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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!)

Well, we’ve made it to December, and let me tell you, I couldn’t be happier.

Every Black Friday, my inbox becomes a pool of promotional emails, and I find myself going on an unsubscribe spree.

If you’re reading this, it means I survived the chaos, so thank you.

Now, let’s get into the good stuff because there’s no better way to wrap up the year than by seeing what deals we can book.

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A Message from Me

I’m Sick and Tired of Y’all Paying to Learn How to Book Flights with Points ✈️

That’s why I created a step-by-step course so simple, you’ll be able to follow it and book a trip with points, no guesswork, no overwhelm, guaranteed.

While others are charging hundreds for this kind of knowledge, I’m in the Christmas spirit and giving it away.

Here’s the deal:

• Steal my step-by-step process for finding and booking award flights: Follow a proven step-by-step process that eliminates the guesswork.

• Book award flights like a pro: Learn the insider strategies to find and book flights using points

• Travel smarter, not harder: Follow my method to save thousands on travel every year.

• Action Focused: No fluff, just the tools you need to get started

• Get started for almost free: Just refer one friend to the newsletter, and it’s yours.

• No Cheating: You can’t just subscribe your second email because I’ll know 😳

Stop paying for what you can get here for (almost) free

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  Travel News

Chase 10 Million Point Giveaway (LINK)

Who wouldn’t want an extra 1 million Chase Ultimate Rewards points in their account? Chase is running a giveaway where 10 people will win 1 million UR points each.

To be eligible, you need to have been a primary cardholder before October 1, 2024, and the giveaway ends on January 31, 2025. If you hold any of the following cards, you’re eligible:

Sapphire Preferred or Reserve

Freedom Flex, Unlimited, Student, or Rise

Any Ink Business card

Don’t miss out, make sure to sign up HERE

Citibank will be the exclusive issuer of American Airline Cards (LINK)

Right now, you can get AAdvantage credit cards through both Citi and Barclays, but starting in 2026, Citi will be the exclusive issuer.

With this announcement, there’s also buzz that Citi ThankYou Rewards points might become transferable to AA miles, which would be a huge win.

AA miles are some of the best currencies for booking partner flights like Japan Airlines first class, so if this happens, Citi points will definitely become way more valuable.

TAP Air Portugal Adding Summer 2025 Routes (LINK)

TAP Air Portugal just announced three new seasonal routes starting in summer 2025.

These include Boston to Porto and Los Angeles to Lisbon (both flying four times a week), plus a unique San Francisco to Terceira route once a week.

It’s great to see new flights being added, especially from the West Coast instead of the usual East Coast hubs.

What really caught my attention was the SFO to Terceira Island route. Getting to Terceira is usually tricky, so this is a game changer.

Imagine pairing a trip to Terceira with some time on São Miguel Island, another gem in the Azores with some incredible Hyatt properties. That sounds like a dream summer getaway.

TAP offers decent redemptions, with business class flights from the West Coast to Portugal for 100k miles one way when using their own points.

The easiest way to earn TAP miles? Transfer them from Capital One, so I’d recommend checking out the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card if you’re planning to book.

11 New SLH Properties Opening in 2025 (LINK)

It’s awesome to see the SLH portfolio continuing to grow since its partnership with Hilton.

I always like keeping an eye on new properties before they start getting too much attention and become harder to book.

Two standouts that caught my eyes this time: the Hermes Galapagos Mega Catamaran—I mean, come on, a mega catamaran in the Galapagos?—and an eco-luxury resort in Greece called Laguna Coast. Both sound like bucket-list-worthy stays.

🤓 Hacks

• Starting today, if you’ve got Suite Upgrade Awards or Club Access Awards, you no longer need to call in to have them added after booking. You can now do it right through the app or online.

  As for adding a Guest of Honor certificate to an existing hotel booking, you’ll still need to call Hyatt. And here’s a pro tip: if the rep doesn’t know how or says they can’t do it, just hang up and call again. Chances are, the next rep will know exactly what to do and get it sorted for you.

• Instead of booking NYC to London flights through United for 80K United Miles you can book them for 45K through Avianca Lifemiles.

  A better deal and easier to go, given that you can transfer miles to Avianca from Amex, Citi, Capital One, Bilt, and Wells Fargo.

🧑🏿‍💻 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

Nathan asked how I’m finding those 21k point redemptions for flights to Europe using the Reward Seat Checker.

Looking at Boston to London, you can see that on February 1st, you could book Upper Class for just 29,000 Virgin points.

In my last newsletter, I mentioned Chase was running a 40% transfer bonus to Virgin points. With that bonus, transferring 1,000 Chase points gave you 1,400 Virgin points. So, 29,000 ÷ 1.4 = 20,715, meaning you’d only need to transfer 21,000 Chase points to cover the cost.

Unfortunately, the Chase 40% bonus has expired, but here’s the good news: Amex is currently running a 40% bonus on transfers to Virgin points, so you can still snag a similar deal if you transfer Amex points instead.

Pro tip: If you’re booking, aim for flights on the Airbus A330-900 (AKA A330neo) and grab seats 1D and 1G. These are often available on flights from Boston, Tampa, and occasionally New York and Atlanta.

Why does the type of plane matter? Well, let’s just say—would you rather spend 8 hours in the comfort of an A330neo or the A330-300. 🤢

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.

• Super cool to see 2 all the way up to 9 seats available on these flights

👀 My Favorite Finds

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

• Jetblue canceling a bunch of routes (LINK)

• These newsletters are changing the game (LINK)

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

• Amex Closing Authorized-User Cards Due To Inactivity (LINK)

• Cruise Lines considering removing Mexico from itineraries in 2025 (LINK)

• If you’re in the points/travel space and are hiring, hit me up here