Good morning, and welcome to the Great British Bake Off of weekly newsletters.
Weāre about to deliver some travel updates that would be worthy of a Paul Hollywood handshake, complete with a gaze into his crystal blue eyes š
Oh, Paul *blushes aggressively*
So grab a blanket, a tasty baked good (no soggy bottoms allowed š„), and get ready for some feel-good reading.
ā The Daily Drop team recorded a podcast to reflect on their SAS Million Mile journey. Check it out here!
ā Buy Alaska miles with a 60% bonus (especially if you have a business class seat in mind).
ā Everyone is eligible for Hyattās newest Bonus Journeys (2-3x bonus points).
š Favorite pick: Did you get a spending bonus from this bank?
Iām about to spit some facts.
Many of our favorite credit cards come from this bank. And if you donāt currently have a card that earns UR pointsā¦ You should seriously consider applying for one if it (responsibly) makes sense for you.
But if you already have a card from said bank, you may have a sweet little offer sitting in your account š
You just have to go and check (and check for EACH card that you hold that is issued from this bank).
Simply click this link, enter some details about you and your card, and if youāre eligible for an offer, youāll get registered right then and there to use it.
Hereās what I personally got on this fan-favorite card š
The expanded terms not shown on this graphic said Iād have to spend $500 for booking a hotel stay through the issuerās travel portal. And if I did?
Iād earn 20,000 bonus UR points š¤Æ
And remember, kids, this card earns 5x points per dollar on purchases made through the travel portal, so I can expect to stack an additional 2,500 points on top of the bonus.
IN FACT, Iāve been needing to book some hotels in both Qatar and Taiwan for an upcoming trip in March, so this is literally perfect.
What are you waiting for?! Check your cards here!
šš»āāļø Runner-Ups
š„Status match to Virgin Atlantic
The British are comingā¦ to offer you another status match š
In order to qualify for this status match from Virgin Atlantic, youāll need to first hold a certain level of elite status from another airlineāall of which you can find here.
But these are the most common airlines on that list, just FYI:
Airline Program | Requirements (Silver) | Requirements (Gold) |
---|---|---|
American Airlines | Platinum Pro | Executive Platinum Concierge Key |
Hawaiian Airlines | Pualani Gold | Pualani Platinum |
United Airlines | Premier Platinum | Premier 1k Global Services |
Air Canada Aeroplan | 25k or 35k | 50k, 75k, or Super Elite |
If you happen to have status with a qualifying airline, youāll then need to move to step two in order to actually get elite statusā¦
And step two requires you to have a flight booked with Virgin š
But because Virgin is such a cool airline, you really donāt have to twist my arm to book a flight with them lolz š¤·š»āāļø
Oh yeah, both cash AND award bookings count toward this requirement, which is awesome.
If youād like a little more detail, check out our full-length newsletter section, or you can just head straight to Virginās site to get started on your status match!
š„ Last-minute flexibility = discounted award flights
Imma keep this short and sweet. Singapore Airlines just released its latest Spontaneous Escapes promo š
If youāre unfamiliar, Singapore offers monthly award discounts on flights that are booked by the end of the month and are flown by the end of the following month.
So yeahā¦ hence the ālast-minute flexibilityā thing.
Some of the highlights for this promo include flying from San Francisco to Singapore for just over 52k miles in premium economy or ALL THE WAY from New York to Singapore for just over 56k miles also in premium economy!
If youāre dead-set on going to Europe, we also love the New York <> Frankfurt route for just over 56k miles for BUSINESS or 36k miles for premium economy š
Simply amazing.
If you want some more details and examples of this monthās Spontaneous Escapes, check out this full-length newsletter section HERE.
š£ Quick Callouts
š¤ Travel trivia: Do you know which U.S. rail trail holds the title of the longest in the country?
š Cool: Where in the World Wednesday: Istanbul (on points!)
š Worth a try: Go glamping and earn double Hyatt elite nights
š Big savings: Norse Atlanticās big January Sale
I hope you enjoyed another installment of our Weekend Round-Up! Have a lovely weekend, and Iāll see you next time š