✈️ Major award sale to... basically everywhere

Estimated read time: 3 minutes and 43 seconds

Good morning, and welcome back to Daily Drop, the most alliterative newsletter on the planet (at least on Tuesdays):

• ✈️ Turkish Airlines 30% Award Sale

• 🌎 Toronto Travel Summit 2024

• 🤓 Travel Trivia Tuesday

✈️ Turkish Airlines 30% Award Sale

Turkish Airlines is the single largest airline in the world, serving more destinations than any airline on earth.

The countries highlighted in blue are currently served by Turkish, and green will soon be served by Turkish… It’s a lot.

As a member of the Star Alliance, it’s easy to book flights on Turkish with programs like United and Aeroplan.

But Turkish also has its own points program called “Miles & Smiles,” which is currently having a massive 30% award sale for flights to/from 150 cities around the world.

Here are the details:

• You must book your flights by December 27th

• Travel can take place between December 18th and May 31st

• There are some blackout dates (you can see them all here)

• You must book your flights using Turkish miles

Unfortunately, the only U.S. city on the list is Detroit.

But the mileage cost to fly from Detroit with this sale is SO good that it’d be well worth positioning there to take advantage of it.

For example, a nonstop flight from Detroit to Istanbul only costs 21,000 Turkish miles.

For reference, booking the same flight with Aeroplan points or United miles would run you more than double that cost.

Even if you live in cities like Houston, Atlanta, or other places around the U.S., you can simply book a cheap positioning flight to Detroit and take advantage of the dirt-cheap award flight to somewhere else.

If you’re booking a more extensive trip, there are also fantastic award rates from cities in Europe to other cities around the world.

Specifically, I noticed some fantastic rates to Africa.

For example, I have to get to Tanzania for a wedding in 2024, and I found some SUPER cheap award rates from European cities like Frankfurt to Dar Es Salaam that I might take advantage of:

As with the Detroit flight, this is less than half the price charged for the same exact Turkish flight by programs like Aeroplan.

Now, at this point, you’re probably super excited. But you’re probably also wondering how the heck you can even get Turkish miles in the first place.

As it turns out, you can transfer points from the following U.S. programs directly to Turkish Airlines:

• Capital One Miles

• Bilt Rewards

• Thank You Points

So here’s the bottom line:

The window for booking travel with this sale is huge, and the timeline to book lasts almost ten days.

While Detroit is the only departure point that most of you will care about, this is a fantastic way to save miles on a trip to hundreds of different cities by positioning yourself in Detroit, transferring miles to Turkish, and taking advantage of the deal.

🌎 Toronto Travel Summit 2024

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 the end of the year, you could win a CA $500 gift card to Marriott Bonvoy, the official Presenting Sponsor of the event.

All you need to do is purchase your ticket by December 31st and be a Marriott Bonvoy member (so make sure you create a free account).

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

Personally, I am a HUGE fan of Ethiopian food. Living in Toronto, I’m spoiled to have so many incredible options around to enjoy.

But without further ado, the correct answer is… Injera! 🤤

Injera is made from a sourdough batter, which undergoes a fermentation process, contributing to its unique taste and texture. And if you've never had it before... it's freaking delicious.

In Ethiopian and Eritrean cultures, injera is often used for communal eating. Dishes are placed on a large piece of injera, and diners tear off portions to scoop up the various stews and toppings.

Injera is versatile and can be paired with a variety of foods, including spicy stews called wats, vegetables, lentils, and meats.

The bread holds cultural significance and is considered a symbol of togetherness and sharing in Ethiopian and Eritrean societies. And, it's made with Teff, the smallest grain in the world. 🌾

If you've never tried Ethiopian food, I highly encourage you to do so... you won't regret it!

Read more here about the history of injera.

Did you know that Daily Drop has a YouTube channel? Check out our latest video for some visual travel hacking tips.

In this week’s video, Brendan will break down how he booked a $7,400 business-class ticket for (almost) free using Flying Blue Promo Rewards. 😮

That’s all for today, friends! I hope you all enjoyed today’s content.

Even living in Toronto I’d highly consider transferring some points to Turkish to book that Detroit flight somewhere far away, and I hope some of you do as well!

Take care, have a great Tuesday, and I’ll see you first thing tomorrow. ❤️

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