Aeroplan adds ANOTHER partner airline

Good morning aaaaand welcome back to Daily Drop, your one-stop-shop for all things travel and travel hacking. We're like Target. You'll probably find more here than you were looking for!

Here's what we've got for today:

• ✈️ Aeroplan adds ANOTHER partner

• 🤫 Secret Password: “Chalet All Day”

• 📱 Quick hacks: Easy tool to find award space

• 💳 Current Transfer Bonuses

✈️ Aeroplan adds ANOTHER partner

I’m SUPER excited about this one…

In case you weren’t aware, Aeroplan has more airline partners than any other points program in the world, including some weird and very interesting ones.

I’ve used Aeroplan points to book flights on Oman Air, ANA, Ethiopian, GOL, Air Mauritius, and more.

And as of yesterday, that list now includes FlyDubai, a partner of Emirates based in Tahiti.

No, I’m kidding. It’s obviously based in Dubai. 😉

They offer regional flights around the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Even though Aeroplan has had a partnership with Emirates for a while now, FlyDubai flights were not bookable until now.

They have a surprisingly large route network, which opens up a lot of doors for travelers like us to explore the world.

Unfortunately, this new partnership will use the Emirates distance-based pricing chart rather than the main chart that other airlines use.

Essentially what that means is that generally speaking, flying with FlyDubai will cost more points than flying the same distance with other partner airlines.

But here’s why I’m REALLY excited about this development:

FlyDubai covers some cool destinations that other airlines like Emirates don’t.

For example, I’ve been eyeing a trip to Afghanistan in 2024, which is… challenging… to say the least. *cue backlash from readers*

I have a way to get a visa there, but unfortunately, flights are CRAZY expensive, as only two airlines fly in and out of the country.

One of them is Kam Air, a sanctioned Afghan airline with a terrible safety record that isn’t allowed to fly in most countries. Soooo…. yeah, no thanks.

The other?

You guessed it - FlyDubai.

Even though their flights can cost over $500 one-way to get to Kabul, you can now book this flight for just 23,000 Aeroplan points, which is an awesome deal.

Now, I don’t suspect many of you will be packing a bag for Kabul anytime soon, but the point is this:

FlyDubai is a great option for traveling around certain regions of the world. The new partnership with Aeroplan opens up a ton of doors for new flight routes, more schedules, more availability, and some excellent deals.

🤫 Secret Password: “Chalet All Day”

Secret passwords are dope.

In fact, you can unlock free stuff at various businesses by using secret passwords. I know it sounds a little crazy, but it's true.

For example, Kimpton Hotels has released its new secret password, “Chalet all day,” which will unlock secret benefits at hotels. 

Here's how it works:

Until February 29th, 2024, use this secret password when checking in at any Kimpton hotel, and you'll get a free gift (which varies by hotel).

Kimpton has done this before with other secret passwords, and the secret gifts have included anything from free food and beverage credits to free breakfast and even free parking.

Given that Kimpton hotels are part of the IHG loyalty program, this is a great opportunity for anyone planning to stay at a Kimpton who doesn't have the benefits of IHG elite status.

Of course, there's no way to know exactly what you'll get. But if you plan to stay at a Kimpton, don't forget to use the password.

Kimpton is one of the luxury brands of IHG, so you’ll also have a one-of-a-kind luxurious experience when staying at their hotels.

Personally, I’ll be at the new Kimpton Tokyo Shinjuku in early 2024, so you can bet your butt that I’ll be using this password…

If you test out this perk, let me know what kind of gift you end up getting (unless it’s REALLY good, because then I’ll just be jealous).

📱 Quick hacks: Easy tool to find award space

Finding award space on flights can be challenging, especially when you need to search dozens of airlines over multiple programs…

There are services out there that will do this for you, But they cost money. And if there’s one thing we travel hackers hate, it’s spending money.

Thankfully, there’s a workaround. I’m talking about Bilt Rewards’ built-in award searcher.

Here’s the deal with this:

Bilt has a dozen airline partners that you can transfer your points to, including big boys like American Airlines, British Airways, Flying Blue, and Aeroplan (among others).

As a courtesy to members, you can search for award flights right in the Bilt app to see award availability through any of the programs that Bilt transfers to.

All you need to do is go to the “Travel” tab in the Bilt app and select “Transfer Partners.” On the resulting search page, just enter your desired itinerary.

When I searched for flights from New York to Mexico City, for example, I found tons of great options, like transferring points to Virgin Atlantic to book this nonstop flight on Aeromexico.

Of course, this feature doesn’t include every single points program in the world. But since Bilt transfers to most of the best ones, you’re pretty well covered.

Since Bilt is free to sign up for (even without getting the Bilt card), anybody can use this to save time (and points) on their next adventure.

💳 Current Transfer Bonuses

One of my favorite ways to learn about new travel hacks is in our very own Daily Drop Lounge, an online community of DD fans and travel hackers.

And unlike your local airport lounge, you won’t have any trouble getting into the Daily Drop Lounge. 😉

Here’s a look at the kind of fun hacks people are sharing in the lounge every day:

That’s all for this week, friends! I have a strange feeling that next week might be an exciting one for Daily Drop…

But you didn’t hear it from me… 🤫

Anyway, I hope you have a fantastic weekend, and I’ll see you bright and early on Monday ❤️

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