Hey! Welcome to the Better Than Points Newsletter - the premier place for all things Credit Card Points News and Travel

I landed in Hawaii yesterday and man is the jet lag hitting me hard or maybe its the two cats i’m with in this condo. I’d like go give a special shoutout to the lie flat seat that helped me nap on that 8 hour flight. Don’t worry I know you’re interested in how I booked it. Keep reading and I’ll tell you 🤫

Here are 3 headlines, 2 hacks, and 1 question answered this week…

3 Headlines

One.

American Airlines levels up with new flagship suite seats (Link)

Nothing makes me go cuckoo for cocoa puffs more than airlines dropping new seats on long haul flights. Nothing says fancy like having your own personal door to close I mean look at this video. Deliveries start this year so keep your eyes open.

Two.

SLH play musical chairs and settles down with Hilton (Link)

The small luxury hotel program got dumped by Hyatt since they acquired the Mr. & Mrs Smith luxury travel agency that markets specific hotels. We’re finally getting some news that the SLH will be able to be booked mid summer and you’ll be able to use your Hilton free night awards so plan accordingly. SLH properties will always hold a special place in my heart given that we stayed at a couple of them during our Honeymoon in Japan.

Three. 

[DEAL ALERT] First class to Tokyo out of DAL! (Link)

Japan Airlines dropped a banger of a deal this morning with TRUE first class seats. Im looking at you Hawaiian trying to pass off those seats as “first class” This is what first class seats should look like. EDIT: I was about to send the newsletter out and noticed that in less than 5 hours they were all booked up but I’m still going to leave this here so you can look at it and be ready when more seats become available.

Bonus. 

[DEAL ALERT] JFK to Madrid (Link)

Given that the last deal happened so fast I feel like I owed y’all one. If you want to start the new year off with a bang why not fly business to and from Madrid. Award availability in January and February of 2025 with some dates having 2+ business seats per flight.

2 Hacks

One.

This one goes out to the dad with the twins in business class on my last flight. Make sure that if you have two lap infants that you and your spouse don’t sit next to each other. Sit across from each other both in aisle seats. This is because each seat section only has one extra mask and this way you and your S/O can still sit next to each other.

Two.

Okay I kept y’all waiting long enough. How did I book a business class flight for only $230. Easy, Hawaiian airlines was having a sale on tickets so I bought a regular one and upgraded with points a couple days before the flight vs paying $2k. I broke it all down in detail here plus gave you a little extra sauce.

1 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

This weeks question comes from Shelby, HEY SHELBY!

She asked what is the best card to get started?

If you have good credit I’d suggest either the Chase Freedom Flex or Freedom Unlimited. For people that are just starting out and want to build up their credit go for the Citi Double Cash Card.

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Appreciate you,

Luis 🤙🏿

More Better Than Points

• I stayed at a hotel where influencers and the rich stay and wrote a review about it. (LINK)

• How I used my credit card credits to get a free flight. (LINK)