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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!)

Before I get started, I just want to say I appreciate you.

Thanks for letting me nerd out about credit card points and for being interested in learning about it.

But enough of that.

Let's get to it.

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I wasted hours and overpaid in points, but the right help would've changed that ✈️

I still remember the first time I tried booking a flight with points. I thought I was getting a deal, but between confusing award charts, hidden fees, and bad redemption rates, I spent way too many hours (and way too many points) just to book a single ticket.

Looking back, I could’ve booked it in half the time and saved thousands of points if someone had just shown me how.

That’s where I come in.

Here’s how I can help:

✅ Tell me where you want to go, and I’ll make it happen— in style (business & first class).
✅ Leverage my 10+ years of experience to save time and maximize your miles.
✅ Skip the frustration of award searches and hidden fees— I’ll find the best deals for you.
✅ Fly better, for less— experience business and first class without paying out of pocket.
✅ Get your trips booked for the year— rates start at $1k for two people roundtrip, and the experiences are priceless.

👉 Book an intro call today and start planning your dream trips!

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.

Despite what a lot of people think about points, miles, and credit cards, you don’t need a wallet full of cards to get value.

Yes, having more cards and higher spend helps.

But, it’s not required.

You can do this with one card and almost no effort.

A simple setup is something like the Capital One Venture ($95 annual fee) or the Venture X ($395 annual fee).

Both earn 2x on everything.

Both are easy to use as your “one card” where you just put all your spend on it and keep it moving.

Venture X has more perks and credits, but both let you transfer to a bunch of airline and hotel partners.

Right now, both also come with a 75,000 point intro bonus after hitting the minimum spend.

That’s enough for a one way flight in business in some cases, or a couple of round trip economy flights depending on where you’re going.

So yeah, it’s doable.

Don’t fall for the idea that you need five cards and a spreadsheet to book flights and hotels with points.

You can get started with one card.

And honestly, if you don’t want any cards at all, you can still play the game.

People outside the U.S. do it all the time by waiting for big transfer bonuses, buying points when the math works, and redeeming for more value than they paid.

That’s a whole separate rabbit hole for another day though.

P.S. My book was ranking #1 for Travel Tips on Kindle earlier this week. You can get your own copy here!

Not too long ago, Virgin revamped their program and it was honestly one of the better surprises in points and miles game.

They rolled out some of the lowest award pricing out there, and for once the taxes and fees were pretty reasonable too.

Compared to what they were charging before.

Then June hit, and they started creeping those fees up.

Economy went from $75 → $111, and now $111 → $164.

Upper Class got hit too.

After the June increase that had fees around $592, we’re now seeing them closer to $700.

And while you can still find business class awards for 29,000 points one way.

Paying $700 in taxes, fees, and surcharges makes you stop and think if it’s even worth it anymore.

I’m also not holding my breath that those fees come back down anytime soon (if ever).

So yeah, another reminder.

If you see a good redemption, book it and use your points.

Things change fast.

And all the turmoil going on around the world has a real cascading effect on travel, award pricing, and fees.

With jet fuel prices up 75% since the start of the war and no end in sight, airlines are starting to talk more openly about how much it’s hitting them.

Outside of payroll, fuel is one of their biggest expenses.

Someone summed it up perfectly.

Fuel prices go up like a rocket ship and come down like a feather.

I sure felt that today too.

I had to shell out $75 to fill up my tank.

I feel for anyone driving diesel, because those prices are ugly and they don’t look like they’re coming down anytime soon.

And that’s going to have a lasting impact on airfare.

Prices will eventually cool off, but right now who knows when.

This is also why points matter, even if you’re not booking some luxury trip.

Cash prices and fees are rising.

Bag fees are rising.

Taxes and surcharges are rising.

But so far, we haven’t seen award pricing spike across the board the same way.

So if you’ve got any last minute flights you need to book, points are still one of the best ways to protect yourself from these price swings.

Like an old boyfriend trying to get back at their ex.

If you’re not familiar, Scott Kirby is the CEO of United but got fired from that position at American Airlines.

And now there’s talk floating around about United buying American Airlines.

It sounds insane.

Two major airlines becoming one... impossible?

Probably not.

Weirder things have happened, and this administration has said before that they like big deals.

My gut says this could also be a distraction play.

Make enough noise about “United buying American” so everyone panics about that headline.

Then when United goes after JetBlue instead, it looks smaller, less monopolyish, and easier to swallow.

Delta’s CEO even said last week that high oil prices usually signal the start of consolidation.

And with fuel prices where they are right now, plus everything going on in the market, it does feel like we’re creeping toward another “2008ish” wave where airlines merged to survive.

Not saying this is guaranteed, but it’s definitely worth watching.

Check out these crazy award deals!

This section includes some of the best award flights of the week bookable with points and miles.

Chat with TravelBot - my AI clone. It’s trained on every newsletter I’ve published along with my 10+ years of points and credit card knowledge 🧠.

It’s also trained on my voice, so you can call it and have a full blown conversations. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

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