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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 sorry to report that I have some bad news…but don’t worry I’m not going anywhere.

You can’t get rid of me that easily 😉 It’s not all bad news though I also have some good news too.

Oh, I hope you’re ready to pack your bags for Asia.

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  Travel News

Flying Blue Award Devaluation 😭 (LINK) 

A moment of silence for one of the first devaluations of the year and probably one of the most disappointing.

For a while, Air France KLM was one of the best options for booking award flights, with business class flights for just 50K miles to anywhere in the U.S.

But alas, it wasn’t going to last forever.

Unfortunately, they might not be the go to for the lowest award prices to Europe.

Their pricing is now more in line with Air Canada’s award structure.

The one silver lining? Stopovers are still included through the program.

So, how bad is it?

Honestly, it’s not terrible, but any increase in award pricing hurts.

Economy Class went from 20K points to 25K, Premium Economy from 35K to 40K, and Business Class from 50K to 60K.

While it could’ve been worse, what sucks was the complete lack of warning.

On top of that, partner award prices also increased slightly, which is never great news.

This is a good reminder not to hoard points since they lose value over time.

And never transfer points preemptively because you never know what changes might be just around the corner.

Do you have any plans of flying to Europe this year?

Iceland Air Partnership with Southwest (LINK)

IcelandAir and Southwest announced they’ll start a partnership in February 2026.

While that feels like a long time away, there’s a way to play this strategically if Iceland has been on your list and you’re okay waiting to check it off in 2026.

The partnership will start small, but the good news is that in 2026, you’ll be able to book IcelandAir flights with Southwest points.

So maybe start figuring out your strategy this year, so you’re ready when award availability drops.

Don’t forget that Chase transfers to Southwest at a 1:1 ratio.

IcelandAir is starting out with Baltimore Washington Airport adding Nashville and Denver later in the year. It’s nice to see some variety and not just the usual airports

🚨 Award Availability on Starlux (LINK)

Since coming out, Starlux has made a splash with their space like airplane interiors and amazing business class.

For the longest time, only one award seat would pop up randomly, but now there’s some great availability from March through May and the best part is that a lot of dates have 2 seats available.

Pricing out of the West Coast is 75K Alaska Miles + $19, which is bananas.

While Alaska Miles are hard to come by, you can convert your Hawaiian Miles into Alaska Miles.

If you have Amex points, transfer them to Hawaiian Miles first, and then convert them into Alaska Miles.

This deal definitely won’t last long, so it’s one of those where you need to book now and figure it out later.

If you cancel, you’ll get your Alaska Miles back anyway.

I’m curious to know if anyone will take advantage of this, let me know if you are.

P.S. There’s also some crazy award availability from Tokyo to Sydney on Japan Airlines First Class now through the end of March. You can book through American Airlines for just 60K miles or through Qantas for a bit more.

🤓 Hacks

• If you ever need to book two seats for example, if you’re big boned or maybe you broke your leg and need extra room, make sure to check out Alaska Airlines.

  If you book a second seat and the flight isn’t full, you can ask the airline for a refund.

  Check out this video to see which airline has the best policy

🧑🏿‍💻 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.

I’m contemplating taking over this section and just doing whatever I feel like with it every week.

Now that Flying Blue has increased their rates I’m contemplating doing a new mini course on the cheapest way to fly to Europe?

What do you think? If that sounds interesting reply and if I have enough interest I’ll make a course and release it to y’all.

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.

• Doing to same search from JFK just to FRA brought up very little award availability

• A lot of Availability from JFK to GVA with a stop in FRA, great if Europe is on your list for the summer

👀 My Favorite Finds

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

• Check out this video of us exploring Kyoto (LINK)

• These newsletters are changing the game (LINK)

• Hawaiian Airlines opening a new lounge in 2027 (LINK)

• Make sure to activate this Hyatt offer it takes a second (LINK)

• 7 Ways to Book Business Class to Asia for under 90k Points (LINK)

• See how you can get a refund on Google Flights if they drop (LINK)

• Rates for Kyoto hotels are going to 10X to stop people from visiting (LINK)