🌎 (This weekend only!) Save money on travel experiences

Estimated read time: 5 minutes and 4 seconds

Good morning from Siem Reap, Cambodia, home to the famous Angkor Watt, a wonder of the world (depending on who you ask).

We’ve got a jam-packed Friday today, so let’s get right into it, shall we?

• 🌎 How to get some free travel experiences (this weekend only)

• 🏨 Best Western: Earn 5k bonus points (actually pretty good)

• 🥂 First-class Friday

🌎 How to get some free travel experiences (this weekend only)

*ahem*

Portals are dope. It’s an easy way to earn a cornucopia of free points, miles, or cash right back in your pocket.

Rakuten is by far my favorite portal. The ability to earn either cash back or points (more on that in this article) combined with the huge number of retailers makes it a no-brainer…

… especially when they offer 15% cash back 🫢

Rakuten has TWO last-minute promos that are about to drop, and I’ve got the inside scoop.

• Promo 1: Earn 3x rewards between September 2nd and 4th at select retailers.

• Promo 2: Earn 15% cash back (or 15x points) at select retailers on September 4th ONLY.

Now before you get too excited, there is a caveat… There are very few travel-related retailers participating.

But now that I’ve lowered your expectations, let me blow them out of the water.

The one retailer that I have my eye on is Viator.

In case you aren’t familiar, Viator is a site that lets you book travel experiences, tours, etc. all over the world.

It’s a great site that I’ve used many times over the years!

But before I get into the numbers, let me remind you that if you use our link to sign up for Rakuten, you’ll get a one-time bonus of $30 after you spend $30.

It’s basically $30 of free stuff/experiences, so everyone should sign up. And if you signed up with our link in the past, YOU CAN STILL EARN YOUR FREE $30 if you spend $30.

So let’s see what’s possible here.

As I mentioned, I’ve just arrived in Cambodia. And one thing that every little boy dreams about is, of course, going to the Cambodian Circus.

No, I’m serious…

There’s a famous circus here in Siem Reap that was on my list of things to do. Luckily, Viator offers tickets to the circus for cheaper than what the circus itself sells them for…

With the 15% cash back on Labor Day, I’d get $2.70 back in my pocket as well.

If you are new to Rakuten and sign up, you could book TWO tickets for $36, get your $30 bonus, plus $5.40 cash back for a total net cost of just $0.60.

Maybe you hate the circus. I get it… circuses can be scary. 🤡

As another example, I used Viator earlier this year to book a sushi cooking class in Tokyo for around $52.

With this cash-back deal and the $30 bonus, you could book this class for a net cost of just $14… 🤯

Seriously, it was a ton of fun, and I actually did learn things. 👇

Viator is also a great place to book more expensive, multi-day tours and see real-world reviews from other Viator customers.

If you go this route and are looking at spending hundreds of dollars, that 15% cash back could get a lot more exciting…

Anyway, the point is this:

This weekend (and Monday), you can earn high cash-back rates at Viator (and a whole bunch of other non-travel stuff), plus a fat $30 bonus if you use our link to sign up and make a qualifying purchase.

It really doesn’t get better than that!

So I’ll just let you stew on that while I go have nightmares about the circus.

🏨 Best Western: Earn 5k bonus points (actually pretty good)

It’s not often we see Best Western come through with a Daily Drop-worthy promotion…

But, alas, they have. And I’m kind of a fan.

For a limited time, you can earn 5,000 bonus points per stay with Best Western.

Here’s the deal:

• You must book your stays before September 4th, 2023

• You must complete your stays before November 20th, 2023

• You need to register for the offer

• Only valid in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean

To be clear, there is no limit to the number of times you can earn the 5,000 bonus points, and a “stay” can be as little as just one night long.

For example, if you booked a night at this hotel in Chicago for just $91, you’d earn 5,000 points on top of the points you already earn as a BW member, which is enough to book another night at a cheap hotel somewhere else.

If you’re doing a road trip and need to book multiple one-night hotel stays, you could really rack up mad points.

The major downside (at least for me) is that it’s only available in North America. I have a few Best Western stays booked right now, including at the Best Western in Lviv, Ukraine—one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed at 👇

The hotel above is a great example of why Best Western has changed in my mind recently. They have some REALLY nice hotels out there…

So if they keep up the good work with these promotions, it’s a chain I’ll definitely be paying more attention to.

🥂 First-class Friday: BermudAir

As summer winds down, you might be eyeing a balmy, tropical destination to head to this fall 👀

May I suggest… Bermuda? Cue that random 1980s Beach Boys song. You know the one 🎶🌴

Starting November 1st, you can head there in style on BermudAir’s all new business-class-only cabin that they’re aptly naming… Aisle Class.

It looks like BermudAir will offer almost daily service down to Bermuda from Boston, Fort Lauderdale, and New York’s Westchester County Airport.

They’ll also be offering this service starting in September, but on older configurations that aren’t fitted with the new Aisle Class (though these will be phased out starting in November).

You can also see this difference with base fares starting at just $199 through October, but then those prices jump up to $999 once the new cabins will take flight.

So if you’re lookin’ to splurge a little and want to experience an all-business-class cabin to the tropics this fall OR you want a great deal on an older business-class seat before November… BermudAir could be your perfect match.

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That’s gonna do it for this week, amigos.

I hope you all enjoy your holiday weekend (if it is a holiday weekend for you), and I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday morning for some more travel-hacking fun times.

Byeeeeeeee ❤️

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