First France and now Greece… maybe? The Greek health ministry is seeking police assistance to address a hoax in Athens, where fake posters, falsely claimed a bedbug crisis and evacuation orders for local guesthouses to scare foreign tourists. Read more here.
Good morning and welcome back to Daily Drop!
We’re trying out something new today. Instead of scrolling past the parts of the newsletter you don’t care about, you can now click any of the bullets below to jump ahead to that section.
Go ahead, try it out:
✈️ How to get easy Star Alliance status
Remember like zero days ago when I told you about how I was giving up my Star Alliance Gold status next year because it was too expensive to get?
Well… I’ve got good news for anyone who read yesterday’s newsletter and was like, “Damn. I wish I had Star Alliance Gold status.”
Right now, you can use your Marriott Bonvoy elite status to match to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer status… which can then give you Star Alliance status.
Here’s how it works:
If you have status with Marriott Bonvoy, you can get automatic elite status with Singapore Airlines.
If you then complete a certain number of flights with Singapore Airlines in a 6-month period, you’ll get your status upgraded for a full 12 months.
Let’s look at a quick example…
Personally, I have Marriott Titanium status. If I go to the dedicated page for this status match on Marriott’s website, I can automatically match to Singapore KrisFlyer Silver status.
If I complete four flights on Singapore Airlines in the next six months, I’ll get upgraded to KrisFlyer Gold status.
If I do this, I’ll have Star Alliance Gold Status. Given that my current Star Alliance status ends on January 1st, I would SERIOUSLY consider registering for this and completing the requirements in the new year.
As I told you yesterday, Star Alliance Gold status gets you awesome perks on airlines all over the world:
But is it worth traveling on Singapore Airlines four times to earn it?
The short answer? Yeah, probably.
Let me explain…
If I find myself in Asia early next year (which I often do), I could pop down to Singapore and fly a couple of cheap round trips to a city like Kuala Lumpur, which is just one hour away.
If I do this twice, I could earn 12 months of Star Alliance Gold status for $250 and a few days of my time.
Speaking as someone who’s had SA Gold status for a while, I’d HAPPILY pay $250 to keep it for another year as opposed to spending $5,000 on Air Canada.
Now you may be thinking,
Mike, this is cool. It’s so cool that you have Marriott Titanium Status and can do this match. But I don’t have ANY Marriott status. So am I screwed?
As it turns out, there is a single credit card that can get you hotel elite status, which you can then match the same way I did.
It’s got a hefty annual fee, but if you compare it to the cost of earning hotel AND airline status organically, it’s a small price to pay.
Anyway, if you have Bonvoy status, plan on flying to Asia in the near-ish future, and want to enjoy some awesome elite perks for very little overall cost, now’s the time, folks.
🍪 Tasty Travel Tidbits
😭 British Airways just hiked their award pricing for certain partners
✈️ Alaska just added this Canadian airline to its list of partners
🤔 Why do people crowd around the boarding gate? This article explains it
🎅 This airline is throwing an ugly sweater party
In lieu of the festive season, guess what… Friday, December 15th, is National Ugly Holiday Sweater Day!
Apparently, yes, that is a real day and a real thing.
And Alaska Airlines is also celebrating by rewarding flyers who wear an ugly holiday sweater on December 15th with priority boarding 🎉
This “promo” is valid across ALL Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air flights that take to the skies TOMORROW.
So if you show up to the gate in an ugly sweater, you’ll be gifted priority boarding after first-class passengers and elite members.
Alaska has done this for several years now, and they even curate their very own holiday sweaters… which you can buy if you really want to.
I don’t think they’re THAT ugly…?
And since it is the holiday season, air travel is undoubtedly ramping up with busy airports and overcrowded flights.
If you happen to be flying tomorrow with Alaska, being able to board first and have plenty of overhead space for your luggage before the rest of the masses get on the plane could be a nice little perk.
We’d love to see if any of you participate in this tomorrow! Let us know, and maybe send a photo of your best ugly sweater as well 🤗
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 a post from this past week if you want a taste of what you’re missing:
That’s all for today folks! I personally love these fun promos and status matches that help us creatively accomplish our travel hacking goals.
But I’m curious… Assuming you had the ability (time and money),
Would you fly a few times on Singapore to get Star Alliance status? |
Only Email Recipients can participate in polls. |
Take care and have a lovely day ❤️
