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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!)

Hey y’all,

This week, I’ve got some important stuff to cover.

Like, the kind of stuff that might determine whether you actually get on the plane… or even take off at all.

So yeah, let’s get into it.

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Travel News

Real ID Required for Domestic Travel (LINK)

Real ID is officially in effect, and the DMV lines are already getting long.

So… what the heck is Real ID?

Honestly, I wasn’t 100% sure either. But here’s the short version. The government now requires a Real ID compliant driver’s license or state ID to fly within the U.S. or to enter secure federal buildings.

“But Luis, how do I know if I have a Real ID?”

Pull out your ID. If there’s a gold star in the top right corner, you’re good to go.

No star? Time to make that DMV appointment.

I was flying last week and overheard a TSA agent tell more than a dozen people they’d need a new ID before May 7th. So you might be one of those people.

Now, if you don’t have one yet and still need to fly, you’re not totally out of luck.

You can still use your passport. But I wouldn’t procrastinate much longer.

If you show up to the airport without a Real ID or passport, you’ll be pulled aside for additional screening, and no one wants to deal with that when they’re already rushing to make their flight.

Don’t Fly Into NJ Newark Airport (LINK)

I had to fly out of EWR (Newark) this past Saturday, and surprise surprise the flight was delayed.

We lucked out and were able to get out before they just ended up cancelling the flight entirely.

But now I actually have a valid reason to say it, you might want to avoid EWR for the time being and start looking at JFK or LGA instead.

This video I came across mentioned over 900 flights were canceled this week alone. And it’s not just bad luck EWR is going through it right now.

Here’s what’s going on

• One of their main runways is under construction

• They’re having radar system issues

• And of course, there are staffing shortages

All of that has turned into a perfect storm of delays, cancellations, and general travel chaos.

If you want more details on the mess, I’d suggest checking out this podcast episode that dives into what’s happening.

But in the meantime, avoid EWR if you can, you’ll probably save yourself a major headache.

AA new suite to London (LINK)

American Airlines is finally launching its new Flagship Suite, and it’s showing up on select routes to London with award seats available for as low as 55,000 AA miles.

Now, while AA miles aren’t the easiest to earn, here’s what to do. You can usually find these same flights for even fewer miles using Alaska Airlines miles.

If you want to do this, don’t wait. You’ll want to transfer Amex points to Hawaiian Airlines, then convert them to Alaska miles before July, when that backdoor trick goes away for good.

Here are the two routes where you’ll find the new Flagship Suite:

• Chicago (ORD) → London (LHR) – starting June 5

• Philadelphia (PHL) → London (LHR) – starting August 9

When searching, look for flights operated by the 787-9P (or 789P) to make sure you're booking the aircraft with the new suite.
I’ll show some award dates in the Flight of the week section

🤓 Hack

• If you’re ever unsure what plane you’re actually booking like when you’re trying to snag the new AA Flagship Suite with points a tool like Aerolopa can save you from guessing wrong.

  Why? Because the seat maps for the AA 787-9 and the new AA 787-9 (789P) look almost identical, but there’s a key difference:

  • The new 787-9 has 51 Flagship Suites

  • The older version only has 30 business class seats

  So before you lock in your booking, pop over to Aerolopa.com, double check the seat map, and make sure you’re actually getting what you think you are.

🛋️ 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.

So I guess we’re back to talking about lounges again.

When I getting ready to flying home from EWR, I got a message a couple days before warning me about possible weather delays or cancellations.

Now, there are usually two types of travelers.

• The people who get to the airport 3 hours early

• And the ones who show up as they’re calling final boarding

I’m definitely the second one... but this time, I decided to be early because of all the craziness going on.

My flight was at 8 PM, and I wanted to get a feel for what was going on before heading to the gate.

I checked the flight status using Flighty (highly recommend it) and, just in case things went sideways, I also booked a backup flight to Houston that left at 5 PM fully refundable, of course.

Since I was already at the airport early, I decided to grab a United day pass for the lounge and thanks to my Amex Platinum card’s airline credit, it was covered (just make sure you’ve pre selected your airline for the credit to apply).

Here’s the fun trick: lounges won’t usually let you in more than 3 hours before your scheduled flight, but because my backup flight was earlier, I used that ticket to get into the lounge early.

So I got to:

• Relax

• Eat real food

• Take a shower

• And hang out while my flight was delayed

That backup flight got me lounge access, peace of mind, and some time to unwind before what turned out to be a very delayed arrival we didn’t land until after 1 AM, but at least we beat the storm that hit NJ.

Pro tip: If you do something like this, make sure your backup flight is fully refundable so you don’t get stuck paying for something you don’t need.

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.

• Wasn’t able to see any AA flights bookable through Alaska but some Aeroplan Award Availability flown with United did show up for this summer!

👀 My Favorite Finds

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

• Air New Zealand new first class like suite (LINK)

• These newsletters are changing the game (LINK)

• Amex to Alaska points transfer ending soon (LINK)

• Air traffic controllers telling planes they have no radar (LINK)

• Boarder agents are checking your phones at boarder crossings (LINK)