💳 How to maximize your holiday spending

Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 50 seconds

Good morning lovely people, and welcome back to Daily Drop, the one-stop shop for all your travel hacking needs. It’s like Costco, except our membership is free. 😉

Here’s what we’re shopping for today:

• 🏝 The winner of a free trip to Hawaii

• 💳 How to maximize your holiday spending

• 🌎 Sponsored by Babbel

🏝 The winner of a free trip to Hawaii

It’s that time of month again. And no, I’m not talking about the time of month when I call Marriott Bonvoy to correct all of the mistakes they made with my account.

No, no friends. This is the time of the month when we announce the winner of an all-expenses-paid trip to the Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach resort.

You can read this newsletter for a breakdown of what’s included in this giveaway package.

But without further ado, the winner is… Jaya M!!! Congratulations! By now, you will have received an email from us if you are, indeed, the winner.

And if you feel a tender tear trickling down your cheek right now out of disappointment, I have good news for the rest of you…

… or rather, I’ll have good news for you on Monday… 😉

💳 How to maximize your holiday spending

Next week is an important week for Americans. It marks a day that we all come together, as a family, to trample over each other to spend that CASH on lots of STUFF.

As many of you get ready to do some major holiday spending, I thought I’d give you a couple of tips on how to maximize that spending.

The name of the game here is SIGNUP BONUS.

I always tell people that the best time to get a new credit card bonus is when you’re already planning on making purchases.

This way, you can knock out that minimum spending requirement with ease and enjoy the spoils of tons of free travel.

My personal choice would be the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.name ]]. It’s my personal favorite, and I get TONS of value out of it year after year.

Here’s why:

• It’s got a low annual fee

• It earns solid points on everyday spending

• It’s got a tasty welcome offer right now

• There are currently some amazing ways to use the points you earn

Let’s focus on that last bullet point…

There have been a lot of epic transfer bonuses lately, and some particularly good ones from [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.points-program-override.points-currency ]], which the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.casual-card-name ]] earns.

That means that right now, you can sign up for a GREAT card (literally everyone on the Daily Drop team has it), hit the minimum spend with ease thanks to some holiday spending, and then multiply those points with transfer bonuses to use toward a free trip.

For example, just by signing up for the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.casual-card-name ]] and meeting the minimum spend, you’d earn at least 63,000 UR Points.

For only 16,800 of those points, you could fly all the way to Ireland from the U.S., thanks to the JetBlue transfer bonus.

If you hate JetBlue but still want to see Europe, that’s also fine.

The current 25% transfer bonus to Flying Blue also means that you can fly from tons of U.S. cities to Europe for as little as 12,000 points each way.

After the bonus, those 12,00 points turn into 15,000 Flying Blue miles. As you can see, that leaves you with a number of great options:

These points can also transfer to Hyatt, which I see as the most valuable use of them.

Let me tell you why…

I just recently stayed at a Hyatt property in the historical center of Prague for only 3,500 points per night.

By signing up for the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.casual-card-name ]], you could fly to and from Prague for just 23,000 points for round-trip airfare, then book a 7-night stay at this hotel for a total of just 24,500 more points.

So you can get an entire week in Europe, paid almost entirely on points, for a grand total of 48,500 [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.points-program-override.points-currency ]].

In the end, you’re still left with almost 15,000 points in the bank to use toward your next trip.

So by strategically opening a low-annual-fee credit card to put your holiday spending on, you can unlock a free trip (or multiple free trips) worth thousands of dollars.

It’s bananas. Utter bananas. 🍌

Now I know what you’re thinking…

And my response to you would be… like a good Canadian, I’m heartily sorry.

But also, it’s not too late at all.

You see, most banks allow you to start using your card before you even get it in the mail.

In fact, I have a friend who signed up for the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.casual-card-name ]] last week.

Despite this being his first card with the bank, they set up an account for him over the phone and he was able to start using this card (digitally) within hours of being approved.

Gotta love modern technology, eh?

Another good tip is to ask the bank to expedite the card. The last time I opened a card with this bank, they were able to overnight the card to me for no charge and no questions asked.

Don’t forget - the bank makes money when you use their card, so they are equally incentivized to get that card in your paws as soon as possible.

Even other banks aside from the one I’ve been talking about have similar ways to use cards ahead of time either with virtual card numbers, mobile wallets, or expedited shipping.

So here’s the bottom line:

Black Friday and the holiday spending season is the ideal time to leverage your existing spending into a hefty credit card bonus to use for a nice trip.

Even though it’s right around the corner, it’s not too late to make a move. And if you sign up for a card like the one I told you about, you can continue to get value out of it year after year as well.

Happy shopping, amigos.

🌎 Sponsored by Babbel

I’m sure you all can relate to this.

You land in a brand new country, walk up to that (not sketchy) street food vendor, and realize…

I didn’t even learn what “hello” is in this language.

So you both awkwardly stare at each other for a few seconds. You, in paralyzing panic, like a baby deer in headlights 👀

Yeah… it’s not a great feeling.

However, you might be able to alleviate some of that paralyzing panic if you pick up a few local phrases by using Babbel 😎

Babbel can help you with all sorts of language learning 👇

• Try 10-minute snippets of helpful real-world lessons

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Ya know… it’s that time of year when you can score all sorts of Black Friday deals, and Babbel is no different.

That’s why they’re offering 60% off your subscription as part of their Black Friday promo! So gear up for some language learning and join today 🧡

💳 Current transfer bonuses

One of my favorite ways to learn about new travel hacks is in our very own Daily Drop Lounge, an online community of DD fans and travel hackers.

And unlike your local airport lounge, you won’t have any trouble getting into the Daily Drop Lounge. 😉

Here’s a look at a post from this past week if you want a taste of what you’re missing:

That’s gonna do it for this week, kiddos.

I am SUPER excited for next week. We’ve got some amazing deals and even a couple of surprises to share with you… so don’t miss our email on Monday. 😉

Have a good weekend ❤️

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