✈️ Fly to Europe for 4,000 points

Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 30 seconds

Good morning, and welcome back to Daily Drop, the newsletter that can (apparently) predict the future (you’ll see why in a minute).

Here’s what we’ve got:

• 💳 150% transfer bonus (to three programs)

• ✈️ [Targeted] Earn 25,000 bonus points for flying this airline

• 😆 Meme

💳 150% transfer bonus (to three programs)

Remember yesterday when I was complaining about Bilt elite status for not offering too much value? Then I said that I’d reconsider if they offered more Rent Day promos around elite status?

Welp. That’s exactly what just happened.

Because on January 1st, Bilt’s Rent Day will offer a MASSIVE set of transfer bonuses, and elite status plays an important role…

Here’s the deal:

On January 1st, Bilt is offering transfer bonuses to Virgin Atlantic, IHG One Rewards, and KLM/Air France Flying Blue.

Depending on your level of Bilt elite status, your transfer bonus ratio will vary. Thankfully, even plain old Bilt members with no status still get an AMAZING bonus.

As you can see, even members with a free Bilt account and no status will still get a 75% transfer bonus to these programs.

If you have top-tier status, however, you’re looking at a 150% transfer bonus… that’s INSANE. And I’ll tell you why - starting with Flying Blue miles.

Flying Blue allows you to fly between the U.S. and Europe for as few as 50,000 Flying Blue miles… in BUSINESS class. 😎

If you had a 150% transfer bonus, you’d be able to book this flight for just 20,000 Bilt points. That’s CRAZY.

If you wanted to fly the same route in economy (which costs 20,000 FB miles), you’d only need to transfer 8,000 Bilt points…

But that’s child’s play compared to what you can do with Virgin Atlantic.

You see, Virgin Atlantic has one of the best business-class products in the sky. It’s called Upper Class, and it’s dopesauce (that’s the official description).

If you want to fly this bad boy across the Atlantic, you’re going to need to shell out 10,000 Virgin miles in economy, or 47,500 in Upper Class.

Not a bad deal already.

But with this bonus, you’d be able to transfer 4,000 Bilt points to fly economy or only 19,000 points to fly business… that is CRAZY!!!!!!! Especially for such a great product.

Even if you’re only a free Bilt member, you have a 75% transfer bonus.

That means that ANYBODY can book that same flight for 5,700 Bilt points in economy or 27,000 points in business - which is still an EXCELLENT deal.

Given how valuable these airline bonuses are, I’d likely recommend against using the IHG side of this promotion.

Actually, you know what? Screw that. I love IHG, and I think it’s equally exciting. And I’ll tell you why. 👇

IHG rocks. Plain and simple. Here are a couple of examples to illustrate…

If you’re a budget traveler, IHG has a ton of brands like Holiday Inn, allowing you to book rooms for as few as 5,000 points, sometimes even less.

This hotel in Jakarta only costs 3,750 points per night, for example.

But even if you’re a little luxury boy or girl, IHG has some REALLY nice brands like Kimpton and Intercontinental to keep you happy.

I’ll be in Tashkent, Uzbekistan soon where I’ve booked myself a few nights at the brand-spankin-new Intercontinental for just 20,000 points per night.

With the current Bilt transfer bonus, you could book a 5-night stay here for just 40,000 Bilt points (which would yield 100,000 IHG points with the highest transfer bonus).

The cash cost of a 5-night stay here would run you about a thousand dollars, so I’d say 40,000 Bilt points is a major steal…

So regardless of your travel style or upcoming travel plans, it’s likely that this ridiculous Rent Day bonus could be meaningful to you.

If you don’t have Bilt points yet, then PLEASE GET SOME. 

These Rent Day deals are going to keep coming, and now is the time to start earning Bilt points by signing up for the Bilt Mastercard so you don’t miss out in the future.

✈️ [Targeted] Earn 25,000 bonus points for flying this airline

If you’re looking for one last Christmas gift from the travel world… check your accounts if you hold the [[ the-platinum-card-from-american-express.name ]] or its golden counterpart, the [[ american-express-gold-card.name ]].

There is a targeted offer floating around that is bribing us travel obsessives with 25,000 [[ american-express-gold-card.points-program-override.points-currency ]] if we book a $1,000+ flight with ANA.

I repeat: 25,000 MR POINTS 🤯 That is a boatload of points. Or a plane… load?

Anyway, here are the must-know deets with this deal:

• You need to book the flight directly through ANA’s website, app, or call center

• The flight needs to originate in the US and be charged in USD

• You need to book your flight by February 20, 2024, but travel can take place after that

And if you didn’t know, All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a Japanese airline that is based in Tokyo, but they offer hundreds of routes to great destinations.

But Japan is hella popular. So if you’re planning travel to Japan next year, or want a stopover there on your way to another destination, this is a fantastic opportunity.

For example, here is a round-trip flight from Seattle to Tokyo for just above that $1,000 benchmark 👇

OR if you’re looking for a one-way route to Tokyo before continuing onward, you could choose to fly in a bit more comfort by selecting this premium economy seat from LAX to unlock the offer 👇

And, better yet, if you see this offer on the [[ the-platinum-card-from-american-express.casual-card-name ]], you could earn 5X points per dollar spent when booking directly with the airline.

That means that in addition to unlocking the 25,000 MR points from the offer, you’d earn an additional 5,471 points ($1,094.20 × 5) because you used the [[ the-platinum-card-from-american-express.casual-card-name ]].

Getting over 30,000 points for a SINGLE flight is madness… in the best way.

So yeah, this is a super generous offer from [[ american-express-gold-card.issuer.name ]], as [[ american-express-gold-card.points-program-override.points-currency ]] are incredibly valuable.

The internet (and myself) value [[ american-express-gold-card.points-program-override.points-currency ]] to be around 1.8 cents each, so 25,000 points comes out to a value of around $450…

So if you spend right around that $1,000 benchmark, you’re essentially getting a 50% return on your spend. Wild 😵‍💫🎉

😆 Meme

In case you didn’t know, we have an online community called the Daily Drop Lounge, where you can come hang out with fellow like-minded travel hackers.

It’s the place I go when I want to share new travel hacks, learn new hacks, or when I’m feeling down and need a good travel meme to laugh at.

Like this one, which someone recently posted in the lounge. 👇

So come hang out with us there. You won’t regret it. 🤗

That’s all for today, friends! It’s always nice to finish off the year with a bang. Today’s travel hacks are super exciting, in my opinion…

We’ve still got one newsletter left this year, and it’s going to be a BANGER. So don’t miss out tomorrow. 😉

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