Want to learn how to travel hack your way to free* trips around the world?
* Or nearly free – you may have to pay a few dollars taxes and fees, but we’ll cover all that below 😎
The Daily Drop is FareDrop’s daily newsletter where we bring you the latest tips and tricks in the travel hacking world. Using points and miles, finding cheap fares, leveraging deals, etc. are skills you can learn and expand on if you have the right information. Our goal is to bring that information right to your inbox in a fun and engaging way in under 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
Here are just a few of the things we want to do for you in this newsletter:
- Share news and updates from the world of points and miles
- Tell you about the latest deals and promos going on in the travel world and how/why you should take advantage of them
- Introduce you to the various points currencies and programs
- Teach you how to use and combine the various programs to maximize point value (number of airfares, getting outsized cash value by upgrading your seat class, number of nights in hotels, etc.)
- Give you real-world examples of how we use these same tips to book amazing trips for little to no cost
- Entertain you and hopefully make you smile in the process 👇
Learn how people like Kara & Nate have used points and miles to travel to over 100 countries!
When Kara & Nate set out to travel to 100 countries, points and miles were a huge part of their strategy (and still is a huge part of their strategy today, for Nate's first, First Class flight he paid $90 + 85k points for a Suite on Emirates that cost everyone else on the plane over $5,600). Whether you're looking to be like them and travel full-time, or you just want to take one awesome trip a year, there are strategies here for every kind of traveler.
Our readers regularly ride on planes just like this one for nearly nothing, while the person in the middle seat next to them spent hundreds or thousands of dollars
Check out some examples of how FareDrop staff have used points and miles - just in the last 6 months!
- Emirates First Class Suite from Athens Greece to New York City ($5600 value) = $90
- Round trip flights on Delta from Nashville, TN to New York City, NY ($350 value) = $11
- 1-night stay at the Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah in Dubai ($2,000+ value) = $0
- 5-night stay in the executive suite at the Ritz-Carlton in Oman ($5,500 value) = $0
- Flight from Lisbon to Toronto in Business Class ($2,100 value) = $33
- Flight from New Delhi to London in First Class ($2,251 value) = $21
- 1-night stay in the luxury suite at the St. Regis in Mexico City ($2,949 value) = $0
- 2-night stay in a villa on a private island in Venice ($3,778 value) = $0
- Flight from Toronto to Bangkok in Economy class ($1,052 value) = $31
- Round-trip flights and 7 nights at the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City ($2,962 value) = $0
- Dozens more flights and hotels
Just from the examples above, we're looking at less than $200 for about $28,000 worth of travel, and that barely scratches the surface of things.
Here are more details on some of the specific topics we'll cover:
- How to earn points and miles (both with credit cards AND other methods)
- How to redeem points for outsize value
- How to calculate the value of points
- How to gain access to exclusive airport and hotel lounges (who doesn’t love free food and drinks?)
- Understanding how to transfer points
- When does it make sense to use cash vs. use points
- Airline and hotel elite status
- How to turn expensive credit cards into free credit cards to avoid annual fees
- Travel tips that most people don't know exist – how to get upgrades you haven’t earned, how to get paid when your flight is delayed, the list goes on!
And most importantly… We'll become your trusted travel adviser and give you our honest take on all the above. And we'll be sprinkling in plenty of jokes, memes, and other entertainment to keep things fun 😉
If you're still on the fence, how about some free giveaways on top of the free newsletter?
Here at The Daily Drop our mission is to teach you how to get the most out of all the FREE travel opportunities out there. We'd be hypocrites if we didn't share the love, so we'll be doing regular giveaways ranging from gifting readers points and miles to free Daily Drop swag.
Getting a chunk of free miles could give you a head start on your travel-hacking journey, so make sure you tune in every day to stay in the loop about these giveaways ;)
Meet your head writer
My name is Mike Dodge. I grew up in New Hampshire and spent most of my life studying and performing opera. I only traveled for the first time after graduating from college in 2014 but have since become obsessed and made it to 52 countries in 8 years. As you may have heard, travel is not cheap. To get around this, I've built up skills over the years to make travel much more affordable, often completely free. Kara and Nate have brought me on board to share these skills with anyone kind enough to share their email address with The Daily Drop newsletter.
In The Daily Drop, I'm going to gather up the latest deals, strategies, and news from the travel world and bring them to you in a fun, engaging and educational way.
My Philosophy
Don't worry, this won't be as boring as your high school philosophy class 😛
It takes a lot of time and patience to learn all the ins and outs of points and miles. The fact is that you won't start traveling the world full-time by next week.
However, you could be booking a dream trip for nearly free within a few weeks if you do things right! Over time you'll learn more strategies, earn more rewards, and decide just what kind of experiences you want to get from points and miles.
You may be interested in the life of luxury that only 1%’ers get to experience. Or you may want to go farther and longer than you ever dreamed was possible (*cough Kara and Nate*). Traveling on miles and points can be luxurious 5-star hotels and first-class flights to expensive cities. AND I LOVE doing things like this! But it can also be economy flights and pretty average hotels (or the floor of the airport with a backpack if you want to go really cheap!) - I would say about 75-85% of my trips fall into this category. I even stay in Hostels sometimes. And I have literally MILLIONS of points scattered throughout my various program accounts.
"But Mike, why would you stay in hostels and fly economy if you have tons of points?"
Great question, (your name)! My general philosophy is to make my points last as long as possible while still trying to enjoy memorable experiences. Sometimes this means shelling out for the luxury experience, and sometimes it means using points to get myself from point A to point B as cheaply as possible. For me, it's a balance. Everyone has different interests and travel styles, so try to figure out what yours are.
So, what are you waiting for? Sign up now so you don't miss out on anything!