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šŸŒŽ A new airline joins oneworld

Plus, there's also a new way to use your Avios

Estimated read time: 3 minutes and 56 seconds

šŸØ TRENDING TRAVEL NEWS šŸØ

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Good morning fromā€¦ bed.

Iā€™ve been slowly dying here in Mexico City for a couple of days (thanks Tiffany for stepping in to send yesterdayā€™s Daily Drop), but Iā€™m gonna give it my best shot today:

šŸ‡«šŸ‡Æ Fiji Airways joins Oneworld

Itā€™s not very often we see new airlines join one of the ā€œbig threeā€ airline alliancesā€¦ and itā€™s even less often that we see the same airline adopt an existing points currency as its own.

Well, folks, today we saw one airline do BOTH of those things, and itā€™s pretty exciting.

As of today, Fiji Airways is now a full member of the Oneworld alliance, and its new official points currency is none other than AAdvantage Miles.

Photo of Fiji Airways plane

Screenshot from fijiairways.com

So letā€™s break this downā€¦

As a full-fledged Oneworld member, you can now redeem more points for flights on Fiji Airways and get Oneworld benefits when flying with them.

I suspect weā€™ll see award redemptions open up through programs like Cathay, Qantas, and Avios in the near future.

But, as I mentioned, Fiji Airways now officially uses AAdvantage (the loyalty program of American Airlines) as its own program.

As a result, AAdvantage members will get some nice perks when flying on Fiji Airways:

AA member benefits when flying on Fiji

Screenshot from aa.com

It also means that, as of today, you can already redeem AAdvantage miles for Fiji Airways flights.

For example, you can book this flight from Dallas (DFW) to Nadi, Fiji (NAN) for as few as 40,000 AA miles in economy:

DFW to NAN for 40,000 AA miles

Screenshot from aa.com

Youā€™ll notice that business class costs a LOT moreā€¦ the benefit is that because Fiji now uses AA miles as its currency, you can book flights even when saver awards arenā€™t available with other programs.

The downside to that? Wellā€¦ the price.

Anyway, you can already book the same flight through Alaskaā€™s program for just 37,500 Alaska miles, so this isnā€™t the most exciting development in the world.

DFW to NAN for 37,500 Alaska miles

Screenshot from alaskaair.com

And since you can transfer Membership Rewards points to Alaska via Hawaiian, this is a better deal than booking through AA for numerous reasons.

Finally, this means that when you book cash flights on Fiji, youā€™ll earn AA miles, which is actually pretty sweet - after all, itā€™s always nice to have another way to rack them up.

Anyway, hereā€™s the bottom line:

Thereā€™s now another world-class airline in the Oneworld alliance. Fiji Airways is a great way to travel between the U.S. and Oceania, and now we have more ways to do so.

āœˆļø A new airline joins Avios

Speaking of new airlines adopting our favorite points currenciesā€¦

Those of you who enjoy traveling to the U.K. will be excited to hear that Loganair has officially adopted Avios as its own points currency.

Loganair adopts Avios as its currency

Screenshot from loganair.co.uk

Much like Fiji Airways, this change is effective today and flights are already bookable with Avios.

If youā€™ve never heard of Loganair, itā€™s the biggest regional airline in the U.K.

They connect a bunch of cities and towns, including super remote Scottish islands, and even some international routes to Ireland, Denmark, and Norway. šŸ‘‡

Loganair route map

Screenshot from loganair.co.uk

Those of you who have heard of Loganair might know that they are famous for operating the worldā€™s shortest commercial flight from Westray (WRY) to Papa Westray (PPW), which lasts about one minute.

Anyway, hereā€™s what this new update means for earning and redeeming Avios.

First of all, youā€™ll earn Avios when taking cash flights on Loganair, and itā€™s pretty straightforward:

Loganair Avios earning rates

Screenshot from loganair.co.uk

More exciting, however, is the ability to redeem Avios for flights. Specifically, you can redeem 6,500 Avios for any Loganair flight.

Sometimes, itā€™s a great deal, and sometimes not so much. For example, the shortest flight in the world that I just mentioned only costs $24ā€¦

Westray to Papa Westray for $24

Screenshot from loganair.co.uk

Obviously, this would be a terrible way to redeem points.

But check out this flight from Belfast (BFS) to Inverness (INV). It costs just 6,500 Avios and $44 in taxes and fees, with a normal cash cost of $206 (or even more on some dates).

Belfast to Inverness for 6,500 Avios

Screenshot from loganair.co.uk

Belfast to Inverness for $204

Screenshot from loganair.co.uk

In this case, youā€™re trading 6,500 Avios for $162, which means youā€™re getting 2.5 cents per Avios, which is fantastic value.

Oh, and donā€™t forget that you can freely transfer Avios between airlines like British Airways, Iberia, Qatar, Finnair, and Aer Lingus.

This means that you can effectively transfer points from various U.S. credit cards to Loganair by transferring them to British Airways first.

You can check out this page for instructions on linking your BA account to Loganair.

Anyway, itā€™s great to see some of the points we love the most get even more valuable!

šŸ¤“ Travel Trivia Tuesday

In which of the following countries will your U.S. dollar go the furthest in 2025?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Photo of Vietnam

Courtesy of Wikipedia

And the correct answer isā€¦ Vietnam šŸ‡»šŸ‡³

Thanks to a favorable exchange rate of about 25,580 Vietnamese đį»“ng to 1 U.S. dollar, Vietnam is one of the most budget-friendly spots for Americans this year.

According to Budget Your Trip, a full day in Vietnam including meals, lodging, transportation, and various touristy things costs an average of $67. 

Thatā€™s pretty crazy when you consider everything Vietnam has to offer.

Japan, Hungary, and South Africa are also great options if you're looking to make your money go further on your next trip.

In Hungary, 1 USD gets you about 366 forints, and Budapest offers everything youā€™d want in a big city without big-city prices.

If youā€™re looking for something a little more unique, South Africaā€™s exchange rate makes safaris accessible for under $200 per day.

Still, if youā€™re prioritizing budget travel this year, Vietnam is pretty tough to beat.

Read more about the most affordable spots for Americans in this article.

Check out this fun (and amazing) travel win from one of our Daily Drop Lounge members!

DD Lounge win

If youā€™d like to get in on the action, come join us in our exclusive Facebook group full of cool travelers just like yourself šŸ˜‰

Thatā€™s all for today, folks! I hope youā€™re as excited as I am to have two new ways to redeem points and miles.

Iā€™m going to take a phat nap and hope I feel better tomorrow.

Take care ā¤ļø

Mike Dodge
Head Writer, Daily Drop

19.4326Ā° N, 99.1332Ā° W