🏨 Hotel perks without elite status (Part 2)

Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 21 seconds

Good morning from Cape Town, South Africa, the city that apparently pissed off Mother Nature… it’s like armageddon down here, folks.

Wait… Does that make me Bruce Willis? Or Ben Affleck? Oh god… I’m Steve Buscemi, aren’t I…?

Nevermind, here’s travel stuff:

• 🏨 Hotel benefits without elite status (Part 2)

• ✈️ I’m speaking at the 2024 Travel Summit

• 🤓 Travel Trivia Tuesday

🏨 Hotel benefits without elite status (Part 2)

A few weeks ago, I wrote a newsletter about one way to get sweet hotel benefits without needing any elite status.

It was a huge hit. People wrote in to say things like:

Okay, the first two are made up… but we know they’re true.

But that last one got me thinking: Are there any similar examples of ways to get elite bennys without needing status?

And the answer is a resounding YAS, GIRL. And today, I’ll share another one with you, and it’s a VERY sneaky one that I doubt many of you have ever heard of.

And it involves a hotel group called Ennismore.

Here’s the lowdown:

If you hold the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.name ]] or the [[ chase-sapphire-reserve.name ]] (part of the same card family), you can get some serious benefits when booking rooms at Ennismore Hotels around the world.

And unlike the last example I told you about, this partnership can even get you FREE hotel nights, among other tasty perks, such as:

• 4th-night free

• $30 food and beverage credit

• Free breakfast

• Room upgrades

• Late checkout

So, let’s take a quick step backward (don’t trip, please).

Although Ennismore has a couple hundred hotels, this partnership only applies to a select portion of them, though that list covers quite a few destinations:

Still, that’s a sweet list of popular cities around the world. Let’s take a look at an example of the Mondrian Hotel in Doha, Qatar.

This is a gorgeous-looking hotel in one of my favorite Middle Eastern cities, so I ran a search for a four-night stay in mid-October.

Sure enough, when I get to the checkout page, the final cost shows the fourth night as costing $0!

I ran another search for just that night, and it would cost $261 without this hack. Throw in the free breakfast, $30 credit, and other perks, and this is actually significant savings…

So now you may be thinking, “I love this. I’m very interested. How the heck do I do this?”

And my response would be, “Chill out and quit being such a KEENER.”

But also, here is a step-by-step:

1. Sign up for the [[ chase-sapphire-reserve.name ]] or the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.casual-card-name ]]. It doesn’t matter which one, for this specific purpose. I personally think the first one is the better value and is a fan favorite that many of you probably already have.

2. Go to this dedicated page for the partnership between the bank and hotel group.

3. On the dropdown menu, select the property you’re interested in booking.

4. Search for your dates, and check out using the card from step one in order to receive all of your benefits.

5. Send me a personal invite to join you on your trip.

6. We’ll ride off into the sunset together and have an awesome time.

Sadly, this hack obviously does require a credit card, unlike the last one. But I also love how simple it is and the fairly broad range of hotels and locations that are available.

I mean, think about it - a $95 credit card, the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.casual-card-name ]], can save you well over $300 on a single stay. If you use this hack even once or twice per year, it’s an EASY way to recoup some of those pesky annual fees.

I also want to say that I haven’t personally used this myself, though I’m definitely going to try it in the near future.

If you end up using this hack, I’d love to hear about your experience, so reach out and tell me about it!

✈️ I’m speaking at the 2024 Travel Summit

I have some fun news for anybody who likes to travel, which I’m hoping includes a few of you.

Next year, I’ll be speaking at The Travel Summit, which is taking place in Toronto from April 26-28, 2024.

This event is going to be a lot of fun. It’s an opportunity to nerd out about travel with other like-minded people, learn all kinds of new travel hacks, and hang out with yours truly.

And if you hate me, that’s fine too.

Because I’m just one of MANY awesome speakers who’ll be there, some of whom you’ve probably heard of (check out the full list here).

But here’s the kicker… If you buy your ticket by September 30th (a.k.a. just a few days from now), you can get an Early Bird ticket for just $349 CANADIAN dollars.

BUT WAIT.

If you use the promo code DAILYDROP at checkout, you’ll also get a $25 CAD discount.

This means your bottom line cost is just $324 CAD, which works out to be like $240 USD for the full 3-day event, which includes:

So come hang out with me in my home city of Toronto next year. It’ll be heaps of fun, I promise.

Here’s a button to learn more about the event or purchase your ticket:

I hope to see many of you there. 🥰

🤓 Travel Trivia Tuesday

Correct answer: Houtouwan

Part of the Shengsi Islands in Zhejiang Province, China, this village was once a thriving fishing spot with a population of about 3,000 people.

But, folks began to move away around the 1990s, leaving the village completely empty.

Over the years, lush vegetation, including ivy and other plants, began to take over the empty structures, leaving a green, picturesque landscape.

Now, you can take a ferry from Shanghai to visit the village on foot.

Houtouwan is a captivating example of the intersection between human habitation and the natural world.

Its story has become a symbol of time and the ability of nature to reclaim what was once built by human hands, all while creating a beautiful and surreal setting that attracts visitors from around the globe. *wipes tear*

You can read more about the history of Houtouwan here.

Did you know you don't need to have some huge business in order to get a business credit card? We’ll show you how to unlock a new level of travel hacking with relative ease using some of our favorite business credit cards 👇

That’s all for today, folks!

I really hope to see some of you swing by the Travel Summit next year, and I hope you enjoyed the hack about getting awesome perks without any elite status!

We’ve got plenty more hacks for you this week, and I look forward to seeing you next time. ❤️

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