🚆 TRENDING TRAVEL NEWS 🚆
• Luxury on the Rails: A gorgeous private railcar with a chef, five bedrooms, and a vista dome just debuted on the California Zephyr.
• Certified: This country was just named the happiest destination for American travelers.
• Heads Up: The U.S. just renewed its Level 3 advisory for Trinidad and Tobago.
• Check This Out: If you can afford the above train ride, you might actually get your money's worth out of this premium card.
☀️ Happy Thursday, fellow Dropsters!
(That's still not a thing. Big thanks to everyone who has weighed in with some alternate ideas — Drop-ins, Droplets — keep ‘em coming!)
Mike is still sick, poor guy. Send some healing energy his way, everyone. That means you get me (April) again, wheeeee!
Here's what's on deck:
🤔 5 questions to ask when picking your first travel card
Full disclosure: I picked my first travel card the same way I pick most things in life: vibes, a little bit of math, and the fact that I already had an app downloaded.
The card I got is the one Daily Drop recommended most for newbies. 👼
But here's the thing — it actually worked out. And now I know why.
Looking back, I subconsciously asked myself five questions before I applied.
Turns out, these are valuable questions worth considering for anyone ready to open their first card:
1. Do you already bank with one of the major card issuers?
I did. That meant one login, one app, and a bank that already had proof I wasn't a financial disaster.
This isn't a requirement, but it made the whole thing feel less scary. If you're already a customer somewhere, that's a reasonable place to start looking.
2. Can you hit the minimum spend without doing anything weird?
The welcome offer is usually the best thing about a new travel card. But it only makes sense if you can hit the spending requirement with money you were already going to spend.
Before I applied, I looked at three months of actual spending, and the math worked.
If you have to spend more on extra trips to Target or on a huge home improvement purchase you could wait on, whatever… It's not the right card right now.
3. Do you pay your balance in full every month?
Travel rewards evaporate fast if you're paying interest every month on a balance.
The whole thing stops making sense. You basically want to treat your travel rewards card like a debit card — only spend money you actually have, not a cent more.
4. What's your honest ceiling on an annual fee?
I had one. It was low. And the card I got fits the bill.
The cards with high-level perks usually help offset those fees. But your tolerance and actual spending habits matter, so be honest with yourself.
5. Are you okay with a learning curve?
I’m not going to lie to you: there is one. 🙂
But that process can be super interesting rather than deeply annoying. (If you’re reading this, we figure you’re probably the former.)
Here’s the takeaway: The right first card for you isn't necessarily the one with all the bells and whistles — it’s the one that fits your actual life right now. Which, as it turns out, is different for everyone.
📊 Poll results: What's coming next from Daily Drop
A few weeks ago, we ran a poll asking which new Daily Drop newsletter you were most excited about.
And nearly 10,000 of you voted! 🙌
Turns out, a lot of you are (also) just getting started.
“Starting From Zero” won with 25% of the vote and will be a beginner-focused newsletter for people earlier in this journey than your average points nerd.
Close behind at 23% was “The Road Tripper.”
Weekend drives, national parks, the open road, and how to pay for all of it with points.
We also learned that many of you are newer to this than we sometimes assume.
Which means we've probably been leaving some of you behind without meaning to (so we're fixing that!).
In the meantime, we offer live beginner classes.
The next one is Wednesday, April 29, at 3:00 PM ET. Register here if you need a little extra help getting started.
More details on all of it soon. But if you voted for Starting From Zero, we see you. 🧡
🎉 Big news from the Daily Drop family
Our beloved YouTube team, husband-and-wife couple Brendan and Erin, are expecting a baby. 👶
I'm not crying. You're crying.
These two are basically family at this point, and the fact that they snuck off to the only Park Hyatt in the Caribbean to quietly celebrate before telling the world is exactly the kind of thing that makes this job the best. 🧡
The stats? Epic:
4-night hotel stay: $5,000 → $0 out of pocket
Round-trip flights for two: $182 cash
Hyatt point value: 3.5 cents per point (worth every one)
Check it out 👇
That's all for today, folks!
Mike, if you're reading this from your couch: Feel better soon. I can only do so much damage before you get back. 😅
With contributions by Sam Anthony and McKay Moffitt
