✈️ A new airline joins the Avios gang

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Good morning from beautiful Kyoto, Japan—one of my favorite places on this strange (flat) rock we call Earth. 🌎

I’m eager to get out and explore, but first… we have some travel hacking business to attend to.

Here’s what I got for you today:

• 💳 How I’d use this signup bonus

• ✈️ A new airline joins the Avios gang

• 🤣 Meme

💳 How I’d use the [[ american-express-gold-card.name ]] signup bonus

We always talk about credit cards and how awesome it is to get a nice, hefty welcome bonus.

We toss around numbers like 60,000 points, 80,000 points, or even 100,000 points.

But what does that actually translate into?

Well, today… I’m going to tell you.

This is a new segment called “What I’d do with the [[ american-express-gold-card.casual-card-name ]] signup bonus," and it's exactly what it sounds like… I'll pick a card and tell you exactly what I'd do, in detail, with the current signup bonus.

And today, we’re gonna kick things off with the [[ american-express-gold-card.casual-card-name ]]. I love this card for a few reasons:

• Reasonable annual fee

• Various credits that essentially offset said annual fee

• High earning rates on daily spend

For those reasons, this is a card worth keeping, in my opinion.

But right now, there’s a welcome offer of 60,000 points that could make it a whole lot more appealing to pick up.

The biggest perk of the points you earn on the card is that this bank has more transfer partners than any other bank, giving you a huge list of options for using the points.

One of my favorite partners is Air France and KLM Flying Blue.

Whether you’re traveling to Europe or you just want a weekend getaway right at home in the U.S., this program offers fantastic value.

There are two big perks of using Flying Blue:

1. Their monthly Promo Rewards (read more about the current ones here)

2. You can book flights with partner airlines like Delta

I’ve been eyeing a trip to Ecuador, so If I signed up for this credit card, I’d transfer 39,000 points to Flying Blue right away and book round-trip flights on Delta from the U.S. to Quito, Ecuador.

Already, you’ve gotten round-trip flights to an awesome international destination, and still have almost half of the welcome bonus left to use.

Thankfully, you can also use these points to book hotels. You can either transfer them to a program like Marriott or Hilton, or book travel directly in this bank’s portal.

For now, let’s look at the latter. South America has some pretty cheap independent hotels, so I think the value is better using the portal.

In fact, there are some cute-looking hotels that are cheap enough to book a seven-night stay.

This hotel costs about $23 USD per night, which would run you a bit over 3,000 points in the portal of the bank in question.

So let’s summarize:

• This one signup bonus is worth 60,000 points

• After meeting the minimum spend, you’d have at least 63,000 points

• You can use 39,000 points to book round-trip flights to South America

• The remaining 24,000 points can book you a seven-night stay

• The only up-front cash cost of the trip is the roughly $34 (each way) in taxes and fees for the flights

• The card (for which we have a deep dive article) basically pays for itself every year with credits.

And there you have it. That’s how I’d use a fairly normal, common welcome bonus to book a sweet international trip.

✈️ A new airline joins the Avios gang

Avios are one of our favorite points currencies here at Daily Drop.

Not only are they the official currency of Qatar, British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus, but you can use them interchangeably with each of these programs to book flights on OneWorld and partner airlines around the world.

As if the currency wasn’t already flexible enough, it just got even better.

Finnair, a OneWorld member and the flag carrier of Finland, has just announced that it will be adopting Avios as its official point currency beginning in 2024.

Here are a few details:

• The change will take place in “early 2024”

• Avios will be awarded for paid flights based on the dollars spent, rather than the distance flown

• More awards (and saver awards) will be available to book

All of these things are good news, but the last bullet point up there is the kicker…

Finnair is known for having one of the most unique business-class seats in Europe.

The fact that awards will now be easier to book (and more of them will be available in the first place) means that we now have yet another great option for flying across the Atlantic (and beyond) in style and comfort.

It also means that as long as you have the ability to transfer points to either Qatar or British Airways (which pretty much every bank does), you will be able to further transfer them from either of those programs directly to Finnair.

I’m excited about this… I’ve flown Finnair a couple of times and absolutely loved their service and planes.

Whenever this change goes into effect (fingers crossed for sooner than later), I’ll definitely be looking to hop on another Finnair flight.

🤣 Meme

One of my favorite ways to learn about new travel hacks is in our very own Daily Drop Lounge, an online community of DD fans and travel hackers.

And unlike your local airport lounge, you won’t have any trouble getting into the Daily Drop Lounge. 😉

Here’s a look at a post from this past week if you want a taste of what you’re missing:

That’s all for today, friends! I’ve been awake for way too long, so it’s nap time for me…

If you got the 60,000-point signup bonus I mentioned, how would you use it? Have you ever used Avios to book a flight? Let me know by replying to this email or reaching out on social media.

Cheers,

35.0116° N, 135.7681° E