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✈️ There's an emerging trend with airline programs

Plus, we're heading to Portugal on a cheap flight with some travel tidbits along the way

April 26, 2023

Estimated read time: 5 minutes and 2 seconds

As if cat people aren’t already weird enough (I speak for myself here), an entire town in Alaska elected a ginger kitty, named Mayor Stubbs, to hold its highest political office. And he did it… for 20 years. Yet another reason I need to visit Alaska 😸

Welcome back to your favorite mid-week pick-me-up! And I have to say… Mike isn’t the only one battling a bug right now (apparently, so is our email service provider 🥴).

So if you received four copies (yes, I know…) of Daily Drop in your email yesterday, then just consider yourselves lucky with all that extra travel love ❤️🤷🏻‍♀️

Speaking of Mike, he’s received many of your well wishes and is on the mend… but he’s taking another recovery day, so you’re stuck with me (Tiffany) for round two.

Here’s what’s cookin’:

  • 🌍 Where in the World Wednesday

  • ✈️ Are monthly airline subscriptions becoming a thing?

  • ✅ Travel tidbits

🌍 Where in the World Wednesday

Olá! And viva, amigos! Today, I’m taking you all to Porto, Portugal 🇵🇹

This FareDrop just popped up in my account yesterday, and I’m SO EXCITED to talk about it because… I’m actually doing a road cycling event through Portugal in June 😍

AND I bought my ticket a little while back because of another FareDrop deal that was lovingly gifted to me in my inbox!

This deal is coming out of Miami and royally slashes the price of that international flight IN HALF. $406 down from $800?! Sheesh, FareDrop, you’re making me blush. 🤭

But oof. Where to begin? The history, the architecture, the wine… er, I mean Port. Because… you know… Portugal.

So yes, Port wine is a big deal here. It can only be made in Portugal and often hails from the UNESCO-designated Alto Douro wine region (which is freaking beautiful).

The city and surrounding area are filled to the brim with 12th-century castles and a lively and traditional foodie scene (yes please). You also can’t miss Porto’s famous tiles, known as azulejos, that are beautifully plastered throughout the city.

BUT WAIT. If you’re a Harry Potter fan (I’m a self-respecting Ravenclaw 💙), then you MUST visit this famous bookstore in Porto that served as inspiration for the books and movies. How… magical 😏🪄

Seriously, look at this place!

Courtesy of Livraria Lello

I don’t know about you all, but I personally love looking like a wrinkled hot mess whenever I’m traveling. And no, I’m not talking about my FACE (yet), I’m talking about my CLOTHES.

I hope your sarcasm radar is on today…

Having wrinkly (or less than fresh) clothing from hours spent on a bus, train, or plane is an unfortunate price we pay while traveling, but that may be a thing of the past thanks to Unbound Merino!

Unbound clothing has some travel magic stitched into every thread that makes it anti-odor, temperature regulating, fast drying, and wrinkle resistant.

So even when you’re on week three without a washing machine… you won’t completely look (or smell) like you’ve just rolled out of a dumpster 😅

And to offer you guys some street cred, Nate has been sporting one of Unbound’s black Merino tees for years throughout their travels!

Both Kara and Nate picked out their favs so you can try out these feel-good Merino wool tanks and tees for yourself.

If you want an Unbound shirt for your next adventure, you’ll get 15% off your first purchase by using the code DAILYDROP at checkout!

✈️ Are monthly airline subscriptions becoming a thing?

I’ll admit that I’m a sucker for a good subscription service… whether it’s music, TV, podcasts, or food 😅 But airlines??

We’ve talked about Frontier’s GoWild! All-You-Can-Fly Pass in a previous newsletter, but there are more airlines joining the subscription game…

In fact, Avianca recently rolled out a subscription program for small and medium-sized businesses.

And European low-budget airline Wizz Air announced last week that they were also planning to start a monthly subscription program called MultiPass.

BUT what I really wanted to talk to you about is the subscription program that Wizz Air was modeled after… and that’s Alaska Airlines’ Flight Pass.

Right away, this sounds like an incredible deal… There’s definitely benefits to it, but there’s always the fine print and other conditions to consider.

For starters, the current routes that are accessible through Flight Pass are only serviced within and between California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.

So if you live in the Southwest, you’re in luck! If you don’t, we’re hoping Alaska will expand this service in the future (and I have a gut feeling they will 🤞).

How Flight Pass works:

You can see the prices per month with different flight credits that you’ll get with a 12-month subscription. With the standard Flight Pass option, you’re able to book up to 14 days before your flight (so no suuuper last-minute opportunities for you Type B people 😉).

Whereas with Alaska’s Flight Pass Pro option (make sure you toggle this on), you’re able to book up to just two hours before your flight (the thought of booking a flight two hours before it leaves 🟰 personal anxiety level at 💯)

You’re gonna pay for that last-minute convenience though:

  • $199/month for six trips per year (one roundtrip flight every two months)

  • $399/month for 12 trips per year (one roundtrip flight every month)

  • $749/month for 12 trips per year (two roundtrip flights every month)

Alaska also mentions that you’ll still need to pay $14.61 (or more) per flight to “cover taxes and fees,” so just keep that in mind, too.

This could actually be a great deal and save you a ton of money if you know you’ll be making frequent trips on those eligible domestic routes.

After running a few searches, I found many of those roundtrip flights could easily cost you $375-$600. We’ll use the conservative end for our example at $375 (x12 = $4,500 per year).

If you selected the $99/month plan (so $1,188 per year), and used your Flight Pass to fly once a month, you can see how much you would save!

Just be sure to read through all of their FAQs before you subscribe!

✅ Travel tidbits

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That’s all for today, friends! I really can’t wait to get to Portugal. Have you been??

And do you think airlines are gonna jump on the YouTube bandwagon and start saying, “Like and subscribe if you enjoyed your flight!” 😂

(Maybe) see you all again tomorrow 🙂

Tiffany Eastham
Writer, Daily Drop