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Fun Fact: Traveling is scientifically proven to make your brain work in different ways that will increase your ability to be creative. Pretty cool, eh?
Good morning fellow travelers, and welcome back to Daily Drop, the air fryer of newsletters. It’s useful, good for you, and you just can’t wait to tell all your friends about it 🥰
Here’s what we’re cookin’ up today:
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🏨 The art of “suite talking”
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💰 This browser extension is offering me 20% back on travel
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🤣 Cheeky travel meme
🏨 The art of “suite talking”
I get a lot of questions from you guys asking how I get so many dang suite upgrades at hotels.
I’m sure many of you have dabbled with elite status and have probably experienced the never-ending frustrations of suite upgrades (or lack thereof).
Maybe you hold a credit card that gives you some level of hotel elite status… OR maybe you hold this card which gives you no fewer than THREE different hotel elite statuses 😮
But, nonetheless, you show up at a hotel, hoping for an upgrade to a suite, only to be told that they’ve generously upgraded you from a Twin Standard to a Twin Deluxe room…
Amazing. 😑
We’ve all had our sassy James Corden moment, but this is where the practice of “suite talking” comes into play. And trust me, it really is… sweet 😎
Ultimately, your fate lies in the hands of the employees working at the property, and treating them with respect and kindness will give you the best chance of receiving benefits… like a suite upgrade.
Plus, it gives you the added bonus of just being a good and decent human.
BUT there’s an ancient travel-hacking super secret technique that can drastically increase your odds of successfully going from a “basic room without running water” to a “champagne on the veranda” type of room.
The hack I’m about to share with you has worked wonders for me, and has gotten me into some gorgeous AF suites like this one at the Ritz-Carlton Al Bustan Palace in Oman last year 👇
She’s a stunner…
How to do some sweet suite talkin’
One of the main benefits of using apps for hotel loyalty programs is the ability to use the chat function to communicate with the property before arriving.
In my experience, your best chance of being upgraded is by using the chat feature immediately after checking in and saying something along the lines of:
“Good [morning/afternoon/evening],
I’m so excited about my upcoming stay at your property. This will be my first time visiting [city/country/continent/planet]!
As part of my [insert elite status here] benefits, I’m hoping you might consider upgrading me into one of your suites—it would be an excellent way to make this trip even more special!
Thank you, and have a nice day!
[Your Name]”
It would even be an extra special little touch if you could type your salutation in the local language.
But sending something along these lines lightly hints at the benefits you’re entitled to while also adding a personal, friendly touch.
While this is never guaranteed to work, you can likely expect your success rate for suite upgrades to increase drastically by using this method 🤗
“But Mike, what if I don’t hold any elite status?”
You’ll be happy to know that even I’ve succeeded in using this method at hotels where I don’t have any elite status at all!
I also have friends who have rejoiced in getting upgrades at hotels where they didn’t hold any sort of status.
As I said, the decision comes down to availability and the hotel staff. If they have a free room and you’re nice, they might just upgrade you anyway 😊
💰 This browser extension is offering me 20% back on travel
Truth be told, travel costs money. Lots of money. You can certainly lessen those costs with some solid travel-hacking tips (ahem, enter miles and points), but we’re not talking about that special golden currency in this section…
We’ve raved about the Capital One Shopping browser extension in the past, but I wanted to follow up and give you some data points for recent offers I’ve received from this tool.
If you aren’t aware of this magical tool, then let me give you two quick points:
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You do NOT need to bank with Capital One or have any of their products to use this.
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You can read our article if you want to learn more about it. 🤗
The other day, I got an offer for 19.5% back on Best Western Hotels.
I generally prioritize other hotel programs over BW, but it’s hard to argue with a 20% return, especially when you combine this with any promotions they might have going on.
Additionally, I got an offer for… wait for it… 23% back at Hyatt Hotels. 🤯
As you know, I’ve been crushing on Hyatt pretty hard this year, so this one was particularly appealing…
And to be clear, this tool will give you offers on everything from hotels to sites like Viator, Expedia, and even Amazon… and all kinds of other stuff that have nothing to do with travel.
The point is this:
Just sign up for this free browser extension and you’ll start getting insane offers like this over time. Unlike most portals, this tool offers SIGNIFICANT value that will add up very quickly in a short period of time!
🤣 Cheeky travel meme
When the airline threatens you to pay $50 for a heavy bag…….
That’s all for now, travel-hacking friends! But man, these were some solid tips today, don’t you think??
Let me know if you get a sweet suite upgrade by using our smooth-talking tactic. I’d love to see a photo of your dope crib for the night 😎
Talk to you tomorrow!