February 14, 2023 |
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It’s 2 AM. I’m sprawled on the floor of Toronto Pearson Airport after a flight delay. I’m tired, I spent my $40 compensation voucher on beer, and I don’t smell great. But it’s okay because I just left Costa Rica, where I finally met the rest of the Dollar Flight Club team at our company meetup and saw firsthand how special a group this is.
Whether you’re a regular reader or a new subscriber, know you’re in the steady hands of a passionate group of travelers, and we’re beyond stoked to have you on board. We literally wouldn’t be here without you.
Here’s to another year of cheap travel.
Now let’s get to the points.
In this week’s cheat sheet:Â
Hilton and Marriott drop major intro bonuses
Free Starbucks just got harder to earn
The best way to use hotel points
Cheers,
Steven
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| HOTEL CARDS
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Image: Marriott
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It’s never been easier to grab free Hilton and Marriott stays
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Looking to grab some free hotel stays this year? There’s never been a better time, thanks to Hilton AND Marriott’s increased co-branded credit card intro bonuses.
While hotel points are generally less powerful than their airline counterparts, big intro bonuses shouldn’t be scoffed at. With a little bit of planning, the maximum haul of 165,000 points could grab you almost a week in some excellent hotels or a couple of days in some super luxurious ones. Here’s a rundown of what’s being offered.
Hilton - elevated offers run through April 5th, 2023
Marriott - elevated offers run through April 6th
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| STEVEN'S TIPS
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Combine and conquer for a free 2024 Valentine's vacation
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One of the cards above could be your gateway to a spectacularly cheap 2024 Valentine's Day. Of course, you're gonna need a flight to get there. And why would you want to pay for that?
Open the Capital One Venture Rewards Card and gift yourself 75,000 flexible points to put toward your vacation. You just need to spend $4000 in three months to earn them.
Combining one of the Hilton or Marriott cards with the Venture could pretty much pay for your trip.
Check it out:
One roundtrip from JFK to Barcelona in March = 60,000 points + $50 with United
Six nights in the Hampton by Hilton Barcelona Fira Gran Via = 150,000 points
Opening the Hilton Amex Surpass and the Capital One Venture pays for almost the entirety of your Barcelona vacation.
You’d need to give yourself enough time to meet those spending requirements, but $7000 in six months is realistic for many people. If you’re not won over yet, find out more about the Capital One Venture here.Â
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| FRANCHISE OWNERSHIP
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You could be the key to someone’s dream job
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Help people follow their dreams while achieving your own with Express Employment Professionals.Â
Express has been named the #1 staffing franchise for 12 consecutive years by Entrepreneur magazine and in 2021 alone they employed more than 586,000 people.
So where do you come in? You can put your skills to work and sign up to be a franchise owner today. With Express, you can make a living pairing
people in your community with the jobs of their dreams, with no staffing experience required.Â
In fact, 95% of Franchise Owners had no staffing background before joining Express. The average length of franchise ownership is 17 years—people stay because they love what they do.
You get to spend time building relationships with local businesses in your community while Express acts as your back-office administrator and handles all that pesky, backend administrative paperwork and payroll, so you don’t have to.Â
Even as the hiring market ebbs and flows, the $212.8B staffing industry* stays strong. Start-up costs are low, and there’s no inventory. Now’s your chance to make a difference. Learn more about becoming a franchise owner today.
*$212.8B industry revenue projection provided by SIA.
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| POINTS NEWS
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Want free coffee? "Work harder" says Starbucks
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It may not be travel news, but it’s still points – Starbucks has reshuffled its loyalty program, meaning your hard-earned stars are (generally) worth far less than before. The coffee powerhouse’s changes mean members will need double the number of stars to earn free coffee.
As of yesterday, the 13th of February, the cheapest complimentary beverage will now cost 100 stars, double the fifty previously required. With a star earned for every dollar spent at Starbucks, customers would need to buy 41 venti cups of black coffee to earn a free one. If they upload cash onto their Starbucks card, they can still earn 2 stars per dollar, halving that total.
Here’s the full range of changes:
Hot coffee, hot tea, and bakery items now cost 100 stars (previously 50)
Lattes, frappuccinos, other hand-crafted coffees, hot breakfasts items, and parfaits will now cost 200 stars (previously 100)
Sandwiches and salads now cost 300 stars (up from 200)
Iced coffee and iced tea now cost 100 stars (down from 150 stars)
Packaged coffee now costs 300 stars (down from 400 stars)
Some merchandise is now 100 stars (down from 200 – it’s not clear what kind of merchandise)
It’s worth mentioning that Starbucks still partners with Delta, allowing customers to earn one mile for every dollar spent at Starbucks. I’ve mentioned before that while this is well-intentioned, the likelihood of you earning any significant travel from the program is either extremely unlikely or evidence that you have a crippling coffee and sugar addiction.Â
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| WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING
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*This link is sponsored.Â
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