Daily Drop

Whew! What a week it’s been! 😠First of all, I want to thank all of you for your warmth and engagement with this “non-traditional” week of newsletters from the Daily Drop team. We had an amazing planning session in Toronto… and it was the first time in my 25 years of leading people that I have EVER had my staff ask if we can meet for even MORE hours than I’d put in the agenda. 🤯 That’s how die-hard this writing team is. And I feel so blessed to be able to call them my team.

🎬 BEHIND THE SCENES 🎬 • Going for Gold: Sam’s competitive drive really came out today, and she was determined to get an A+ by only using this card for her whole trip. • Accor Access: Mike tossed this card into the mix for the Accor benefits. • Another A Student: Katie also wanted extra points for booking her whole outing on this card. • Last call: We’re doing a live class today on redemption support. Register here.

This week we ran twelve trips through the same challenge. Three writers, 200,000 points and $2,000 apiece, Thanksgiving week. All of them had to book the trip as though it were real – meaning any tips and tricks they used had to be live at the time of “booking.” (They didn’t actually book those trips, but had to pretend that they would on that day.) I read every single article before it went live.

Happy Wednesday to all my favorite road trippers, If you follow along with our daily newsletter, then you know weā€™ve been up to some different stuff this week. We ā€“ āœØ the content team āœØ ā€“ were challenged to each plan four different trips with a few set parameters, and weā€™ve been sharing them every day this week in the daily newsletter. Monday was ā€˜la dolce vitaā€™ in Italy, Tuesday was a trip around the world to Japan, and today we took on the Aloha State.

🎬 BEHIND THE SCENES 🎬 • A One-Card Flex: Mike planned his WHOLE trip using just this card. • Tried and True: Katie leaned hard on everyone’s favorite first travel card. • Dark Horse: Sam surprised us all by incorporating this card into her strategy. • Can’t Get Enough? Tomorrow we’re hosting a live redemption support class, showing our thought process behind great deals. Register here. Aloha, my friends! We’re in day three of the offsite, and the experiment continues.

šŸŽ¬ BEHIND THE SCENES šŸŽ¬ ā€¢ The Wild Card: Mike threw this card into the mix in his less-than-ideal itinerary. ā€¢ The Rogue: Katie relied on this card heavily for her hotel stays in Japan. ā€¢ The Magician: Sam would have been stuck without this card to get her home. ā€¢ Thursday, August 27 at 3 pm Eastern, Team Daily Drop is booking flights with points live and showing how itā€™s done. Pro members can drop a redemption request in the Pro Lounge; everyone else is welcome to come check it out.

🎬 BEHIND THE SCENES 🎬 ‱ All three writers ended up in the same ecosystem. Not one of them compared notes before reaching for these cards. ‱ Sam and Mike both reached for the same longtime favorite. It's this one. ‱ And Katie went rogue, because of course she did. This cardhelped her get to Italy. ‱ Thursday, August 27 at 3 pm Eastern, we're booking flights with points live and showing our work.

Happy weekend to all my points-and-miles party people! Unless you, too, were personally victimized by Flying Blue’s changes this week. 😒 In that case, it’s a less happy weekend, but still happy to have you here. And fitting because we’re covering the highlights and digging into whyyyy you should plan a trip with your points instead of sitting on them. Don’t sit around waiting for Big Bad Airlines to come water those beautiful points down.

✈️ TRENDING TRAVEL NEWS ✈️ • West Coast: Alaska Airlines announced new nonstop routes to Athens and Paris from their hub in Seattle. • Vivid Views: Hyatt just added another Cancun resort to their all-inclusive collection. • La Dolce Vita: Looking to retire in Italy? See if you qualify for the country’s elective residence visa. • New to Flying Blue: This card is a GREAT way to add a bunch of Flying Blue Miles, thanks to a hefty welcome offer.

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