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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!)

This issue is so hot, I almost got third degree burns just writing it, so proceed with caution.

Make sure you’ve got a fire extinguisher nearby because your phone might suddenly combust.

Now that the disclaimer’s out of the way, let’s get going!

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Get your brands in front of 5,000+ travelers & entrepreneurs. 

A Message from Me

Promote Your Brand to an Engaged Audience, Limited Spots Available

For the first time ever, I’m opening up a small number of ad spots at a discount in this newsletter to help you reach a highly engaged audience of ~5,500 travelers, creators, and founders.

Here’s how sponsoring my newsletter can help your brand:

• Grow your list: Drive clicks to your lead magnet or newsletter opt-in page.

• Boost engagement: Send traffic to a social post, sparking new conversations and connections

• Validate your product: Test demand for a digital product, SaaS, or offer by sending clicks directly to your product page.

• Borrow my audience’s trust: Leverage the credibility I’ve built with my readers to bring warmth and attention to your brand.

I’m capping this at 3 ad spots and as a beta client, you’ll get introductory pricing I may never offer again.

I’ll even write the ad copy for you to ensure it resonates perfectly with my audience.

👉 Interested? Reply with a sentence or two about your brand and a link. If it’s a good fit (and spots aren’t already claimed), I’ll follow up with email stats.

  Travel News

Qatar Booking for 2026

You probably didn’t know this, but Qatar releases its award availability 361 days in advance at 3 AM Qatar time.

But why should you care?

Because in 361 days, it will be January 19th, 2026 which means we’re past the holiday block for Qatar.

If you’re hoping to book Qsuite for 2026, it’s time to start thinking ahead and booking.

This is the best way to secure the seats and routes that you want.

For example, if you’re looking to fly from Dallas to the Seychelles in luxury, availability is already there for just 85K Avios per person.

Zemi Miches Hilton Hotel in Dominican Republic (LINK)

A new all inclusive Hilton property in the Dominican Republic is set to open on June 30th, and you can book it now for 100K points per night or until December 20th, at up to 40% off with kids under 17 staying free.

I’m not sure I’d book this if I had a trip planned for early July, but if it were later in the month I’d definitely consider it especially after seeing pictures of the property.

I mean, an all-inclusive resort right on the beach? Sign me up.

Hawaiian Airlines to New York (LINK)

Hawaiian Airlines is finally letting its big birds fly.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, with an order of 12 on the way, is set to start flying the New York route.

This is exciting news because the number of business class seats increases from 18 (Airbus A330) to 34 (Boeing 787), and they’re finally testing the planes on longer routes.

The initial plan for the 787s was to connect Hawaii to the rest of the world, which means nonstop flights from Europe to Hawaii could become a possibility.

Flying the 787 from Hawaii to JFK feels like the next logical step.

While this isn’t permanent, the 787 will be flying the daily route from April 22 to August 20.

Hopefully, this opens up more award availability for first/business class.

As always, once I spot it, y’all will be the first to know

🚨 Emirates First Class Availability (LINK)

Very limited first class award availability for the New York to Milan route on Emirates have just dropped.

What’s great about this route is that it’s on the A380, which means you get access to the onboard bar and shower.

I wrote a step by step guide on how to find availability, and because I’m feeling nice, I’ll even include some dates for you.

Business Availability: 1/25-30 | 2/2-5 | 2/8-10 | 2/16-27 | 3/1-5 | 3/9-11 | 3/23-31 | 4/1-3

First Class Availability in the flight of the week section.

🤓 Hacks

• If you’re heading to the UK, the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) rules have changed again. You no longer need to pay the fee if you’re just passing through. But the fee has gone up from £10 to £16.

  There have also been some issues with submitting all the required information, and processing is taking longer than expected. So, don’t procrastinate and get it done early.

🧑🏿‍💻 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

Since It’s tax season I’ve gotten a couple of people asking if points are taxable.

I’m not a CPA, so don’t sue me, but here’s the deal. Earning points is generally considered a rebate since you have to spend money to get the points. However, if you win a giveaway, that’s a different story. You might receive a 1099-MISC form, and those winnings are taxable.

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.

• If you need two first class seats, book one in first and the other in business and either wait for availability to open up or, when you get to the airport upgrade from business to first if they have availability.

👀 My Favorite Finds

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

• Qantas crazy point increases (LINK)

• 19 cheap places to visit in 2025 (LINK)

• These newsletters are changing the game (LINK)

• More Sydney to Doha Availability in Qsuite showing up (LINK)

• If you know anyone hiring let me know! I’m looking for Newsletter/Travel related gigs (LINK)