šŸŒ± Green stay = extra points

A quick hack for your next hotel stay. Plus, we have an alternative mode of travel for you to explore.

Estimated read time: 3 minutes and 48 seconds

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Gooooood morning and welcome back to Daily Drop, the travel newsletter that you read when your boss thinks youā€™re reading her morning briefing.

Stay rebellious, everyone.

Hereā€™s what I got for you today:

  • šŸŒ± Quick hacks: Earn 500 points per night for a ā€œgreen stayā€

  • šŸš‚ Should you go flight-free on your summer vacay?

  • šŸ’ Last call: Win a $2,000 travel voucher from Cherry

šŸŒ± Quick hacks: Earn 500 points per night for a ā€œgreen stayā€

A wise man once said, ā€œIā€™m blue. Da ba di da ba die.ā€

Well, I disagree completely. I think a more accurate statement would be ā€œIā€™m green. And because Iā€™m green, I earn a bunch of free points at hotels.ā€

Thatā€™s because of IHGā€™s new ā€œgreen stayā€ initiative. šŸ‘‡

I recently discovered this cool new hack during my stay at a Holiday Inn in Helsinki a couple of nights ago.

Hereā€™s how it works:

When you check into participating IHG hotels, theyā€™ll give you the neat little card you see in the photo above.

Every night that you leave that sign on your door, youā€™ll get 500 points per night.

The catch?

Housekeeping will not clean your room the next dayā€¦

I donā€™t know about you, but Iā€™ve felt pretty capable of cleaning my own room for the last 25 years or so.

Honestly, 500 extra points per night is pretty awesome. In a few months, I have an eight-night stay at an IHG hotel.

Using this hack, I could earn an additional 4,000 points on my stay.

Every few days just call down and ask for some extra towels, leave your trash outside the room, etc. and this is an easy way to rack up some extra points.

Overall, this wonā€™t move the needle quickly, but itā€™s quite generous and well worth the sacrifice in my opinion.

šŸš‚ Should you go flight-free on your summer vacay?

Itā€™s pretty obvious that many of us here at Daily Drop are true airline aficionados. I mean, you wonā€™t find me on a boat to get across the Atlanticā€¦

But itā€™s mid-July, yā€™all. Itā€™s freaking summerā€¦ peak summer (especially in Europe). And sometimes, airlines turn into toddlers and have straight-up meltdowns.

Weā€™re talking flight delays, cancellations, lost luggage, crowded lounges, and scarce customer service šŸ‘Ž

Okaaay, I know weather delays are out of an airlineā€™s controlā€¦ but still.

BUT do you know who doesnā€™t require you to show up three hours early, take off your shoes, and pull out your mini shampoo bottles? A good olā€™ train. And Europe is full of ā€˜em.

To be clear, train travel isnā€™t unanimously better than flying, but it can be an excellent alternative to the current chaos that is the airline industry this summer.

France even became the first country to ban domestic flights if a train route alternative was available in lieu of environmental concerns šŸ˜®

Plus, you might just find yourself a cheaper ticket if you take to the tracks rather than the sky.

And if youā€™re bummed because you think you canā€™t use miles and points on train travelā€¦ donā€™t be. Remember, you can pay for literally any type of travel with miles and points if youā€™re a cardholder of the [[ capital-one-venture-x-rewards-credit-card.name ]].

So I wanted to give you all some ideas and an example train route that could save you a chunk of cash, especially if youā€™re looking for transportation alternatives to Europeā€™s short-haul flights.

Enter: sleeper trains

Some people love them, and some people donā€™tā€¦ But what no one can deny is that sleeper trains provide you with both your transportation and accommodation needs all bundled into one price.

There are so many options to move between great cities such as Prague, Paris, Budapest, and Rome, etc. I was looking at this route from Vienna to Venice for next month šŸ‘‡

Example booking on NightJet

Note that the price of 159.20 euros (175.24 USD) is for two people which includes a private sleeper cabin, bathroom, and breakfast in the morning. So for your transport and accommodations to a new city and country, youā€™re only paying 79.60 euros (87.62 USD) per person.

Not a bad deal šŸ¤— 

Alternatively, these were the prices of flights between these two cities on the same days I went to book this particular sleeper train.

If available, you might find a cheaper Ryanair flight, but not always.

The prices you see here are per person, but if youā€™d rather get to your destination in a matter of a couple of hours and book separate accommodations for the night, then it may be worth it to you to face a busy airport.

Thatā€™s the beauty of travel, my friends. You can do whatever your little hearts desire šŸ„° 

But trains are becoming an increasingly popular way to get around Europe, and it may just be the answer to your peak travel season woes.

And if you want to learn more about some specific European budget trains that are competing with budget airlines, you can read about them here.

šŸ’ Last call: Win a $2,000 travel voucher from Cherry

Thatā€™s right, my super sweet traveling friendsā€¦

You could have a chance to win $2,000 just for downloading the COMPLETELY FREE Cherry browser extension that does all the background work to score you deals on accommodations around the world šŸ‘‡

If you want more deets on this sweet deal, check out this past newsletter.

But hurry! Your final hours to enter start NOW. Winners will be announced on July 18th.

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ā€¦or you can just buy these prizes from our website if you want to keep us all to yourself. šŸ˜‰

Thatā€™s all for today folks! One quick thingā€¦

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Take care, and Iā€™ll see you tomorrow morning.

Love,

Mike Dodge
Head Writer, Daily Drop

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