✈️ A whopping 35% airline transfer bonus

Estimated read time: 3 minutes and 50 seconds

Good morning, and welcome back to Daily Drop, the houseplant of newsletters.

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Speaking of keeping up with things, here’s what you need to be in the loop with:

• ✈️ A whopping 35% airline transfer bonus

• 😅 Travel meme

• 🤓 Travel Trivia Tuesday

✈️ A whopping 35% airline transfer bonus

Why do transfer bonuses seem to come in waves? One week, there are none and the next week, a million drop at once…

Just yesterday, I told you about a new 30% transfer bonus to Avios programs from UR Points, which I think is great.

But you know what’s even better than a 30% bonus?

A 35% bonus, of course. 😎

Until October 31st, 2024, you can get a 25-35% transfer bonus when you transfer ThankYou Points to Qatar Airways Avios.

This one needs a bit more explanation, so here it is:

• The bonus is given by QATAR rather than the bank, so you won’t see this listed on the bank’s transfer page (you can read about it here).

• The bonus is for 25% - but if you transfer 100,000 or more ThankYou Points, you’ll get an additional 10,000 miles (thus making it a 35% bonus).

So yeah, a little bit complicated… but a potential EXCELLENT deal if you send over 100,000 points.

Here’s why I’m excited about this one:

ThankYou Points are one of the less exciting transferrable points… they don’t have some of the heavy-hitting partners like Hyatt and Aeroplan that other programs have.

If you have a bunch of points lying around and send over 100,000, you’ll end up with 135,000 Qatar Avios.

Qatar lets you book domestic flights in the U.S. at pretty low rates, like this flight from Chicago to Houston for just 13,000 Avios and $10. 👇

Sending over 100,000 points would mean booking ten domestic flights like this, a great use of your ThankYou Points.

But don’t forget - just because you’re transferring to Qatar doesn’t mean you need to keep your Avios with Qatar.

You can also easily transfer Avios from Qatar to British Airways, Finnair, Aer Lingus, or Iberia.

If you sent them to Iberia, you’d have almost enough Avios to book FOUR business-class flights in lie-flat seats from the U.S. to Europe, which cost as few as 34,000 Iberia Avios.

Another great option would be to send them over to British Airways.

I’ve already told you about some of BA’s sweet spots (including using them for domestic flights in the U.S.), but you can also use them to fly from North America to Scotland for 25,000 Avios and $100.

You can even throw in a free stopover in London for a few days! 🇬🇧

So here’s the bottom line:

Qatar is offering a 25% transfer bonus when you send over ThankYou Points. If you send at least 100,000, you’ll get a 10,000-point bonus on top of that.

While UR Points and MR Points have both offered similar bonuses recently, those come with an opportunity cost of not being able to use those points for more valuable transfer partners.

If any of the above examples sound good to you, I think this is a great use of your hard-earned ThankYou Points.

😅 Travel meme

Fortunately, you read Daily Drop and know ALL about how certain credit cards can get you TSA PreCheck for free (and therefore keep your shoes on!). 😎

🤓 Travel Trivia Tuesday

The correct answer is… Japan, home to the island of Tashirojima, casually referred to locals as “Cat Island.”

Yes. Just… Yes. I fully support this behavior from Japan. 🐈

Tashirojima is located off the coast of central Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture. Originally brought over to help control pests in silkworm farms, the island's cats now vastly outnumber the human residents—there are nearly four cats for every person!

And yes... you can also visit this magical place. Visitors must take a one-hour ferry ride from Ishinomaki to reach Tashirojima.

Once there, you'll find two main areas: Odomari Port in the north and Nitoda Port in the south.

While exploring, you might encounter a freaking cat shrine (Nekokamisama) dedicated to a cat who met an unfortunate end but is honored for bringing good luck to local fishermen. How adorable is that?? 😻

Tashirojima isn’t just about cats—it’s also known for its manga-themed resort, Manga Island, featuring cat-shaped cottages and artwork by famous manga artists.

I’m literally in Japan right now, just a few hours from this place… so if you don’t hear from me tomorrow, it’s because I’m snuggling with a hundred cats and have won life.

Anyway, read more about the famous "cat island" here.

Anyone else excited for upcoming holiday travel?!

Check out how this Daily Drop Lounge member strategized using their points for a trip to Frankfurt in December👇

If you aren’t already part of our Facebook community, we invite you to join us there to continue learning (and sharing) about all things travel!

That’s all for today, friends! I hope you enjoyed today’s travel tips and cat trivia!

I’m really enjoying traveling around Japan… Despite being a touristy place and sometimes pretty expensive, there are a lot of ways to save money traveling around this beautiful country.

So before you go, tell me something:

Take care, and see you tomorrow!

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