Epic new status match

Good morning, and welcome to Daily Drop - the newsletter that almost got delayed this morning because I was too busy comparing flight deals and deciding if churros count as breakfast (they do).

But don’t worry, I pulled it together… and I’ve got some good stuff for you today.

Let’s dive in:

• ✈️ Epic status match to American Airlines

• 😭 An airline devaluation (with some good news)

• 🎥 The ultimate guide to airport lounges

✈️ Epic status match to American Airlines

Status matches rock.

It’s the best way to take your hard-earned status in one program and leverage it into an equally great status with a different program.

And right now, there’s a really good opportunity for U.S. flyers… Especially if you’re disappointed by all of the recent changes announced by Southwest (which you should be).

Here is the deal:

For a limited time, American Airlines is offering a way to turn your Southwest status into AA status.

AA always has status matches available, but the “limited time” aspect applies to Southwest in particular.

Here are the options for which tiers of Southwest status you can match:

• A-List status with Southwest will earn you Platinum status with AA

• A-List Preferred with Southwest will earn you Platinum Pro with AA

Keep in mind that A-List is pretty easy to earn and only requires 20 flights per year.

This status match applies to current elites with their A-List or A-List Preferred status expiring either this year or next year.

So is it worthwhile?

Um… yes. This is like trading in an old car and getting handed a Porsche.

Personally, I think Platinum status with AA is WAY more powerful than A-List with Southwest…

For starters, Platinum Status will give you some valuable perks:

Now, let’s talk about the catch…

Once you match to AA status, you’ll only have it for four months. BUT… if you earn a certain number of loyalty points during that time, you can extend your status for another four months.

If you do this three times, you’ll get to keep your status for the rest of that membership year.

Yes, it’s kind of annoying… just think of it like playing a video game where you unlock new levels of travel perks. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Anyway, here is how many Loyalty Points you’ll need to earn in the four-month period to maintain or upgrade your status:

• 13,000 Loyalty Points for Gold status

• 25,000 Loyalty Points for Platinum Status

• 42,000 Loyalty Points for Platinum Pro status

• 67,000 Loyalty Points for Executive Platinum status (for you overachievers out there)

This status match is available until June 30th of this year. So even if you haven’t earned Southwest status yet, you could still take advantage of this a couple of months from now.

Click here to apply for the match and read all of the details.

Oh, and for a refresher on how to earn Loyalty Points with AA, check out this newsletter.

😭 An airline devaluation (with some good news)

Personally, I think Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles is one of the most underrated airline programs out there.

They have some of the lowest award rates for long-haul travel and great award availability, and you’re flying on Cathay Pacific, which is one of my favorite airlines (maybe my single favorite) in the world.

So you can imagine how devastated I was when they just announced a devaluation to their program… Although I’ll take it over some other programs devaluing…

But don’t worry… there are three big silver linings:

1. The rates didn’t increase by much

2. Some of the rates actually decreased in cost

3. Many of the distance bands didn’t even change at all

Oh, and one more thing… at least they gave us a heads-up about it, which is more than most programs can say (*ahem* Avianca and Turkish).

Specifically, the new rates will take effect on April 15th, leaving us with a few weeks to lock in the lower rates.

Here is a quick summary of the rates that have changed, example cities for the different ranges, the current points cost, and the new points cost. 👇

As you can see, business-class flights from cities like Los Angeles (LAX) and Vancouver (YVR) to Hong Kong (HKG) only increased by 4,000 miles each way.

The longest distance band, which includes cities like Toronto (YYZ) and New York (JFK) increased by 5,000 miles each way.

Cathay Pacific has one of my favorite business-class products out there. It’s not super flashy, but it’s consistent and comfy, and the food and service is amazing.

Oh… and you might have also noticed that economy flights on short-haul routes between Hong Kong and cities like Singapore (SIN) and Manila (MNL) actually decreased in price.

Considering how great these short-haul award rates already were, this is great news.

But the most important thing here is that long-haul economy routes didn’t change at all. This means that you can still fly from the U.S. West Coast to Hong Kong for just 27,000 AsiaMiles.

From the East Coast to Asia, it remains at 38,000 miles… which is just amazing value.

So here’s what you can do now:

If you were thinking of booking a trip to Asia later this year and want to fly in business class, I’d lock in your flights as soon as possible.

You can transfer Membership Rewards Points, Capital One miles, ThankYou points, and Bilt Rewards to Cathay at a 1:1 ratio, so racking up some miles is super easy.

Airport lounges are one of the BEST parts of points, miles, and credit card perks. Personally, I would die if I didn’t have a way to access lounges before those long, painful economy flights.

However, navigating all of the rules around airport lounge access can be tedious. So we made a YouTube video this week to break down all you need to know about the topic.

Check it out:

That’s all for today, friends! Before you go, I have a question on the topic of airport lounges…

See you tomorrow ❤️

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