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🧳 Track your luggage and have peace of mind
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I'm not someone who checks bags when flying. In fact, I've only checked a bag on two occasions. One was when I was bringing an antique sword back from Oman. Surprisingly, they didn't want me to bring that in my carry-on.
The second was a few days ago when I had a 10-hour layover in Bahrain and wanted to go out into the city. Rather than lugging my bag around with me the whole day, I checked it. And it was stressful. That's because bags get lost all the time these days, and the number of bags that are irretrievably lost is going up every year.
That brings us to the magic of Apple AirTags.
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Basically, AirTags are these little poker chip-sized devices that you can use to track your belongings. I personally have AirTags attached to my keychain, in my suitcase, and even one sewn into my travel backpack.
I won't go into the details of how they work or all of the many benefits of having these tags. All you need to know is if something with an AirTag attached to it gets lost, you'll be able to locate it with ease.
I read an article recently where a traveler who lost his luggage (which included expensive film equipment) was able to track it to a specific home in Alaska, seemingly stolen by an airport employee while in transit...
While the odds of your things being stolen by an airline are pretty low, the odds of your bag ending up at an airport hundreds or thousands of miles away are much higher. Being able to get off the plane, go to the airline help desk and show them exactly where your bag is can rapidly speed up their ability to locate the bag and return it to you.
Even if everything turns out fine and your bag arrives as planned, knowing that you have this safety net can make the transit much less stressful. I don't want to have to celebrate every time I get off the plane and see my bag show up on the carousel like I just won a game of roulette...
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Many of you probably already know about AirTags, but I have a special treat that all of you can enjoy. Before I continue, let me just say that we have no relationship with Apple. So, you're welcome for the free ad, Apple. 😉
Now here's the special treat: you can get a free (or at least close to free) AirTag right now.
A few weeks ago I shared a sweet deal where if you sign up for Rakuten, an online shopping portal, you can get $40 back after you spend $40 on one of their retailers. Check out that newsletter if you want a refresher.
Guess what? That deal still stands. And if you didn't guess by now, Apple is one of their retailers. So here's what you can do:
- Sign up for Rakuten with this link
- Go to Apple.com (via Rakuten, after you've signed up)
- Add an AirTag and keychain to your cart
- Get a $40 rebate from Rakuten
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As you can see above, an Apple AirTag and keychain cost $41.95 in total. Because Apple offers 2% cashback on Rakuten, you'll get $0.84 cashback in addition to the $40 signup rebate. That means you can get an AirTag and keychain today for a grand total of $1.11... Pretty sweet, eh?
If you signed up for Rakuten a few weeks ago and haven't found a worthy $40 purchase yet, here's your answer.
You might've heard about some airlines banning these devices from checked luggage... So far, a few airlines (including big boys like Lufthansa) have banned them, un-banned them, re-banned them, and un-banned them again.
The verdict seems to be that yes, AirTags are fine to put in checked bags. But always check with your airline first to make sure it's not one of the rare few who have stuck to their guns when it comes to silly AirTag policies.
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🏨 IHG flash sale (up to 45% discount)
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This is a red-alert situation, people. IHG is having a huge flash sale for three days only, beginning today. From November 10-12 only, you can get up to a 45% discount on hotel stays in Southeast Asia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau.
Here are the details:
- 35% discount on stays of 2 nights or longer
- Extra 10% discount for IHG One Rewards members
- Stays must take place between November 20th - June 30th, 2023
- You must book before November 12th at 11:59 PM (hotel local time)
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This is a pretty sweet deal. First of all, signing up for IHG One Rewards is free, so the 45% discount really applies to anyone.
Although limited to certain regions in Asia, it actually covers quite a few countries. Travel in East Asia has been picking up a lot in recent months, which is clear from all of the promotions we've been seeing in the region as hotels compete for this massive uptick in travel demand.
In terms of specific examples, I was able to find hotels in Bangkok for only $29 per night, Ho Chi Minh City for $61 per night, and Seoul for around $63 per night, all of which are excellent deals.
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Overall, 45% discounts on hotel nights are amazing. As I said just a couple of days ago, saving money (especially this much money) is almost always better than hotel promos that offer bonus points.
The booking window is short, but the travel window extends for more than 6 months, so now might be the perfect time to book a trip to Asia a few months down the road.
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✈️ Why Canadian airport codes are so weird
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Canadians are weird. As a Canadian immigrant, I'm allowed to say that - and I mean it with love. I mean, we put gravy on french fries, have a maple syrup mafia, and the most popular flavor (flavour) of chips is ketchup.
But one of the weirdest things about Canada is our airport codes. I mean, why is YYZ the airport code for Toronto Lester B. Pearson International Airport? How could you get YYZ from that?
In fact, every single Canadian airport starts with a Y. And there's an interesting reason why that is the case.
Back in the 1930s, Canada built a massive system of radio stations for reporting weather patterns. As air travel increased, these weather stations, all of which had 2-letter codes, were used to help pilots navigate.
As air travel continued to rise in popularity, Canada decided to use three-letter codes for airports based off of these existing weather stations. A given airport's code would be the original 2-letter code with an additional letter at the beginning. A "Y" (meaning "yes") indicated that there was a weather radio station nearby the airport, whereas a "W" (standing for "without") indicated there was not.
For example, Montreal's original 2-letter code was UL. When the 3-letter system was implemented, the airport code became YUL, which is still Montreal's airport code to this day.
When new modern airports were built, Canada decided to stick with the tradition of starting off airport codes with a Y.
Anyway, I think things like this are pretty interesting. If you've ever wondered why our airports have such weird codes, now you know "y." 😉
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That's all for today! I'm pretty excited about all of the excellent deals going on right now, and I have even more to share with you tomorrow!
Are you going to pick up a free(ish) AirTag? Are you planning any trips to Asia in the next few months? Let me know by replying to this email or reaching out on social media.
See you tomorrow,
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