😎 I booked a 5-night stay for 14k points total

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Good morning from sunny Bali, Indonesia!

Today’s newsletter will be a bit shorter, but that’s only because we’ve got an exciting piece of news in the form of an article on our site, which will take a little bit of extra time to read (and trust me, you’ll want to read it).

So let’s get started:

• 🏨 I booked a 5-night stay for 14k points total

• 💳 [[ citi-strata-premier-card.issuer.name ]] just launched a NEW card (and it’s great)

• 🔄 Current Transfer Bonuses

🏨 I booked a 5-night stay for 14k points total

Okay, these transfer bonuses are getting exhausting…

But I’m not complaining - because having more ways to essentially multiply our points is never a bad thing.

This time, you can transfer [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.points-program-override.points-currency ]] Points to Marriott with a 40% bonus.

Before you skip this section, hear me out…

I’m the last one to recommend Marriott over Hyatt (both of which you can transfer [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.points-program-override.points-currency ]] Points to).

But I’ve seen a number of situations recently where Marriott offers far better value than Hyatt, so I think this is certainly worth considering for some of you.

For example, I’m spending five days in Tashkent, Uzbekistan next month.

The obvious first choice for places to stay is Hyatt, which has a property for 15,000 points per night.

For my 5-night stay, I’d need to shell out 75,000 Hyatt points, which is quite a lot for a city and country that’s otherwise very cheap.

Marriott, on the other hand, only charges around 10,000 points per night for the Courtyard Tashkent.

Since Marriott offers every 5th night free for award stays, a 5-night stay here only costs around 40,000 points total.

With this transfer bonus, you’d only need to send over 29,000 [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.points-program-override.points-currency ]] Points for a 5-night stay.

So, even though we love Hyatt, I’d MUCH rather transfer 29,000 points rather than 75,000 for the same number of nights at comparable properties.

But this gets even more extreme… 🤘🏼

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’ll be spending some time in Makassar, Indonesia, this summer.

Originally, I had booked this Hyatt Place for just 3,500 Hyatt points per night.

My 5-night stay here would cost 22,000 Hyatt points (some nights at 3.5k and some at 5k).

That’s a great deal, of course, but Marriott has an even better deal with their Four Points by Sheraton property that prices out at just 5,000 points per night.

Because of the 5th-night free perk combined with the 40% transfer bonus, I’d only need to transfer 14,000 [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.points-program-override.points-currency ]] Points to book this 5-night stay, which is AMAZING.

If you found a rate like this at Marriott and signed up for the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.name ]], you’d be able to book 27 nights with the points from the welcome offer…

Of course, that’s the extreme way to use this offer, but here’s the bottom line:

Even if you don’t take this offer to the extreme like I am, you can use the following combination to book incredibly cheap stays wherever you might be traveling:

• Low Marriott award rates

• 5th-night free perk

• 40% transfer bonus

As you plan your travels, at least crunch the numbers to see if you can use this bonus to come out ahead.

💳 [[ citi-strata-premier-card.issuer.name ]] just launched a NEW card (and it’s great)

It’s not often we see major banks launch sexy, new cards. It’s even less often that the cards are actually SWEET.

But that’s exactly what’s happened with the [[ citi-strata-premier-card.name ]], which recently saw a complete overhaul.

Here are the main changes to the [[ citi-strata-premier-card.name ]] you should know about:

• The name and branding have changed

• The earning rates are better

• There are now solid travel protections

• A couple of other cool perks

Oh… and did I mention a healthy new welcome offer? 😏

As you know, the banks don’t like it when we talk about their cards in email form… so to give you the best, most detailed explanation of these changes, here is an article on our website that breaks it all down in detail. 👇

Oh hey, looking to join a group of like-minded travelers who chat about all things, well, TRAVEL?

Our Facebook group, the Daily Drop Lounge, has you covered!

Check out this awesome travel win 👇

That’s all for this week, folks!

Since I have to take it easy for a little while, I need you to help me out with a little travel inspo so I can live vicariously through you… so tell me:

Thanks for tuning in as always, and I hope you have a great weekend ❤️

8.6478° S, 115.1385° E