✈️ Avios just got even more flexible

Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 8 seconds

Well, hello there. Welcome back to Daily Drop—the cream of the crop, the email that don’t stop, we’re always on a roll and we’ll never, ever flop.

Hang on a minute…am I rapping?

Better stop while I’m ahead... Anyway, here's what I've got for you:

• ✈️ A new way to use your precious Avios!

• 🏨 Buy Marriott Bonvoy points with a bonus

• 🤓 Travel Trivia Tuesday

✈️ A new way to use your precious Avios!

Last year, Finnair announced it would adopt Avios (the points currency of British Airways, Qatar, etc) as its own “in-house” currency.

And while it’s always been possible to transfer Avios between airlines that use them, Finnair has been the exception.

Until now, that is… 😏

As of a few days ago, you can now freely transfer points between Finnair and British Airways.

Since British Airways allows you to transfer Avios to Qatar, Iberia, and Aer Lingus, you can essentially transfer Avios between them all.

To set up this process with Finnair, go to your Finnair account and follow the simple steps to “Link your Accounts.”

Once this is done, you’ll complete the transfers from the British Airways site (just like transferring to Qatar or Iberia).

I tried it out, and it was simple and took about 30 seconds.

But the question many of you are asking is, “Why do I care?”

It’s a good question… and I’ll tell you why.

Finnair has an excellent business-class product, and they fly to several cities in the U.S.

And booking these flights with Finnair as opposed to a program like British Airways has some advantages.

For example, you can fly from Chicago to Helsinki in business class for 62,500 Avios and $141 in taxes, fees, and surcharges.

That’s not a bad deal at all already.

But U.S. banks with transfer partners often have transfer bonuses to British Airways and other Avios programs.

Since you can turn British Airways Avios into Finnair Avios, these are now effectively transfer bonuses to Finnair, too.

But also, if you were to book that same flight with British Airways, you’d need to shell out almost $1,000 in surcharges compared to Finnair’s $141.

It’s another example of how even though all of these programs use the same currency (Avios), booking with one over another can save you a LOT of money, and that’s why these transfer relationships are valuable.

Anyway, Avios became more valuable overnight, and we like to see that here in the points world! 😊

🏨 Buy Marriott Bonvoy points with a bonus

It’s a tale as old as time… “Buying points usually isn’t the best use of your hard-earned cash.”

And that’s true most of the time.

However, if you’ve got a specific redemption in mind or just need to top off your account, then taking advantage of buying points when there’s a bonus involved is gonna be your best bet at coming out ahead.

So right now, Marriott is offering bonuses of up to 50% when you purchase points from now until July 24, 2024.

It’s also important to know that this offer is targeted—meaning (hopefully) many of you will see it in your accounts, but some of you might not 😩

That also means that different members are being offered varying bonuses.

The word on the street is that folks are seeing anywhere from 25% all the way up to 50%.

This is what I received 👇

Here are some additional deets:

• There’s a 2,000-point minimum needed to buy points

• You can only purchase up to 100,000 points annually before bonus points

• If you’re a new Marriott member, you’ll have to wait 30 days from opening your account before you can buy points

Again, I wouldn’t necessarily buy a chunk of points for no reason—it’s good to have a specific redemption in mind.

But if you’ve received anywhere near the upper end of this bonus, it could be a nice little boost overall!

🤓 Travel Trivia Tuesday

Well, the picture might have given it away, but...

The correct answer is... Athens, Greece!

Greece is one of those countries like Japan that I assumed were expensive before visiting but are actually relatively cheap.

It turns out that Athens offers great value for money and a wealth of cultural, historical, and scenic attractions.

Here are some of the other rankings:

2. 🇱🇹 Vilnius, Lithuania

3. 🇵🇱 Krakow, Poland

4. 🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia

5. 🇵🇹 Lisbon, Portugal

I’ve been to all of these cities and have loved every single one of them.

So whether you're planning a budget-friendly trip or just curious about affordable travel destinations, these European cities are definitely worth considering for your next adventure.

I'm curious... Have you visited any of these places? Check out more from the article here.

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That’s all for today, kiddos!

I hope you enjoyed your long weekend as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing you bright and early tomorrow for some fun travel discussions.

Take care ❤️

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