Battle of the baggage

Good morning from stunning Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!

After a series of unfortunate events, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it down here. Thankfully, all is well.

In fact, as you read this, I’ll be making my way up to Cristo Redentor, one of the great wonders of the world.

But enough about my boring life. Let’s do some travel hacking, shall we?

• ✈️ Spontaneous Escapes: Book premium flights for cheap

• 🧳 Battle of the Baggage: Daily Drop poll results

• 🖼️ Meme

✈️ Spontaneous Escapes: Book premium flights for cheap

Every month I come to you with the newest edition of KLM and Air France’s Promo Rewards, which offer amazing value for your points when flying to a changing list of cities.

Singapore Airlines has a similar program called “Spontaneous Escapes.”

We don’t talk about these deals very often for a couple of reasons. First, they only work if you’re willing to be spontaneous. And not the “I’m gonna mix up the flavor of Ben & Jerry’s I eat an entire pint of tonight” kind of spontaneous.

With these awards, both the booking and travel windows are much shorter than other similar deals, so you have to have the flexibility to travel on relatively short notice.

Still, sometimes the awards are well worth considering. This month is a perfect example. Here are the details:

• You must book your flights by July 31st, 2023

• Flights must be booked using Singapore KrisFlyer miles

• Travel must take place between August 1st and 31st

• Valid for select fares in Economy, Premium Economy, and Business class

• Certain routes have blackout dates

This month definitely includes some sweet spots, regardless of which class you want to fly.

For example, you can fly in Singapore’s Premium Economy between Europe and the U.S. East Coast for as little as 36,400 points one-way.

For reference, booking the same flight with a program like Aeroplan would run you 35,000 points just for economy, which is a serious step down from Premium Economy…

If you want to head from the U.S. to Asia, there are also some great deals in Premium Economy out that way:

Now the key to remember here is that these points prices are valid when using Singapore Krisflyer miles, not booking through other programs.

Thankfully, Krisflyer miles are super easy to earn by transferring points from every major U.S. bank program.

If you need some inspiration, check out our Top Cards Page, which lists out a number of cards that could get you a round-trip ticket on one of the aforementioned flights.

🧳 Battle of the Baggage: Daily Drop poll results

Earlier this week, I gave you all an important task. An impossible task, one might say.

I asked you to click a button in the email to give your opinion on the age-old question of whether it’s better to check a bag or bring a carry-on.

As you’ll see, the vote was overwhelming… but there were some interesting points:

Here’s my take:

I travel solo most of the time, and I don’t need much.

I also read a lot about the travel industry and know the numbers when it comes to how often airlines lose checked bags, often never recovering them.

So I always opt for carry-on. In fact, I almost never even bring a carry-on-size bag… I just bring a personal item that can fit under the seat in front of me.

Let me give you an example…

I’m currently on a two-week trip to Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. Here is a photo of EVERYTHING I brought with me. 👇

I have spent years perfecting my little travel setup, and this small bag has all of my electronics, medication, toiletries, tools, and enough clothes for five days. All of what you see above fits into a small backpack that weighs about ten pounds.

Every few days, I wash my own clothes in the sink at my hotel. Since I have mostly athletic-esque quick-dry clothes, they’re dry in just a few hours.

As a result, I can travel for any period of time in any climate with just a tiny bag.

It’s awesome…

Since I have so little to carry, lugging all of my things around the airport is never an issue either.

But I’m not a normal person. I’m a weird carnival freak, put on display for your travel-hacking pleasure every morning around 6:30 a.m. EST.

So let’s look at some of the responses from more normal humans, which I think are great examples of when it makes sense to go one way or the other:

This is a really good point… If I were short and/or carrying a lot of stuff with me, I wouldn’t be opposed to checking bags.

This is also a really important point to bring up… If you are in the military, you can get all kinds of benefits, including priority boarding and free checked bags with certain airlines.

I think this is a topic we should discuss in more detail in a future newsletter… so stay tuned…

THIS. This… is everything.

It sums up exactly why I don’t check bags… And as a side note to this person, if you have any horror stories or ever want to dish out more industry secrets from your experience with an airline, let me know. 😉

Anyway, I love debating these topics and hearing your input, so make sure to leave your two cents when we have polls like this in the future!

😭 Earlier today, I cried.

It was disgusting, and I ruined my brand-new shirt which is now covered in salty tears.

Why was I crying, you ask?

Well… I looked at my Daily Drop referral dashboard only to see that I have ZERO referrals…

It’s devastating, considering I only need ONE referral to unlock an amazing toolkit of travel hacking resources…

People, don’t be like me. Just refer a friend or three. Get that Daily Drop swag. You won’t regret it. 👇

🖼️ Meme

That’s all for today, kids. I’m super excited to be at this bucket list destination of mine and see another wonder of the world, but I’m curious to know:

Take care, have a great day, and I’ll see you tomorrow morning ❤️

22.9068° S, 43.1729° W