Book safari lodges with points

Good morning and happy Friday, my friends!

We’ve got some fun tips and tricks for you today to finish off the week, so let’s dive in:

• 🍒 Extremely low-hanging (points) fruit

• 🦒 Hyatt just added safari lodges you can book with points

• ✈️ An underrated United award trick

• 💪 Daily Drop lounge win

• 💳 Current transfer bonuses

🍒 Extremely low-hanging (points) fruit

Okay, so… sometimes the points universe gives us something complicated and high-maintenance, and sometimes it gives us pure low-hanging fruit.

This is the second one.

Right now, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is offering $300 back after spending just $500 in the first three months.

That’s it. No fancy tracking credits in a spreadsheet. No complicated redemption math.

Just spend $500 on literally anything you were already going to buy, and get $300 of it back.

But… if you are down to complicate your life a tiny bit more, it can get better.

If you also hold a card that earns Ultimate Rewards points, you can turn that $300 cash back into 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points instead.

That’s enough to transfer to Virgin Atlantic and book a round-trip flight to London in premium economy. 👇

… and still have thousands of points left over. Not bad for $500 of spend on a no-fee card, eh?

Anyway, in a world of premium cards and big-spend offers, it’s nice to see little easy wins like this pop up.

🦒 Hyatt just added safari lodges you can book with points

Hyatt just announced something pretty cool: 15 safari lodges across Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania are now bookable through World of Hyatt thanks to the Mr & Mrs Smith partnership.

That means two things that have basically never existed in safari-land:

• You can book safari lodges with World of Hyatt points

• You can earn Hyatt points and elite nights on paid stays at these camps

It’s a genuinely big deal, because safari pricing is… very bad.

If you’ve ever looked at booking a safari lodge, you know the drill: They’re stunning, unforgettable, totally magical – and a single night costs more than your apartment.

The cheapest night I could find? $1,407. For one night. In a tent (a very nice tent, but still). That exact same night is also bookable for 148,750 Hyatt points.

Is that a “good” redemption?

Not really – the math isn’t amazing. But that’s not the point here.

The point is that booking a safari with points lets you access something that’s normally priced way out of reach. Even a single free night on a safari can save you hundreds or thousands of dollars.

And remember:

Most of these camps are all-inclusive (meals, drinks, game drives, the whole shebang). So you’re knocking out a big chunk of your trip cost with one redemption.

The lineup is incredible

The list of properties is pretty cool, and includes places like:

• Erebero Hills, Uganda (Bwindi Impenetrable Forest)

• Naboisho Camp, Kenya

• Rekero Camp, Kenya

• Ol Pejeta Bush Camp, Kenya

• Dunia Camp, Tanzania (Serengeti)

• Jabali Ridge, Tanzania (Ruaha)

These are the kinds of places where you unzip your tent in the morning, and the savannah is literally right there.

Who should care about this?

• Anyone with a safari dream they’ve put off because of the price

• Points collectors looking for a “bucket list” use of miles

• Hyatt members who want elite nights on a trip that’s usually outside hotel-chain territory

You can transfer both Ultimate Rewards points and Bilt Rewards to Hyatt, so this could be a decent option for someone who’s been saving up points, looking for that one “Moby Dick” redemption.

Bottom line

It’s rare that points open doors to something this unique. If a safari is on your list, this is a very cool new angle to make it happen.

Check out this page to explore your options or book a stay.

✈️ An underrated United award trick

Ever searched for United award flights only to see nothing good pop up?

There’s a reason for that — and a way around it. United actually releases extra “Expanded Saver” award inventory that only appears when you’re logged in with the right MileagePlus status or co-branded credit card.

That means seats that look sold out to everyone else can suddenly show up for you. 🫵

If you’ve ever felt stuck staring at huge mileage prices, this one trick could change how you book United awards forever.

Read more to see how it works and how to find these hidden seats. 👇

💪 Daily Drop lounge win

Today’s Daily Drop Lounge win comes from a reader who just pulled off an incredible first big redemption, and honestly? It’s exactly why we love this community.

They booked business class one-way to Tokyo for 116k AA miles, then grabbed a premium economy seat home on JAL for only 50k.

On top of that, they transferred 140k points to cover an entire week of Hyatt hotels – four nights at Hyatt House Tokyo, three nights in Kyoto, and a final night at the Hyatt Regency before heading home.

All in, they paid just $220 in taxes and fees, which is… epic. 🔥

This is the energy inside the Daily Drop Lounge every single day – people sharing wins, cheering each other on, and helping turn bucket-list trips into real itineraries.

If you want to learn from wins like this (or share your own), come join us in the Daily Drop Lounge.

And with that, my friends, I bid you adieu for the week. I hope you have a lovely weekend, and I’ll see you bright and early on Monday.

Ciao,

6.9175° S, 107.6191° E

With contributions by McKay Moffitt