How to pay for anything with points

☀️ Good morning and welcome back to Daily Drop — the newsletter that treats Google Flights like a dating app and swipes left on anything with a layover over three hours.

Here are some tips you’ll want to swipe right on:

• ✈️ How to pay for anything with points

• 🏨 The best family hotel trick

• 🚄 Amtrak just got a glow-up

• 💳 Are you eligible for this card?

✈️ How to pay for anything with points

Most points and miles are like picky eaters — they’ll only work with a short list of airlines, hotels, or their own portals.

Which is fine… until you want to book something outside those lanes.

Enter the beauty of Capital One miles: You can use them to pay for any travel purchase — flights, hotels, Airbnbs, train tickets, theme parks, even that weird ferry in Croatia — all at a fixed one cent-per-point value.

Just charge it to your card, then offset it with points.

And if getting only one cent per point in value sounds like a bad move, let me illustrate exactly when that’s not the case.

In October, I’m flying from Sofia, Bulgaria (SOF) to Kraków, Poland (KRK). I want to use points to book a flight, but here’s the lowdown:

• ✅ Cheapest option: A nonstop Wizz Air flight for just $28.

• ❌ Problem: You can’t transfer points to Wizz Air, and budget airlines are not bookable in most portals.

• 😬 “Other” option: Transfer points to Aeroplan and book LOT Polish or Air Serbia for 7,500 points + $100+ in taxes (lol).

Clearly… that’s silly.

Instead, I’ll just book the Wizz Air flight with my Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and then use 2,800 Capital One miles to offset the charge from my statement.

No partner limitations, no bad-value taxes, and no wasted time on layovers — just a dirt-cheap flight fully covered with points.

Speaking of the Capital One Venture X…

Why I love this over other premium cards

Other top-tier travel cards like this one and this one offer great value, but they come with annual fees that are… well… very high.

Sure, you can offset that fee with travel credits and niche perks — but it takes work. You’ve got to track expiration dates, jump through hoops, and make sure you’re squeezing every last drop of value.

If you want an easier path, this is where the Capital One Venture X shines:

• $395 annual fee

• $300 annual travel credit (when booking through Capital One Travel)

• 10,000 anniversary miles each year — worth at least $100 toward travel

• Tons of other perks (which you can read about in our full review)

Do the math, and your “net fee” is effectively nothing without keeping a spreadsheet of credits to use.

Here’s where it gets better

Just because you can book any travel at one cent per point doesn’t mean that’s your only option.

You can also transfer those same Capital One miles to airline and hotel partners for potentially way more value.

Want to book business class to Europe or a luxury hotel stay for a fraction of the cost? Transfer the points to partners, and now you’re getting multiple cents per point instead of just one.

Bottom line

Capital One miles make things simple and flexible — use points to pay for literally any travel, or transfer them for even more value.

🏨 The best family hotel trick

World of Hyatt has a little-known perk that’s perfect for families or groups — when you book a room, you can snag a second room for 50% off the cash rate at participating hotels.

That’s already great, right?

Well, here’s the kicker… You can pay for the first room with Hyatt points and still get the half-off cash rate for the second room.

How it plays out in the real world:

Say you’re headed to Germany for the Christmas markets this winter. In Cologne, you could book this property for 8,000 Hyatt points per night. 👇

Then, assuming the Family Plan Rate is available at that property, you add a second room for the same night for just $65 cash.

That’s two rooms – one free (with points), one dirt cheap (with cash).

And in Europe, where many hotels limit rooms to two or three guests, it’s basically the travel equivalent of finding a secret level in a video game. 🎮

Fueling the points side of the equation:

• Hyatt points are easy to rack up by transferring from UR points or Bilt Rewards at a 1:1 ratio.

• The current 100,000-point welcome offer on this epic card could cover 12 nights at hotels like the one I showed you — with half-price second rooms the whole time.

A couple of fine-print realities:

The main caveat is that not every property offers the Family Plan Rate — it’s most common internationally, so you’re in luck for Europe.

In terms of actually booking this rate, you can’t do it online… You need to call Hyatt and specifically request the “Family Plan Rate” and inquire about your desired property and dates.

Bottom line: Book one room with points, get a second for half price, and suddenly your family trip (or group getaway) just got a whole lot cheaper. 👍

🚄 Amtrak just got a glow-up

Airports have their charm (and by charm, we mean chaos, queues, and $7 bottles of water), but starting August 28, you can skip the TSA shuffle and glide between Boston, New York, and D.C. in style.

Meet the NextGen Acela — Amtrak’s brand-new, high-speed upgrade to America’s favorite Northeast Corridor rocket.

As someone who grew up in the Boston area and lived in both New York City and Baltimore, I’m no stranger to the Acela… so I’m super pumped about this.

Here’s the scoop:

• More trains: 28 of these beauties will roll out between now and 2027.

• More seats: 27% more per departure, so you’re less likely to play armrest wars with a stranger.

• More service: Extra weekday and weekend departures for those spontaneous “I can totally make happy hour in Philly” moments.

But the real headline? First class just went full James Bond. 😎

We’re talking leather seats with pops of crimson, wide tables for working or dining, and enough legroom to make even tall people weep with joy.

You’ll also get blazing-fast Wi-Fi, individual power outlets, and even reading lights at every seat.

So if you’ve got somewhere to be along the East Coast — or even if you don’t — book a ticket, sink into that seat, and let Amtrak’s glow-up carry you into the future. ✨

💳 Are you eligible for this card?

One of the biggest premium travel cards on the market just got a full revamp — new credits, new perks, and more. But along with the upgrade came new eligibility rules… which could prevent you from getting it. 😬

Our latest video breaks down who can (and can’t) get the card now, so you’ll know where you stand before you apply. 👇

That’s all for today, folks. I hope you have a lovely Monday, and I look forward to serving up more travel tips tomorrow.

Cheers,

6.1944° S, 106.8229° E

With contributions by Tiffany Eastham, McKay Moffitt, and Benji Stawski