💰Why you should BUY points - Daily Drop Feb 15, 2024

🔮 Someone climbed to the top of the Sphere… in Vegas… I’m not sure this is necessarily “travel news” but I simply couldn’t resist. Read more about it here.

Happy Thursday, everyone (or as I like to call it, Friday Eve… 🙃).

Mike is probably off zipping through some remote jungle on his moped right now, so I’ll be delivering the goods today 💁🏻‍♀️

💰 Why you should be buying points
🍪 Travel tidbits
✈️ Southwest’s spring sale

💰Why you should be buying points

Okay, woah. I know that’s a controversial statement.

I could probably count on two hands AND feet how many times we’ve said DON’T BUY THE POINTS.

A dog giving some side-eye with words "Don't you dare"

And usually we’re right… Buying huge chunks of points often times results in very poor value, and I’d only ever do it if I needed to top up my account for an upcoming redemption.

However… 😏

Sometimes we break our own rules.

And one of those times is now because Hilton is running a promo where you can buy Hilton Honors points with a 100% bonus until March 12th.

And here’s why this is a good deal.

You (hopefully) watched our Daily Drop YouTube video last weekend that showcased Kara and Nate staying at the incredible Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, which is, in fact, a Hilton property.

And it’s not just any Hilton property—it’s an absolute baller, mind-blowing property 👇

A YouTube thumbnail of an overwater bungalow in the Maldives — Just look at all that fancy water.

It’s no secret that staying here is expensive. You can absolutely use points from an applicable credit card to help cut costs, or like Brendan mentioned in the video, you can also transfer MR points to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio.

But what if you don’t have a credit card that earns Hilton points, or you don’t even have a stash of transferable MR points lying around??

What if I told you that by buying Hilton points right now, it would ultimately be cheaper than paying the cash price to stay in a place like this? 👀

The obvious thing here is YES, you’d still be paying for this accommodation.

But if this is your bucket list vacay and you’ve saved up to stay here anyway… You could actually save hundreds of dollars per night by buying points instead of paying with cash.

For example, the same room that Kara and Nate stayed in would cost you either $920 a night (😬) or 120,000 points per night (which is still a lot).

Screenshot of booking an expensive hotel in the Maldives for $920 a night

But before we hop over to buy our points, there are a few things to note:

You have a cap of buying 160,000 Hilton points each year (per person)
You usually need to have a (free) Hilton Honors account for at least 30 days before you can buy points
You can transfer your points to another Hilton member with no additional fee (hello, two-player mode 😎)

If I wanted to max out purchasing points, with this current 100% bonus offer, I could actually buy 320,000 points for $1,600 as seen below.

Screenshot of buying Hilton points with a 100% bonus

By involving some math (eww, I know), that’s .5 cents apiece, which is pretty good, considering without the 100% bonus, they’d go for 1 cent each.

So at a high-cost property in the Maldives that normally runs around $920 a night, if you find a room that is bookable at say 120,000 points per night, you’d end up paying $600 a night… which is $320 a night less than the OG cash price. 🤯

It’s wild, y’all.

And remember, if you needed/wanted additional points depending on how long you’d want to stay, you could get in on a little two-player mode action.

Have your P2 purchase the needed points, then pool your points together at no additional cost.

Screenshot of Hilton's "share your points" policy

Buying points for a redemption is a fantastic hack overall when you can come out ahead, and it’s just another good one to add to your travel-hacking toolkit 😎

🍪 Travel tidbits

✈️ Airlines are FINALLY adding enough overhead bin space for carry-ons
🌏 There’s a new way to apply for Global Entry at Washington Dulles International Airport
🤗 Allegiant is launching 10 new routes with fares starting at $45

✈️ Southwest’s spring sale

Let’s face it. We’re all just a bunch of suckers for Southwest.

And now they’re dangling another tasty sale in front of our tiny, eager faces 👇

Screenshot of Southwest's spring sale with a lady holding a heart in Southwest colors

Here’s the big push: Get one-way fares as low as $49 when you purchase by February 22nd, 2024. Travel is valid through the end of May.

But with any solid Southwest sale… comes the fine print:

A 21-day advance purchase is required
Sale fares are only valid for Tuesday and Wednesday travel (again… 🙄)
Eligible sale dates for continental U.S. travel are March 5th - May 29th; but travel for Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and other international destinations is valid fro March 5th - May 22nd
There are blackout dates from March 12th - 27th for travel within the continental U.S.; and blackout dates from March 19th - April 3rd for travel from Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or other international destinations
Lastly, all travel to Orange County is excluded in the sale (…random?)

As one example, there is a ton of low-fare availability in April being offered on routes from Denver to Salt Lake City 👇

Example of low fares for the month of April from Denver to Salt Lake City

This is kind of perfect timing for any upcoming Spring Break shenanigans, so if you’ve got a destination in mind that works despite the sale’s restrictions, then I’d jump on this!

💡Don’t forget! You can get the Southwest Companion Pass by signing up for one of the airline’s credit cards right now.