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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!)

I hate to say this.

But it’s starting to feel like the sky is falling.

Some changes happened this week that I’m not too happy with.

So let’s get to it.

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Today is Juneteenth and I want to share something that changed how I travel.

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If you weren’t aware, the American Express Business Platinum card has a really cool benefit that’s unfortunately going away.

When you use the Amex travel portal to pay with points for a cash business or first class flights, regardless of the airline, you’d get a 35% point rebate on the flight after booking.

This allowed you to book cash flights using points for decent value with the rebate.

It was a great option for those times when you could find reasonably priced cash tickets in business or first class, especially useful when needing multiple tickets where finding award availability with points was challenging.

Unfortunately, this perk is ending effective September 18, 2025.

Thankfully, it’s not disappearing entirely, it will only be available for flights on your selected airline, rather than any airline.

While this isn’t ideal, you can switch your preferred airline.

Just note it takes a couple of days for the change to register, so don’t wait to call Amex to change it and book right away.

If you want the full breakdown of how it works, you can check it out here.

This feels like an all out blitz with Chase increasing the bonus on the Preferred and Unlimited, two of their most popular cards, just a couple of days after revealing the revamp of their new Reserve card.

My best guess is that with the Chase Sapphire Preferred sign up bonus going up to 75k, surely the Chase Sapphire Reserve bonus will be 100k.

The new Chase Unlimited in branch offer will be 5% cash back on gas stations and groceries up to $12,000 in the first year.

I wonder if this is all a play to get people to switch all their spending into the Chase ecosystem to boost their cash inflows.

I'll have to see how this plays out and report back.

The number and amount of award availability from the US to Europe has increased recently, with some routes offering their lowest award rates at 60,000 miles from the US to Paris.

There's even availability this summer for 60,000 business class seats from the West Coast.

Now that SAS is part of Flying Blue, you can book those routes too.

Look out for these dates in the Flight of the Week section.

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.

So with the news that the revamped Chase Sapphire Reserve card is actually coming out, from my perspective, the downgrades are a little sad to see.

It feels like a race to the bottom with the removal of benefits.

Apparently, Chase Sapphire Reserve lost over $2 billion in the first 5 years (a great article breaking it down), so the revamp was a move to try and stop the bleeding.

Too many people used it as their primary travel card, especially with the 3x points on all travel and 1.5x through the travel portal (both removed in revamp).

These changes, along with removing the Sapphire family rule, expanding the 48-month rule, and allowing new cards without welcome offers, seem aimed at capturing more of people's wallets.

It’s an interesting strategy, but also something to keep an eye on, because the last thing we want is a race to the bottom where card issuers give each other excuses to remove benefits.

i.e. Amex dropping the news about removing the 35% rebate the day after Chase unveils their new credit card comes to mind.

And since I’m on it, I can't really recommend the new Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Yes, you get a lot in credits, but you're still putting up almost $800 for them.

If you’re not already using all those services, it's hard to justify.

And since you made it to the end of my rant I want to show you something top secret. 🤫

I am finishing up a “Luis Chat” that can answer any points and travel question you have. I’m going to give you free access to it.

Check out these crazy award deals!

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

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