Earn Southwest Companion Pass with one flight (hurry)

Good morning from beautiful Taipei, Taiwan. I just finished up a gorgeous hike in not-so-gorgeous weather (it’s like 100 degrees here, and I’m dying).

But check out the view:

And now I’m at a coffee shop to bring you some VERY EXCITING NEWS:

• ✈️ Today Only: Earn two months of SW Companion Pass

• 🏨 Marriott’s lukewarm new promo

• 🌎 Where in the World Wednesday

✈️ Today Only: Earn two months of SW Companion Pass

Remember when Southwest offered a free year of Companion Pass just for signing up for a credit card?

Well, they just launched a new promo to get a small slice of that reality with no credit card required.

UNTIL THE END OF THE DAY TODAY, you can earn two months of free Companion Pass (more on what this means in a sec) by booking one round-trip flight.

Here’s the breakdown:

• REGISTER for the offer immediately

• Book a round-trip flight or two one-way flights by the end of the day today

• Travel must take place by September 30th

• You’ll earn a companion pass from January 8th through March 8th, 2024

• Only paid flights are valid for earning the companion pass in this case

If you don’t know, the Companion Pass allows a “companion” to fly for free on any flights that you fly on, for pretty much free (they only need to pay the $5.60 taxes and fees).

This could be an amazing deal if you have any travel planned in the next month!

Alternatively, you can get more strategic with this…

If you and your special companion are eyeing a trip somewhere in early 2023, this could be a way to book some cheap travel now in order to obtain higher savings in the new year.

For example, if you live in Boston and have a couple of hours to spare, you could book this flight to Baltimore for just $59 one-way.

That means that for a grand total of $118 for the round-trip, you’re opening up unlimited flights for a companion for that two-month period.

If you can plan some nice trips between January and March, that $118 could easily amount to much higher savings since you’ll essentially get a “buy one, get one” deal on all of your flights during that period.

Obviously, run the numbers for yourself before making any rash decisions. But also… rash decisions can be fun (and you only have today to do it).

So maybe don’t think too much and go book some flights with Southwest.

🏨 Marriott’s lukewarm new promo

You know I like when my peeps at Marriott throw promos at me. And let me tell you… They are DISHING out these promos right now…

Earlier today, I found a nice little promo sitting in my Marriott account to earn a bunch of extra points on my upcoming stays.

Here’s the deal:

• Earn 1,500 per stay between September 12th and December 6th, 2023

• Earn 3,000 bonus points after three paid stays at three DIFFERENT brands

• You must register for the offer

• Only paid stays are eligible

So yeah. I’d describe this offer as “fine.”

And not like “fine dining” fine. I mean like that sketchy bodega at the end of my street called “G’s Fine Foods,” which was a legit place in Toronto that gave me food poisoning multiple times before going out of business… but I digress.

1,500 points is nothing to write home about.

Earning 1,500 points multiple times is… well, it’s okay.

Earning 1,500 points multiple times plus 3,000 bonus points? Now that is starting to feel a bit better. 😈

I have cheap Marriott paid stays all the time, so I am actually slated to earn 12,000 points from this promo without even changing anything around.

Because I’m headed to Southeast Asia for September, hotels are just much cheaper in general, which is why I generally opt for paid stays over using my points 👇

From there, I’m heading to Africa, where Marriott is literally the only game in town.

Because this promo has such a large window, even the paid stays I have booked for Europe in October and November will count toward this as well.

So overall, here’s my recommendation:

If you can make this work with existing stays or by switching from other hotels to Marriott hotels without spending any extra money, then definitely go for it and rack up a few extra points.

🌎 Where in the World Wednesday

Today, FareDrop is taking us to a wonderful city that’s home to some of the tallest and blondest people in the world… Stockholm, Sweden! 🇸🇪

Gosh, Stockholm is just rad.

Not only do I have this country to thank for 70% of the furniture I own, but Stockholm in particular has this unique “island cityscape” that both the Swedes and foreigners love as much as they do iconic pop group ABBA.

We all can be dancing queens while visiting, can’t we? 💃

The “old town” neighborhood of Gamla Stan is about as pretty as they come, and if you’re a bike or coffee-obsessive, you’ll fit right in.

Plus, don’t forget to indulge in some classic Swedish fika!

And as with most European cities, Stockholm also has its weird and quirky side.

For starters, you can book a night in an airplane hotel called Jumbo Stay. That is, if you didn’t already spend enough hours on a flight getting here in the first place.

You can even visit the former bank-turned-hotel that was the birthplace of the psychological phenomenon that we now know as Stockholm Syndrome.

I love Scandinavia, and Stockholm is no exception. So we hope this FareDrop deal elicits some travel excitement, and if you make it to this northern city, we hope you’ll also… h’ABBA good time 😉

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…or you can just buy these prizes from our website if you want to keep us all to yourself. 😉

That’s all for today, folks! Maybe you could score a positioning flight on Southwest, then head to Stockholm, and book a Marriott stay to earn some extra points to take FULL advantage of today’s newsletter.

We’ll chat again tomorrow ❤️

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