Harnessing Hilton's Hidden Hacks

Good morning and welcome back to Daily Drop. If travel newsletters were Hemsworths, we’d be Chris. We’re just sexier than the rest. Although, I will say that Liam is a close second.

Here’s how we’re kicking off the week:

• 🏃🏼‍♂️ Mike on the Move

• ✈️ Virgin Atlantic 30% discount on award flights

• 🖼️ Meme

🏃🏼‍♂️ Mike on the Move

Hey there, folks. It’s me, Mike. And I’m on the move. This week, I’m kicking things off in Cairo before moving on to a very interesting stay in the Canary Islands.

And I’ve got some tasty travel hacks to share with you…

To kick off my stay in Cairo, I booked two nights at the Hilton Pyramids Golf Resort.

Now, if you know me, you know that I hate golf. And resorts… and hot weather.

So what gives?

Well, two things. One, I like to be uncomfortable sometimes. It’s good for the soul.

But more importantly, I love FREE STUFF. And my two-night stay at this hotel cost me a grand total of $4. FOUR DOLLARS.

You see, there’s a Hilton credit card that has a saucy perk—just by holding the card, you’ll get $250 of annual credits at Hilton resort properties.

It just so happens that this two-night stay at a Hilton resort cost a grand total of $254, which triggered my credit for a net cost of just $4.

The card has a fairly steep annual fee, but this $250 is just one of a number of ways I offset that annual fee.

Another perk of the same card is an annual Hilton Free Night Certificate, which has no cap and can be used at almost any Hilton property worldwide.

I just used mine to book a night at the Roku Kyoto LXR in Japan, which was pricing out at a whopping 110,000 points per night or over $1,400 in cash which is, to put it gently, bananas.

As I said, these are only a couple of the perks that this card has, so you Hilton fanatics should check it out if you’re interested.

If you want to learn more about hotel programs in general, don’t forget that we have a new, beefy, dedicated resource for all things hotels.

Later this week, I’ll be flying to Tenerife, Spain, to check out one of the new Hyatt all-inclusive resort brands called Alua.

What makes this so interesting to me is that the hotel only costs around $50 per night… for a room… and unlimited food… FOR TWO PEOPLE.

Is this going to be the most amazing, luxurious hotel in the world? I doubt it. Is it going to be worth fifty freaking dollars a night?

Ummmmmmmm yeah. You could say that.

This is yet another example of how the big boy hotel brands can compete with the prices of small, independent hotels, but with the added benefits of points, elite status, free night awards, and sometimes even unlimited free food and drinkies. 🤗

Next week I’ll share some of the flight hacks that got me thousands of dollars in value on these last few weeks of my trip, so make sure to tune in.

✈️ Virgin Atlantic 30% discount on award flights

Here at Daily Drop, we love us a good transfer bonus. Getting bonus points when you transfer from a bank to an airline or hotel partner is a GREAT feeling.

But there’s another equally great feeling that we simply don’t experience as often—airlines offering a flat-out discount on award flights.

But of course, Virgin Atlantic has stepped up to the plate and come out with a FANTASTIC opportunity, as is tradition with them.

Here are the deets:

• Save 30% on award flights between the U.S. and the U.K.

• Valid on flights booked before July 24th, 2023

• Valid on flights through September 30th, 2023

• Discounted rates are reflected automatically in the search

• Taxes and fees are not discounted. At all. 😢

Overall, this is just as good as a healthy transfer bonus, as you’re able to book already-reasonable flights for a significantly lower rate.

For example, you could book a flight from New York to London for just 7,000 miles one-way.

Just so you know, that is BONKERS. That’s pretty darn close to the cheapest one-way flights across the Atlantic we’ve ever seen. EVER.

If you wanted to go deluxe, you could book their business class (which is one of the best businesses in the… biz) for just 33,200 miles, which is also a fantastic deal.

Keep in mind that the taxes and fees are pretty high on this route when you fly the premium cabins. In my view, this really takes away from the points-booking experience, especially as a stingy traveler who’d like to maximize all of my points and dollars.

So, 33,000 points and $900 could book you a handful of round-trip trans-Atlantic flights in economy on the same plane, which is what I’d recommend.

Anyway, here’s the final verdict: GO BOOK A FLIGHT ON VIRGIN ATLANTIC.

Don’t forget that most major banks allow you to transfer your credit card points to Virgin, so check out our Top Cards Page to check out some current offers to boost your points balance.

🖼️ Meme

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That’s gonna finish things off for today, kids!

Take care and have a lovely Monday ❤️

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