All Blog Posts 🗺️

🤙🏿 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!)

Hey! If you love paying full price for your hotel and airline tickets then you must be ballin and provably don’t need this email. Continue at your own risk because we have some fire this week.

You’ve been warned.

Not a subscriber yet? Sign up free here

🗞️ Travel News

Westin Bora Bora reopens after renovations (LINK)

Going to Bora Bora isn't cheap, whether you're paying with cash or points. The Westin finally reopened and has the highest number of overwater bungalows of any resort on the French Polynesian island, which means a better chance of scoring a room. I dove deep into the redemption amounts and found some as low as 68K points, but the average is around 78K. As a Marriott Bonvoy property, you'll get the fifth night free if you pay for your stay with points making redemption amounts even lower! While getting there can be a PIA, Air Tahiti (bookable with Alaska Miles) and Air France have nonstop flights from SFO and LAX to Tahiti.

Flying Blue Promos for September (LINK)

Every month, Flying Blue releases discounted award tickets for their flights, which can help you save on travel and points. While the most recent promos have been hit or miss, we actually have some decent ones this month. Most of the discounted tickets are for economy class from the US to Europe for 15K miles one-way (which can drop to 12K miles with the current Capital One 20% transfer bonus). But I'm happy to see some Premium Economy and Business Class tickets (37.5K miles) added to the mix. While none of the business class tickets are currently for flights out of the US, it's great to see those lower redemption amounts for people who might consider taking a positioning flight to Canada to redeem. Here's the full list of discounted award tickets

Last Chance to buy TrueBlue Points (LINK)

I know this might sound counterintuitive, but hear me out. It can sometimes make sense to spend money to buy points and then use those points for a flight, instead of just buying the flight outright.This is an expert level strategy, but I wanted to share it with you since you're an expert traveler. Right now, there's a 125% bonus offer running until tomorrow. This is a great way to spend $1,200 on a flight that would normally cost you $7,500. Here's a quick walkthrough of how to do it.

🤓 Hacks

• If you're like a lot of us with the American Express Platinum Card, then you know you have a $300 Equinox credit. While you might not plan on joining an Equinox any time soon, you can actually use this credit for spa services at Equinox locations. To take advantage of this benefit first Enroll in the Equinox benefit. Start a 7-day free trial of Equinox+ and make sure to confirm your enrollment. After you do that book your spa appointment but make sure to cancel your trial before it ends. If that was a little confusing save this reel for when you’re ready to use it.

• Many airlines have an unofficial rule called the "flat tire rule." If you're less than two hours late to your flight, they might be able to reschedule you for a later flight that day. However, this policy varies by airline, being nice and explaining your situation can definitely increase your chances of it working out in your favor. While I hope you never have to use this hack, here’s a reel breaking it all down.

🧑🏿‍💻 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

Kaylin has to travel for work and pays cash for her tickets. She knows that even though she is flying with one airline she can credit that flight to a different one. With so many other airlines she doesn’t know which one to credit to get the most amount of points/status.

While part of it all depends on what airline you want the status and miles for an easy way to check is with a site like wheretocredit.com where they will show you the other frequent flyer programs and how much credit they’ll give you for the paid flight. You’ll just have to know the booking class.

👀 My Favorite Finds

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

• Have a card with Priority Pass? Well now you’ll have access to XpressSpa. Its at 17 airports right now and includes a complimentary 25 minute massage (LINK)

• Cathay Airlines to offer free wifi to first and business class passengers (LINK)

• Here’s a sneaky way 🤫 to book lie flat seats to Hawaii for only 38K points or 30K with transfer bonuses (LINK)

🏨 Hotel Of The Week

• I was listening to a podcast episode where one of them mentioned this hotel in Vietnam being one of his top choices in Asia so not I have to check it out for myself.