Around the world for 57k points

Good morning and welcome back to Daily Drop, your friendly neighborhood travel newsletter.

We’ve got a big honkin’ one today, so let’s stop wasting time and get to the good stuff:

• ✈️ Around the world for 57k points (yes, really)

• 🏨 Epic hotel sweet spot

• 🌍 Where in the World Wednesday: Vanuatu

✈️ Around the world for 57k points (yes, really)

Award space got you down? Tired of seeing 300,000-point fares to Europe?

What if I told you there’s a way to book an entire around-the-world itinerary for just $851 or 57,000 points? 

Let me walk you through it…

Stop 1: New York ➝ London: $129

Start your journey in New York (JFK) and hop across the Atlantic with Norse Atlantic for just $129. This airline is one of the best budget options to Europe — and yes, that price is real (sometimes even lower).

Stop 2: London ➝ Athens: $32

From there, hop on Wizz Air out of London Luton (LTN) for $32 to Athens (ATH). No points required, baby. Thirty bucks later, you’ll be sipping frappés under the Acropolis. That’s your second country in, and we’re still under $200 total.

Stop 3: Athens ➝ Bali: $257

Now comes the big jump. From Athens, you can fly Scoot — Singapore Airlines’ low-cost sibling — to Bali (DPS) via Singapore (SIN) for $257 on a good day, or a bit over $300 on a bad day. Both reasonable prices for such a long flight.

Stop 4: Bali ➝ Sydney: $103

Next up: Australia. Batik Air can take you to Sydney (SYD) or Melbourne (MEL) for about $100, which is great for such a long flight. One day you’re sipping coconuts in Bali, the next you’re brunching in Sydney’s Surry Hills and pretending you understand cricket.

Stop 5: Sydney ➝ Honolulu: $181

Yes, this route exists. Jetstar runs a direct flight from Sydney to Honolulu (HNL), and it’ll only set you back $181. Sure, it’s not glamorous. But it’s a 10-hour flight across the Pacific to freaking Hawaii.

Stop 6: Honolulu ➝ U.S. West Coast: $149

Wrap things up with a Southwest flight to cities like Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), or Seattle (SEA) for about $149. Plus, if Southwest has a sale (which it often does), it’ll cost you even less.

So, what’s the damage?

All six flights add up to just $851 total. Of course, prices will vary slightly based on your dates and routes, but you get the idea…

That’s less than the taxes and fees you’d pay on some award bookings — and in many cases, you’ll get more flexibility with dates and routing.

Want to use points instead?

• Holders of my favorite travel card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, can book through the bank’s portal at 1.5 cents per point — meaning this entire trip could be booked for 57,000 points.

• Or, if you open the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, the current 75k-mile bonus (plus 8k miles from minimum spend) gives you 83,000 miles — enough to cover the overwhelming majority of the trip when redeemed at one cent per point.

Worth it?

Four continents. Seven countries. I’d say that’s pretty solid, especially considering you’re earning points by doing this if you pay cash.

Of course, this only covers your flights… and when it comes to hotels, it probably does make sense to use points.

Thankfully, I’ve got an epic sweet spot for you which solves that exact problem. 👇

🏨 Epic hotel sweet spot

When we talk about hotel sweet spots, names like Hyatt, Marriott, IHG, and Hilton usually come up...

But today’s star is the underrated, overlooked, and surprisingly powerful Choice Privileges.

Choice is a pretty no-frills program…

But there’s one thing it does have that only one other program offers: the ability to double your points by transferring ThankYou points at a 1:2 ratio.

And while Hilton has a similar arrangement with Membership Rewards points, Choice is better. 👀

That’s because it caps most redemptions between 8,000–35,000 points (except with some partner brands).

Transferring 4,000 points to Choice (thus giving you 8,000 points) and booking a hotel like this is one of the best hotel sweet spots there is.

If any other program allowed us to book its highest-tier hotels for just 15,000 points per night, we’d be drooling. 🤤

But that is exactly the case with Choice, since 15,000 points turn into 30,000 when transferring from ThankYou points.

So here’s the bottom line:

Racking up a lot of ThankYou points (like from the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card) can REALLY come in handy — especially when you’ve got a big around-the-world trip to plan. 😉

🌍 Where in the World Wednesday: Vanuatu

Seriously, where in the world is Vanuatu?

I recently spent a few days on the island of Efate, and while it felt remote at first, it quickly became one of my favorite places I’ve ever been.

So today, let me tell you why it deserves a spot on your travel bucket list — and how you can get there using points and miles.

This little South Pacific nation consistently ranks among the happiest countries in the world. It’s safe. It’s quiet. It’s affordable. And honestly? It felt kinda magical.

I spent hours walking everywhere, including to a nearby village called Ekasup, where I learned about tribal life (and got fake-attacked with spears).

Getting (and staying) there with points & miles

Despite feeling like the edge of the Earth, Vanuatu is surprisingly accessible with points:

• Qantas (with Avios, Alaska miles, AA miles, or Qantas Points)

• Virgin Australia (bookable with Aeroplan points)

• Fiji Airways (with Alaska or AA miles)

• Aircalin (from Nouméa using Flying Blue miles)

This means endless ways to get there from the U.S. with just one stop, like this flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Port Vila (VLI) via Nadi, Fiji, for just 37,500 Alaska miles in economy (or roughly the same price with Qantas miles):

Once you land in Port Vila, there’s really just one points hotel option — but it’s a good one. The Holiday Inn Resort Vanuatu is bookable for around 16,000 IHG points per night, or just $120 cash.

So whether you’re chasing points deals or peace and quiet, Vanuatu delivers. You might arrive out of curiosity… but you’ll leave already planning your return.

Phew — that was a big one. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing.

Have a lovely wanderlust-filled day, and I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow. ❤️

43.0618° N, 141.3545° E

With contributions by Tiffany Eastham, McKay Moffitt, and Benji Stawski