Good morning ☀️ here’s what we have at a glance:

Let’s dive in.

✈︎ Flight Deal

Discover Italy without the heat or the crowds!

📉Nonstop flights to Rome from the U.S. are available at big discounts right now from 3 major airports: New York City, Chicago and Miami. These flights on United and are as low as just $424 round-trip or 60K in miles. Flights are offered throughout October - March of next year. I’d hold onto my miles and book this one in cash!

✈︎ In-flight Entertainment

Take a virtual walk down dozens of major cities around the world

This morning, I’ve easily spent 35 minutes daydreaming about wandering through the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon, and Krakow, thanks to these amazing free virtual walks from cities around the globe. It's like I've turned my living room into an Italian holiday—minus the jet lag and the overpriced gelato!

✈︎ Points + Miles

3 Travel-hacking myths debunked

Today, friend, we debunk. Let's bust some travel credit card myths that are more common than finding a tourist with a selfie stick.

1) Opening new credit cards will ruin your credit score. This is a common myth! The biggest factor in your credit score is your payment history, which accounts for 35% of the score. So, the key is to pay off each card in full every month.

When you open a new credit card, it can affect your score in a few ways. Initially, a hard inquiry can cause a small dip in your score. However, with responsible use over time, a new credit account can help you build credit history, improve your credit utilization ratio, and ultimately boost your credit score. 👏🏾 Not to brag, but my credit score is 🔥- as the kids say.

2) Annual fees on credit cards aren't worth it. Think again! The first year alone can be a game-changer with those hefty sign-up bonuses, often translating to hundreds or thousands of dollars in travel perks just for opening the card. And it doesn't stop there—these cards come packed with goodies like travel insurance, hotel and airline credits, lounge access, and more. All these perks can easily make the annual fee a smart investment.

3) Traveling using points is complicated and hard. Figuring out how to travel using points can seem pretty tricky at first. It’s totally normal to feel a bit lost when you're just starting out, and even when you’re trying to book your first trip. But trust me, it’s definitely worth the effort!

Search tools like pointsyeah.com, seats.aero, and maxmypoints.com are some go-to ways to start using points. And remember, if you ever need a hand, just reply to this email. I’m here to help!

Never buy travel insurance again

I have to admit, I usually don’t purchase travel insurance. Let me explain. One of the amazing benefits of using this card is that it already includes coverage for your flights, luggage, rental car, and more. How cool is that?

Yes, there’s a $395 annual fee with this card, but that comes with A LOT of perks:

• $300 yearly travel credit

• access to priority pass lounges and Capital One lounges

• 10,000 point anniversary bonus ($100+ value)

• 75,000 point sign on bonus

• 2x points on every purchase

But among all that- the travel insurance stands out.

Trip cancellation works like this: If you use this card to purchase your travel, you can be reimbursed up to $2,000 per person for any nonrefundable airline, bus, train or ferry tickets if your trip is canceled or cut short for an eligible reason. As for trip delay: a delay of more than six hours, or requires an unexpected overnight stay, you’ll receive up to $500 per eligible passenger toward any reasonable incurred expenses. This typically includes purchases like hotel accommodations, food, toiletries and other essentials.

You gotta admit, this is like finding a golden ticket in your cereal box—totally worth its weight in gold!

✈︎ Travel News

United adds 3 new international destinations

United will have 134 international destinations across 67 countries after these 3 new locations launch later this year: Medellin, Colombia; Marrakesh, Morocco; and Cebu, Philippines. P.S. a sign up welcome offer on this card could get you flying in luxury in United Polaris business class to any of these. Yup, lie-flat seats and unlimited snacks all night long 🥹

Japanese officials erect an eye-sore of a barrier to deter large crowds

More tourists than ever seem to be flocking to Japan in these post-pandemic times. With the Yen currency dipping, prices in country are at bargain deals making for an affordable stay. And while it’s an exciting trip, it’s too much of a good thing in some areas in particular.

Like most things in life, moderation is key and while some locals favor the boost in their businesses, crowds can be unpleasant and at times, unwanted. Most recently, a 65ft X 8ft barrier has been erected by local officials in a spot that has become viral among tourists. This eyesore of a barrier now obstructs an iconic photo opportunity of Mt. Fuji in hopes of deterring the large crowds that have been gathering and creating chaos, litter and increased traffic jams.

✈︎ Poll

✈︎ The Informed Traveler

Summer travel is on the rise this year

Travel is up 6.3% this summer. Summer time travel should be an olympic sport. I’ll coach you through: BE PREPARED. Here are top travel hurdles for us weary yet relentless travelers making it happen. Silver lining: some say airfare prices are down a smidge, so hey, we got that going for us.

Flight delays by airline

Looking to up your chances of not falling victim to flight delays? Well, I don’t have a magic wand or a crystal ball but let’s stack the deck in our favor: top 5 airlines with most on-time rate according to the Bureau Of Transportation.

Searching for flights in points just got easier

Not sure how to search for flights in points? Points Path is a free web browser extension installation that will display flights in points + miles (for some airlines) when using Google Flights. It’s a great first step when looking to book reward flights.

✈︎ Trivia

The Canary islands or Islas Canarias, a Spanish archipelago off the coast of northwestern Africa, are rugged volcanic isles known for their black- and white-sand beaches. It is one of the most popular vacation destinations for Europeans to enjoy the summer sun. The name, Canary Island is not in fact, named after the bird as we would assume. Which animal are the islands names after and why?

Results from last weeks poll: Which of the above top 10 airports are you most likely to visit in 2025?

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Miami
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Atlanta
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Dallas/Fort Worth
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Denver
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Chicago O'Hare
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Los Angeles- LAX
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 New York- JFK
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Charlotte
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ Las Vegas
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Orlando

Trivia answer: The Canary Islands are named after the Latin for dog (canaria) due to the breed of local dog that was pretty plentiful on the islands when explorers first "found" them.

The canary bird is instead named after the islands. WOW! Who knew?

Thanks for being here and have a great Tuesday!

🌎 Allie

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