Book United flights for 3,500 points

🤠 Howdy, friends. Welcome back to your favorite travel newsletter (or at least it’s my favorite travel newsletter).

If it’s not already your favorite, it will be after today:

• ✈️ Book United flights for 3,500 points

• 🏨 Marriott’s new global promo

• 🌎 Where in the World Wednesday - Tallinn

• ❄️ Winter Mediterranean & Extra Value with Windstar

• 🎥 Video Tutorial: How to book JAL award flights

✈️ Book United flights for 3,500 points

Alright, this one’s a little niche… but it’s also weirdly brilliant.

You can use Air India’s Maharaja Club points (yes, really) to book domestic United Airlines flights for as few as 3,500 points in economy.

That’s hands-down the cheapest way to book short-haul United flights with points right now.

For example, I ran a random search between Newark and Washington, D.C., for next month and found tons of nonstop options for just 3,500 points almost every day. 👇

Now, you might be thinking:

And you’d be correct — I am an idiot. But also, you actually can get points into Air India’s program… in two ways. ✌️

Option 1: The “homeowners” route

If you’ve got the Mesa Homeowners Card, you can transfer your Mesa points to Air India.

I covered the card a few weeks back, and it’s surprisingly compelling even if you’re not out here refinancing your roof.

Option 2: The “throw money at it” route (this one’s fun)

Air India will happily let you buy points directly, and they’re cheap as heck (pardon my French).

You can buy them in increments of 100 points — so, for example, you could literally just buy exactly 3,500 points for one flight.

At 1.50 INR per point, that’s 5,250 INR total, or roughly $59 USD.

Meaning you can book a domestic United flight for $59 + tax anytime you want. And since these flights often sell for well over $100, this can actually save you quite a bit of money.

The bottom line

This is one of those “tiny effort, big payoff” situations.

It’s not the sexiest process, but if you’re willing to click a few extra buttons, you can literally fly United across the country for less than dinner at Chili’s. 🌶️

🏨 Marriott’s new global promo

Marriott Bonvoy is celebrating the year by offering — wait for it — 2,025 bonus points per stay.

Because, you know… it’s 2025. Gosh, they are clever.

You can register for the promo and earn those points on up to three paid stays between October 28, 2025, and January 10, 2026. That’s a grand total of 6,075 bonus points if you hit the cap.

Now, on paper, this isn’t exactly the deal of the century, but there are some sneaky ways to make it work harder for you:

• 🏕 Outdoor Collection boost: If your stay is at one of Marriott’s “Outdoor Collection” properties, you’ll snag another 2,000 points per stay.

• 🎯 Stackable with targeted offers: Got a special promo in your account? You can combine them.

• 🥞 Portal stacking: You can even layer this with a cashback or points portal

• 💳 Credit Cards: Use a Marriott card, many of which earn up to 6x at Marriott hotels

To prove how stackable this can get, here’s what I’m personally doing:

I’m staying at the Moxy Belgrade on October 31 for $115.

I also have a targeted offer through the end of the month that will earn me 8,000 bonus points on my next weekend stay (which applies to this booking).

Between my Titanium status, my Marriott card, my targeted promo, and this global promo, here’s what that single night will earn me:

• 1,150 points – base earning

• 863 points – Titanium status bonus

• 690 points – card spending

• 8,000 points – targeted weekend promo

• 2,025 points – new global promo

That’s 12,728 points for a one-night stay I needed to book anyway — easily worth more than what I paid.

Plus, I can use the Rakuten shopping portal to get 4 MR points (or 4% cash back) at Marriott, which is a tasty little bonus.

So yeah, the promo itself might be as inspired as a Courtyard breakfast buffet, but if you play your cards right (literally 😉), you can still squeeze some solid value out of it.

Don’t forget to register first, or I will be very disappointed in you. 🫵

🌎 Where in the World Wednesday - Tallinn

I’ve been to 112 countries, but somehow Estonia (and Tallinn specifically) keeps dragging me back like an ex I never quite got over.

There’s just something about it.

The medieval Old Town with cobblestones slick from the rain. The smell of wood smoke drifting through narrow alleys. The techy cafés and breweries that somehow feel both modern and ancient.

Last time I was here, I went scuba diving in a flooded Soviet prison, and this month I’ve been splitting my time between saunas, medieval feasts, and beer so good it might actually be holy water.

So I wrote an article about how to get here, where to stay, and most importantly, what to do. Check it out and tell me what you think. 👇

🎥 Video Tutorial: How to book JAL award flights

Last week, we talked about how powerful JAL miles can be… and how their website looks like it hasn’t been updated since dial-up. 😅

So, as promised, I made you a quick video walkthrough showing exactly how to find and book award flights with JAL miles — without rage-quitting halfway through.

We’ll cover how to book partner flights like Emirates and JetBlue, and also flights on JAL’s own metal. 👇

That’s a wrap for today, my friends. I hope you enjoyed that section about Estonia… actually, before you go… humor me with a little poll 👇

See you next time,

59.4370° N, 24.7536° E

With contributions by Tiffany Eastham and McKay Moffitt