👀 Best points program merge ever?

Welcome back, and happy first weekend of fall! It’s officially acceptable to embrace pumpkin EVERYTHING 🎃

If you’re as basic as me, start sipping that PSL, light a spiced candle, and cuddle up in a cozy flannel while we look back on this past week of travel.

✅ Airalo is one of our favorite travel apps. I never leave for a trip without being ready to go on my phone for seamless data use while abroad. Check it out!

✅ Here’s how you could earn 200k points using one of our favorite cards with an elevated offer right now.

✅ Check out this 50% transfer bonus to Marriott (through November 15th!) and this 25% transfer bonus to Avianca (through October 19th!).

✅ Brendan is at it again in this week’s video! He’s showing us whether or not flying Air France’s business class is worth the extra points compared to economy.

✅ If you’ve ever pondered how to justify keeping a card because of its annual fee… this week’s podcast is for you.

🏆 Favorite pick of the week: Alaska and Hawaiian merger details are revealed

It seemed FOREVER ago that Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines announced their plans to merge.

Since then, we the people have been twiddling our thumbs, patiently (ish) waiting to see if 1) the merger would actually happen, and 2) what the details would be.

Well, they FINALLY dropped a press release with many of the details we’ve been waiting to hear 🙌

Here’s a quick summary:

Changes effective now

Miles earned in either program will retain their full value (HECK yeah). Plus, Alaska Lounge members will still be able to access lounges even when flying with Hawaiian (versus with just Alaska).

Changes coming soon

By the end of September, we will be able to transfer miles in both programs to one another at a 1:1 ratio 🎉

Getting Alaska miles has notoriously been difficult in the past, but because we can transfer MR points to Hawaiian, we will, in theory, be able to transfer to Alaska because of this!

We will also be able to book flights with both airlines on each other’s websites, opening up a much larger network of routes.

Plus, we should soon see reciprocal mileage earnings and elite benefits for both (e.g. earn Hawaiian miles when flying Alaska or vice versa; and use elite benefits from either program when flying on either airline).

And this is just scraping the surface of what this partnership will look like in the future!

If you want more of a summary, check out our full newsletter. If you want ALL the details, check out the original press release.

🏃🏻‍♀️ Runner-Ups

🥇Hotel deals and promos from the week

There were actually quite a few hotel highlights from this past week that we featured in our newsletters… So I figured I’d make things easy for you and compile them all together right here—tidbit style 😎👇

📣 Quick Callouts

• ❌ Expired: Virgin Atlantic’s 25% Award Sale

• 👀 Good to know: We’ve got 25 cards with elevated offers right now

•  🤓 Travel trivia: Which country has the highest percentage of its citizens who have visited at least ten other countries?

• 🌎 Inspirational: Where in the World Wednesday: London

I hope you enjoyed another Daily Drop week in review. As always, we’ll have more great stuff comin’ at you next week.

See you then!

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