Ok I admit, I am a nerd when it comes to checking my emails. I particularly love a variety of travel newsletters that bring me daily flight deals, destination inspiration, and travel-hacking tips. I use these emails to save money while I’m planning my trips as many provide incredible deals on hotels, flights, and credit card travel points. Of the many travel newsletters I read on a daily basis, here are my favorites to bring you travel inspiration, cheap flights and accommodation, and other travel tips.
Travel Hacking and flight deals
The Daily Drop is a go to newsletter for all-things travel hacking. Even if you don’t know what travel hacking is, this newsletter is for you if you appreciate luxury travel on a budget. Essentially, travel-hacking is a phenomenon of learning various ways to earn points and miles toward future travel, often without flying or staying at hotels. Travel hacking can help you save $1000s on travel and The Daily Drop teaches you how to earn credit towards free flights, accommodation, and experiences across the world.
This newsletter and site originated from the iconic traveling YouTubers Kara and Nate who have travel-hacked their way to over 100 countries around the globe (often in first-class accommodations for cheaper than economy). Sounds too good to be true? It’s not. But the many facets of travel hacking can be overwhelming and confusing. For aspiring travel-hackers, this newsletter helps break it all down, teaching you to utilize credit card points and other methods to redeem for free travel. I’d recommend starting with the Daily Drop Ultimate Beginner’s Guide and subscribe to the newsletter from there, which is delivered five days a week, and read in under five minutes.
Fare Drop is the flight deals app and newsletter produced by The Daily Drop team. They send flight deals to destinations that leave from your home airports. I subscribe to their domestic plan which sends flight deals for United States destinations, but they offer other paid plans that give international and business flight deals across the globe.
A good rule of thumb: If you want more flight deals for international and business-class flights, don’t be afraid to purchase a paid subscription. Often these deal notifications save you $100s of dollars on flights, making a paid subscription well worth it even if you book just one flight.
The Thrifty Traveler newsletter is another flight notification newsletter service that sends flight alerts about deals that will save you at least $250 per ticket. They have paid subscriptions that allow you to access more flight deals and narrow deals down that leave specifically from your home airport. Their free subscription doesn’t let you filter deals from your home airport but still gives an idea of the types of bargain flights you can book across the world, especially helpful for digital nomads or those looking for flight deals from anywhere.
Ashley Gets Around is a flight service managed by Ashley Peterson, a speaker at the 2023 Women’s Travel Fest. This newsletter sends flight deals on business-class lie-flat seats for FREE. If regularly-priced lie-flat seats are out of your price range (they’re certainly out of my budget) then this newsletter is for you. I’m on the free-version of this e-blast, but you can subscribe to the premium version for $199 a year and receive 4x the international business class flight deals. That’s a pretty sweet deal when you consider the average flight deal from Ashley Gets Around saves you $750 on your luxury ticket, meaning the savings from one flight booked from her service pays for at least four years of the premium subscription. Seriously, get on board (see what I did there 😉) with this eblast and fly lie-flat business-class flights for a steal.
Formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights, Going tracks flight deals from your home airport and sends deals from over 900 destinations across the world. They offer a free newsletter, but their paid subscription is a game changer. I am a Premium Member, costing me only $40 a year but because I purchased my subscription during Black Friday, it was only $25 for the whole year. The paid subscription offers options that show flight deals by destination, time frame, price and many other filters to help you hone in on your cheapest options for flying domestically or abroad. I love the email notifications they send when they spot a good deal and their site allows me to browse flight deals well in-advanced of my desired travel date.
Travel Destinations and Lifestyle
Nora Dunn, my new friend and an OG writer and blogger in the travel world offers a variety of newsletter series and other content for FREE. This is a BIG deal: Nora has earned over $100,000 in free travel accommodation. She’s a seasoned world traveler and became one of the first digital nomads in 2006 before that lifestyle was mainstream.
She has numerous resources about long-term travel, how to get free accommodation, packing tips, destination information, and even a book about her tips and tricks for sustainable long-term travel. She offers many courses for free through her newsletters, such as “Design Your Life For Long Term Travel.” She is a HOOT and I suggest checking out all her platforms including YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
While Indagare is a members-only, boutique travel agency, their newsletter has insight about destinations, travel news and tips, and more. My past blogs about Indagare highlight how their travel insights are top notch, as their staff takes over 80 trips a year to research different countries and destinations. PLUS, I recently got an email inviting me to a free month of the Self Planner status, allowing me to access their in-depth destination guides and other travel services, just for interacting with their newsletter and other content. You don’t want to miss out on this newsletter if you’re interested in bespoke travel and luxury experiences.
The Daily by Conde Nast Traveler
The Daily Newsletter from Conde Nast offers destination information, travel tips, trip itineraries, and other information for free, even without a subscription to their magazine. However, they often run sales on the Conde Nast Magazine, which has fascinating travel stories, destination information, and tips. I recently subscribed for two years of the magazine for $10 total.
The Velvet Runway is a fashion and travel blog with free style and destination guides, plus in-depth reviews of hotels and cities like Paris. I’ve had the chance to meet with Julia Rees, the founder and writer at The Velvet Runway and she is a Paris local from Great Britain. Her newsletter has a variety of travel and fashion information, along with her most recent blog posts updated weekly. On top of being a fashion icon and world traveler, Julia is a certified life coach and you’ll also spot the self-confidence, confidence, and lifestyle blogs on her site.
Travel Writing Opportunities and Travel giveaways
Formerly an attorney, Jen Ruiz is a solo traveler, travel writer, and influencer. Her blog Jen On A Jet Plane offers in-depth destination guides and travel tips on her website. Her weekly newsletter showcases pitch opportunities and topics for travel writers as well as other travel news and travel giveaway opportunities. She has published books about her travel journeys and she just launched a course teaching you how to become a travel writer, including where and how to pitch to get PAID to travel. Find all of things and more in the Jen On A Jet Plane newsletter.
BONUS favorites:
Though these have nothing to do with travel, these are some of my favorite self-improvement and thought-provoking newsletters if you’re interested in personal growth.
Snail Mail newsletter by Slow Growth
The Monday-morning release of the Snail Mail newsletter is an impactful resource for self-development aficionados who believe in the power of small steps. Every week, they send over original articles, a curated list of high-quality resources, and introduce readers to up-and-coming thought leaders.
James Clears’ 3-2-1 Newsletter
James Clear is the author of the bestselling Atomic Habits book, a guide to practical steps to implement life-changing habits. His 3-2-1 Newsletter is sent weekly on Thursdays, and includes three short ideas from Clear, two quotes from others, and one question to ponder.
Traveling With Lola 
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