🏨 TRENDING TRAVEL NEWS 🏨
• Autumn Bonus: Earn up to 3x points when you book multiple stays through the IHG One Rewards app this fall.
• Be Inspired: Skip the turkey and visit one of these top ten places for a November trip.
• Last Week: The elevated offers on this premium Marriott card and its mid-tier sibling are both ending on 9/30.
Good morning, friends. Welcome back to another Tuesday edition of Daily Drop!
Something really exciting just happened, and I NEED to tell you about it.
Check it out:
🤓 Travel Trivia Tuesday
Which of these countries is "double landlocked," meaning you'd have to cross at least two countries to reach the ocean? |
✈️ The most exciting new transfer partner of the year
Remember last week when I told you about using JAL miles to book British Airways business class?
Well, JAL is officially a transfer partner from ThankYou points now, too. And depending on which card you have, it could be an amazing deal. 👇
ThankYou points transfer at different ratios based on whether you have a premium card or lower-tier card.
If you have a premium card like the Citi Strata Elite℠ or Strata Premier® cards, you’ll get a 1:1 transfer ratio.
Keep in mind that even Capital One only has a 4:3 transfer ratio to JAL miles. The only other 1:1 partners are Bilt Rewards and Rove Miles.
Plus, through October 24, there is a 30% transfer bonus to JAL, which opens up some insane redemption options.
For example, as I mentioned last week, you can fly between the U.S. and Europe on British Airways business class for as few as 42,000 miles and reasonable taxes and fees:
Of course, one of the best ways to use JAL miles is getting yourself to/from Japan, which you can do for as few as 27,000 JAL miles in economy or 55,000 in business class.
With a 30% transfer bonus, that’s 21,000 ThankYou points in economy or 42,000 in business class. 🤯
In addition to oneworld alliance airlines, JAL also has some non-alliance partners, including Air France and Emirates.
In fact, earlier this year I used JAL miles to fly Emirates business class from the Maldives to Seychelles for just 42,000 miles and got to enjoy their new A350 lie-flat business class.
ThankYou points haven’t historically been the sexiest program out there…
But I gotta say, they seem to offer more transfer bonuses than the other banks, and their list of transfer partners is solid.
I highly encourage you to consider holding a card that earns ThankYou points so you can take advantage of offers like this in the future.
✅ Travel Trivia Reveal
The answer to today’s trivia question was none other than Uzbekistan!
There are only two double landlocked countries on Earth, the other being Liechtenstein.
Being double landlocked means every country around you is also landlocked. So to get from Uzbekistan to the ocean, you have to cross at least two borders.
Uzbekistan is surrounded by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan, and not a single one of them touches the ocean.
The other double landlocked country, Liechtenstein, is so small that it doesn't even have its own airport. If you want to visit, you'd fly into Zurich and make your way over by train and bus.
I’ve been to both Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan in recent years, and highly recommend visiting both.
Me frolicking in a field in Liechtenstein and getting Plov at the famous Tashkent restaurant Besh Qozon
Uzbekistan is well worth visiting for a number of reasons:
It’s now visa-free for Americans (a very new development)
It’s got a high-speed rail that can take you between Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara
It’s famously one of the cheapest countries on earth
The food and history alone are worth the trip
Liechtenstein is also worth a visit, especially if you’re already doing a trip to Switzerland.
In one day, you can:
Walk the length of the entire country
Visit the capital of Vaduz and have lunch at the famous Adler 1908 restaurant
Check out some of the castles, like the one just over the border in Balzers
Enjoy a wine tour and tasting at Hofkellerei des Fürsten von Liechtenstein
Hofkellerei des Fürsten von Liechtenstein
Anyway, it’s cool that in the entirety of the world, only two countries hold this unique double landlocked status.
I hope some of you get to enjoy visiting one or both of them. 🙂
That’s all for today, friends! I hope you’re as excited as I am about this new transfer partner, and I hope you feel inspired to travel to some fun countries.
See you next time!
With contributions by Sam Anthony and Katie Begnoche.
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