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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!)

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As well as some changes you might like.

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✈️ A Lot Has Changed Since My Last Points Workshop… So I’m Running It Live

If you’ve been wanting to get better at using your points, this is probably the easiest way to get my help without booking my full award travel service.

I’m running a live points workshop where I’ll walk through how to think about credit card points, how to find award flights, and how to actually feel comfortable using your points instead of letting them sit there.

The reason I want to do this live is simple:
a lot has changed, and I want to be able to answer real questions in real time.

To make sure this is actually helpful, I’m capping the number of attendees.

I don’t want this to turn into a giant webinar where questions get lost.

I want to keep it manageable so I can answer as many questions as possible and help people work through real examples.

Here’s what you’ll get:

✅ Ask me your points, cards, and award flight questions live
✅ See how I search for award flights in real time
✅ Learn how to know if an award flight is actually a good deal
✅ Understand what cards may make sense based on your travel goals
✅ Walk away more confident using your points to book flights

Think of it as a lower cost way to get direct help from me, learn the strategies I’ve used for the last decade, and start feeling more comfortable turning points into real trips.

If my $500+ booking service isn’t the right fit, but you still want guidance, this workshop is for you.

👉 Save your spot for the live points workshop before it fills up.

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.

One of the biggest reasons I don't think you should have all of your credit card points in one rewards program comes down to one word.

Optionality.

I'd rather have half as many points spread across a few different transferable currencies, like Chase, Amex, and Citi, than have everything sitting in just one.

Having different types of points gives you more transfer partners and more ways to book the same trip.

Let's say you have 300,000 Amex points.

That's great, but you're still limited to the airlines and hotels you can access through Amex and its transfer partners.

Instead, maybe you have 100,000 Amex points, 100,000 Chase points, and 100,000 Citi points.

Now you have access to three different ecosystems and a much larger group of transfer partners.

That can become incredibly important when you're actually trying to find award availability.

Maybe the flight you want isn't available through an Amex transfer partner, but it is available through United, which you can access with Chase.

Or maybe Citi has a transfer partner that gives you a better way to book the exact same flight.

That's why I also prefer earning transferable credit card points rather than putting everything into one airline program.

I'd rather have Amex points than Delta SkyMiles because Amex points can be transferred to Delta and a bunch of other programs.

But I'd rather have a healthy mix of Amex, Chase, Citi, and even some Delta miles than have absolutely everything locked into one currency.

There is a balance here.

You don't want to spread yourself so thin that you have 5,000 points sitting in 15 different programs and can't actually book anything.

You want meaningful balances across a few different transferable currencies.

That gives you options.

And in points and miles, the more options you have, the easier it becomes to find award availability and actually book the trip you want.

Don't just focus on building the biggest points balance.

Focus on building the most flexible one.

Earlier this week, Citi added Japan Airlines as a new transfer partner.

As of today, Citi, Capital One, and Bilt are the major transferable points programs that let you transfer points directly to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank.

But there's a pretty big difference in the transfer ratios.

Bilt and certain Citi cardholders can transfer at a 1:1 ratio, while Capital One transfers at a 2:1.5 ratio.

With Citi, your transfer ratio depends on which card you have.

If you have an annual fee card like the Citi Strata Premier or Citi Strata Elite, you can transfer Citi ThankYou Points to Japan Airlines at a 1:1 ratio.

If you have a no annual fee card like the Citi Strata or Citi Double Cash, you can still transfer to Japan Airlines, but at a 1:0.7 ratio.

I actually think it's pretty cool that Citi is allowing people with its no annual fee cards to transfer directly to Japan Airlines at all.

What I don't love is seeing transfer ratios increasingly divided based on which credit card you have.

If you want the better ratio, you're essentially being pushed toward one of Citi's annual fee cards.

Still, as a whole, I love seeing another airline become a transfer partner.

Japan continues to be an incredibly popular destination, and having another way to turn credit card points into Japan Airlines miles gives us more options for booking those trips.

There is one downside to all of this, though.

As Japan Airlines miles become easier to earn, more people will be competing for the same award availability.

Previously, one of the barriers to booking directly through Japan Airlines was simply getting enough JAL miles.

Adding more transferable currencies removes some of that friction.

That's great when you're the person trying to book the flight.

It's not as great when thousands of other people can suddenly do the exact same thing.

So there's a little bit of a give and take here.

On one hand, we now have another easy way to transfer credit card points to Japan Airlines.

On the other hand, that could eventually make some of the best Japan Airlines awards harder to find.

Either way, more transfer options are a win in my book. I'd much rather have more ways to use my points and deal with a little more competition than have fewer options altogether.

If you transfer Chase points to Hyatt and don't have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you need to pay attention to this one.

Effective October 1, Chase is devaluing the Hyatt transfer ratio for eligible cardholders from 1:1 to 4:3.

That means instead of transferring 100,000 Chase points and getting 100,000 Hyatt points, you'd only get 75,000 Hyatt points.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve will keep the 1:1 transfer ratio, so Chase is essentially putting one of its best transfer ratios behind its higher annual fee card.

I don't love this.

Hyatt has long been one of my favorite ways to use Chase points, and getting that 1:1 transfer has been a huge part of the value.

So what should you do before October 1?

Normally, I don't recommend transferring points speculatively.

Once you transfer Chase points to Hyatt, you can't move them back to Chase.

That's why I generally recommend finding the hotel availability you want first and then transferring the points you need.

This is one of those rare situations where I might think a little differently, though.

If you already know you're going to have Hyatt stays coming up and are confident you'll use those points, it could make sense to transfer the Chase points you'll need before October 1 and lock in the 1:1 ratio.

There's also another reason I wouldn't wait until the very last minute.

I've seen it happen before with devaluations like this.

Everyone waits until the deadline to make their transfers, and then things start breaking or transfers take longer than expected.

I wouldn't want to be sitting there on September 30 trying to move a bunch of Chase points because everyone else had the exact same idea.

So if you know you're going to use Hyatt points anyway, I'd rather make that transfer a little early and have the points sitting safely in my Hyatt account.

But I wouldn't transfer your entire Chase balance just because the ratio is changing.

Have a plan for the points first.

If Hyatt is already part of that plan, take advantage of the 1:1 ratio while you still can.

It's interesting to see STARLUX Airlines working toward a partnership with American Airlines, with a codeshare expected to begin September 30.

The bigger question for those of us in the points and miles world is what this could eventually mean for using American Airlines AAdvantage miles to book STARLUX flights.

Right now, it's not clear when, or if, that will become possible.

We already have something similar with Alaska Airlines, where you can use Alaska miles to book STARLUX flights.

The problem is that finding those award seats can sometimes be few and far between, so I'm curious whether an American partnership would be any different.

The codeshare itself could still be useful.

Ideally, you could fly American from your home airport to a STARLUX gateway and then connect onto the longer STARLUX flight, with everything booked together on one itinerary.

What I'm really going to be watching, though, is the award side.

Will we eventually be able to book STARLUX with American miles?

How much will those awards cost?

And, most importantly, how much award availability will STARLUX actually give American?

That's what could make this partnership really interesting.

STARLUX has a really good business class product, and Taiwan doesn't necessarily have to be your final destination.

You could use Taipei as a jumping-off point to continue to destinations throughout Asia, including places like Japan and China.

For now, this is one I'm going to keep an eye on.

The codeshare is interesting, but if STARLUX eventually becomes bookable with AAdvantage miles at reasonable rates, that's when this partnership could become much more useful for points and miles travelers.

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