Good morning from 39,000 feet over the Pacific. I took off from Tokyo a couple of hours ago and can't believe this crazy trip has ended.
In an attempt to bury my sadness over having to end my journey, I'm going to spend this flight digging for epic deals to share with you. And, my friends, there are many.
Here's what I have for you today:
- 🏨 IHG's amazing Cyber Monday promo
- 🌎 Preferred Hotels: Buy 2, get one free... and more
- 🦷 Sponsored by Lumineux
- 🤫 Some hot gossip from the travel world
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🏨 IHG's amazing Cyber Monday promo
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Last week I was worried. Worried that there would be SO many amazing Cyber Monday deals that I would lose sleep deciding which ones to share with you.
If I'm being honest, things have been pretty underwhelming. And I've been trying to find ways to fill the void left by the lack of newsworthy travel hacking deals.
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Thankfully I won't need to purchase over-the-counter "void fill" because IHG has come to the rescue with a series of beautiful deals this week.
The first deal (and arguably the best) will award 10,000 bonus points for every two nights you stay, but with a catch.
Here are the deets:
- Only stays booked by the end of the day tomorrow, November 29th, will be eligible for the promotion
- You need to register for the offer
- Valid for stays completed by December 31st, 2022
- You must register BEFORE booking your stays
- Not valid for stays booked with points or a combination of points and cash
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You may remember IHG's other recent promotion, which awarded 10,000 bonus points for every four nights. This is a huge step up and opens the door to racking up a ton of points very quickly.
Although the window is short (both for the booking and the hotel stay itself), it's nicely timed with the holiday season, when many of us will find ourselves traveling.
IHG owns a vast range of properties from cheap Holiday Inns to luxurious Intercontinental and Kimpton hotels, so here's my strategy: Earn tons of points from cheap properties and redeem them for significant outsize value at luxury ones.
For example, you could book six nights (broken up into three stays) at a hotel like this one, which costs only $56 per night.
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If you booked three 2-night stays here, you'd pay $336. Between the 10 points per dollar you earn from being an IHG member and the 10,000 bonus points per 2 nights you stay, you'd earn a total of 33,360 IHG points for your 6 nights of hotel stays.
Here are a few ways you could use that many points:
You could book a night at this beautiful Intercontinental in Cartagena, Colombia for only 28,000 points:
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If you're more of a South Asia kind of person, you could book five nights at this hotel in India for only 30,000 points total:
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All of this is to say that there are many ways you can use this promo to reap value from upcoming hotel stays.
Even if you don't want to stretch the deal's limits like I've described, you could still get an easy 10,000 points from a stay just by registering and spending a few minutes exploring hotel options.
IHG isn't stopping there, though. Later this week there will be even MORE deals to take advantage of, so make sure to tune in tomorrow.
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🌎 Preferred Hotels: Buy 2, get 1 free
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Another Cyber Monday hotel promo? In THIS economy?
That's right, kids. Preferred Hotels is offering a promo that sounds too good to be true.
Here's how it works: When you book a stay of two nights or more, you'll get a third night free on the same booking. So essentially, you can stay three nights for the price of two. Or four nights for the price of three. You get the idea.
"So it's a buy two, get one free promo. So what? We see those all the time..."
Well, my dear generic reader, here's where it gets interesting. To sweeten the pot, Preferred Hotels is ALSO throwing in 30,000 bonus points when you book your stay of two nights or more.
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Sadly, the best offers always come with a catch, and this one is no different.
Here is the rest of the fine print for this offer:
- You must book your stay by the end of the day today (November 28th)
- Stays can take place through March 31st, 2023
- Bonus points will expire after one year
- When booking, you must use promo code MKTCYB
Don't be scared off by the urgency of the booking window. Even if you have something tentative on the books or a prospective trip down the road, you can always make a flexible booking. If you go on the trip, you'll get fantastic value. If not, you can just cancel for free.
If you have an upcoming trip where you'll need at least a 3-night hotel stay, this could be the perfect chance to get one of those nights for free and earn enough points for yet another free night down the road.
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We’ve talked a lot about the importance of staying healthy on the road. In addition to taking care of your physical and mental health, it’s equally important to take care of your oral health and keep those pearly whites... well... pearly. And white. And healthy.
When your mouth's microbiome is healthy, diverse, and thriving, the rest of your body will thrive too.
That’s where Lumineux comes in.
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Lumineux is the world’s first ever dentist formulated, naturally derived, clinically tested, certified non-toxic oral care company.
A lot of companies make claims like this, but Lumineux actually has the goods to back it up. You can find tons of scientific studies right on their website.
If you’re someone like me who likes to do their research before buying a product (I’ve been known to spend hours reading terms and conditions), then you’ll love how easy Lumineux makes it to get the answers you need before making a purchase.
Their mission is to prove that plant and mineral rich oral care formulas can stand up against any leading brand with stellar results.
And they want your help in accomplishing that mission. That’s why they’re offering a hefty 40% discount on their products when shopping on Amazon.
But there is a catch...
This discount is part of their Black Friday promotion, so it won’t last long. Start prioritizing your oral health today with safe, reliable products 👇
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🤫 The latest hot gossip from the world of airline lawsuits
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Humans love drama. Some of us watch The Bachelor and some of us binge Keeping up with the Kardashians. It's fun to watch other people's drama and keep up with the latest celeb gossip.
I'm a little different. I like to read about the latest "he said, she said" drama coming out of the travel world. And you'd be surprised by how much of it there is...
The fact is that drama and gossip are just part of human nature. And there is actually some cold, hard science around why people gossip, the benefits of gossip, and its effect on our prefrontal cortexes.
So, to keep your brain nice and healthy, I'm going to let you know about a pretty ridiculous lawsuit that I heard about recently. And it all began with a passenger reclining his seat...
So back in 2019, an American Airlines passenger, who shall remain nameless, boarded a plane. For now, let's just refer to him as Jebediah, for simplicity.
Shortly after Jebediah boarded the plane, a flight attendant asked him to put his seat in the upright position, as is tradition before taking off. Rather than letting Jeb do it, the flight attendant reached over him to press the button and push the seat up herself.
Alarmed by the physical contact the attendant was making with him, he moved her arm out of the way and straightened the seat himself. Apparently, another flight attendant came over at this point and apologized for the first flight attendant's behavior, stating that she was "having a bad day."
Fast forward 3 years.
When good 'ol Jebediah went to the airport one day, he found that he had been banned from flying on American Airlines because of a complaint filed against him by this flight attendant.
In retaliation, Jeb decided to sue AA, which brings us to the present moment.
Basically, it's a situation of "he said, she said" until more evidence comes out. If Jeb's story is, in fact, true, it's extremely unjustified for him to be banned, especially when the other crew members acknowledged the poor behavior of this flight attendant.
On the other hand, maybe Jeb is not a reliable source. There could be more to the story than Jeb is letting on. Maybe his interaction with the flight attendant was a little more aggressive than he had stated, which is, of course, completely unacceptable.
It's also unlikely that he would not have been notified by the airline before his being banned, at which point he could've taken some action to petition said ban.
Additionally, for something that is so low-stakes (allegedly), it's odd that he would be banned without first receiving a warning for his behavior. This makes me think that maybe Jeb has a history of misbehaving on airlines. Ultimately, I think there's more to the story than "airline bans passenger for reclining seat."
Anyway, I'm curious about the final outcome and what details remain unknown. I'll be watching the tabloids (AKA Aviation Geek magazine) to see what happens next. It's always interesting to see passengers take on big airlines in court - you never know which way things will go.
We gotta get our daily dose of hot goss somewhere, right?
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Well, that's gonna do it for this Monday edition of the Daily Drop.
Do you love gossip, hate it, or say you hate but secretly love it? Which one of today's two hotel promos are you more excited about? Let me know by replying to his email or reaching out on social media.
Have a great day 💜
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