✈️ This old status match is back

Estimated read time: 5 minutes and 08 seconds

Howdy - good morning from Gulanyu, a special pedestrian island off the coast of Xiamen, China!

I’ve got some good new tips for you today, so let’s get into it:

• ✈️ Spirit Airlines status match is back, baby!

• 🏨 Hyatt adds a new online feature

• 🤓 Travel Trivia Tuesday

✈️ Spirit Airlines status match is back, baby!

You may remember last year when Spirit offered an excellent status match that awarded over a year of elite status for a small fee.

Well, I’ve got good news and bad news…

The good news is that the status match is back… and there’s no fee!!

The bad news?

You’ll need to work a liiiittle harder to keep the status long-term… Here are the deets:

• If you hold elite status with another airline, you can match it to Spirit Silver or Gold for 90 days

• If you earn enough SQPs (Spirit Qualifying Points) in that period, you can extend your status (or upgrade it) until the end of 2025.

• You must submit your application by January 31st

As mentioned, you’ll need to earn enough SQPs to extend your status, which you can see below for each tier:

If you’re wondering whether or not you’re eligible for this, here is a list of programs and statuses that can be matched to Spirit:

Spirit Gold, in particular, is actually super valuable and offers a ton of perks to save money on Spirit, including:

Essentially, you’d be able to travel as though you were on a full-service airline, but your overall cost would only be a fraction of what you’d pay with those airlines.

But I’m going to show you how much money you’d save on a given flight 😏

Let’s say you live in the beautiful(ish) city of Detroit and want to take a spontaneous trip to New Orleans next week.

Oh, look at that, the flight is only $28!! Amazing, let’s book it.

You’re a heavy packer, so obviously you need a carry-on and a checked bag, so let’s add those to the cart:

As someone with obnoxiously long legs, you need to pay for an emergency exit row and fly in some comfort. Let’s add that to the cart, too…

And since you’re ALWAYS running late, let’s make sure you get some priority security access, as well as the flexibility option, in case you miss your flight and need to change it.

Now that that’s all done, let’s go ahead and pay.

Wait… what the heck? The flight’s $220 now?? I thought it was $28!! 🤬

The REAL cost of Spirit flights is all of these add-ons.

With Gold status, you’d get ALL of these things and more.

Frequent Spirit flyers will probably have an easy time extending or renewing this status beyond 90 days.

But even if you have one or two flights booked with Spirit, you could save a bunch of money during that 90 days without needing to worry about racking up SQPs to renew it.

One thing to note is that if you take part in this status match, you won’t be able to do another one with Spirit for two years… so don’t just do it for no reason.

🏨 Hyatt adds a new online feature

Hyatt has long been our hotel program of choice here at Daily Drop.

They have endless ways to earn and redeem points, have a fixed award chart, and excellent elite benefits.

The biggest downside to Hyatt has always been how difficult they make it to use rewards like Free Night Certificates, Suite Upgrades, and more.

That is, until now… 😏

That’s because Hyatt has just released a feature to apply suite upgrades and club access awards through the Hyatt app and website, which is AWESOME.

In case you don’t know, awards like this can be earned through Hyatt’s Milestone Reward program.

Personally, I have a bunch of Club Access Awards and Suite Upgrade Awards sitting in my account…

Having club access often means getting free breakfast, snacks, coffee, and even dinner at brands like Hyatt Regency and Grand Hyatt, which often have nice lounges 👇

Suite Upgrades, on the other hand, are even more valuable - especially if you’re traveling with a family and can make use of the extra space.

To use a Suite Upgrade, the hotel needs to have standard suite availability.

If you search for a hotel, view the rates, and see a result like this, it means the booking will be eligible for a Suite Upgrade Award:

When you select the Suite Upgrade Award, you’ll see the various options for suites and text saying “Point Award + Suite Upgrade,” which looks like this:

This isn’t groundbreaking, but it does make me love Hyatt even more now. Not having to get on the phone during business hours to apply these awards is a really nice perk.

Now, if only they would let us transfer points between members online, too…

Hyatt, if you’re listening… that’s the only thing on Mike’s Christmas wishlist. 🤗

🤓 Travel Trivia Tuesday

If you guessed Pianos, you nailed it! 🎹

Gulangyu Island is just off the coast of Xiamen in southern China and is nicknamed the "Island of Pianos"—and for a good reason.

This tiny, car-free paradise is home to over 200 pianos, giving it the highest piano-to-people ratio you’ll find anywhere.

It all started back in the late 1800s when international residents brought pianos to the island, and it’s been a music lover’s dream ever since.

The star attraction? The Gulangyu Piano Museum is where you can check out all kinds of pianos, from antique 19th-century beauties to super rare, unique designs.

Gulangyu isn’t just about pianos—it’s a laid-back spot with no cars, quaint streets, and colonial-style buildings, making it a popular getaway for people all over China (and those crazy enough to land in Xiamen, have 14 free hours, and take the ferry at 10 p.m. just for a blissful morning walk… Which is obviously exactly what we did 😇)

And as you could’ve guessed…impromptu concerts are totally a thing here. 🎶

Y’all, this place is so underrated and absolutely worth a visit next time you’re traveling in Xiamen…like…please go. It’s the perfect place to walk around, soak up some chill vibes, and maybe even find your inner pianist.

You can read more about the history of Gulangyu Island here.

That’s all for today, folks! It’s nice to see U.S. hotel and airline programs dropping good news on us left and right.

I’m off to catch my next flight, but take care and have a lovely day.

Ciao,

37.5503° N, 126.9971° E