👋 It has been a busy summer, but we are back!

I was going to file this story away. Then I checked, and the exact promotion we used is live again right now. It goes away on September 30. So we are leading with it.

Chase is running a 20% transfer bonus to Air Canada Aeroplan through September 30, 2026. That is the same promotion we used, and it is the entire reason this worked.

Here is the actual breakdown of how four of us got from Serbia 🇷🇸 to the US 🇺🇸:

Step 1 🔍: Have the seats picked out first. You cannot undo a transfer. Search Aeroplan award space for your dates and routing before you move a single point. This is the step people skip and regret.

Step 2 💳: Transfer during the bonus. We moved 85,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Aeroplan. The 20% bonus turned that into 102,000 Aeroplan points 🧮.

Step 3 🎟️: Book four economy seats. Aeroplan prices awards by distance, which works in your favor on transatlantic routes in a way that most programs do not.

Step 4 ⬆️: Pay $85 per seat for the upper deck. This is the part that surprised us. Air Canada's A330 puts Premium Economy on the upper deck of the aircraft. Separate cabin, bigger seat, more legroom. The cash upgrade from economy was $85 per person at booking. For a family of four crossing the Atlantic 🌊, $340 total for a little extra leg room. It was worth it.

Total: 85,000 Chase points, $340 in upgrades, plus taxes and fees. Four seats, upper deck of the Airbus ✨.

The takeaway worth saving 📌: transfer bonuses are time limited and transfers are permanent, so always have seats in mind before you move points. But when Aeroplan has your routing and Chase is running a bonus, the math gets very good very fast.

→ Aer makes a great Travel Pack. They also have a ton of sizes to choose from. I packed the 20L, 24L, 28L, and 35L side by side to figure out which one is best. The 35L is the one everybody reaches for, but was it the winner?

Sponsored by UnBound Merino

This spring I tested three merino tees back to back. One at $44, one around $80, one at $90. The $44 held up well, but the $90 shirt is the one I reach for most days.

That T-shirt is from Unbound Merino. I tested the shirt, loved it, then they said, “Hey could we partner up!” (here is the link to the unsponsored video we did- Link for Cool Video

They use superfine Woolmark certified wool that holds its shape after a week crushed in a packing cube, no logo anywhere on it, and natural odor resistance properties that really work.

Merino regulates in both directions, which is the part people miss. The same shirt insulates in a cold cabin and dumps heat in a hot terminal, because the fiber traps air when you need it and moves moisture vapor out when you don't.

Allie and I both enjoy their gear. We have been wearing UnBound Merino well before we decided to partner with them. We linked our all time favorites below.

⌯✈︎ Allie's pick: UnBound Merino Travel Jumpsuit
⌯✈︎ Geo’s pick: UnBound Merino Transit Hoodie

🤖 AI Thing

Google's Flight Deals lets you search without a destination. "Northern lights in December under $800." "Mountains, great food, spring." It reads the request and pulls live fares across hundreds of airlines. It has been out since last August and went global in November, so it works from wherever you are, in 60 plus languages.

Google still calls it experimental, and the gaps are real: no multi city routing, no groups over four, and it ignores stopover requests. Use it to find the destination, then move to regular Google Flights to actually build and book the itinerary.

→ google.com/travel/flights/deals

Have you used this tool? I would love to hear your thoughts, just hit reply!

🌍 Travel News I'm Tracking

Stop waiting for holiday fares to drop. Jet fuel crossed $4 a gallon this week after a 6% jump, and it is up 71% since the Iran conflict began. Fall domestic fares are already running 39% above last year per Hopper, and United's CEO has said he expects fares to keep climbing into the first half of 2027. Every instinct says wait for the dip. There might be no dip coming. If you can book the tickets now. 🎟️

That's it for this week.

Geo