United teams up with... a train company?

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving to all you Americans out there.

Before we get into travel hacking, I just want to say that this Thanksgiving, I’m thankful to all of YOU for reading this newsletter. I love writing it, and you make it possible for this thing to keep going. So, thank you so so much. ❤️

Now that we’ve covered the mushy stuff, let’s move on:

• 🚢 Cruise News: The best Black Friday Cruise deal

• 🚂 United partners up with… a train company?

• ✈️ Singapore Spontaneous Escapes (December 2023)

🚢 Cruise News: The best Black Friday Cruise deal

Woah… it’s been a while since we’ve had some solid cruise content here, huh?

Don’t worry, this one will make up for it…

For a couple of days only, MSC Cruises is offering a solid deal on dozens of cruises around the world.

Here’s the deal:

When you book a cruise with MSC by TOMORROW (the 24th), you’ll get the following included in your package:

• Up to $500 in onboard credit

• Drinks package

• Wifi package

• Kids sail for free

The amount of spending credit does depend on the cruise you book as well as the cabin you book. So the cheaper, shorter cruises will come with $25 or $50 of credit while the more expensive, longer cruises will come with $400 or $500.

Still, the fact that kids can sail for free could make this deal worthwhile on its own for families looking to save some cash.

I tested out booking a few cruise itineraries, and sure enough, there were some excellent deals for discounted packages with all of the items I mentioned above. 👇

Clearly, there is a lot of potential value to be had here. So if you’ve been eyeing a cruise for late 2023 or early 2024, now is a great time to jump on a Black Friday deal like this.

🚂 United partners up with… a train company?

If you haven’t traveled around Europe by train before, you’re missing out. It’s awesome.

If I could choose, I’d much rather travel by train than take a short flight within Europe. Between traveling to the airport, security lines, boarding, flying, etc., you can often save time by traveling by train.

That’s why I’m super excited that United has partnered with German train company Deutsche Bahn to combine flights and trains on the same itinerary.

Essentially, you can run a search on United from a city in the U.S. to random small towns (or not-so-small towns) in Germany and have the option of connecting to a train after your long flight to Germany.

For example, let’s say you want to travel to Bremen.

Searches will now show you options like this one, which flies into Frankfurt and connects by train to Bremen.

Here are some other details:

• When you check in for an itinerary that includes a rail segment, you’ll get boarding passes for both your flight and the rail segment upon check-in

• You will earn United miles on the rail portion of the ticket

• If you fly business or first class, you’ll get access to the Deutsche Bahn lounges

• You are protected against delays, cancellations, etc.

• If your flight is delayed, you’ll automatically be rebooked onto a later train

This isn’t a totally new concept - Lufthansa launched this same type of intermodal partnership last year.

I think it’s awesome. I spend a lot of time in Germany and will definitely be taking advantage of this next time I fly there on United.

✈️ Singapore Spontaneous Escapes (December 2023)

Singapore Airlines is back with their December version of Spontaneous Escapes.

If you aren’t in the know, these monthly promos often bring some dope flight deals… if you’re willing to be spontaneous 😉

And I’m talking, like, real spontaneous. As in you have one week (until November 30th) to book your flights for travel between December 1st and 31st, 2023.

But if you can make it happen, I really think you should treat yo self.

Here are the deets:

• Score a 30% discount on KrisFlyer redemptions for economy, premium economy, and business class (depending on destination)

• Flights must be booked online via Singapore’s website or their mobile app (one-way and round-trip are eligible, but no stopovers are permitted)

• Seat availability is on a first-come, first-served basis

• There are blackout dates

• Flights can’t be changed or cancelled once booked

There are tons of routes all over Asia, Africa, the Southwest Pacific, Europe, and the U.S.

And better yet, you don’t have to register, provide your SSN or bank account (don’t ever do this—sketchy), or offer up your first born cat child to get this promo.

You’ll see the discount reflected on eligible flights.

For example, here’s a route from Frankfurt to JFK, in business class, for 56,700 with the promo fare shown 👇

There are a ton of eligible routes that you can view here, but beware, with holiday travel in full swing for December, there are many blackout dates.

So just make sure you’re double-checking everything before you go to transfer your points and book the flight.

Speaking of transferring points…

If you’re now wondering, “Well, how the heck do I get KrisFlyer miles?”

I’ll tell you how the heck you can do this.

Fortunately, the travel gods have made Singapore Airlines a transfer partner of every major bank 🎉

So no matter what miles and points currency you’re working with, you’ll be able to turn them into KrisFlyer miles.

And if you’re looking for recs to rack up some points, this card is always a crowd pleaser and a personal favorite of mine, as UR points are always valuable!

One of my favorite ways to learn about new travel hacks is in our very own Daily Drop Lounge, an online community of DD fans and travel hackers.

And unlike your local airport lounge, you won’t have any trouble getting into the Daily Drop Lounge. 😉

Here’s a look at a post from this past week if you want a taste of what you’re missing:

That’s all for today, folks! I know many of you probably skipped today because of Thanksgiving. So if you’re reading this, thanks for joining me. 😊

I hope you all have a great rest of your day, and a happy, healthy Black Friday.

See you tomorrow,

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