Is this status match worth it?

Welcome back to Daily Drop!

If we were a hit 90s sitcom, we’d definitely be Friends — we’ve got a healthy amount of chaotic energy, quirkiness, and humor when it comes to talking about our miles and points.

…and we’re always there for you. 😉

What more could you want??

✅ Okay, WOAH. United revamped all of its co-branded cards this week, and there are some pretty interesting changes.

✅ Airport lounges are literally one of the best credit card perks. If you want to know how you can gain access, check out our latest YouTube video.

✅ Don’t miss this 100% transfer bonus from Bilt Rewards to Avios happening on April 1st only!

✅ Southwest just updated its pricing model on award flights, and it’s not great…

🏆 Favorite pick of the week: Southwest to American Airlines’ status match

Do you have Southwest’s A-List or A-List Preferred status? If you do, listen up👂

American Airlines (AA) is offering a limited-time status match to those who hold status with Southwest — available to match until June 30, 2025!

Here’s how that will translate to AA status:

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

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

Considering so many of you fly with Southwest, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a ton of peeps out there sitting on even the lower level of Southwest elite status.

And for American? Matching to the lower Platinum status will still give you some pretty great perks 👇

Now, you won’t indefinitely hold this AA status… You’ll initially be granted the title for four months. However, if you earn a certain number of loyalty points during that time, then you can extend your status for another four months. 🤔

And if you do that three times, then you get to keep it for the rest of the membership year…

Okay… I guess…?

The structure is a little odd, but hey, having elite status still feels pretty great.

Here’s how many Loyalty Points you’ll need to earn in that initial four-month period to keep your status longer:

• 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 (In four months? Lolz)

If you’d like to learn more, click here to apply and read up on any additional deets!

🏃🏻‍♀️ Runner-Ups

🥇 Only 5,000 miles needed to fly to the Caribbean

Who doesn’t love the Caribbean? And who doesn’t love a cheap award deal??

Right now, you can fly to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ), for just 5,000 American Airlines miles from various cities around the U.S.

We saw this sale pop up earlier this week, but I’m still seeing a ton of availability over the next few months. Here are just some examples for flights from Philadelphia (PHL), Dallas (DFW), Chicago (ORD), and Los Angeles (LAX).

And even though American Airlines miles aren’t the easiest to come by, I’m sure many of you have a small stack of them in your accounts if you’ve flown American at all over the years.

Just keep in mind this AA sale is set to end on March 30 — valid for flights between May 1 and July 31, 2025. So you have until the end of the day on Sunday to score one of these deals (that we found through Daily Drop Pro!).

🥈Save money on your favorite travel gear (and other stuff)

The absolute chokehold that Amazon has had on me over the years is, admittedly, embarrassing 🙈

But if you’re down for some deals, the online retail giant launched their Big Spring Sale this week with a ton of travel gear (and other goodies) on sale through March 31, 2025. 

As travel nerds, the Daily Drop team got excited — so excited that we started compiling a list of some of our favorite travel items!

For example, this Thule Aion 28L backpack has changed my life whenever I choose not to take a carry-on suitcase.

In fact, it’s what I lived out of when Mike, McKay, and I traveled around Asia for a couple of weeks earlier this year 👇

Our list of travel gear also includes our favorite portable chargers, travel adapters, noise-cancelling headphones, and more!

We’ll continue to add to this list, so if you ever want to know what we’re traveling with, you know where to go. 🤗

📣 Quick Callouts

• 🤗 Sweet: Earn triple Hyatt points on vacation rentals

• 😃 OoOoh: Did you get this targeted IHG promo?

• 😒 Lame: Cathay Pacific devalues its program (but it’s not all bad)

• 😤 Also lame: Aeroplan tanks its award chart

• 🤔 Interesting: Should you buy miles with a 160% bonus?

• 🤓 Travel trivia: Which country has been the most visited in the world for over 30 years?

And with that, I’ll say adios for now. We’ve got an exciting week ahead, so stay tuned for all the jam-packed travel news coming your way!

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