Free miles for flying before Christmas

Goooooooooood morning, beautiful people. Before we get into the travel weeds, I just want to let you know that we selected the three lucky winners of a free Daily Drop hoodie!

So congrats to William R, Jennifer B, and Romy W. You’ve all been contacted personally, so enjoy your hoodies.

Anywho… Let’s talk travel:

• ✈️ United’s Mile Play is back, baby

• 💳 Easy $200 off Qatar Airways flights (targeted)

• 🌎 Spontaneous deals to Europe, Asia, and beyond

• 🔄 Current Transfer Bonuses

✈️ United’s Mile Play Is Back, Baby

United just dropped another round of Mile Play offers — aka that fun little game where they dangle bonus miles in front of you like a cat toy and whisper, “Go on… book a flight you didn’t need.”

These are targeted promos (you can check yours here), and the offers vary.

Mine, for example, is to earn 4,200 bonus miles if I book and take one trip by December 22 (no Christmas flights here, womp womp).

Sounds easy, right? Well… the catch is I have to spend at least $275 on that trip.

And honestly, with Thanksgiving coming up, that threshold might not be as unrealistic as it sounds…

So if you’re flying home to see family later next month, United might just reward you for your emotional — and financial — suffering.

But even if you don’t have any expensive-ass domestic flights on the docket, you can still make this work by pairing it with one of the already-great international cash fares floating around.

For example, United has tons of one-way fares from the West Coast to Asia that just clear the $275 requirement (before taxes) — and they’re actually solid deals:

• Los Angeles → Taipei — $343

• Los Angeles → Manila — $342

• Los Angeles → Osaka — $343

Now, I live in Asia, so I’m obviously out of luck here… right?

………..right??

WRONG. 😈

United actually has some super spicy fifth-freedom routes within Asia. For example, I could fly between Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN) and Hong Kong (HKG) in Polaris business class for $321.

Yes, business class. Yes, lie-flat seats. No, no America required.

After taxes, it still clocks in at about $298 — enough to trigger my offer and score me 4,200 bonus miles (on top of the normal mileage earnings and credit card points).

And while it doesn’t qualify for this round (since it doesn’t operate until next year), United also flies a Tokyo → Ulaanbaatar seasonal route that’s criminally underrated and ridiculously cheap — one of the easiest ways to reach Mongolia without buying a horse. 🐴

So yeah, even if you don’t think your offer is “usable,” get creative. These promos can absolutely work in your favor if you’re willing to color outside the lines a little.

Check your personal Mile Play offer here.

💳 Easy $200 off Qatar Airways flights (targeted)

If you’ve been craving a little Doha detour, a new merchant offer from American Express might make your wallet purr. 🐈

Right now, select cardholders are targeted for an offer where you’ll get $200 back after spending $850+ on Qatar Airways flights booked through the bank’s travel portal.

Here’s the quick fine print:

• Flights must originate in the U.S.

• Book by December 31, 2025 (though you can travel after that)

• Must be charged in USD

• Must be booked through the bank’s travel portal

• You’ll need to add the offer to your card before booking

This one’s targeted, so if you don’t see it in your account, don’t panic — it just means the algorithm thinks you’re too powerful already. 💪

But if you do have it, here’s what you can pull off:

I found flights between New York (JFK) and Mumbai, India, for $859 round-trip next March/April — even booked through the bank portal.

That’s serious savings and probably the comfiest way to get to India in economy.

I’ve got the offer on the American Express Platinum Card®, so $200 really helps offset that offensively high annual fee. But don’t worry… I know of plenty of people who are seeing this offer on other cards, too.

And if you somehow got it on a lower-annual-fee card, congrats — this one offer might literally pay for your card for two years.

🌎 Spontaneous deals to Europe, Asia, and beyond

Singapore Airlines just dropped their latest Spontaneous Escapes, and honestly… these are giving main character energy this month.

If you’re new to this whole thing, here’s the gist: once a month, Singapore Airlines rolls out a bunch of discounted award flights that you can book for up to 30% fewer miles than usual.

The catch? They’re called “Spontaneous” for a reason…

You’ve got to book by the end of this month and travel next month, with no flexibility — no take-backsies, no changes, no “my cousin’s wedding got rescheduled.” You book it, you fly it.

Now let’s talk about what’s actually worth your miles, because there’s some wild stuff in this month’s list.

The world’s longest flight, but affordable(ish)

If you’ve ever wanted to flex on your friends by surviving 19 hours in the sky from Singapore to New York, you can now do it in premium economy for 56,350 miles — way fewer than usual.

It’s still a long flight — like, “You could watch all of Breaking Bad and still have time for a nap” long — but Singapore’s premium economy is genuinely comfy.

Plus, availability is great, as you can see in the screenshot above.

New York to Frankfurt in economy OR premium economy

This one’s cool: you can fly Singapore’s route between New York and Frankfurt for just 17,500 miles in economy — less than what Flying Blue charges for their Promo Rewards.

Plus, flying with Singapore Airlines is like upgrading from a folding chair to a throne.

If you just want to dip your toes into Europe on a budget, this is a perfect move.

The same route is running 36,000 miles in premium economy, which is also a solid deal.

The “obscure but sexy” short-haul business routes

Now for the fun stuff… 😎

You know I live in Indonesia, just a quick hop from Singapore. And this month’s deals are *chef’s kiss* for those short-haul economy and business-class flights.

For example, I might be flying home from Beijing next month — and that route is just 15,050 Singapore miles in economy, which is a great deal for the nearly 7-hour flight to Singapore, and super convenient for me.

And since I’ve got a chunky stash of Capital One miles, I can just transfer them over to Singapore from the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and book any of the above deals.

But you can also transfer from Membership Rewards points, Ultimate Rewards points, and ThankYou points too — which makes Singapore miles some of the easiest to use in the game.

So whether you’re chasing a deal across the Pacific, sneaking in a quick Southeast Asia trip, or just want a good economy flight to Europe — these deals are for you.

And with that, I bid you all adieu for the week.

I’m going to have a relaxing seaside weekend here in Estonia, but let me know if y’all have any exciting travel plans coming up.

See you first thing Monday,

59.4370° N, 24.7536° E

With help from Tiffany and McKay