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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!)

I’m refreshed and ready to go after a couple days of relaxing courtesy of points.

We’ve got a nice mix this week.

Card changes, deals, and a few tips you’ll want to have on your radar.

So buckle your seatbelts, cabin doors are closed and it’s time for takeoff.

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A Message from Thrifty Traveler

I wasted hours and overpaid in points, but the right flight alerts have saved all that✈️ 

If you haven’t heard of Thrifty Traveler, it’s a flight deal alert service that helps you find some of the best airfare deals without spending hours searching yourself.

I’ve been using them for years, and they’ve helped me save big on countless trips.

Right now, they’re celebrating their 10-year anniversary and for new members, you can get 50% off your first year of Premium.

If you’ve been on the fence, now’s the time to try it, I’m a happy paying member myself.

Heads up: This deal is only good through June 9. So don’t sleep on it.

👉 Grab 50% off your first year of Thrifty Traveler Premium now

Travel News

Capital One Venture X Lounge Changes (LINK)

Starting February 1, 2026, Capital One Venture X cardholders will no longer get free guest access to Capital One Lounges.

The only way around this is to spend $75,000 per year on the card (similar to the Amex Platinum’s guest policy).

Otherwise, you’ll be paying $45 per guest, or $25 for guests under 18.

You’ll also lose free guest access on Priority Pass, guests will now cost $35 each.

Honestly, this isn’t a huge shock. The Capital One Lounges were getting crowded, and I’m guessing the Priority Pass contract was also up for renewal.

Still, it’s disappointing to see one of the best perks of the card being chipped away.

Authorized users can still get lounge access, but it’ll cost $125 per authorized user.

It was nice of them to give us a long heads up, with plenty of time to plan.

In some cases, it might actually make more sense for a spouse or travel buddy to just open their own Venture X card instead.

The $395 annual fee is mostly offset anyway by the $300 travel credit + 10,000 anniversary points, so it’s not a bad play.

Amex Plat Changes (LINK)

Heads up, the Dell & Adobe credits are taking a hit.

After June 30, 2025, the Adobe credit on the card will be dropping down to $350/year, and the Dell credit is going from $400/year all the way down to $150/year.

While this was mentioned in the April statement, I definitely didn’t catch it.

And honestly it’s a huge bummer. The current benefits of this card are already a little shaky, and after these changes, it’s getting harder to justify keeping it.

Now, they’re adding language about being eligible for $1,000 in Dell credits after spending $5K but personally, I have zero need to spend that much through Dell to trigger it.

The new $200 Hilton benefit is nice in theory but it’s split up into $50 per quarter, and the Hilton gift card site has been down since the start of the year.

So not super useful right now.

Long story short it looks like this card may be headed for the chopping block.

In the meantime, this is your reminder to use up your $200 Dell credit before June 30, because after that it’s getting cut to $150.

Flight Deals 🚨 (LINK)

Quick Flight Deal Speed Run, none are crazy, but a deal’s a deal.

Southwest → 50% off one way and roundtrip cash tickets.

• Book by June 6 @ 11:59 PM PST

• Travel between August 12 - December 17 (some blackout dates)

• Use code: WOWZERS
  (Note: these are CASH fares, not points)

Alaska Airlines → quarterly award fare discounts just dropped.

• Only valid for Economy & Premium Economy

• Book by June 30, 2025

• Travel between August 1 - November 15

• Destinations include: Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Lisbon, Naples, Monterrey, Tbilisi (Georgia)

• Most routes pricing out around 20K - 30K miles one way

Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) → June Promo Rewards are live.

• Economy to Europe from 18,750 miles

  • From: NYC, Denver, Orlando, Las Vegas, San Diego

• Business class: 45K miles from Ottawa

• Book by June 30, 2025

• Fly through November 30, 2025 

🤓 Hack

• Watched a cool video that broke down the best days to fly if you want to avoid crowds, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays

  Also had some helpful data on when it’s usually slowest at airport lounges.

  Just a little something to keep in mind next time you’re planning a trip.

• Starlux just signed a codeshare with Etihad, so keep an eye out since you might start seeing Starlux flights to Taipei showing up bookable through Etihad soon. Could be a nice new angle for finding availability.

🛋️ 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.

Before I get started, make sure you go to the Better Than Points Instagram so you can check out all the tips and highlights I shared from booking a stay with points.

Earlier this week the wife, baby, dog, and I headed down the road to the Hyatt Lost Pines for a little staycation to celebrate our birthdays.

But... I’ve got a confession to make.

I didn’t book this trip.
That’s right, I’ve rubbed off on the wife, and she booked this stay with her points.

I did help by getting a Guest of Honor certificate (more on that in a sec).

Right now we’re cash poor but points rich (well, not points rich rich but we had enough squirreled away to make this happen).

If you don’t know, Hyatt offers some of the best value for redemptions, and luckily we had enough to book a couple nights.

She had some points already in her Hyatt account, and I transferred some from my Chase account into our joint Chase account, and we pooled enough to lock it in.

If you’re not familiar with Hyatt Lost Pines Resort, it’s a Category 6 property, which means the standard rate is 25,000 points per night.
(Fun fact, it used to be a Category 4 back in the day, but we won’t go there)

The property’s pretty stacked, full water park with a lazy river, three restaurants, spa, and golf course so it makes for a fun little getaway.

Side note: I actually worked here during high school and college, so I know this property pretty well.

Back to booking
If you’ve got Chase Ultimate Rewards points or Bilt points, you can transfer them to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio.

Since I lost my Globalist status earlier this year, I reached out to a friend and was able to snag a Guest of Honor certificate, which gives you Globalist benefits for up to 7 nights.

Key perks:
✅ Free valet parking
✅ Complimentary room upgrade (if available)
✅ Free breakfast which alone was saving us ~$80 per morning (and food can get real pricey at resorts like this).

We also scored a room upgrade to one of the suites (I shared it in my Instagram story), which was super helpful with the whole family.

All in all a great example of leveraging Hyatt, Chase, or Bilt points instead of paying cash, which would’ve easily cost us over $3,000 for this stay.

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.

• Here’s a sneak peak at what some of the dates would look like for the Thrifty Travelers alerts that you’d get if you signed up for their alerts.

👀 My Favorite Finds

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

• You could start seeing hotel deals to Maui (LINK)

• These newsletters are changing the game (LINK)

• Lady tried opening plane door in Southwest flight while midair (LINK)

• Hotel selfie could lead to you getting fired if you’re a flight attendant (LINK) 

• You have 24 hrs to respond or your hotel booking will be cancelled trick (LINK)