Woah... Earn 20 points per dollar at Hyatt

Good morning from a country that doesn’t exist… Keep reading to find out more. 😉

But before you try to solve that riddle, we’ve got some points and miles stuff:

• 🏨 Earn 3x Hyatt points on these properties

• 🇪🇺 Entering the EU will look WAY different come November

• 🤔 Where am I right now?

🏨 Earn 3x Hyatt points on these properties

Okay, this might just be the best earning potential we’ve EVER seen for Hyatt.

Right now, you can earn 3x points when booking stays at Hyatt Homes & Hideaways properties.

A couple of other details:

• The 3x applies to the base rate (5 points per dollar), not the elite bonus.

• You must book and complete your stays between now and November 3rd.

• No registration required. Nice and simple.

If you have never heard of this before, it’s essentially Hyatt’s fore into the vacation rental space.

Think Airbnb, but… you earn Hyatt points and elite nights.

Hyatt members get the same points and elite nights as when they book normal Hyatt hotels. 👇

With this promotion, however, that 5 points per dollar turns into 15 points per dollar.

If you have Globalist status, it’s 16.5 points per dollar.

…and if you have a good travel credit card or a co-branded card like this one, it can be 19.5 or 20.5 points per dollar, respectively. 🤯

Let’s be clear here, kids - that’s a LOT of Hyatt points.

For example, let’s say you want to book a cozy getaway in the woods in Colorado. You could book this vacation rental for $220 a night.

It also sleeps up to six people, so booking stays like this is perfect for larger groups.

Assuming you have a good credit card like this one and Hyatt Globalist status, you’d earn a total of:

• 5x points base rate: 1,100 points

• 1.5x elite bonus: 330 points

• 10x promotion bonus: 2,200 points

• 3x credit card points: 660 points

In total, this $220 stay would yield 4,290 points.

That’s enough to book a free night at a hotel like this one in Baku, where I just recently stayed:

Since this hotel costs $142 per night, you’d get a 65% return on your spend… and you’d still have some points left over.

So here’s the bottom line:

It could certainly be worth moving some stays around and opting for Hyatt Homes & Hideaways to rack up points to put toward even more nights for your next trip.

Again, no need to register. Just book and complete your stays before November 3rd.

🇪🇺 Entering the EU will look WAY different come November

For all you passport stamp collectors out there… I’m sorry, but starting November 10, 2024, physical stamps will be no more when entering or exiting the European Union.

And that’s because the EU is going digital.

The Commissioner for Home Affairs just announced that they will soon “switch on the most modern digital border management system in the world.”

…assuming this actually goes into effect as anticipated 🥴

And doesn’t get pushed back to 2025 and now 2026 (*cough, ETIAS—which is completely separate from this, btw).

All EU entry and exit points—no matter if you arrive by plane, train, car, boat, or probably even your own feet—will soon welcome passengers via facial recognition and fingerprints.

So the first time you enter the EU after November 10th may look a little different, as you’ll need to get your picture taken for facial recognition and scan your fingerprints.

But hopefully, the next time you come through, it’ll be a quick and easy process. Smooth sailing, as they say.

Hopefully. Please 🤞

And I feel like some areas already have this digital process in place (or something similar), like when landing at London Heathrow, for example.

Either way, physical passport stamps will be no more, and hopefully so will waiting in line as a border police officer looks for an empty spot in your passport 🙃

Oh, and speaking of entering countries… or… non-countries 👀👇

🤔 Where am I right now?

The correct answer is… Transnistria.

That’s right, folks - I’m currently in Tiraspol, the largest city in Transnistria, a country that doesn’t officially exist. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Never heard of it?

Well, it’s about five miles from the Ukraine border near Odesa and has its own government, police force, military, and postal system, but it is not recognized as a country by the vast majority of the world (which considers it a part of Moldova).

It even has its own currency in the form of cute little board game-esque plastic chips. 👇

It is one of the few places on earth designated as a post-soviet “frozen conflict zone,” given that its political status is completely unresolved but has remained in a long-term cease-fire with its neighbors.

Sadly, Transnistria has had a tumultuous and bloody history, having changed hands about a million times.

I could talk about this de facto country all day, but I encourage you to check out this short YouTube video which explains its history:

It’s certainly one of the more interesting places in the world, so I hope you want to learn about it!

Buckle up for this Lounge win—it’s a little long but worth the read 😉

We love reading our community members’ travel wins, and if you’d like to join in on the fun (aka ask travel questions, help others, and just vibe with other like-minded peeps), head over to our Facebook group, the Lounge!

That’s all for today, folks! I hope you enjoyed the travel tips and learning about one of the least-visited places in the entire world.

For now, I’ll bid you adieu and will see you bright and early tomorrow. 🌞

46.8482° N, 29.5968° E