Estimated read time: 5 minutes and 13 seconds
Good morning and Happy Turkey Day to you Americans out there. To the rest of you, Happy Black Friday Eve.
I see we have a lot of new faces here today, so everyone, please wave hello and make our new friends feel welcome. To you neophytes, today's newsletter will be a tad different. I usually share a combination of deals, general travel hacking tips, and fun facts and stories.
But today is no ordinary day. For you see, my friends, Black Friday is coming. And we must all be prepared.
So today, we'll be focusing on some "quick hit" Black Friday travel deals.
However, I encourage you to check out our past newsletters at dailydrop.com if you want a taste of what this thing typically looks like (or if you get bored of schmoozing with that distant cousin who you only see on Thanksgiving and who's name you can never remember so you just call him "buddy").
Here's what I got today:
💳 Bilt's rent day just got a little more exciting
A few months ago, Bilt launched its new Rent Day, which offers tons of unique perks for holders of the Bilt Rewards Mastercard. Here's a refresher on what that looks like:
on the first day of every month.
Here are the normal earning rates for the Bilt card:
On the first of every month, however, this is what you’ll earn:
Even though it’s usually only for a single day out of the month, those are still incredibly high earning rates. But here's where things get interesting. To celebrate the season of shopping, Bilt is turning Rent Day into Rent WEEK.
From November 25th through December 1st, cardholders will enjoy the benefits of Rent Day for an entire week, meaning you can significantly increase the number of points you earn from shopping for an entire week.
You could then take those points and transfer them to any of Bilt’s 14 transfer partners, including Hyatt, American Airlines, and United, so right now could be the best time to sign up for the card.
Considering the Bilt card has a $0 annual fee, it might just be the cheapest part of your Black Friday/Holiday shopping season.
But Bilt didn't stop there with their Black Friday promo.
On December 1st only, Bilt is offering a 100% transfer bonus to IHG hotels. I'll wait while you process that.
That means you could earn heaps of points from your spending from the Rent Week promotion, then redeem them for DOUBLE the value at IHG.
And if you want to supplement those points with even more IHG points...
🏨 IHG will give you free points for downloading their app
This is an easy one. IHG is offering 1,000 points to anyone who downloads their app (and, of course, has an IHG account).
1,000 points isn't crazy, but by now you probably realize that there are tons of ways to earn small batches of points like this, and those points continue to accumulate into something meaningful.
Even if you're already an IHG member, you can still download the app, sign in, and get 1,000 points.
If you've ever had the IHG app downloaded on your phone, you will sadly not be eligible for this promo. But now is as good a time as any to sign up everyone in your household and start pooling your points.
So before you shove your face into the pile of mashed potatoes today, have everyone at the Thanksgiving table pull out their phones, download the IHG app, sign in, and transfer you their 1,000 points (although the points could actually take a few weeks to hit their accounts).
You might find yourself with enough to book a free night somewhere. You also might find yourself with some annoyed family members.
But don't worry, they'll get over it before next year.
💰 Earn up to 12% cashback on travel sites
We've talked a lot about cashback shopping portals recently, especially Rakuten.
In fairness, they're making it REALLY hard to stop talking about them.... for two reasons:
First, they are currently offering up to 12% cash back at travel sites like Expedia, along with amazing cashback rates at plenty of other travel sites like Viator, Hilton, Marriott, Hotels.com, and more.
Second, they've extended their $40 signup bonus (after making a $40 purchase) until December 1st. If you play this deal right, you can get PAID to "purchase" an Apple AirTag. In case you missed it, here is a link to our article that explains exactly how to do so in excruciating (and hopefully entertaining) detail.
If free AirTags aren't your thing, there are plenty of other ways to use that $40 signup bonus. For example, you could book seven nights at this hostel in Hanoi, Vietnam, for a total of $45 👇
Because you get up to 12% cash back from Rakuten, along with a $40 signup bonus, you could get a total of $45.40 back. So essentially, you're getting a 7-night stay in Vietnam for free. Not bad, right?
There are endless ways to earn a meaningful amount of cashback on your shopping in the coming weeks. And if you sign up with our link before December 1st, you could also make a flat $40 back on top of it.
✈️ Brought to you by FareDrop (EPIC Black Friday deal)
If you're subscribed to the Daily Drop, and I assume you are, you've probably heard of FareDrop. It's our parent company, and we're its annoying step-child (but they love us anyway).
FareDrop offers fantastic flight deals catered to your individual travel preferences.
Right now, FareDrop is having its best promotion of the year, offering 50% off the premium subscription plan AND a free FareDrop t-shirt like this one 👇
Here are the details:
Oh, did I forget to mention that last part earlier?
That's right, you could win a trip to the Maldives, including $3,000 for flights and six nights in an overwater bungalow at the beautiful Ayada Maldives Resort. And if you're worried about selling your house to afford meals in the Maldives, fear not. All meals are also included in this giveaway.
Just to be clear, all Daily Drop subscribers are already entered into this giveaway. But if you have friends or family members interested in great flight deals, free t-shirts, or... you know... free trips to the Maldives, this could be a great gift for them.
So to sum it up, $49 will get you a one-year premium FareDrop membership, a gorgeous t-shirt, and the chance to win the trip of a lifetime to the Maldives. It might just be the best investment you ever make.
🛳️ Amazing cruise discounts
You may remember a few weeks ago when I told you about some of the cheapest cruises on the market.
Well, that deal has gotten even better because MSC cruises now has a crazy Black Friday promotion.
Here are the details:
Considering how cheap these cruises already were, this sort of deal is mind-boggling to me...
MSC offers cruises in regions all over the world, so this could be an excellent Black Friday promotion to take advantage of regardless of where you live.
Here are a couple of examples of cruise packages out of ports ranging from Florida to New York to Genoa, Italy:
As you can see, this is not a deal to take lightly. A 4-night Mediterranean cruise for $109 is just ridiculous, as is a 6-night Bermuda cruise from New York. The fact that you could also get free drinks and some onboard spending credit only adds to the ridiculousness (which is, in fact, a real word).
If you're looking for a last-minute getaway (or if you're willing to plan a few months ahead), I would seriously consider getting your cruise on.
That's all for today, folks. Now go start cooking, playing charades, having awkward arguments about politics, or whatever it is you do with your family on Thanksgiving.
Did you travel anywhere for Thanksgiving? Which one of these Black Friday promos are you most excited about? Let me know by replying to this email or reaching out on social media.
Until next time,
Mike Dodge
Head Writer, The Daily Drop
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