Upgrade, downgrade, or cancel?

Good morning, and welcome back to Daily Drop, the Amazon of travel newsletters. We’ve got all the things you didn’t even know you needed.

Here's what we're throwing in your shopping cart today:

• 💳 Upgrade, Downgrade, or Cancel?

• ✈️ Bilt adds a new transfer partner

• 🏨 Earn 5k bonus Marriott points per stay

💳 Upgrade, Downgrade, or Cancel?

As you may suspect from reading this newsletter, credit cards play a BIG role in travel hacking.

But one of the questions I get all the time from you readers is this:

Well, dear reader, there are four things you can do at this point:

1. Keep

2. Upgrade

3. Downgrade

4. Cancel

But which one do you do? How do you know what your options even are? Why would you upgrade a card instead of canceling it?

Well, we’ve answered ALL of these questions (and more) in our latest episode of The Daily Drop Podcast.

So please - come check out the podcast if you want some helpful tips and insight into my own practices when it comes to managing credit cards year after year.

If you like the podcast, give us a review, thumbs up, or subscribe to help us bring the pod to more travel hackers everywhere.

P.S. We’re on YouTube as well, if that’s your thing…

✈️ Bilt adds a new transfer partner

What if I told you that there was a bank that offered numerous ways to earn points, had the best transfer partners, and was constantly adding new ones?

No, no, this is not some fantasy—it’s just Bilt Rewards.

And if their program wasn’t already great enough, it just got better. As of TODAY, you can now transfer your Bilt points to Avianca LifeMiles at a 1:1 ratio.

This announcement comes just a couple of months after they added Marriott Bonvoy as a transfer partner.

This is just another example of why you should be investing your time and effort into Bilt Rewards.

And if you don’t think this is exciting, let me change your mind quickly…

Earlier this week, I told you about a combination of deals that could get you some amazing value for your Avianca LifeMiles, like this flight from New York to Lisbon for only 35,000 miles in business class.

Since Avianca is a member of the Star Alliance, you can also use your Avianca miles to fly on airlines like Air Canada, Lufthansa, United, ANA, and more.

In fact, Avianca generally has far more reasonable redemption rates than any of the aforementioned programs.

For example, a normal flight from the East Coast to Europe will run you 24,000 LifeMiles, whereas the same flight would cost you over 40,000 United miles.

The fact that you can book flights all over the world by paying your rent, getting the Bilt Mastercard®, Bilt Dining, or using their travel portal is amazing.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:

START EARNING BILT POINTS.

It’s clear that Bilt is only going to continue making its program more valuable, so you should start accumulating points sooner rather than later.

🏨 Earn 5k bonus Marriott points per stay

Marriott, the hotel brand that I love and hate the most sometimes, is joining in on the promo festivities by offering its members 5,000 bonus points per stay when you book a minimum of two nights… in a premium room or suite.

This offer is valid for stays through February 19th, 2024, with the promo code M41.

Keep in mind that because you need to book a premium room to trigger the promo, you will likely have to spend a little bit more than if you were booking just a standard one.

However, the internet values Marriott points around 0.8 cents a pop, so at 5,000 points a stay, you’re getting a return value of around $40—which may or may not be worth it to you to book an upgraded room to get the bonus.

I think this would be best maximized for shorter (e.g. two-night) stays, since that’s the minimum, and you’d be raking in 2,500 bonus points per night.

And, of course, I always try and maximize the number of points I can earn on any given occasion…

So I would make this booking by paying for it with one of their credit cards which will increase your point earning potential by like… A LOT.

Seriously, you could earn upwards of 18.5X per dollar spent at Marriott properties with this card alone 🤯

So maybe pick a fun destination to splurge on a bit, eh?

Vancouver is a really fun city, and you can see that just by putting in the M41 promo code, it popped up on eligible rooms.

And sometimes, just sometimes… premium rooms can come with lounge access and free breakfast that the higher elites get. But don’t count on this perk as the only reason to book premium.

So if you’re already planning a trip in the next few months and want to stay at an eligible Marriott property, it could be worth booking a premium room just to walk away with a nice little chunk of bonus points in your account.

💳 Current Transfer Bonuses

That’s all for today, friends!

It’s been a super exciting week with the travel hacks and Daily Drop reaching one million subscribers, so thanks for being here this week.

I hope you all have a good weekend, and I look forward to another fun week of hacks with you.

See you Monday ❤️

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