🚀 How people actually use points

Long time no see, friends. Missed ya. 🥹 

I hope you had a very happy holiday with your loved ones and are recovering well from your sugar coma (as for me… I’m still crushing Oreo balls).

We’re skipping the travel news this weekend.

Instead of deals and headlines, we spent the week sharing some real reader redemptions from the Daily Drop Lounge.

Points strategies make more sense when you can see how someone else actually used them.

So this Weekend Round-Up will give you the big idea behind each one and links if you want to dig a little deeper.

🚨 Last chance to earn 100K miles: The super-duper-jaw-dropping offer on the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is ending on January 5th, so…

… buzzer beater time, friends.

You’re looking at at least $1,000 in travel here, and potentially way more if you move those points to partners like Aeroplan, Emirates, or Turkish Airlines.

🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Redemption One: Flying a family of four to Europe (in style)

Booking one award seat is hard.

Booking four?

That’s where dreams go to die… unless you play this smart.

One Daily Drop reader got her entire family from Chicago to Europe using points by splitting the trip into pieces instead of forcing one airline to do all the work.

Flying Blue Premium economy on the way over for comfort, Virgin Atlantic Upper Class on the way home for fun (and zero panic attacks in the process).

When you stop chasing the “perfect” award and start chasing available space, group travel gets waaaay easier.

👉 Read the full family redemption here

🇮🇹 Redemption Two: A beginner-friendly business class trip to Rome

This one is for anyone who’s ever thought, “I don’t have nearly enough points for business class.”

In reality, you probably do. 😌

By breaking the trip into one-way segments and letting each leg dictate the program, this reader booked two lie-flat seats to Rome, all without needing a massive points balance or elite status.

If business class feels out of reach, this is a great reminder that flexibility matters more than your points balance.

👉 See how this Rome redemption came together

🥇 Redemption Three: A Lufthansa First Class masterclass

This redemption was just… so good.

A Daily Drop reader snagged two Lufthansa First Class seats on the 747 from Frankfurt to Mexico City using Aeroplan, plus access to Lufthansa’s legendary First Class Terminal.

We’re talking bathtubs, private escorts, a ride to the plane… and then (perhaps the best part), tacos in Mexico City.

The takeaway here is that your distance, aircraft choice, and chosen route can matter just as much as the cabin itself.

👉 Read the full first-class breakdown

✨ Redemption Four: Turning Avios into a $16,000 first-class seat

Many times, the “simplest” redemptions can be the best value.

One reader booked Japan Airlines First Class from Chicago to Tokyo using Avios, about a year in advance, for a seat that would’ve cost over $16,000 in cash.

Avios get labeled as “British Airways points” way too often, but this shows just how powerful they are across partners like JAL, Qatar, Finnair, and Iberia.

If Japan is on your list, you’re gonna want to bookmark this one.

👉 Read the full JAL first-class story

The theme here? No one waited for the “perfect” setup.

They used transferable points, stayed flexible, broke trips into pieces, and (very importantly) asked for help. ❤️

That’s what the Daily Drop Lounge is for. And weeks like this are why we love it so much.

So if you’re looking for a fun new community for 2026, let it be the lounge!

See yaaaaaa,

40°39'41.4"N 73°56'22.0"W

With contributions by Mike Dodge