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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!)

Howdy and welcome to all the new faces!

Excited to have more of you here and show you the world of points and miles.

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✈️ The Hardest Part of Award Travel Isn’t Having Points… It’s Knowing Where to Use Them

One of the biggest problems with points and miles isn’t earning them.

It’s figuring out what’s actually possible.

You might know you have Chase, Amex, or Capital One points sitting there, but then the questions start:

“Where can I actually fly?”
“Is this a good redemption?”
“Am I missing a better option?”
“Should I transfer my points now or wait?”

That’s why I like Thrifty Traveler.

They don’t just send you random deals they help remove a lot of the guesswork by showing you opportunities you may not have even considered.

Like these

✅ See destinations you may not have thought about instead of searching the same routes over and over
✅ Get the points cost upfront so you know if it’s actually a good deal
✅ See where you can fly from so you can figure out if the route works for you
✅ They factor in transfer bonuses so you can stretch your points further
✅ Save hours of searching by having deals delivered directly to your inbox

The biggest advantage? It helps turn “I have points but don’t know what to do with them” into an actual plan.

Giving you step by step instructions on how to book in the email too.

And the best part is you don’t have to commit right away.

Thrifty Traveler has a free tier, so you can test it out, see what the alerts look like, and decide if it’s something that helps you find your next trip.

👉 Try the free tier here and see if it helps you find your next award flight.

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.

American Express is currently offering a 30% transfer bonus to British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus, making this a great time to stretch your Membership Rewards points a little further.

If you're not familiar with how transfer bonuses work, it's simple.

Normally, 1,000 Amex Membership Rewards points transfer to 1,000 Avios.

During this promotion, those same 1,000 Amex points become 1,300 Avios.

The really cool part is that all three airlines use the Avios currency, and you're able to move your Avios between their loyalty programs.

You just need to use the Avios partner exchange website.

But it gets even better.

While American Express doesn't have a transfer bonus for Qatar Airways Privilege Club, you can transfer your Amex points to British Airways, then move those Avios over to your Qatar account for free.

But why does that matter?

Because the exact same flight can sometimes cost fewer points or have lower taxes and fees when booked through Qatar than through British Airways.

This is why I love transfer bonuses.

Rather than transferring points just because there's a bonus, I like to wait until I find a redemption that already makes sense.

Then, if there's a transfer bonus running, it becomes even better.

For example, you can use Qatar Avios to book American Airlines flights within the United States.

A flight from JFK to LAX that normally costs 16,000 Avios would effectively cost you only about 13,000 Amex points after the 30% transfer bonus.

An even better example is using Qatar Avios to book Alaska Airlines flights.

I found a business class flight that normally costs 77,250 Avios.

With the 30% transfer bonus, you'd only need to transfer about 60,000 Amex points to book the exact same flight.

That's a fantastic redemption for a seat that can easily sell for around $2,000 in cash.

The transfer bonus runs through September 27, so there's no rush to transfer your points today.

I'd spend some time searching for award space first, see if you can find a redemption that makes sense, and then take advantage of the bonus.

Stacking great award pricing with a transfer bonus is one of the easiest ways to squeeze even more value out of your points.

If you've been thinking about earning a Southwest Companion Pass, today is your last chance to take advantage of this promotion.

The offer ends Thursday, August 6.

All you have to do is book one round trip flight or two one way flights by the end of today and complete the travel by November 18.

If you do, you'll earn a promotional Companion Pass that's valid from January 5, 2027, through March 3, 2027.

If you're not familiar with the Companion Pass, it's one of the best perks in domestic travel.

You designate one person as your companion, and whenever you book a Southwest flight, they can join you for just the cost of taxes and fees: $5.60

There isn't a limit to how many times your companion can fly with you during the promotional period, so it's essentially a buy one get one free pass for Southwest flights.

If you already have travel planned for the beginning of next year, this promotion could save you a significant amount of money.

It's definitely worth considering if you'll be flying with a spouse, family member, or friend, especially since today is the last day to qualify.

I listened to a really good podcast episode from the Thrifty Traveler team, where they talked with the person who monitors award availability and reviews all the deals that come pop up.

It was interesting hearing how much the points and miles landscape continues to change.

One thing that stood out was how many more Delta award opportunities are starting to appear.

For a long time, Delta was known for having some pretty rough award pricing, but it sounds like there are more situations where good redemptions are becoming available.

Another takeaway was around new routes.

When an airline launches a brand new route, they often release a lot of award availability at the beginning.

That makes sense, given that airlines are trying to fill those new flights and build awareness.

If you see a new route announced that you've been wanting to try, it's worth checking award availability early.

You might have access to dates that would normally be much harder to find once people catch on.

I thought that was a really valuable tip because it gives you another strategy beyond just searching existing routes.

Sometimes the best opportunities come from something that didn't exist a few months ago.

If you're interested in the constantly changing world of points and miles, I definitely recommend checking out the episode.

It's a good reminder that award travel is always evolving, and the strategies that work today might look completely different a year from now.

Looking at the list of the 50 best hotels in the world, the article covers how many of these incredible properties you could actually book with points.

The goal wasn't necessarily to find the best cents per point redemption, but instead to see where points could unlock experiences that I probably wouldn't pay for with cash.

One thing that surprised me was how many of these hotels were part of Leading Hotels of the World.

They had 8 properties on the list, and now that Amex Membership Rewards points can transfer over at a 4:1 ratio, these hotels are a little more accessible than before.

For some of these properties, I would never justify paying the cash rate.

But if I can use points to experience one of the best hotels in the world, that changes the math completely.

The more interesting option, though, might be through The Edit by Chase Travel.

Through The Edit, you can book up to 31 of these properties directly through the Chase Travel portal.

The redemption rates vary depending on the hotel, ranging from around 1.65 cents per point all the way up to 2.5 cents per point (with the Chase Sapphire Reserve).

Most of the properties seem to land around that 2 cents per point range, which honestly isn't bad.

This is one of the situations where having a premium Chase card, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, can unlock some interesting value if these types of hotels are on your bucket list.

I think it's really cool to see that points and miles are still a viable way to experience even the best hotels in the world.

Now, are these always the absolute best use of your points?

Probably not.

But I don't think every redemption needs to be about maximizing every single cent per point.

Some of the best hotel experiences I've had would have looked terrible on paper from a cents per point or value perspective.

But they were either impossible to book with points later or the opportunity disappeared.

If you have the chance to use points to book one of these once in a lifetime hotels, I would seriously consider doing it sooner rather than later.

Points are constantly changing, programs devalue, and availability disappears.

Sometimes the best redemption is the one that lets you experience something you probably wouldn't have paid cash for.

Check out these crazy award deals!

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

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