Happy Monday for the last time this year!

Maybe I holiday-ed too hard, but I never got around to hitting your inbox a second time last week.

That’s okay because things in the travel world have been quiet. (Assuming you weren’t traveling during the Nor’easter, which largely affected Delta’s and JetBlue’s operations over the weekend.) Hopefully, you’ve been enjoying your holidays!

We’re relaxing by the pool and beach in Punta Cana, attempting to soak up enough Vitamin D to last me through the rest of the NYC winter.

And since it’s been a week since my last newsletter, you’re hopefully(?) missing me. So, here are a few more paragraphs to help you power through your Monday.

Don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m still compiling the data, and I’ll plan to recap my travel year on New Year’s Eve.

The early stats show a 50% increase in flying compared to 2024. Score.

I did it! I officially completed JetBlue’s 25-for-25 challenge. (And shockingly, two of my whirlwind “status runs” may have been even more physically demanding than the NYC marathon I ran last month.)

JetBlue celebrated its 25th anniversary with a super unique promotion. If you fly to 25 unique destinations from June 25 to the end of 2025, you’ll earn 25 years of Mosaic 1 status and 350,000 TrueBlue points. (There are other, smaller prizes if you complete 15 or 20 destinations instead.)

But I had my eyes on the grand prize since the promo was announced. After quickly crunching the numbers, I knew I could come out ahead on the money invested vs. the value of the grand prize.

Now that I’m on the other side, I can confidently say it was a blast. Here’s my challenge recap, including how much I spent on every single flight, and how I plan to redeem my points.

And hey, with three days left of the year, you'd better check your progress. Because if you’re close to the 15, 20, or 25 destination threshold, I’m expecting you to take a last-minute run.

If you’re anything like me, you planned to use every single credit card benefit and promotion well before the end of the year.

But when the calendar struck Dec. 28, you realized you still had some work to do.

I spent the weekend (between dips in the pool and time with the family) going through my end-of-year checklist for all my expiring credits.

I hadn’t used the Chase Sapphire Reserve’s $150 semi-annual dining credit. Nor had I used the card’s $150 StubHub semi-annual credit, or the Amex Platinum’s $300 semi-annual hotel credit.

The good news is that the transaction date is what matters. So I bought show tickets and reserved a prepaid hotel for next year. As long as the charge hits the card before the end of the year, you should be in the clear to pull from your expiring credits.

I promise I’ll stop nagging you about Rakuten shortly, but this is officially your last call.

If you don’t have a Rakuten account yet, you can get a free $50 if you sign up using my referral link and spend at any of the 3,500+ partner brands within 90 days.

The free $50 ends on Dec. 31.

If you’re not familiar, Rakuten is an online shopping portal. You start your shopping journey at Rakuten.com, then click through to your preferred brand. You’ll earn cash back — on top of credit card points and other retail promos — from Rakuten.

Personally, I convert my cash back into Bilt points.

(Speaking of which, if you don’t have a free Bilt Rewards account yet, you’re missing out on the points currency I use the most. And no, you don’t need to be a renter to sign up for a Bilt loyalty account.)

In case you missed it, I’m still in the midst of my annual United upgrade spree. It’ll officially end on Jan. 31, so you (and your friends) still have some time to score an upgrade.

Here are the latest stats:

Do you live in a Cancun or a Tokyo state?

I was pretty surprised by the results in the graphic United shared about the top international destinations by state in 2025.

There’s a pretty major split between Cancun and Tokyo, though London (unsurprisingly) lands as the overall top international destination for United.

I hope other airlines prepare similar graphics next year. Until then, I’ll keep wondering why Connecticut’s top international destination was Vancouver…?