✈️ A tip for saving on domestic flights

Estimated read time: 5 minutes and 2 seconds

Good morning from 37,000 feet over the Philippines! I’m surviving a long-haul flight in a tiny plane en route to one of my favorite countries.

Buckle up, your favorite newsletter on Earth is about to take off:

• 🇯🇵 Mike on the Move: Japan getaway

• ✈️ Epic trick to save on domestic flights

• 🛳️ Vacation showdown: Cruise vs. all-inclusive

🇯🇵 Mike on the Move: Japan getaway

Last time I shared my travel plans, they ended with a series of Alaska mileage bookings taking me to Papua New Guinea.

But now, to kick off this leg, I booked a cash flight from Port Moresby (POM) to Osaka (KIX) on Philippine Airlines with an overnight layover in Manila (MNL).

I booked through Trip.com since it was the cheapest option, but made sure to use the Rakuten shopping portal to earn some extra Membership Rewards points on the purchase.

I specifically didn’t credit this flight to any loyalty program with the hope that once the PAL/Alaska partnership kicks in, I can retroactively credit the flight to Alaska. 🤞

In Manila, I booked a night at my favorite hotel in the city — the Hyatt Regency Manila City of Dreams, which costs just 9,000-15,000 points per night:

With a cash cost of around $275 per night (after taxes), this is a deal and a half…

Plus, it’s just five minutes from the airport, extremely comfortable, and conveniently attached to a casino, so I can put my ultimate gambling strategy to use. 😉

In Osaka, I’ll stay for a night at one of Hyatt’s newer brands, Caption by Hyatt.

Sadly, this property increased in price back in March, but is still a solid deal at 6,500-9,500 points per night.

After a short stay in Kansai, I’ll take the train to Kanazawa — a city that’s been on my Japan bucket list for years now.

Hyatt also rules this city with two solid properties, one of which only costs 6,500 points per night during my travel dates:

I simply transferred over some Ultimate Rewards points from my favorite travel, the [[ chase-sapphire-reserve.name ]], to save hundreds of dollars on all of these stays.

But here’s where things get really fun…

Domestic business-class flights in Japan can be shockingly cheap.

I was able to book a nearly five-hour flight from Komatsu (KMQ) to Sapporo (CTS) in business class on Japan Airlines for just $180 — only $63 more than economy!

TLDR: When flying in Japan, ALWAYS check the price for business class — it might be a lot cheaper than you think. 😉

Even better, JAL has fixed prices for upgrading domestic flights to first class on the day of departure, and they’re pretty reasonable.

So for just $84, I’ll be able to fly in an even BETTER first-class seat for this quick (but luxurious) hop up North on JAL’s Airbus A350.

Side note: JAL’s domestic planes are different than its international ones… so while first class is still luxurious, it’s not the same as the massive suites it offers on international routes.

In Sapporo, I’m tapping into another favorite hotel trick of mine: using IHG points and getting the fourth night free by holding the [[ ihg-rewards-premier-credit-card.name ]].

Despite Sapporo being quite an expensive city in June, I’ll shell out less than 11,000 IHG points per night thanks to this killer combo:

Finally, the cherry on top of this crazy trip around the world: flying in business class from Sapporo home to Jakarta (CGK) using… wait for it… Delta SkyMiles.

I was delighted to see that Korean Air flies its brand-spanking-new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners between Sapporo and Seoul (ICN), bookable for just 15,000 SkyMiles in business class.

This means three hours in a lie-flat bed in a fully enclosed suite with a door:

You can also book long-haul, intra-Asia routes on SkyTeam airlines for pretty cheap through Delta, so I tacked on a Garuda Indonesia flight (also in business class) onward to Jakarta for a grand total of 40,000 SkyMiles and $33 in fees.

This is the exact reason I recently signed up for the [[ delta-skymiles-platinum-american-express-card.name ]].

Along with the credits and perks, SkyMiles can usually take you much further when used with partner airlines than they can flying on Delta’s own metal.

Anyway, that concludes my crazy trip, and I hope you enjoyed this smorgåsbord of travel tips to put to use on your own travels.

😏 A trick to save money on domestic flights

We all know that budget airlines can get pretty stingy with their fees.

But it’s actually a lot worse than you could possibly imagine.

In fact, every single ticket you buy from Spirit Airlines has something called a “Passenger Usage Charge” attached to it.

Last week, the airline increased this fee by $5, and it now ranges anywhere from $8 to $28 per segment.

Look at this flight from Boston (BOS) to Los Angeles (LAX) via Atlanta (ATL), for which Spirit is charging $56 for this fee:

Remember, this fee applies to every segment. So if you have two flights with a layover, you’ll pay the fee twice. In this case, it’s the full $28 per flight.

Yep. That $97 fare? It’s actually just $41 of real airfare and $56 of pure nonsense fees.

So let’s just delete the fee, shall we? 😏

You see, if you try to purchase this exact ticket in person at any Spirit check-in desk or ticket counter at a U.S. airport, you won’t pay this fee at all.

Why, you ask?

Well, Spirit charges this as an “optional add-on.” As a result, the fee is exempt from the 7.5% federal excise tax (so Spirit makes more money).

In this case, your “option” for not paying the fee is buying your flight in person rather than online or over the phone.

It might sound like a huge hassle to save $56… but imagine doing this for a round-trip, traveling with a family, or taking multiple trips at once.

You could be saving hundreds of dollars and flying around the country for next to nothing.

So here’s my advice:

If you fly Spirit (or other budget carriers like Frontier that do the exact same thing) often, do one of the following:

• Get to the airport early before your next flight and buy some future tickets in person, or…

• When you arrive at the airport after a flight, simply go back to the check-in area before you head home and do the exact same thing.

If airlines want to play games to avoid taxes, let’s play the game with them, eh? 😈

🛳️ Vacation showdown: Cruise vs. all-inclusive

All this talk about unique ways to travel around Asia or game the system with budget airlines is cool, but sometimes it’s nice to kick back and enjoy a more relaxed, no-hassle trip.

That’s where cruises and all-inclusive beach getaways come in handy… but which one should you choose?

In this week’s Daily Drop YouTube video, we’ll answer that question and put these two vacation styles head to head.

That’s all for today, folks! I hope you enjoyed today's tips as we kick off the week with a bang.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more news, tips, and fun travel stuff. For now, have a lovely day. ❤️

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