❄️ Use fewer points for winter travel

Good morning from London! 🙋🏻‍♀️

I’m here to indulge in all the holiday festivities, but we had a jam-packed week in the travel world—so let’s get to it!

✅ Take advantage of this 25% transfer bonus to JetBlue, or buy JetBlue points with a 130% bonus!

✅ Do you fancy a status match to Spirit Airlines?

✅ If you’re craving some warmth, consider a trip to Bali (and watch this week’s YouTube video to learn how to get there on miles and points).

✅ Feeling generous? You could earn up to 25x Southwest points per dollar by donating to charity this holiday season.

🏆 Favorite pick of the week: 50% off Alaska award flights for winter travel

Alaska Airlines’ final Global Getaways sale of the year has dropped, and what’s on offer this time around is pretty darn good… Like up to 50% off award redemptions type of good!

If you’re unfamiliar, these Global Getaways are quarterly award sales that often have a theme (which is fun), but more importantly, offer discounts on award flights 😎

The theme this time is very “on brand” with winter and is based on skiing and/or snowy destinations in Europe, Canada, and Central Asia!

You’ll find many popular winter destinations with this sale, like Geneva, Zurich, and Vienna, but you’ll also find some unique ones as well like flights to Kazakhstan and Armenia!

Here are all the deets you should know:

• You must book your travel by December 31st

• The deals are valid for travel between January 1st and April 30th, 2025

Being based in the Pacific Northwest, flying with Alaska is a no-brainer for me. But what’s great about this promo is that you can book with partner airlines as well, as long as you’re booking through Alaska’s site using Alaska miles.

For example, I consider Seattle one of my main departure airports, so scoring a flight to Switzerland for just 20,000 miles is insaaaaane.

Until recently, Alaska miles were quite hard to come by because of their lack of transfer partners.

However…

Since they’ve partnered with Hawaiian Airlines and you can transfer MR points to Hawaiian, you can now effectively transfer those points to Alaska via Hawaiian!

Take it from me, this would be a great use of your spare MR points… just sayin’ 😉

🏃🏻‍♀️ Runner-Ups

🥇Newest transfer bonuses to Virgin Atlantic and Aeroplan

The travel gods continue to provide 😍

We saw a handful of new transfer bonuses come through this past week, but these two are definitely the best!

First up is the 40% transfer bonus from MR points to Virgin Atlantic.

40% is a fantastic bonus… Even despite Virgin recently switching to a dynamic pricing model.

We travel geeks were very weary of this initially, but it’s actually not been so bad. There have been a plethora of award flights for as low as 6,000 points one-way, just like this one 👇

With the transfer bonus, that’s a jaw-dropping 4,300 MR points needed to fly across the Atlantic. Holy fu—

So it’s DEFINITELY worth browsing Virgin’s site to see if there’s a tasty redemption that works for you.

And if you’re looking for a couple of card options to earn you some MR points… I’d recommend my favorite premium card or its mid-tiered sibling.

Next up is the 20% transfer bonus from UR points to Aeroplan.

Aeroplan is honestly one of the best programs to book award redemptions with (and no you don’t need to fly Air Canada… a common mixup with this program).

It’s a great program to book award flights through because of the 50-ish airline partners it has!

I’ve personally gotten some of my best business-class deals through Aeroplan.

For instance, 60k points to fly between New York and Frankfurt is pretty great… That turns into just 50k UR points with the bonus… for nine hours in a lie-flat seat… 🤤

And there are SO many combinations of flights and routes you can search via Aeroplan… This is just one solid example.

So as I sop up my drool from these bonuses, I’d suggest looking into getting a card that earns UR points so you’re ready to jump on a deal like this the next time it comes around!

🥈 Friendly PSA to ensure you get compensated when it’s deserved

We all love to travel… I think that’s the main reason you’re here reading these Daily Drop newsletters!

But sometimes… travel is stressful. Things go wrong or don’t live up to the expectations that are set ☹️

It’s important to know that some protections are in place for delays or cancellations, depending on where you fly (enter EU 261).

But have you ever created a claim or left feedback on a less-than-desirable travel experience? Whether it’s for an airline, a hotel, or even a tour operator.

You should go in with the expectation that you won’t be compensated in any way, but it’s always a pleasant surprise if you are 🤗

For example, I’ve received complimentary breakfast and a few free drink vouchers at the bar due to a late check-in time that the hotel was at fault for. I didn’t even have to ask… they just offered.

Mike also detailed a few instances where he’s had a poor hotel or flight experience and has received actual points dropped into his account as a result of his feedback 😯

The main takeaway here is that if things go wrong, it’s always worth reaching out and leaving your honest feedback, and even politely asking if there’s anything that can be done in exchange for the poor experience.

The worst a vendor can do is say no, but I’m betting that if they care about their customer’s experience and their reputation overall, they’d be willing to compensate you in some way if it is truly deserved!

📣 Quick Callouts

• 🙌 Sweet: You can now apply Hyatt suite upgrades and club access awards online!

• 🙂 Decent: There’s a 70% transfer bonus to IHG (just remember that IHG points hold less value)

• 🌎 Travel trivia: Gulangyu Island is world-famous for its abundance of… 

• 🤗 Wow: Mike offered up some of his Hyatt awards earlier this week

As always, thanks for spending your morning with me. Cheers! 🇬🇧

52°22'35.4"N 52°15'17.4"W