- Daily Drop
- Posts
- š¬š§ The British are coming (to steal your points)
š¬š§ The British are coming (to steal your points)
Wow... what a wild day. One airline program devalues significantly, while another showers us with hundreds of thousands of points. It's exhausting.
Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 21 seconds
š Singapore just snagged the top spot for most powerful passport in the world, a spot that has been held by Japan for the last five years. Read more here.
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/49ca543c-1f01-47d1-9ebf-a2c4a8c3276b/hr-1-16.png)
Good morning and welcome back to Daily Drop, the travel newsletter that, no matter how hard you try, you simply canāt take your eyes off of.
Like this picture of a cute, sleepy baby skunk. š
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/00e7a813-4359-4bd8-8bf3-501dfefddc37/RvZ9ISO.jpg)
I need it. I must have it.
Now that I have your attention, letās travel hack:
āļø How to get 100k American Airlines miles without breaking a sweat
š„ Act fast! JetBlue fall sale ends today
š¬š§ āEllo, chaps. this airline is making some changes to Avios
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/9e5fff27-94c9-4b47-8ba0-7c79a15245aa/hr-3-16.png)
āļø How to get 100k American Airlines miles without breaking a sweat (and why you should care)
I feel like American Airlines is one of the only programs out there that somehow manages to get better and better over timeā¦
So you can probably imagine my excitement when a premium AA credit card, the [[ citi-aadvantage-executive-world-elite-mastercard.name ]], got an extreme makeover and dropped a whopping 100,000-mile welcome offer on us the other dayā¦
For reference, that is a LOT of American Airlines miles. If we value them at around 1.8 cents each, thatās $1,800 worth of flights from a single credit card, which also comes with a ton of other perks like lounge access.
Even if you donāt fly AA often, this card could be a game-changer.
Remember, you can use AA miles to book flights on airlines like Etihad, Qatar Airways, British Airways, Japan Airlines, and tons of others around the world.
The other game-changing perk about the [[ citi-aadvantage-executive-world-elite-mastercard.name ]] is that in addition to earning miles by spending on the card, you earn Loyalty Points, which allow you to unlock perks and elite status with AAās loyalty program.
Even earning as few as 15,000 Loyalty Points can get you perks like priority boarding, free seat selection, and more.
Simply by signing up for the [[ citi-aadvantage-executive-world-elite-mastercard.name ]] and spending on it, youāll VERY quickly unlock even more perks like upgrade certificates, higher earning rates, and much, much more.
By now you probably know that Iām VERY excited about AAdvantage, the loyalty program of American Airlinesā¦
In case you donāt know the ins and outs of the program and why itās the best one in the world, check out my newsletter where I go in-depth about how anyone (anywhere in the world) can get TONS of value out of this program.
Overall, this is a VERY good opportunity. We see cards all the time with offers of 100,000 points, but rarely on any card that can earn you AA miles specifically.
Because these miles are so hard to come by, this is truly a once-in-a-blue-moon offer, so check it out if you want to rake in the miles.
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/a58fa6ae-6ddb-44ba-bd9f-8ecb66be805a/hr-6-16.png)
š„ Act fast! JetBlue fall sale ends today
JetBlue appears to be as excited about the upcoming fall season as I am (I canāt help that Iām a basic boiā¦ I love a good pumpkin spice latte āļøš ).
The airline has a pretty rad sale going on where you can get $25 off a $50+ one-way flight OR $50 off round-trip flights when you use the code FALLTRAVEL.
TODAY, July 26th, is the last day to book this, though. So act fast!
Terms to know:
Promo code is valid until today (July 26th) for travel between 9/6/23 - 11/15/23 (excluding Fridays and Sundays, Mint, and Transatlantic travel)
Discount applies per person for nonstop flights whose base fare is at least $50 one-way (excluding taxes and fees).
š”For instance, you might find a flight for $55, but its base fare is only $42 before the total cost with taxes and fees, and therefore the discount wonāt apply.
Not valid on previous bookings
See the full list of terms and conditions here
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/74b6b142-dd94-48ad-a627-9879382bd3a4/hr-10-16.png)
š¬š§ āEllo, chaps. This airline is making some changes to Avios
The airline of our friendly English counterparts (British Airways, if you didnāt get that) just announced that theyāll be swapping their traditional distance-based award system for a revenue-based one starting October 18th.
You should care because Avios is one of the most popular frequent flyer programs, and flying with BA is one of the most popular ways to get between the U.S. and the UK/Europe.
This new way of earning Avios definitely has some advantages, but also some not-so-great advantagesā¦ and then some scenarios that donāt change at allā¦ depending on how and what you book š¤
I know, I also thought, āBloody āell, mate. What gives?ā But thatās why you read Daily Drop, right? To get the occasional dose of a horrible English accentā¦
Plus, we do all the travel-hacking brain work so you donāt have to š
Currently, British Airways Executive Club members earn Avios based on the distance they fly, and not how much they paid for their ticket.
Starting for flights booked on or after October 18th, club members will earn Avios based on their elite status at a fixed rate per British pound (or per ~$1.30 USD):
This is good news for some, but not all.
Itās positive if you regularly pay cash for ancillary things like carrier-imposed surcharges (the UK has some of the highest!), seat selection, seat upgrades, and excess luggage charges.
For example, if you have Silver Club status and you spent an extra $400 on a seat upgrade, youād earn an additional 3,200 Avios ($400 Ć 8) starting in October.
Others who will benefit from this revenue-based Avios earning structure include those paying for more expensive (premium) cash seats.
Maybe you donāt have points saved up and itās your once-a-year splurge, or itās a bucket list trip that youāve budgeted a large sum for (or maybe youāre just a corporate traveler whose massive company covers the costā¦ lucky!).
For instance, if you still have that Silver Club status in this scenario, and you pay full price (around Ā£3,200) to fly business class from JFK to London, youāll now earn a whopping 25,600 Avios (Ā£3,200 Ć 8 Avios) compared to 13,574 on the current model for Silver elites (10,374 distance-based Avios + Ā£3,200) š
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/1ba46c73-595c-4d3d-840d-206ad46714c3/Screenshot_2023-07-24_at_12.49.10_PM.png)
Distance-based Avios earning rates for Silver elites from JFK to LHR
Where this model doesnāt always hold up is for members who purchase inexpensive tickets.
A Silver elite purchasing a flexible economy seat for Ā£496 will earn 3,968 Avios on the new model (496 Ć 8 Avios per pound) compared to 5,187 Avios on the old model (see above).
There are times when you might come out ahead on the new model despite purchasing a cheap ticket, but the more likely case is that youāll take a bit of a loss.
However, if you mainly fly on partner airlines or only use award tickets on BA-operated flightsā¦ then carry on, because not much is changing for you!
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/4d1e89d6-fcb8-4816-a078-c6ed74202bb5/hr-14-16.png)
Want to help Daily Drop take over the world? Share our newsletter with your friends/family/pets/colleagues/enemies and win some rewards in the process!
You currently have 0 referrals, only 1 away from receiving the Daily Drop Travel Toolkit.
Or copy your unique referral URL to share with others: https://newsletter.dailydrop.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER
ā¦or you can just buy these prizes from our website if you want to keep us all to yourself. š
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/c3b543f2-ec19-4710-a1a5-3ff45a39212f/hr-16-16.png)
Thatās all for today, friends. I donāt know about you, but American Airlines is REALLY grabbing my attention latelyā¦ In a world of devaluations and airlines ripping people off, AA miles seem to keep getting MORE valuable over timeā¦
What's your airline program of choice (if any)? |
Take care and have a wonderful day,