There’s a brand new monument at Grand Canyon National Park called the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, which honors the tribal nations in those areas. Read more about it here.
Goooood morning, and welcome back to Daily Drop, your one-stop-shop for everything travel hacking. We’re like Target—you’ll probably find more here than you were originally planning on finding… and that’s okay!
Here’s what we got:
✈️ Earn 50x AA miles per dollar by donating to charity
🌎 Together with Boundless Life
📊 Poll Results: Why you should (sometimes) buy points
✈️ Earn 50x AA miles per dollar by donating to charity
Helping people is good. We like helping people. And I hope you do, too.
Especially because if you donate to help people with cancer right now, you can earn up to 50x AA miles per dollar.
Here’s the deal:
Until September 30th, American Airlines is partnering with Stand Up To Cancer to offer varying amounts of AA miles when donating to the charity.
You’ll earn:
As few as 2 AA miles per dollar for small donations
25x miles per dollar when donating $25 or more
50x miles per dollar if you donate $25 or more AND have this AA credit card
To be clear, the 50x applies only if you have this co-branded credit card.
Because of the amazing welcome offer, I know many of you have picked this card up recently, and therefore this could apply to you.
This is a way to donate to a GREAT cause and get a fantastic rebate, but the dollars spent do not justify the miles earned on their own.
For example, if you donate $1,000 and earn 50x, you’ll get 50,000 AA miles.
Those 50k miles, however, are only worth about $850 of travel. So while you won’t come out ahead financially, you’re coming out ahead… karma-ically.
The other MAJOR caveat to be aware of is that these miles earned will not count as loyalty points or elite qualifying points. So while you can use them to book travel, they won’t get you any other perks.
The other downside is that while donations are generally tax-deductible, the miles you earn lower the amount you’re allowed to deduct.
So yeah, you won’t be doing this just for your own benefit.
Still, this could be a way to top up your points balance and do something good in the process. So if you like donating to good causes, definitely consider earning some valuable miles in the process.
🌍 Together with Boundless Life
If you have kids and catch yourself daydreaming about full-time travel but find it challenging to actually travel because you’re rocking that mom-and-dad life… stop everything you’re doing and read this newsletter section.
Except, technically, don’t stop what you’re doing… because you were already reading, and we know how precious any moment to yourself can be…
That’s why I’m really excited to introduce you all to an incredible company called Boundless Life!
Think of Boundless as your concierge to becoming a digital nomad family who embraces traveling with children and values providing them with a unique and purposeful education—all while temporarily living and working abroad with a community of other like-minded travelers.
If it wasn’t clear, you should already be a remote worker who champions the “work from home or anywhere” lifestyle, but now, the whole family will get to tag along 🤗
There are a lot of details and factors to consider when choosing an adventure like this, but here are some of the main points of what Boundless Life offers.
They arrange cohorts in four-week and three-month packages that include a fully furnished apartment, a transformative education for kids and tweens, 24-hour access to a co-working hub, and engaging community activities because, well, you’re in a completely different country that should be explored!
Speaking of different countries, as of now, they have four superb destinations for you and your family to choose from👇
Sintra, Portugal
Syros, Greece
Tuscany, Italy
Bali, Indonesia
And a little birdie told me some additional ones are on the way for 2024!
So whether it’s four weeks or three months in one of these spots, you’ll undoubtedly get a perfect blend that feels like the best extended vacation of your life… with a few of your regular office calls thrown into the mix 🙃
I may only be a cat dad, but I know a few “real” dads whose “real” kids would love the chance to be a digital nomad family—even if it were just for a couple of months.
If you’re ready to see how much your kids enjoy eating gelato in Italy or swimming in the Mediterranean in Greece, click that gorgeous button below and set up an introductory call with Boundless Life today! 👇
📊 Poll Results: Why you should (sometimes) buy points
Many a fortnight ago, I asked you good people a question in the form of a Daily Drop poll.
I wanted to know if you’ve ever purchased points or miles. And the response was somewhat surprising to me 👇
The reason it was so surprising is that I buy points ALL the time…
So today, I wanted to highlight some examples of when buying points saved me (or could have saved me) a TON of money in the last year.
Earlier this year, I saved a ton of money by buying Hyatt points to book a stay in Malmö, Sweden.
The hotel I was staying at was priced at over $1,000 for my 5-night stay, which is… a lot.
However, as a Category 1 Hyatt property, the same 5-night stay only cost 25,000 Hyatt points in total.
Because of the sale going on at the time, buying 25,000 points only cost $450.
So in the end, I saved close to $700 just by buying points over booking with cash.
Next up… A few months ago, I was trying to book a SWEET stay in Tokyo for early next year.
The problem?
The stay cost 240,000 IHG points, and I only had 218,000 in my account.
This was a big stay that otherwise would’ve cost $2,700 if I were paying cash.
Thankfully, IHG was selling their points with a nice hefty bonus. So rather than changing hotels, waiting, or paying cash, I was able to simply buy the 22,000 points I needed for just over $100.
This is a great example of how buying points can help you top up your balance to unlock a big stay.
In my case, paying $100 was well worth the amazing stay I was able to then book.
So next time you see points sales, don’t write it off immediately. There are often some great ways to use these sales to save money on travel!
Want to help Daily Drop take over the world? Share our newsletter with your friends/family/pets/colleagues/enemies and win some rewards in the process!
Sign up for Daily Drop to grab your referral link!
Or copy your unique referral URL to share with others: https://newsletter.dailydrop.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER
…or you can just buy these prizes from our website if you want to keep us all to yourself. 😉
That’s all for today, friendos! Next time you hear from me, I’ll be in the bustling city of Shanghai, China—and I could not be more excited.
I look forward to more travel-hacking fun times tomorrow.
Love you, bye ❤️
