United is cozying up with another hot-shot airline

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Fun Fact: Papua New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse place on Earth with nearly 850 different languages spoken within the country. Read more about it here.

It's been over 72 hours since this Newsletter was published, so some info and links might be out of date or expired.

Fun Fact: Papua New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse place on Earth with nearly 850 different languages spoken within the country. Read more about it here.

Good morning and welcome back to Daily Drop! I’m sitting on a beach right now at an all-inclusive Hyatt resort on the Colombian coast, and I gotta say - I’m VERY pleased… 👇

If you missed our deep dive last month about how to book these sweet properties, make sure you check it out.

So, in case you were wondering, yes: we really do practice what we preach here at Daily Drop! 😉

Let’s get into the good stuff:

  • 🌍 Where in the World Wednesday (and a special treat…)

  • ✈️ United and Emirates launch full partnership

  • 🏨 Marriott launches a simple but helpful new tool

🌍 Where in the World Wednesday (and a special treat)

Before we take you for another FareDrop-inspired trip around the world, let’s start with the aforementioned special treat! 😉

As you all probably know (or maybe you don’t?!), FareDrop is our app that scours the internet like a boss to find you the best flight deals. 

And seriously, it finds some boss deals. I can’t wait to tell you about the deal and the destination we’ve got for you today 🤭

BUT FIRST, here’s what you can expect to get out of this sale:

Just to be clear, if you sign up for FareDrop today (or want to upgrade from your Domestic plan), you’ll be getting:

  • 40% off our Global Plan (domestic + international economy deals)

  • 50% off our Global Pro Plan (Global Plan + international business deals)

I personally love using Global Pro because… business class. Need I say more? 🙃

Join FareDrop today and let the deal decide the destination for your summer travel plans, but hurry! The sale ends at midnight!

Now that you all have (hopefully) taken advantage of this sale and signed up, we’re going to brag on FareDrop a little bit because…

We found an amazing deal to RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL 🇧🇷

Rio is one of those places that has the golden trifecta in my opinion: history, architecture, and nature.

Just LOOK at it. The ocean, the mountains… Should I book this flight? I should definitely book this flight 😎

There are so many things to do, but we’ll tempt you with just a few of our favorites.

If you want some adventure, hike to the top of Corcovado Mountain for the best views of the city, and to meet the famous Christ the Redeemer statue.

You should definitely indulge in some acai bowls, feijoada (traditional black bean stew), and coconut EVERYTHING.

Oh, and if you’re into over-the-top, all-you-can-eat meat buffets, pull up a seat at a churrascaria—a type of traditional Brazilian steakhouse—where a team of highly trained professionals will use knives the size of your arm to saw off unlimited portions, just for you 🤤

PLUS, due to its dramatic landscapes, Rio is also one of the best places in the world to go hang-gliding. But if you don’t feel like spewing your beans or your meat, Rio has more beachfront than any other city in the world to lounge as you like. So there’s that 🤗

So tell me, has Rio been added to your bucket list?? And DON’T FORGET to sign up for FareDrop’s flash sale TODAY!

✈️ United and Emirates launch full partnership

Last September, United and Emirates announced a joint partnership that took the travel world by storm.

I never told you about it in the newsletter because… well… I didn’t totally understand it.

Basically, they mentioned some vague details around reciprocal earning and redeeming, and some even more vague info about reciprocal lounge access.

Well, I have some good news and some bad news for you folks. The good news is that the partnership is officially live, and you can earn and redeem miles between the two airlines.

The bad news is that we still don’t know the full details of this partnership, and what we do know is still kind of confusing.

But I’ll do my best to explain it. Here are the details (ish):

  • United is now operating flights from Newark to Dubai

  • Earn Emirates miles on ALL United marketed and operated flights

  • Earn United miles on some Emirates flights

  • Earning rates vary, so make sure you consult the charts below for details

So basically, you can attach your Emirates frequent flyer number to any United booking and earn miles based on the following chart:

For United flights booked through Emirates (aka codeshare flights), the earning rates will be slightly different, but similar to what you see above.

As for earning United miles, you can only earn them on Emirates and flydubai flights that you connect to after flying on United’s Newark-Dubai flight.

For example, let’s say you fly the following route:

You’d earn United miles for the leg from Dubai to New Delhi (and obviously the leg on United) because of that first United flight.

If you were to fly that leg from Dubai to Delhi on its own, you couldn’t earn United miles.

IMPORTANT: Just to be clear, you cannot earn BOTH United and Emirates miles in any scenario, you can only choose one. Since most of you are U.S.-based, you’ll presumably want to rack up United miles in most cases.

So how do you actually connect your frequent flyer number?

When you’re on the United checkout page, you’ll see a screen like this:

Simply select Emirates on the dropdown and add your Emirates frequent flier number.

When booking through Emirates, you’ll see a similar screen on their website.

On the Emirates site, do the same thing with your United number, but make sure that you’re able to even earn miles based on the eligibility requirements I mentioned.

There are some other nuances to this partnership that we simply don’t have time to delve into, but just keep all of this in mind when booking flights with either airline, as it could be a great way to rack up some extra miles.

Overall, this partnership means better connectivity and loyalty perks between the U.S. and the Middle East, which is always a welcomed thing.

As for lounge benefits, we have yet to hear from either airline about what this looks like… but you can bet your butt that I’ll be here to tell you about it when they do. 😉

🏨 Marriott launches online points transfer tool

In the past, I’ve told you about how Marriott lets you transfer points between accounts for free, which can be a great way to reach free nights faster.

Historically, you’ve needed to call Marriott to do this, which can be annoying… to say the least.

Thankfully, Marriott realized how annoying this process was and launched an online tool to transfer points in just seconds, no phone call required.

It’s quite simple, really. Here’s how it works:

  • Click this link

  • Log in to your account

  • Enter the recipient’s details and the number of points to transfer

When does this make sense to use?

As you know, you can earn little chunks of Marriott points from things like linking your Uber account, using their dining portal, or staying at Marriott hotels.

Now, you can do these things with every account in your household and pool them together with no effort.

Even if you and your hubby each sign up for a Marriott credit card, you can now pool your points into one account to book that once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Overall, this is a simple but welcomed improvement to the Marriott program, so no complaints here!

Want to help Daily Drop take over the world? Share our newsletter with your friends/family/pets/colleagues/enemies and win some rewards in the process!

Sign up for Daily Drop to grab your referral link!

Or copy your unique referral URL to share with others: https://newsletter.dailydrop.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER

That’s all for today, friends. I have a question for you:

Which airline do you like to fly (or want to fly) most?

Only Email Recipients can participate in polls.

Have a fabulous day, and I’ll see you again tomorrow morning.

Mike Dodge
Head Writer, Daily Drop

10.3932° N, 75.4832° W

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