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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 from Texas! Hope everyone’s doing well. It’s finally starting to look like fall around here, and it's just cool enough for me to start wearing hoodies. 😎

In today’s issue, I’ve got some news you’ll want to hear if you’re planning a trip to Europe next year, plus some exciting updates that could make your travel game even stronger, think easier ways to earn status, a transfer bonus, and more!

Let’s jump in!

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Fresh off their merger with Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines is kicking off 2025 with some exciting changes. There’s a lot to cover, so here’s the quick version: they’re introducing a new way to earn elite status, and—most importantly—all award flights will now count toward status. That means even flights booked with points will help you earn status, 🤯 not just flights on Alaska partner airline flights too.

With so many people converting their Hawaiian Airlines miles to Alaska Mileage Plan miles, now might be the perfect time to book those partner flights and start planing for elite status.

Cathay Pacific is starting to roll out their newly retrofitted planes and all I can say is nice. I’ve had a chance to fly their old business class and while it was spacious it definitely needed a revamp.

With the first retrofitted plane done it’ll take them until 2027 to finish all 30 of their Boeing 777-300ERs. And if you’re wondering how to book this new business class with points, I got you. Just refer back to this helpful post.

Chase is offering a 40% transfer bonus to Virgin miles until November 30th. But here’s the catch: Virgin is rolling out new dynamic pricing at the end of the month. So, if you’re feeling lucky, you could transfer your points now and see how it plays out.

However, since the promotion runs until the end of next month, if you’re not planning to book right something right now, I’d recommend waiting to see what happens with the new pricing structure. The last thing anyone wants is to get hit with “new and improved” award pricing that ends up being worse than expected.

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.

Frank asked if there are any other ways of using your points to book flights that aren’t normally talked about.

The American Express Business Platinum Card offers a cool benefit where you can pay for a cash flight with points, and after paying, you get a 35% rebate. This means you’ll get those points back. Just keep in mind that it can take up to 10 weeks for the rebate to process.

Two things to note, though: the booking has to be with the preferred airline you pick each year for the card, or it has to be a business or first-class flight on any airline.

This is a great option when you find a cheap business or first-class seat that rivals award rates but don’t want to worry about award availability. It's especially helpful if you're booking for the whole family where sometimes only a few award seats are available.

PS: If you own a business and are curious about the best business cards for owners, check this out. 👇🏿 It’s an affiliate link 😉

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

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