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🤙🏿 Welcome back to the Better Than Points Newsletter - the premier place for all things Credit Card Points News and Travel

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Aloha! Changing up the look of the newsletter, love it? Hate it? Let me know! Wapping up my time in Hawaii this week so I tried getting some yakitori at this hole in the wall spot. I walked in and was immediately told they had no availability until August. 🤯 Needless to say ya boy did not eat any.

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

3 Headlines

One.

United just won’t stop with the devaluations (Link)

United increased the prices of first class awards for ANA and Lufthansa last week but apparently they weren’t done. They love increasing miles needed to redeem without telling anyone. They are now back increasing business class flights within Europe and Asia. In short, don’t trust them. They’ll cheat on you, take all your miles and not think twice about it.

Two.

Scandinavian Arlines jumping from Star Alliance to Skyteam (LINK)

Scandinavian Airlines or better known as SAS filed for bankruptcy protection back in 2022 and received some much needed help from Air France/KLM. They are both part of Skyteam so naturally SAS will switch teams in September. With SAS being a big player in northern Europe hopefully we see SAS airlines being bookable with flying blue Air France/KLM miles program.

Three. 

[Deal Alert] Atlanta to Sweden on Scandinavian Airlines (LINK)

SAS is running a sale on all classes for its new flight out of Atlanta Georgia. Fly out by June 17th to June 28th and return by July 5th. Business class ranges around $1500 roundtrip with premium economy at $600.

2 Hacks

One.

Take advantage of airlines that have zone based awards for their partners like Air Canada and Turkish. Where if you’re traveling within the same zone no matter the distance, the redemption rate is the same. Good examples are US to Hawaii for 10k flying United or US to Panama for 12.5K flying Copa.

Two.

Points aren’t only redeemable for hotels and flights but also cruises. Virgin usually has a bunch of cruise deals and with the current transfer bonuses going on right now across Amex, Chase and Citi they’re a good option.

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

Johnny asked that with so many transfer bonuses going on would it be a good idea to transfer now and find a deal later?

In most cases no. Airlines are always changing the amount of points needed for redemptions and you don’t want to transfer preemptively and then find a better deal on another airline. You always risk having points stranded and then them expiring.