Happy Monday, Extra Mile readers! In today’s edition: Jackson found a sneaky way to turn Chase Ultimate Rewards into an $800-a-night Hilton hotel stay … but was it worth it? Gunnar’s also tracking lie-flat business class fares for the price of an economy ticket … including one to Italy for just over $2,000 roundtrip.
- 💸 No Points, No Problem: Biz Class Flights for Economy Prices
- 🤝 Deal of the Day: Mexico City from 24k Points Roundtrip
- 🎟️ This Wednesday: The Thrifty Traveler Podcast LIVE in Fargo!
- 📲 From the Thrifty Traveler Company Slack
- 🎙️ On the Pod: All Things Google Flights
- 🇭🇷 Mini Review: Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik
- ✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
💸 No Points, No Problem: Biz Class Flights for Economy Prices
You or someone you know has probably written off flying business class because you just can’t earn all of the points necessary to do it. But that’s not the only way.
You can just book a business class fare the old-fashioned way – using cold, hard cash for $6,000 or more
But if you know where to look (or let your friendly neighborhood flight deal alert service look for you), you can snag business class fares for shockingly low prices.
Take this latest example: ITA flights from Toronto (YYZ) to Barcelona, Spain (BCN).
Remember: This is for lie-flat business class!
That’s the latest and greatest example, but you can find other incredibly cheap fares from Canada over to Europe, down to Brazil, or in Delta One to Japan.
Plus, you could book the best business class on earth (Qatar QSuites) for less than $3,000 roundtrip … a flight that should cost at least twice that much.
And we’ve got much, much more where that came from!
Read our full breakdown of the cheapest business class flight deals.
– Gunnar Olson, travel reporter & host of the Thrifty Traveler Podcast
🤝 Deal of the Day: Mexico City from 24k Points Roundtrip
Heat scale (out of 3): 🔥
Why we love it: Snag nonstop Delta flights to Mexico City (MEX) this year or next … in Main Cabin!
Book Delta’s nonstop flights to MEX using Flying Blue or Virgin points for less than 44,000 miles roundtrip with solid availability this fall and winter.
Sign up now to get all the details on this deal & don’t miss the next flight deal alert.
Already a member? Log in to see all your deals. (Not seeing it? Remove your airport filters to see every deal.)
– Gunnar Olson, Thrifty Traveler Premium deal analyst
🎟️ This Wednesday: The Thrifty Traveler Podcast LIVE in Fargo!
We’re officially taking this show on the road – and returning to our roots!
That’s right: The Thrifty Traveler Podcast is going live again in Fargo, North Dakota! Join us this Wednesday, July 29 for an hour of our usual blend of travel insights, tips, and unhinged takes.
Fargo is near and dear to our hearts – that’s why it’s one of the airport maps in our podcast studio. Our founder, co-founder, and COO are all native Fargoans. I myself worked (and met my wife!) there for a year and change out of college.
Our live recording of the pod is part of the run-up to TEDxFargo, an amazing annual event that our CEO, Jared, spoke at a few years back. Getting involved with this amazing community again was an absolute no-brainer.
See you in downtown Fargo in a few days, folks!
– Kyle Potter, executive editor & podcast co-host
📲 From the Thrifty Traveler Company Slack
Kids these days will never truly appreciate the obstacles we had to overcome just to watch a movie “back in our day.” I’d be curious to know how many hours of my life have been wasted rewinding VHS tapes and battling the VCR.
Actually … maybe I don’t want to know.
– Jackson Newman, senior editor
🎙️ On the Pod: All Things Google Flights
✈️ Booking cheap travel starts and ends with Google Flights, which is why we devoted a full episode of the podcast to how to use our favorite website – including some of the advanced features that can help you book like a pro.
Tune in now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!
🇭🇷 Mini Review: Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Why we like it: Unbeatable service, nice accommodations, and a great location!
Service: From the moment we pulled up to the Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik, I could tell it was going to be a good stay. We were instantly greeted by the hotel staff outside the hotel and didn’t touch our bags again until we were in the room.
At check-in, I was informed that we’d been upgraded to a King Executive Room on account of the Hilton Honors Gold™ Status that I get with my *amex platinum* – quite the surprise, given that Gold status isn’t very high on the totem pole.
We were offered the option to wait in the lounge until our room was available, and someone from the front desk came down to get us and deliver our keys when it was ready.
Throughout our stay, the hotel staff was always quick to open a door or offer assistance at every turn. The entire team here really embodies a “service first” mindset and it set the tone for a great stay.
Rooms: Our corner room featured one king bed, a small sofa, a small dining table (but no desk), a well-appointed bathroom, and a monster terrace (with a separate dining table), overlooking the Adriatic Sea and Old Town Dubrovnik.
We had a rollaway bed added since we were traveling with two young kids, and despite the max occupancy being 3 guests, they graciously allowed all four of us to stay in one room since my youngest isn’t quite two years old – a big savings over booking two rooms!
Restaurants & Executive Lounge: The Executive Lounge provided a scaled-back breakfast in the morning, all day soft drinks, coffee, and light snacks, as well as hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine, and a build-your-own cocktail bar in the evening.
Breakfast – complimentary for Gold status and higher – was served daily in the Imperial Terrace restaurant. It was a buffet with a wide variety of choices, but nothing here blew my socks off – perfectly adequate, just not life changing.
Location: The Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik is located just outside the Old Town gates, less than a 5-minute walk to plenty of shops, restaurants, and all the attractions that Dubrovnik is known for. In my opinion, the location simply can’t be beat for a two- or three-night stay.
How I booked it: Ready for this? I “transferred” Chase Ultimate Rewards to Hilton to book for 80k points per night.
If you’re thinking, “But wait, Hilton isn’t a Chase transfer partner,” you’re correct. Instead, I used a sneaky workaround to turn my Chase points into Hilton Honors points at a 1:2 ratio. Check out the story linked above for full details!
Final thoughts: This hotel – really, Dubrovnik in general – was easily the highlight of our most recent trip to Europe. The service was exceptional, the room was really nice, and the location was perfect.
With cash rates north of $800 per night during our stay, this was an excellent use of Hilton points and I’d jump at the opportunity to stay here again!
– Jackson Newman, senior editor
✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
- ✈️ Not content with one proposed mega-merger with American, it turns out United also floated the idea of combining with Delta. Both would be a nightmare for consumers. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🏨 Bilt members can unlock a status match with ALL Accor for Rent Day by transferring points to Accor Reward points on August 1, with perks like early check-in, room upgrades, lounge access, and welcome drinks depending on tier. (Bilt)
- ☕ Starting Aug. 5, Starbucks Rewards and Delta SkyMiles members can once again earn 1x mile per $1 spent at participating Starbucks locations. To be eligible, linked members must have flown a qualifying Delta flight within the previous 12 months.
- 🏨 The Cape Town EDITION, Marriott’s first EDITION property in Africa, is now bookable for stays starting November 24, with wide-open award availability from as low as 108,000 points a night through next spring and summer.
