Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 8 seconds

☀️ Good morning, everyone!

Howdy from Ohio! You’ve got April at the helm today, subbing in for Mike. He’s currently somewhere around the Arctic Circle, presumably wearing every layer he owns, on his grand Canadian adventure. So while he’s off high-fiving polar bears (or whatever one does in the Arctic Circle), let’s get into it:

• 👆🏻Look up. No, a little higher.

• 🫢 Confession: I’m cheating on my first card

• 🥊 My final fight with a hotel iron

• 🎉 Reader Win: From cockroaches to Cannes

👆🏻Look up. No, a little higher. 👆🏻

See those flight deals in the box above? Those come straight out of Daily Drop Pro. If it’s been a while since you poked around in there, now’s a good time, because the team rebuilt Pro search from the ground up. A few of the changes I’m most excited about:

• Three airports on each end. Search up to three departure airports and three arrival airports at once. In Columbus, I can toss in CMH, DAY, and CVG and stop running the same search nine times in nine browser tabs.

• More than one date at a time. If your travel dates are “sometime in March,” Pro can work with that now.

• Points deals in every cabin. Pro points deals used to stop at economy and business. Now they cover premium economy and first class too.

• Flame ratings. Every deal is rated on how good it is and how fast you need to move, so you know when to book now and when you can sleep on it. 🔥🔥🔥

• Light mode. You asked, and asked, and asked again. It’s here. (You can find it under Settings —> Account —> Profile and scroll down.)

  

And this is just the warm-up. There’s more Pro news coming in the next couple of weeks, and I’ve been sworn to secrecy until then, which is not my strong suit. 🤐

🫢 Confession: I’m cheating on my first card

I’ve said plenty of nice things about my Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card in this newsletter, and I meant every word. Earning 2 miles per dollar on everything is the kind of simple I need when my brain is already full. (Which is like… every day.)

But this fall, this card has been doing a lot of the heavy lifting. I’ve driven to multiple college football games (Go Bobcats!), using that card to get 3x on all that gas spend, even before the Ohio tax break on it.

In addition, I’ve linked that card to my Rakuten account, which means I’m earning cash back on brunches with my daughter.

I’ve come so far since my Points Pursuit days. I hope you’re proud of me.

🎉 Reader Win: From cockroaches to Cannes

I want to spotlight an epic reader win from last week in our Facebook Lounge. We always want you to travel more, travel better, and save money on your adventures, and after several budget-focused redemptions, these two decided it was time to splurge. I couldn’t be happier for them.

They’re using points for round-trip economy flights to Nice, points for five nights in Cannes, and points for the big splurge: two nights at the Hermitage in Monaco.

Niiiiiice. (Pun intended.)

Notice how they spent every last point. Points and miles aren’t a savings account. Programs change the rules, and what your balance buys can shrink with very little warning, so a zero balance after a trip like this is the goal, not a sad ending. 🎉

So come join us in the lounge and share your wins. We wanna hear ‘em!

That’s all from me today. Mike will be back Thursday, hopefully with all ten fingers. Katie will be in your inbox for tomorrow’s Daily Drop!

[jazz hands]

-April Wilson

Director of Content and Conversion

With contributions by Sam Anthony, and Katie Begnoche.