MAJOR updates in the credit card world

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🤦‍♂️ A Japanese plane was forced to turn around mid-flight after an American passenger bit a flight attendant. Yup… You read that right.

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🤦‍♂️ A Japanese plane was forced to turn around mid-flight after an American passenger bit a flight attendant. Yup… You read that right.

Good morning and happy February, y’all.

Another month has descended upon us. And with the new month comes some exciting new updates in the travel hacking world:

💳 Top cards update (February 2024)

It’s not often we see major updates in the credit card world. At least not groundbreaking ones…

So you can imagine my delight and surprise when, over the last few days, we witnessed not one, not two, not three, but FOUR pretty significant offers drop. 🤯

And today, I’m going to tell you about why they’re so exciting that we decided to put a couple of them at the very top of our Top Cards Page.

A man laughing with text overlay: "Damn, it feels good to be at the top."

Honestly have no idea who that guy is.

Let’s start with the big boy. I’m talking about this underrated hotel card, which single-handedly dethroned our reigning champion (the Venture X).

For the first time in a LONG time, the offer on this card has INCREASED. Given that it earns Hyatt points (which is clearly a favorite points program of ours), this is exciting news 🎉

People snorkeling in turquoise water

But if you check out the card’s page, you’ll probably be offended to see that it requires an egregiously high amount of spend to unlock the full bonus…

But let me give you a few reasons why this is not as scary as it looks:

  • The timeline to reach the spend is twice as long as most card offers

  • This card offers a free night award every year that you spend $15,000 dollars. By reaching the full spend requirement, you’re also unlocking said award.

It also has the option to unlock additional elite nights and other solid perks, but I can’t say much more here… because the banks are watching 👀 

So I’d suggest going to our more detailed card page to read up on, well, the details.

If you think about it, this card is really offering a HEFTY chunk of points, multiple free night awards, and a number of elite night credits - if you reach the full spending requirement.

Now THAT is pretty amazing, especially once you go look at what this card’s annual fee is. Not too shabby.

For reference, those free night awards alone can be worth HUNDREDS of dollars a pop.

For example, I just used one of my awards last week to stay at the Park Hyatt in Jakarta.

Screenshot of this hotel booking

It is one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed at and would’ve cost me over $350 per night if I paid cash…

The fact that this card and offer could unlock a deal like this TWICE, is bonkers.

But do you want to know what’s more bonkers than two Free Night Awards….?

FIVE FREAKING FREE NIGHT AWARDS.

Another hotel credit card is currently offering FIVE free night awards, each worth 50,000 points, as a welcome offer 🤯

As I mentioned earlier this week, Marriott free night awards can be pretty darn powerful.

The fact that you can get five of them just by signing up for a credit card with an annual fee of under $100 is truly a once-in-a-lifetime deal.

To give you some perspective, this hotel in Manhattan costs 50,000 Marriott points per night.

Screenshot of a Marriott booking for 50,000 points a night

That means that this card could get you FIVE nights in New York City—a stay that would otherwise cost you over a thousand dollars.

Even my mind is blown.

So yeah. It’s an incredible opportunity. Go get the card. Right meow.

BUT NOW…

Let’s talk about a couple of the more “niche” offers going on right now…

If you have a small or medium-sized business that does a high amount of spending, I’ve got good news for you…

Right now, the Venture X Business card is offering… wait for it… 300,000 points when you sign up for the card. 🤯🫨

The caveat?

You need to spend… SIX FIGURES.

A woman mouthing "Excuse me?"

99.9% of you should be offended by that. If you want to know exactly how much of a six-figure spend… head to the Venture X Business’s card page to clutch your pearls.

But the handful of you that run a lot of spend through your businesses are going to want to jump on the offer NOW.

Finally, I want to let you know that another business card just increased its offer to a hefty 100,000 United miles 🙌

Unlike the Venture X Business, this card has a MUCH more reasonable spending requirement.

United miles are pretty valuable, so having 100,000 of them would really come in handy.

For example, this flight from Chicago to Los Angeles will run you only 13,000 miles.

A screenshot of a United booking example

So this offer alone could book you that flight… seven times.

As a reminder, ANYBODY CAN SIGN UP FOR BUSINESS CREDIT CARDS.

It’s way easier than you think, so check out this newsletter where I break down exactly how you can get your paws on some of these amazing business card offers.

🍪 Tasty Travel Tidbits

🎙️Award Search Tools

Oh hey, care to learn by listening? 👂

We love award redemptions around here—no matter if it’s planes or hotels. But sometimes, they can be tricky to find!

Searching for award availability can also be SO time-consuming.

But this week’s podcast features Megan who shares SIX award search tools you’re gonna want to know about.

You can listen by clicking here, watching on YouTube, or searching for us wherever you get your podcasts.

Blue map background with "Daily Drop Award Search Tools" text overlay

That’s all for today, folks!

I think the biggest downside to all of these amazing card offers is having to choose which one(s) to go for… they’re all just so damn good.

Which new card offer are you most excited about?

Only Email Recipients can participate in polls.

Have a lovely day ❤️

Mike Dodge
Head Writer, Daily Drop

13.7563° N, 100.5018° E

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