Planning travel with miles and points seems tempting, but how do you start?
I saved ~$50,000 in free travel last year when I really started applying the guidelines below to my (and my husband’s) own accounts. Free travel and even free luxury family travel is accessible if you plan ahead and travel smarter!
So I wanted to share this points and miles guide for free travel.
I try to follow these basic guidelines when I am looking to use points and miles for free travel.
These tips taken together have gotten us everything from a gorgeous suite in Tokyo to free $10,000+ flights to New York.
Be flexible with timing
Timing is everything! This is especially true when it comes to points and miles. Try to be open with when you will visit a particular destination. There are generally two rules to follow:
a. Book 10-12 months out OR within 1 month
The best availability is truly within 10-12 months from your travel date. That can be REALLY hard to plan. But if you are going to a popular destination, e.g. Paris in June, try to reserve your hotel on points first. Then look for your flights on points.
I’ve also booked rooms on points last minute, e.g. a Waldorf Astoria Maldives (picture below) at the “standard” rate for which you can use a certificate. Last minute bookings are of course great if you have the flexibility!
*Tool Tip*
I do a lot of flight planning point.me. It has saved me over 300,000 miles and I would definitely recommend it as a good tool. Use my link for your first month free!
I also use award logic, which is convenient because it shows availability for several days at a time and Seats.aero for its more expanded search capabilities (more in another post!)
b. Plan for off-peak travel
I love traveling during off-peak or the quieter season. I enjoy going just before the busy season. You will have a better chance of getting hotels and flights on points, but also pay less for activities. e.g. We went to Cappadocia in late May/early June before the summer season. Our hot air balloon price was probably half the price of the summer season cost!
Earn lots of transferable points
Transferable points unlock better options!
It’s that simple. I used to think that if I was very loyal to a particular airline and hotel chain, I would be set. I certainly was, but was limited to that airline’s routes/hotel chain’s hotels. So I started discovering I had few or expensive options for travel in certain cities.
My advice: diversify your points earnings!
Don’t keep earning just to one program (or just keep 1 or 2 cards that do this). Earn points to a program that transfers to several of your preferred airlines. Research the different ways to earn points which may include:
- Using a travel credit card
- Shopping on specific websites
- Flying /staying with a specific partner
- Transferring from a partner
There are a few programs that transfer to multiple partners. The top ones are:
- Chase Ultimate Rewards – one of the most flexible programs with an extensive range of cards and the only one that transfers to Marriott. Get a 90k welcome bonus one one of two business cards (valid if you sell anything online) through Jan. 18!
- American Express – also a large program with premium cards that have many individual credits
- Capital One – on par with Chase and American Express but has exclusive travel partners like Turkish Airlines
- Citi – transferable to many programs, though has a smaller range of cards
Get the right premium card (sometimes with annual fees)
I never would have considered a credit card with annual fees previously. Some of these fees may also range from $95-$695! But if you do the math, you can actually get PAID for using many of the credit cards with annual fees. So they are one of the easiest and most effective ways to earn points and miles. It really is that simple. I will also mention free cards that are great for travel in another post as well!
*Please only open a credit card if you can pay it off every month! I use a credit card for every day spending and always pay off the balance.*
Here is an example with the American Express Platinum personal card:
💰 $695 – annual fee (ridiculous, but wait, it does get better)
-🍣 $200 Uber cash ($15 -$35 every month)
-🏠 $200 Fine Hotels & Resorts credit
-📰 $240 digital entertainment credit for select providers (Disney + is a good choice)
-✈️$200 airline fee credit
-🛍️ $100 Saks credit ($50 x 2 times a year)
-🧳 $100 Global Entry credit so you can zip through the airport
-👥 $189 credit to Clear to skip the line at the airport
-🛒 $154.40 Walmart membership credit ($12.95/month)
So far, here are the current card cost details:
-$1389.40 in credits
+695 annual fee
= $688.40 in value (or how much the card PAYS you)
This value excludes the points you would earn just by using the card. Even if you only use credits totaling $700, you’re still ahead!
This excludes the value of the points themselves (which are pretty valuable). American Express points themselves are valid at .02/point and transfer to most major airlines.
I hope that this points and miles guide for free travel gives you confidence that you can definitely plan a luxury trip, even a luxury family trip, for much less with points!
I will detail how I would plan a luxury trip with points in an upcoming post!
