Welcome back to another edition of From the Tray Table. And for the hundreds(!) of you who are new, thanks for subscribing.
I couldn’t have imagined such a strong response to my launch, and I’m grateful to all of you for joining.
If you missed my first note about why I left TPG and what’s next for me, I’m working on generating an archive of past newsletters. Stay tuned.
One personal ask: I’d really appreciate it if you could mark this email as primary in your inbox and add the sender to your contact list. (Alternatively, replying to me should do the trick.) I just launched on Tuesday, and it’s taking some effort to teach Google that this isn’t spam. I promise I’ll stop asking once we get this fixed.
Anyway, good thing I drafted most of this newsletter before Thanksgiving. The tryptophan and the last bits of launch adrenaline hit at the same time and knocked me out early.
But it’s Black Friday, which means two things. One, it’s time to shop. Two, the weekend is just getting started.
Black Friday travel deals
Over the years, I’ve received countless inquiries about whether travel providers get in on the Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Travel Tuesday fun.
Yes, they do, but the deals aren’t usually as hot as the gear and lifestyle picks I highlight below.
Still, I went through every PR pitch and scoured all the sales pages to put together a guide to this weekend's travel deals.
The two worth calling out here are:
$2,400 round-trip business-class tickets from New York to Europe
La Compagnie — the all-business-class French carrier that flies single-aisle Airbus A321s across the Atlantic — is offering round-trip fares starting at $2,400. Not exactly cheap, but it’s better than the $3,500+ legacy carriers are charging for the same dates.
Free $15 bonus with Lyft
Targeted accounts can purchase an $85 Lyft gift card and receive a free $15 bonus. I bought an $85 gift card, loaded it to my account, and now have $100 in Lyft Cash waiting to use for my next ride.
That said, it'll probably be a while before I use that Lyft credit because I've been a big fan of New York City's newest and cheapest rideshare app, Empower. If you haven’t tried it yet, your wallet will thank you. Here’s my sign-up link for $10+ in free rides.
If you are looking to book travel for early next year, there are some good deals to be found this weekend. See the full list below.
(And if you’re a travel company that isn’t on the list, that’s probably because your PR team may still have my old email — you can reach me at [email protected])
Best gear deals you’ll find
Now, we’re getting to the real fun.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of my favorite days to snag the best deals on travel gear and lifestyle items. It’s when I stock up on things I’ve been eyeing and grab a few extras of my everyday travel staples, like AirTags, whenever they drop in price.
This year is no exception.
I rounded up the 15 best gear and lifestyle deals I’ve found so far, and some of these are pretty much no-brainers.
Think: a four-pack of AirTags for $62.99, AirPods 4 with noise cancellation for just $99.99 (44% off), and my go-to international travel adapter for $19.99.
Some of the bigger-ticket items are also offering pretty sweet deals — bags from Away, travel strollers from Bugaboo, and even my favorite menswear brand, Rails.
Check them all out below.
Triple-dip on your purchases
They don’t call me a maximizer for no reason. Days like today are when it really pays off.
Before you start shopping, check your Amex and Chase offers and save any good ones to your card.
Then, make sure you’ve signed up for Rakuten, which is offering 15% cash back today only at hundreds of merchants, like Bloomingdale’s and Lululemon. (Perfect day to use your Amex Platinum $75 quarterly Lululemon credit.)
Finally, pay with a points-earning credit card.
And that’s the holy grail of a triple-dip:
An issuer offer
Cash (or points) back from Rakuten
Credit card points on top.
A word of warning (from Delta)
If you’re booking last-minute tickets with Delta, you’ll want to pay attention.
Earlier this month, during the government shutdown, I nearly got tripped up by one of Delta’s anti-fraud practices.
I’ve never seen this on a domestic flight before, so be careful. The pop-up you see during booking can make or break your travel plans.
How to travel with Duffy
If you were paying close attention this week, you may have noticed that I kicked off my next venture with a pretty big “get.”
I landed an exclusive interview with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about all things family travel. We walked through packing tips, airport hacks (pro tip: parents should always split boarding; one gets on early with the gear, the other brings the kids during final call), and even talked credit cards.
I won’t reveal the Secretary’s secret, but let’s just say he’s not using the best points-earning card.
I told him to subscribe to From the Tray Table, and once I see his name on the list, then I’ll start talking shop.
I’ve got an exciting work trip next week, so stay tuned. And I promise the travel news is on its way once all the companies I follow head back to the office.