The best (non)business-class seat I’ve flown

Happy Wednesday and welcome back to Daily Drop, possibly the best five minutes of your day. No, actually. I made up my mind. Definitely the best five minutes of your day. Sorry, I don’t make the rules! 🤷🏼‍♂️

Here's what we've got for today: 

• 🏨 Hyatt acquires another hotel brand (yay)

• 🥂 The best (non)business-class seat I’ve flown

• ✈️ KLM/Air France Promo Rewards (May 2023)

🏨 Hyatt acquires another hotel brand (yay)

Hotel chains acquire brands all the time. When they do, it’s rarely bad news for people like us. It means more possibilities for how we use our points and more ways to engage with a given program.

Sometimes, however, it’s VERY good news.

And that is exactly the case with Hyatt’s recent acquisition of Mr. And Mrs. Smith, a collection of ultra-luxurious hotels around the world.

When you hear that name, you may think of the 2005 Brangelina movie that got incredible reviews (sarcasm).

But Mr. and Mrs. Smith is actually a booking platform for some of the highest-end luxury hotels in the world.

So in reality, Hyatt has not purchased the hotels themselves, but rather the platform by which you book these hotels.

This means that Hyatt members will soon have the ability to earn and redeem Hyatt points on some pretty incredible properties.

Some of you might be aware that Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotels are actually already bookable with points via IHG.

In fact, I’ll be staying at one later this year in Cambodia which I booked with IHG points. 👇

So why should we care so much about this development?

Unlike IHG, Hyatt has fixed price caps on award bookings. So even when a luxury hotel costs thousands of dollars per night, you’ll never be hit with exorbitant points pricing like the other major programs.

Overall, this is yet another example of how Hyatt is making big efforts to expand their global footprint, and I could not be more excited about it.

🥂 The best (non)business-class seat I’ve flown

Here at Daily Drop, we love to talk about redeeming your points and miles for amazing business-class flights.

But sometimes, the best “business-class” flights aren’t business class at all.

A great example is Spirit Airlines. Although it’s a budget airline, they have what is arguably the best domestic “business-class” seat: the Big Front Seat.

What makes this stand out from other airlines is that anyone can book it. It’s just another seat that you have the option to pay for.

I recently spent a lot of time flying around Central and South America on an airline that took that same model to the next level.

I’m talking about Avianca.

They have the same model as Spirit; no business class, but an amazing product at the front of the plane that anyone can pay for.

I flew in this seat four times in the last two weeks, and it was AWESOME every time. In fact, it was better than most business classes I’ve flown on planes of the same size.

Not only are the seats wider than the economy seats, but you also get tons of legroom, a center console between seats, and USB and power outlets.

You’ll pay varying amounts of money depending on the flight length, but I paid around $25 per flight, which was WELL worth the price.

So if you’re traveling around Central and South America, I’d highly recommend flying on Avianca and booking these fantastic seats.

You can use points to book flights on Avianca using a bunch of different programs like Aeroplan, United, or, you guessed it, Avianca.

All of these programs are transfer partners of various banks, so check out our Top Cards page if you want to go South for the spring and take this awesome airline out for a spin.

✈️ KLM/Air France Promo Rewards (May 2023)

As you know, KLM/Air France Promo Rewards are deals that are published every month by KLM and Air France that offer huge discounts on specific routes with these airlines.

Last month was pretty crazy when they offered trans-Atlantic flights for as few as 7,500 points one-way.

While this month isn’t quite that incredible, there are still tons of amazing options to travel between the U.S., Europe, and beyond.

In addition to the cities above, there are plenty more options, so be sure to check out the full list on their website.

Here is how these promo rewards work:

• You must book your flights by the end of the month (May 30th)

• Travel can take place through October 31st, 2023

• You must book your trips via either KLM or Air France, depending on the city (see the screenshot above)

• Discount will automatically be applied to search results

These are DEFINITELY still great deals, especially if you took advantage of Bilt’s recent Rent Day promo which offered a 100% transfer bonus to Flying Blue.

But that’s not all…

Right now, both Chase AND Amex have 25% transfer bonuses to KLM/Air France Flying Blue, meaning you can book flights for as few as 9,000 points from either of the two programs.

If you don’t have any Chase or Amex points, you’re still in luck.

Our Top Cards Page includes plenty of cards that could each earn you enough points for multiple round trips to Europe at this price.

This is an amazing opportunity to book dirt-cheap flights across the Atlantic. They’re so cheap that it makes sense to book a positioning flight to one of these cities to make these flights work.

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That’s all for today, folks! As always, thanks for tuning in today.

What’s the best business class you’ve ever flown? Are you going to jump on any of those sweet Flying Blue Promo Rewards? Let me know by replying to this email or reaching out on social media.

Take care ❤️

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