked if she books economy, how does she move up to business when that class opens up.

The best way for me to explain this is with a picture.

When looking at your booking options, keep these things in mind.

If you know you want to book an award flight but no first-class seats are currently available, here’s the strategy.

You have two options.

First, you can book a Main Cabin ticket with points (these are usually refundable, though taxes and fees might not be).

Alternatively, you can pay cash for a Main Cabin ticket. Just make sure it’s not a Basic Economy fare and that it’s fully refundable.

Then, if first-class award availability opens up later, you can book the first-class seat with points.

Once that’s confirmed, cancel the refundable Main Cabin ticket to get your money back.

This way, if award availability never opens up, you’ve still secured a ticket and won’t be left without a flight.

P.S. This exact flight currently has award availability for first class at just 40K Hawaiian miles or Virgin miles. If you’re quick, you can snag it. 😏

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.

• Some cool flights from USA to Europe with some good rates

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👀 My Favorite Finds

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

• 10 longest nonstop flights of 2025 (LINK)

• These newsletters are changing the game (LINK)

• Get $40 when you spend $40 through Rakuten (LINK)

• How to book one of the best business classes available (LINK)

• Easy way to “buy” IHG diamond status along with getting points (LINK)