How to stack for maximum hotel points

Good morning folks, and welcome back to Daily Drop!

I hope y’all have managed to keep your travel plans intact - it seems like whenever I open the news, all I see is flight cancellations and storms… 😬

But in case you’re feeling stressed, I’ve got something to lighten the mood:

• 🏨 IHG’s “welcome back” bonus (targeted)

• 💡FOUR different ways to book a Hilton property

• 🍪 Tasty Travel Tidbits

🏨 IHG’s “Welcome Back” bonus (targeted)

I love me a good hotel offer… especially when there are easy ways to get major outsize value out of them.

IHG has just launched a targeted offer that allows us (if we are lucky enough to be one of said targets) to do just that.

Here is the deal:

• You must register for the offer (at this link), but remember, only select members are targeted

• After registration, complete two stays to earn 12,000 points

• Only available for paid stays with room rates above $30 per night

• This offer does stack with other public offers 🙌

The obvious best-case scenario here is if you already have two stays planned at IHG properties in the near-ish future, you can knock out the requirements for the offer and get a nice chunk of bonus points.

But even if you don’t have stays planned, there are ways to hack your way into the bonus points anyway.

So, let’s do some good old-fashioned math, shall we?

Let’s say you’re in Jakarta. You could book two individual one-night stays at this Holiday Inn for just $34 per night 😯

For just $68 dollars, you’d earn at least 12,680 points from the stay (10x points for being an IHG member, plus the bonus points from the promotion.

If you hold this hotel credit card, you will earn a total of 13,768 points from the stay:

• 10x for being a member

• 6x for the elite status you get from holding the card

• 10x from the card earning rate

• 12k bonus promotion points

But here’s the kicker:

Remember earlier when I said that this promotion stacks with other public offers…? 😏

IHG still has their “2x Points on Every Stay” promotion right now as well.

So, on the aforementioned stay, you’d earn an additional 680 points from this promo, for a total of 14,448 IHG points! 🎉

So even if you didn’t need to stay anywhere, you’re effectively buying points at 0.47 cents each, which is a great deal.

But let’s say you’re a normal person, and you aren’t in Jakarta. Let’s also say maybe you want to head to Chicago for Spring Break in March.

You could use the same tactic and book two one-night stays at this place for just $89 per night 👇

Between the two promotions, being an IHG member, and holding the aforementioned credit card, your $178 expense would yield you a total of… wait for it… 18,408 IHG points, which is not shabby AT ALL.

For reference, that is enough points to book a night at this hotel in Berlin (and still have some points left over).

Since this hotel would otherwise cost about $100 per night, you’re effectively getting a 56% return on your spend in this case… Epic.

So here’s the bottom line, kids. Register for both promotions (this targeted one if available to you and this public one). If you have been targeted, you can reap some major benefits by strategizing around IHG’s lower-cost properties.

💡 FOUR different ways to book a Hilton property

I’m just staying on the hotel bandwagon with this newsletter… but for good reason.

Our most recent YouTube video highlighted some pretty great (and different!) ways that you can book a Hilton property.

In fact, we watched Brendan jet-set around Europe, sharing how he stayed at four different Hilton properties in four different countries… all for ZERO dollars, y’all 🤯

These hacks included:

• Booking through a card provider

• Transferring points to Hilton

• Using travel credits

• And… perhaps the best one of all… getting two nights (completely free) just by signing up for a particular hotel credit card

If you want to know the specifics and the step-by-step walkthrough on how all this was accomplished, may I kindly direct you to watch that video over on the ‘tube.

You won’t be disappointed 😎

🍪 Tasty Travel Tidbits

• 😮 Video: Plane lands on a highway after taking off from Washington Dulles

• 🐍 A live snake is found (again) on a flight in Thailand

• ❄️ Here are some examples of how bad flying has been in Europe with the recent storms

That’s all for today, amigos. I don’t know about you, but I love a good stack… It’s a great way to maximize your points earning, cash-back, credits, and more.

Have a lovely day and see you tomorrow ❤️

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