Big news from the airline world this week...

Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 51 seconds

Hey there, friends.

You know when you wake up in the morning to 100 texts from everyone you know and you think to yourself, “oh god, what happened?”

That’s how today was for me… except with airline news.

So let’s talk about some of it:

• ✈️ Singapore announces its latest points deals, and they’re great

• 🌎 Sponsored by Babbel

• 🤦‍♂️ Welp. I guess all major airline tech is melting down these days…

✈️ Singapore’s Spontaneous Escapes are on fire this month

Every month I come to you with the newest edition of KLM and Air France’s Promo Rewards, which offer amazing value for your points when flying to a changing list of cities.

Singapore Airlines has a similar program called “Spontaneous Escapes.”

We don’t talk about these deals very often, for a couple of reasons. First, they only work if you’re willing to be spontaneous. And not the “I’m gonna mix up the flavour of Ben & Jerry’s I eat an entire pint of tonight” kind of spontaneous.

With these awards, both the booking and travel windows are much shorter than other similar deals, so you have to have the flexibility to travel on relatively short notice.

Still, sometimes the awards are well worth considering. This month is a perfect example. Here are the details:

• You must book your flights by February 28th, 2023

• Flights must be booked using Singapore KrisFlyer miles

• Travel must take place between March 1st and 31st

• Valid for select fares in Economy, Premium Economy, and Business class

• Certain routes have blackout dates

This month definitely includes some sweet spots, regardless of which class you want to fly.

For example, you can fly in Singapore’s Premium Economy between Europe and the U.S. East Coast for as little as 36,400 points one-way.

For reference, booking the same flight with a program like Aeroplan would run you 35,000 points just for economy, which is a serious step down from Premium Economy.

If you wanted to try out Singapore’s amazing business class in their double-decker Airbus A380, you can do that on the same route for as little as 56,000 points each way, which is definitely a steal.

There are tons of other options for travel to and from the U.S., Asia, Europe, Africa, and Australia - so check out the full list of deals to see if you can fly in one of the world’s best airlines at a significant discount.

By the way, earning Singapore KrisFlyer miles is quite easy. You can transfer them from Chase, Amex, Citi, or Capital One… so pretty much any card that earns in-house transferrable points can get you into a premium Singapore seat with this deal.

If you’re looking for inspiration, our top travel cards list includes many cards that will not only earn you points that you can transfer to Singapore, but also give you tons of other great perks for your travels, so check it out.

No seriously, go check it out now and come back when you’re done.

🌎 Sponsored by Babbel

You guessed it. I’m still on the road (or on a plane), but still don’t speak all the languages 🥴. Double shocker.

Remember my last example about the oh-so-beefy dish, Boeuf Bourguignon? Yeah, I still don’t know which letters I should be sounding out.

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You'll even learn about that language's customs, people, and traditions… which… I don’t know, might even inspire you to book a trip to a foreign country. 

Since you read Daily Drop, that's actually the easy part. 😉

For a limited time, you can get a 55% discount when signing up for Babbel using the link below.

So don't miss out on your chance to converse in a foreign language, impress the locals on your next trip, or just correct your friends on the pronunciation of bruschetta 🇮🇹

🤦‍♂️ Welp. Aviation systems are melting down left and right

To top off our day of aviation fun times, let’s talk about the biggest news of the day…

This will (hopefully) be solved by the time you read this, but as I write this, Frankfurt Airport is currently completely out of commission due to IT outages affecting the entire Lufthansa Group.

Just so you know, the Lufthansa group owns airlines like Lufthansa (obviously), Swiss Air, and Austrian Airlines… so this is a massive, global issue at the moment.

As a result, thousands of passengers are stranded without much of a way to figure things out. But hey, Lufthansa released this heartfelt Tweet, expressing serious remorse and explaining how they plan to fix things:

…that was a joke. That tweet is the most robotic, useless thing ever. We know what’s happening. Tell us WHY this is happening and how people can get to their destination… please.

Anyway, the timing of this is terrible, because a German trade union comprised of airport workers is planning a strike for tomorrow, February 17, at seven major German airports. This means that few or no flights to/from these airports will operate as planned.

So my message is this:

If you have any plans to fly with Lufthansa, Swiss, or Austrian in the very near future, I’d rebook if at all possible and avoid this mess.

I’m getting flashbacks to the Southwest meltdown last year… let’s hope it’s not so painful.

That’s all for today, folks. I had one heck of a day yesterday trying to do an important travel hack at the U.S./Canada border, which turned out to be… let’s just say… an adventure.

Next week I’ll tell you the story and why I flew across the border for a 5-minute travel task.

But for today, tell me something: What’s the most spontaneous trip you’ve ever taken? It doesn’t have to be a huge trip, it could be as simple as a weekend at the cottage or as involved as a round-the-world trip on points. But I’d like to know, so reach out by replying to this email or sending us a message on social media.

See you tomorrow,

52°22'35.4"N 52°15'17.4"W