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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!)

We have some updates this week in the world of points and travel.

I’d say one is good for families.

But if you’re trying to go to Europe, it might be more expensive now.

So lets get into it.

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This is something I think a lot of people still don't realize.

You can join Bilt without opening another credit card and start earning points.

You can link cards you already have to your Bilt account and take advantage of benefits throughout Bilt's network while earning their transferable points.

That means your Chase, Amex, Capital One, or even debit card can stay right where they are.

Bilt is especially worth having because its points can be transferred to a long list of strong airline and hotel partners.

The best part?

Joining Bilt is free.

So even if you have zero interest in opening a Bilt credit card, I'd still create an account.

It takes a few minutes, costs you nothing, and gives you another way to potentially get more value out of spending you're already doing.

👉 Join Bilt For Free

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.

I wanted to talk about something I think people focus on a little too much when redeeming points cents per point.

Basically, how much "value" are you getting for every point you redeem?

In some cases, it's a useful metric.

It can help you compare different ways to book the same trip and make sure you're not getting completely ripped off.

But I also see people focus on it so much that it keeps them from actually using their points.

That's the part I don't like.

The best redemption isn't necessarily the one that gets you 5 cents per point instead of 2 cents per point.

The best redemption is the one that gets you on the trip.

If your points help you take a vacation with your family that you otherwise wouldn't have taken, does it really matter if you got the absolute maximum theoretical value out of every point?

This is especially important with all the devaluations we've been seeing.

Points aren't becoming more valuable sitting in your account.

That hotel that costs 30,000 points tonight might cost 40,000 next year.

That 60,000 point business class flight might become 75,000 points.

Or that redemption might disappear completely.

I've experienced this myself.

Two of the best trips I've ever taken weren't necessarily my best redemptions from a cents per point perspective.

One of those hotels isn't even bookable with points anymore because it changed brands.

The other one is still bookable, but it costs significantly more points today than when I stayed there.

Had I waited around trying to squeeze a little more value out of those points, I might have missed those experiences entirely.

That's why I always remind people that points and miles are there to be used.

They're there to help you travel, spend time with people you care about, and have experiences you might not have been willing or able to pay cash for.

You can't really put a cents per point value on those memories.

So if you're sitting on a pile of points, start using them.

And if you have the points but have absolutely no idea how to use them, keep an eye on this newsletter over the next few weeks.

I might have something coming that can help with exactly that.

If you're curious, reply to this email and I might give you a little more information.

At the end of the day, my goal isn't to help you build the biggest points balance possible.

I want your points balance to be zero and your memory bank to be full.

If you’re not familiar with Flying Blue, it is hands down one of my favorite programs for redeeming points.

Unfortunately, it looks like Flying Blue has been hit with a devaluation, although they probably wouldn’t call it that.

From their perspective, they’re “giving passengers more options.”

Instead of having one award fare, Flying Blue is breaking awards into different tiers.

The lowest is Business Light, which can still come in around the 60,000 mile pricing we were seeing before.

The problem is that you’re no longer getting everything you used to get for those 60,000 miles.

With Business Light, you lose some pretty significant benefits, including lounge access and the ability to refund your ticket.

That second one is especially important to me.

One of the great things about booking travel with points is flexibility.

If something happens or better award availability opens up, having the ability to change or cancel your trip can be incredibly valuable.

From there, you have Business Standard, which can come in around 75,000 miles, followed by Business Flex, which gives you even more flexibility.

So while Flying Blue can say that the lowest award pricing hasn’t necessarily disappeared, you’re essentially getting less for the same number of miles and being asked to pay more if you want the benefits you previously received.

One interesting thing is Flying Blue Elite status.

If you have status, you can still receive some of the benefits on a Business Light award that someone without status would have to pay more to get.

That makes this feel like another push toward loyalty.

If you have Flying Blue status, you can book the cheaper fare while retaining more benefits.

If you don’t, you either give some of those benefits up or spend more miles to get them back.

I definitely don’t like seeing it, especially from a program I use and recommend so often.

At the same time, as far as points and miles devaluations go, it could have been a lot worse.

The 60,000 mile business class redemption is still there.

You’re just unfortunately getting less for those 60,000 miles than you were before.

So book before September 8th if you want to avoid these changes.

If you didn’t know, booking a lap infant ticket can sometimes turn into a black hole, especially when you're using points.

Some airline programs won't even let you add a lap infant to certain award tickets online, which can lead to hours on the phone trying to get everything sorted out.

I've even seen situations where people weren't able to get the infant added correctly and ended up missing their flight.

Then there's the cost.

Some airlines charge around 10% of the cash fare to add a lap infant to an international award ticket.

That might not sound terrible until you realize they're calculating that percentage based on the cash price of the ticket, not how many points you paid.

If you booked a Japan Airlines businessvclass seat with points but that same ticket is selling for several thousand dollars, 10% can still be a substantial amount of money.

That's why, for a while, I defaulted to telling families to look at Air Canada Aeroplan when traveling internationally with a lap infant.

Aeroplan has some of the best lapvinfant pricing at around $25, which can save you hundreds of dollars compared with other programs.

Now it looks like Alaska is becoming another option worth knowing about.

As Alaska expands internationally with flights from Seattle to places like Tokyo and Seoul, along with upcoming service to Rome and Reykjavik, and just announced Athens and Paris.

They've updated their system to make it easier to add lap infants to their own international award flights.

Instead of charging a percentage of the cash fare, you're essentially looking at the applicable taxes and fees for the infant on eligible Alaska operated flights.

They're still working on expanding the functionality for partner awards, so that's something to be aware of if you're using Alaska Atmos points to book another airline.

But overall, this is a really good change for families.

If you're traveling internationally with a child under two and planning to keep them as a lap infant, I'd definitely add Alaska to the list of programs worth checking alongside Aeroplan.

When you're booking multiple tickets for a family, saving a few hundred dollars on the infant ticket alone can make a big difference.

While this data is based on the number of international flights operated rather than the number of passengers flown, I thought it was interesting to see that American Airlines has overtaken United as the number one U.S. airline for international flights.

What surprised me even more was looking at some of the busiest routes.

Two of the routes with the most flights were Dallas to Monterrey and Dallas to Cancun, which makes a lot of sense when you consider how massive American's operation is out of DFW and its proximity to Mexico.

But I wanted to use this as an opportunity to talk about something more useful.

How I would actually book these American Airlines flights with points.

Obviously, you can book American flights using American AAdvantage miles.

But one of my favorite alternatives is using Alaska Atmos Rewards points to book American Airlines flights because Alaska and American are partners.

The downside is that Alaska points aren't necessarily the easiest currency to earn.

If you fly American frequently or are looking at some of these international routes, though, it makes Alaska points a currency worth paying attention to.

Another option worth knowing about is Avios.

Because American is part of the Oneworld alliance, you can potentially use Avios through programs like British Airways and Qatar Airways to book American operated flights.

Depending on the route, one program might charge significantly fewer points than another, so I wouldn't automatically book through American just because you're flying American.

That's really the takeaway from this data for me.

If American is operating more international flights than any other U.S. carrier right now, understanding the different currencies you can use to book those flights becomes even more valuable.

United is still making a big international push of its own, although it has run into some challenges expanding into certain markets, including China.

But for now, if you're looking at international travel on American, I'd have AAdvantage miles, Alaska Atmos Rewards points, and Avios on my radar.

The airline you're flying doesn't necessarily have to be the airline whose points you use to book it.

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