November 17th, 2022 Estimated read time: 3 minutes and 56 seconds
Good morning, beautiful humans. It's another lovely day here in Luang Prabang, Laos and I'm very sad to be leaving later this evening 😭 This is one of those places in the world that has that "it" factor for me. It's like the Lady Gaga of travel destinations. Here's what I got for you today:
- ✈️ Delta trials free onboard wifi for all SkyMiles members
- 🥐 JetBlue is launching nonstop flights to Paris
- 🏨 IHG is selling points with a 100% bonus
✈️ Delta trials FREE onboard wifi for all SkyMiles members
Some months ago, Delta made us all a promise that sounded too good to be true: free wifi on ALL flights... at some point... maybe. If you don't remember me telling you about this, it's because I didn't. Let's just say airlines rarely make good on their promises, especially ambitious promises like this. So, I didn't want to get your hopes up by sharing anything with you prematurely. But I guess the joke's on me because Delta is actually quite close to making this dream a reality. That's because Delta is currently offering free in-flight wifi to all SkyMiles members on certain wifi-equipped planes (of which there are hundreds).
This comes after a recent trial that offered free wifi for Medallion elite members just a few weeks ago. The fact that they've taken this step means that the trial must have gone very well. This free wifi package supports everything from messaging to streaming, which is amazing. Here's how you can access this wifi when flying on Delta:
- Connect to the Delta in-flight wifi
- In any browser, go to deltawifi.com
- Enter your SkyMiles number and password
- Open up your favorite messaging app
- Tell your friends to subscribe to www.dailydrop.com
Those last 2 steps are VERY important, okay? But seriously, it's that simple. If you don't have a SkyMiles account, you can actually create one when connecting to wifi and access the service instantly. For those of you who are reluctant to give away your personal information to an airline, you can also pay a flat fee of $5 per device to use the wifi (regardless of flight length) if you don't want to make a SkyMiles account, which is honestly still a great deal. For reference, Air Canada (which is my airline of choice as a Toronto resident) charges as much as CA $20 (around $15 USD) per device for wifi on international flights... So, Air Canada and other airlines out there - here's the new bar.
🏨 IHG is selling points with a 100% bonus
IHG is currently selling points with a 100% bonus through December 29th when you purchase a minimum of 5,000 points. While buying points is typically far from the best use of your money, there are ways to get some serious bang for your buck with this offer.
So let's talk about buying points. Here are the situations where you should pay money for points:
- You want to book a hotel stay with points but are just shy of having enough
- The cost of buying points and booking a hotel is cheaper than paying cash for the same hotel
And if you think that second option sounds crazy, think again. Since I'm currently in Laos, I ran a quick search on IHG for hotels in Vientiane, the capital and largest city of Laos. I found this hotel which costs $108 per night with cash or 15,000 points per night.
Since buying 15,000 points would only cost you $95 (with the current bonus), you're saving $13 per night by buying points instead of booking the room with cash. $13 might not sound like a lot, but tally that up over a 5-night stay and it's actually meaningful. But there's another, even more valuable layer to this deal. If you are the proud owner of a certain IHG co-branded credit card, you get every fourth night free when booking stays with points. That means you can book four nights for the price of three (if that wasn't obvious). If we take the same hotel as an example, a 4-night stay would run you $432. If you hold the aforementioned credit card, you'd only pay 45,000 points for the same 4-night stay. Because of the 100% bonus, these points would only cost you $250. So, in this example, you're saving close to $200 just for being clever with your travel hacking. And who said you should never pay money for points? 😏
I wouldn't recommend buying points just for the sake of doing it, even with a good deal like this. However, if you have a particular booking in mind or know you'll be staying at a cheap property in the next year or so, this could be a great chance to stock up.
If you don't already have an IHG One Rewards account, it's free to set up and only takes about 2 minutes. Go do that now, I'll wait for you.
🥐 JetBlue is launching nonstop flights to Paris!
France is a fascinating place. They eat frogs and snails, drown their croissants in coffee, and the language is... well... it just doesn't make sense.
Well, it's time to dust off that old language learning app that you are "definitely going to use every day to get fluent" because JetBlue has announced that it will be launching nonstop flights to Paris beginning in 2023. This is pretty exciting, especially on top of the other strides JetBlue has been making in recent years. From its acquisition of Spirit Airlines to its recent expansion to the U.K., JetBlue is clearly making moves to compete with the major international U.S. airlines.
As of now, the details are pretty limited. JetBlue has stated that flights will begin in the Summer of 2023, though has not specified exactly when in Summer. They've also confirmed that the initial route will be from New York JFK airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, followed by service from Boston sometime shortly after. Given JetBlue's lower fares and amazing first-class product, this is really exciting news. Honestly, I've never had a bad experience with JetBlue and find their economy to be really comfortable as well. So if you have ever wanted to explore the wonders of Paris, 2023 could be a great time to fly there in style and on the cheap. Just be prepared for the above-average prices... I once paid $20 for a piece of cheese. It was truly a "fromage dommage." (French speakers will hopefully find that funny...)
Well, that's gonna do it for today. Just a quick reminder that today is your last chance to get a free (or close to free) AirTag using our Rakuten promo. You can read the full blurb and details here, but basically, you can get $40 after spending $40, which is the exact cost of an AirTag and keychain. Click here to register. Today is the deadline for signing up, but you'll still have 90 days to actually make the purchase, FYI. How important is wifi to you when flying? Are you excited about JetBlue expanding its horizons? Have you ever attempted to learn French? Let me know by replying to this email or reaching out on social media. Au revoir, Mike Dodge Head Writer, The Daily Drop
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