The perk that pays for itself

☀️ Good morning and welcome back to Daily Drop — the newsletter that’s basically a frequent flyer program for your brain: rewards, upgrades, and occasional turbulence all included. 🧠✈️

Let’s get into it:

• 🧳 The perk that pays for itself

• ✈️ Earn $200 in Delta credits just for flying

• 💳 Up to 100% transfer bonus to this airline

• 🤔 Is this co-branded card worth having?

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🧳 The credit card perk that pays for itself

Baggage fees are the travel equivalent of getting charged for existing.

And with more airlines tightening their policies, getting a free checked bag is becoming increasingly difficult.

That’s where the right credit card can save the day — and a lot of money.

Best option for Southwest flyers

Historically, Southwest was the only major U.S. airline that let all passengers check two bags for free. But times are changing.

The airline announced a pretty significant overhaul to all of its credit cards last week, which now offer a free first checked bag for the cardholder and up to eight travel companions (yay!).

A couple of our favorite Southwest co-branded cards are:

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card

If you hold one of these cards, not only are you getting your first checked bag free, but you’ll also unlock extra perks like anniversary bonus points, EarlyBird Check-In® credits for flights through 2025, various travel protections, and more.

For regular Southwest travelers, that bag benefit alone can easily outweigh the annual fee of a Southwest card.

Best option for United flyers

If you fly United even once or twice a year, holding a United credit card from Chase could more than pay for itself.

You’ll get at least one free checked bag for you and a companion on the same reservation when you pay for your flight with an eligible card:

• The New United℠ Explorer Card

• The New United Quest℠ Card

Since United charges up to $50 each way per bag, that can be over $100 round-trip in savings every time you fly as a pair.

Other airline cards that offer free bags

Not a United or Southwest flyer? Here are other cards that can help you save on bag fees:

• Many Delta co-branded credit cards offer free checked bags for the primary cardmember and up to eight companions on the same reservation.

• Many American Airlines co-branded cards offer a free first checked bag, with some cards extending this perk to up to four traveling companions on the same reservation.

• The JetBlue Plus Card includes one free checked bag for you and one companion — more useful than ever with JetBlue charging up to $50 per bag each way.

• The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Card offers a free bag for you and up to six companions, perfect for family travel.

What if your card doesn’t offer free bags?

Some premium travel cards (like The Platinum Card® from American Express) offer airline incidental credits on a qualifying airline (up to $200 per calendar year) that can cover bag fees, seat selection, in-flight food, and more.

You’ll need to select an airline in advance and make sure you pay directly to trigger reimbursement.

Bottom line

If you fly even a few times a year and don’t have a card that covers your bags, you could be missing out on easy savings.

Whether it’s a free bag benefit built into your airline card or incidental credits that reimburse you automatically, credit cards remain one of the easiest ways to dodge rising baggage fees — and make your travel experience smoother from check-in to touchdown.

💳 Check out our top airline cards 💳

✈️ Earn $200 in Delta credits just for flying

Delta has launched a new promotion that rewards you for… well, flying.

If you hold a Delta co-branded credit card (and were targeted), you could earn up to $200 in eCredits just for booking and completing a few round-trip flights.

Here’s how it works:

• Fly one round-trip → earn $50 eCredit

• Fly two round-trips → earn another $50

• Fly three round-trips → earn an additional $100

That’s $200 total in future flight credit — not bad for flights you might be booking anyway.

A few fine-print-y things to note:

• Only flights within the 50 U.S. states qualify

• You need to register for the promo first (check your Delta offers page)

• Flights must originate from select airports — but the list is long and includes most U.S. cities where Delta flies

• You must book and complete your travel by November 20, 2025

Why it matters:

If you’re a regular Delta flyer, this is a pretty easy win — especially since the promo period stretches nearly four months. Even flying once every six weeks could max this out.

It’s especially nice to see that value is being added for cardholders, giving us a reason to hold on to them year after year.

No, it’s not groundbreaking. But at a time when most airline promos feel like puzzles, it’s refreshing to see a straightforward “thanks for flying with us” kind of deal.

So, go log in to your accounts and check your offers to see if you got lucky like me!

💳 Up to 100% transfer bonus to this airline

Another Rent Day, another solid promo from Bilt Rewards — this time, it’s a transfer bonus of up to 100% when you move points to Avianca LifeMiles on August 1.

Here’s the breakdown:

Even if you don’t have elite status, you’ll still get at least a 20% bonus — which makes this a great way to stretch your Bilt Points further.

LifeMiles is one of our favorite programs for booking flights across Star Alliance airlines, including Lufthansa, United, SWISS, Turkish, and more.

Some highlights:

• Domestic United flights as low as 10,000 miles one-way

• Recent deals to Central America for just 2,000 miles

• Lufthansa First Class between the U.S. and Germany for 120,000 LifeMiles — or 60,000 Bilt points with a 100% bonus

This promo only runs for one day, on August 1, and you must transfer on that day to receive the bonus. Bilt will warn you if you try to transfer early, but it's best to mark your calendar.

Don’t have Bilt points yet?

The Bilt Mastercard is currently the only card that lets you earn points on rent with no transaction fee, up to 100,00 points in a calendar year — and those points transfer 1:1 to LifeMiles (and a bunch of other top programs like Alaska and Hyatt).

If you’ve been thinking about getting the card, now’s a great time to start earning before the next Rent Day rolls around.

🤔 Is this co-branded card worth having?

If you’ve ever considered picking up a Hyatt co-branded credit card, we’ve got a video that breaks down everything you need to know — from free nights to elite status perks to how to get the most value out of your stays.

Whether you’re loyal to Hyatt or just getting started, this week’s Daily Drop YouTube video is worth a watch. 👇

That’s all for today — now go forth and transfer wisely, register responsibly, and maybe even watch a video that makes you want to snag a hotel credit card.

See you tomorrow. ❤️

33.8727° S, 151.2057° E

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