Good morning from beautiful Toronto. I am VERY jetlagged today after a long, exhausting journey home from Tokyo. I'm basically staying awake artificially on Tim Hortons coffee right now (double-double, obviously).
If you aren't familiar with Tim Hortons coffee, it's like Dunkin Donuts in the states... except better. Way better. 🫢
Anyway, today is all about those flight deals, baby. Here's what we have brewing:
- ✈️ 30% discount on Southwest flights
- 🖥️ United Airlines Cyber Week sale
- 🌎 FareDrop: Last Call to save some $$$ on flights
- 😴 Uh oh... both pilots fall asleep on a flight
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✈️ Southwest 30% off flights
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Don't you love how Thanksgiving sales turned into Black Friday, then Black Friday turned into Cyber Monday, and now Cyber Monday has turned into Cyber Week? Before you know it, the whole year will be one big sale.
Just when you thought all the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals had passed, Southwest comes out with an epic promo to keep the party going.
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Until December 1st, Southwest is offering a 30% discount on flights booked with either cash or points, but only for a limited number of flights.
Here are the details:
- You must book your flights by December 1st at 11:59 pm (Pacific time)
- Travel can take place between January 10th and March 8th, 2023
- Use promo code CYBER30
- There are some blackout dates (click here to see them)
Overall, this is sweet. I mean, a flat 30% off for a 2-month booking window is fantastic, primarily because it covers both cash and award flights.
The sale is only good "while supplies last," though there is no indication of how many seats per flight are available at this discounted price. As far as I can see, there are still amazing deals available, like this flight from Boston to Los Angeles for only $83.
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Every search I've made (at the time of writing this) has come back with available discounted seats, so you should see plenty of options.
Given Southwest's massive network in the U.S., Central America, and the Caribbean, this is an easy way to save a chunk of change on almost any domestic or short international routes you might be planning on taking early next year.
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🖥️ United Airlines Cyber Week Sale
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United Airlines is throwing its hat in the ring this Cyber Week as well, though its offer doesn't apply to as many people as the aforementioned Southwest offer.
Until December 2nd, United is offering discounted flights, but only for specific routes and certain people. Here are the deets:
- You must be either a Premier member, a United credit card holder, or both
- Discounts are for flights booked using points only
- You must book your flights by December 2nd
- Discount is only valid for destinations in specific regions
- Only applicable on economy flights
You may remember a newsletter from a couple of months ago where I shared an easy way to get free United elite status via Bilt rewards. If you were able to take advantage of that promo and get United Premier status, you are now eligible for this promo because of said status.
Here is a little chart with the regions and discounts:
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As you can see, the best deals are for those of you who have both elite status AND a cobranded United credit card.
Although your options are pretty limited, there are still some worthwhile deals here, especially for the more distant destinations like Tahiti.
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Flying from California to Tahiti for only 28,000 miles is actually an amazing deal.
If you live anywhere else in the country and wanted to travel to Tahiti this winter, you could use the Southwest promo to book a cheap cash flight to San Francisco, then this United promo to book a cheap nonstop flight to Tahiti. You could use the same approach to book cheap United flights from the East coast to Europe.
So, I guess these two promotions actually go rather well together. Like Tacos on a Tuesday. Or Cheese and crackers. Or Nutella and... well... anything.
Before I keep writing about food, I'm gonna take a quick lunch break. I'll be back in a sec.
In the meantime, here's a quick reminder from the one and only FareDrop 👇
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🌎 FareDrop: last call for 50% off and free t-shirt!
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I assume the vast majority of you know about FareDrop and the current Black Friday deal they have going on until the end of the day today.
But just in case you don't... FareDrop is having an amazing Black Friday promotion that ends today. With this promotion, you'll get 50% off the Global Pro subscription plan AND a free FareDrop t-shirt like this one 👇
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My job here at the Daily Drop is to give you the best deals out there to help you travel more and spend less. Flying for free using points and miles is excellent, but the next best option is simple: find dirt-cheap flights.
And FareDrop does precisely that. You choose your home airport, and they'll send you the best deals to destinations worldwide. All you have to do is sit back and relax, and before you know it, you'll be sitting back and relaxing on a beach in Bali with a piña colada (you might even get caught in the rain).
Anyway, right now is the best time to sign up and save some money on the app that helps you... well... save money.
So don't miss your chance to travel the world on the cheap.
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😴 Uh oh... Both pilots fall asleep on flight
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I think we can all agree that it's essential for pilots to get sleep. After all, they're responsible for transporting us safely from point A to point B in those big, complicated metal tubes we strap into and rocket across the sky at hundreds of miles per hour.
What we can also all agree on, however, is that pilots should not sleep while in the cockpit... especially not both of them at the same time.
Well, that's precisely what happened on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Khartoum, Sudan, to Addis Ababa back in August.
Now before you get too worried, everything worked out fine in the end.
Most of the 2-hour flight went according to plan, but when the plane approached the runway, it flew straight over it without landing. It was also about 29,000 feet too high.
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That's because both pilots were asleep... at the same time.
It wasn't until the plane had passed over the runway that the autopilot disengaged, setting off an alarm that seemed to wake the two pilots from their slumber.
They turned the bird around and landed her safe and sound a few minutes later.
While this may seem scary, it's actually more common than you'd think. Pilots sometimes need to sleep on planes. If you've been on a long-haul flight before, you may have noticed that there are usually at least 3 or 4 pilots who take shifts flying the plane and sleeping, sometimes right in the main cabin.
Pilots are even permitted to sleep in the cockpit at certain times, which is called a "controlled rest period."
However, this is obviously only allowed when the other pilot is wide awake, and it is highly unusual for this to happen on a flight lasting less than two hours...
Still, planes are really well designed to prevent anything terrible from happening in these scenarios. The second the autopilot turned off, both pilots were immediately awake and in control. If anything had gone wrong with the plane while on autopilot, similar alarms would have quickly jolted them from sleep as well.
With modern Air Traffic Control systems, it's also virtually impossible for the plane to have gotten too close to other planes flying in the area.
Anyway, this probably happens a lot more than you'd like to think it does. Thankfully, flying is the safest way to travel, and passengers were never in any real danger in this case.
Still, I'd almost rather not know if something like this happened on a flight that I was on...
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That's gonna do it for today. I know I've only been home for a day after nine weeks of travel, but I'm already excited for my next big trip in just a few short weeks. That's how I know I love this stuff. It just never gets old.
Are you able to sleep on planes? Do you prefer flying on Southwest or United? If you don't live in the U.S., what's your favorite airline? Let me know by replying to this email or reaching out on social media.
Until next time,
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