Lock in discounted flights for May

Good morning from Beirut, Lebanon!

But by the time you read this, I’ll be in Damascus, Syria. And I won’t say more than that for now…

But I’m going to distract myself by sharing some good travel tips with you:

• 💸 How to get compensated by Turkish Airlines

• ✈️ Singapore Spontaneous Escapes

• 🇱🇾 How to travel to Libya in 2025

💸 How to get compensated by Turkish Airlines

Alright, so I’ve been up to some crazy stuff recently.

I’ve been to five countries in the past five days, thanks to one naughty airline screwing up my plans… 👿 This led to a new tip I'd like to share with you.

This portion of my trip started off with a Turkish Airlines booking from Boston (BOS) to Tripoli, Libya (MJI) via Istanbul (IST):

Let’s just say… it didn’t go smoothly. Turkish Airlines repeatedly canceled my flight to Libya, leaving me stranded in Istanbul for a couple of days.

I won’t bore you with how I solved the problem and all the crazy logistical stuff I had to do to rearrange my trip, but I will tell you something I learned…

When this first happened, my initial thought was:

“It’s too bad this flight isn’t going to or from the EU, because I’d be able to get tons of compensation from Turkish Airlines…” 👀

But just to be sure, I Googled to see if I was entitled to anything. It turns out that Turkey has what they call SHY passenger regulations, which entitle passengers to compensation.

In fact, it basically mimics the EU261 laws that I’ve told you about multiple times.

Depending on the flight distance, delay time, etc., you could be paid up to €600 if Turkish Airlines screws up your life by denying you boarding, delaying you by more than three hours, or canceling your flight. 

Turkish Airlines allows you to submit a claim on their site, but it only applies to tickets booked through Turkish.

So my Aeroplan ticket wasn’t eligible… but that didn’t mean I wasn’t eligible for compensation, it just meant that Turkish wanted to make it harder to get.

So I filed a claim directly with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for Turkey.

It is extremely confusing to navigate, but I found this Reddit post that was amazingly helpful and thorough. 🙏

Turkish Airlines is such a massive and popular airline, so keep this in your back pocket in case your plans ever go sideways with them.

✈️ Singapore Spontaneous Escapes

Singapore Airlines’ Spontaneous Escapes are back, and if you haven’t taken advantage of these before… well, you’re about to wonder why you ever spent full price for anything in your life.

Every month, Singapore drops these award discounts with last-minute availability for travel the following month — and this month’s list is looking tasty.

Here’s the quick rundown:

• You need to book by April 30

• Eligible travel dates include May 1 to 31

• Only valid for saver-level award tickets (but that’s where the best value is anyway)

• Discounts apply to economy, premium economy, and business class — depending on the route 

If you’re not familiar, these redemptions are basically Singapore’s version of a secret menu: last-minute deals on routes you can actually book.

For example, you can fly on Singapore’s fifth freedom route from Frankfurt (FRA) and New York (JFK) for just 56,700 miles in business class.

As you can see, availability for this route is also wide open.

These deals are insanely good value, especially when you remember that KrisFlyer miles are super easy to earn.

You can transfer miles and points at a 1:1 ratio from:

• Membership Rewards points

• Ultimate Rewards points

• ThankYou points

• Capital One miles

And don’t worry — you’re not limited to flying just to Singapore.

The sale includes connecting flights to other parts of Asia, Australia, and beyond, including some really cheap business-class deals.

This flight from Singapore (SIN) to Bali (DPS) is only 14,700 miles in business class. 👇

Singapore's business class is one of my favorites in the world!

In addition to having an amazing hard and soft product, they use their widebody planes on really short routes, so you can try their lie-flat seats without breaking the bank.

If you’re flexible with your dates and have some miles burning a hole in your pocket, this is a solid excuse to treat yourself.

Just don’t wait — availability moves fast, and these disappear quicker than that Biscoff cookie you swore you’d save for later… so check out the full list of discounted routes here.

🇱🇾 How to travel to Libya in 2025

Last week, I told you about my trip to Libya. I talked about how to book flights with points, some of the travel warnings, and the logistics involved with even getting access to the country.

I asked if you wanted to hear more about it, and the results speak for themselves:

But rather than cram it all into the newsletter, I wrote a short article, where I cover:

• 💸 The cost of hiring a local security escort

• 🙋‍♂️ How to find a local/guide to set things up

• 🛂 How to get the visa

• 🌎 My general experience and impression of the country

• 🛡️ Did I feel safe?

So for the many of you who wanted to hear more (whether for your own potential travel or just out of curiosity), here you go:

Well, I know today's content was a bit niche, but I hope you still enjoyed it and learned something new.

We still have one more day left before the week is over, so be sure to tune in tomorrow to finish off the week with Daily Drop!

Cheers,

52°22'35.4"N 52°15'17.4"W