Alex: Can you believe that 2026 is literally right around the corner? We’re already dreaming up trips and figuring out how to make points and miles cover as much of it as possible. Hang on as we tell you about our plans for the next year.

Welcome to Points Talk®. We are three moms who’ve discovered how to leverage credit card welcome offers to get hundreds of thousands of dollars of travel expenses for nearly free. We’ve used credit card points and miles to take vacations to places like Hawaii, Paris, Greece, Maldives, Japan, and so much more. And the best part? We each still have 800 plus credit scores. Imagine being able to take the vacation of your dreams for nearly free. It’s totally possible, and we’re here to show you how.

Alex: Hey, I’m Alex.

Pam: And I’m Pam, Alex’s mom.

Jess: And I’m Jess. Let’s talk points. We are looking ahead to 2026 today. Believe me, we have already started booking our 2026. We are well into 2026 trips, and we’re scheming the cards that we want to open. We’re spilling the tea with all of you today in hopes that you get some inspiration and you start planning or adding to your points and miles trips for 2026.

So first, we are going to kick it off with cards that we have on our mind, what we’re thinking about opening in 2026. And I’m going to go first. I will say, if you listened to our 2025 wrap-up episode, you heard that I went pretty hard in 2025. And so, I’m going to start off, I’m going to chill for a little bit in 2026.

Pam: Right.

Jess: Ted didn’t go as hard, so he will probably be the first one of us to open a card, open a card this year. I will say he got, so Amex loves him. He has been on the no-lifetime language gravy train for a while. He got a targeted mailer for the AMEX® Business Gold Card, and he has to apply by January 31st for that one. So, I think I’m going to apply for that for him. He’s had it in the past, but these targeted mailers kind of go around that once-per-lifetime rule. And it’s a business card, so it won’t count towards 5/24. 

Speaking of 5/24, he is at 5/24 until April. So, April 1st, he falls under. At that point, I think I’m going to try for the Sapphire Reserve Business℠ Card for him again. I tried for that one for him when it first came out, he got denied. It pained me to not get those 200,000 points. And so I think I’m going to try for that one for him again. Again, won’t count towards 5/24.

And then, I’m considering closing his Sapphire Preferred and having him open the personal Sapphire Reserve®. He opened the Sapphire Preferred® in May 2024, but there have been data points that you can, the 48-month rule’s kind of gone; you can get both now, but if you have one currently opened, you most likely won’t get approved for the other one. So I would close his Sapphire Preferred, wait 30 days, and then go for the Sapphire Reserve personal card. And that would get us a hefty stash of Chase points if I was able to do all that. But that’s a big if. 

For me, I have no idea. I’m thinking maybe the regular Venture card if Capital One will approve me. So April will be 48 months since I earned the welcome offer on the Venture X. I got the Venture X right when it came out. And then I’m hoping to get some of those no-lifetime language Amex offers also. It just depends on whether they love me as much as they love Ted. So we’ll have to wait and see on those.

Alex: All right. I guys, I had to really think about this because I don’t have a plan yet. And I feel that’s kind of weird. Usually, I have some things on my, in my radar. But I just have, I’m too busy planning my, doing other things, raising my kids, and planning, I don’t know, holiday shopping, all of the things as we’re recording, it’s not quite Christmas yet. And so I feel that’s, I don’t know. I need to start thinking about it.

So on the fly here, I didn’t prepare super well for this question. But I also opened the Sapphire Preferred in May. No, when did I open it? No, I opened it in April of 2025. So it was pretty recent. But I would like to get the Sapphire Reserve. So maybe once I get close to the year mark, I might try, once maybe 18 months or so, I’ll try to get the Reserve.

I don’t know if that will work out, but I really want the Reserve. You know, we love the Preferred. But with as much as I travel and the benefits that come with the Reserve, I think that is the better card. I have the Reserve Business, but I’d rather have the personal Reserve. So if I get the Personal Reserve, then I would cancel my Reserve Business and just have the personal. That is my, my game plan in the long term.

But I had gotten the Preferred before we even knew the Reserve was coming. It launched what, a couple of months right after. So that’s on my radar. I just got a no-lifetime language offer for the Amex Business Platinum, and I really want to get it. I just have to be strategic because those minimum spends are hefty. It’s $20,000 in three months. And I don’t have, I’m not going to spend $20,000 on the holidays. And I’m mostly done with holiday shopping, and so I’ve got to be strategic about it.

The offer, the tricky thing is if I opened it before the end of the year, then I could use some of those benefits right away and double dip. But I just, with the way minimum spends will work out, I don’t think I can open it before. I think I got to wait until 2026, or else I don’t know if I’ll be able to hit the spend.

So, that’s what I’m hoping to do towards the beginning of 2026, opening up that card. Um, what else? I got to check the expiration date of it, too. See when the offer expires from American Express®, but I think it’s, I think it’s, I don’t know. I think I should be able to get it in 2026. 

And then, Mitch doesn’t have a Venture X card. So that’s been on the radar for a little while. Um, we’ll see if the 100k offer that’s currently out right now at the time of recording, if that’s still around in the new year, fingers crossed, maybe I’ll try to get that for him, but he’s also been having some denials lately. So I don’t, I mean, if he’s been getting denials from other banks, he’s probably going to get denied from Capital One.

So we will see. I’m going to, I’m going to play it by ear. I’m going to see what limited-time offers are coming around. Mitch and I are both at 4/24. I drop to 3/24 in February. So that’ll be nice. He, if I open, if I take him over 5/24, he’s going to be over till next summer. So he’s got a little while to go, but I’m also, do I just say whatever and just be, I mean, he doesn’t even have the personal Amex Gold. He’s never had that card. So I’m, maybe I try to get him the personal Amex Gold. I don’t know. 

I’ve got to meet some current minimum spends, see how that Amex Platinum plays out. I can’t overthink it too far because it’s too much, it’s too much minimum spend at once for me to think about. Yeah. So I don’t know. We shall see.

Pam: Okay, so my big goal for next year for me personally is to get back under 5/24. And I think I am back under 5/24 in a month or two. I am on an endless quest to get the Capital One Spark Cash Plus. They have denied me a couple times. I am going to, this is the year. I’m going to do that. I also would like to get the Atmos™ business card. I find great value in Alaska Miles, especially for trips to Europe in business class. I’ve done really well with that.

So for Lee, for my husband, uh, my plan was to get the Citi Strata Elite for him. Well, I applied a couple days ago and he was approved. So that was great because I was denied. So that’s one under his belt.

I’d also like to, he is at 4/24, and when he gets down to two or three this year, I’d like to go for the Hilton Aspire for him. I am in love with Hilton free night certificates. That’s the only way I’m going to be able to get those now. And so I had got that for me. I’ve got one, but I need more than one night at those bougie hotels, so I’ve got to get one for him too.

Um, so that’s on what I’m hoping to get for him. And then I am really got my fingers crossed that the Freedom Unlimited® will do that match offer that they did before. I did it for him. We got so many Chase Ultimate Rewards®. I’m hoping that they don’t do it until I’m under 5/24, but that is probably the card that I want most for me. So those are my plans so far, and I’m sure others will crop up during the year.

So let’s move on to the cards that we plan to cancel or downgrade and why. Jess, you’re up.

Jess: All right, so Ted currently has three Amex Business Platinums. Obviously, we’re not going to keep all three. We’re just going to keep one. So I’ll close at least one of those as the annual fee posts with those you can cancel within 30 days of the annual fee hitting, and get that refunded. So I’m not in any big hurry. I’ll just keep an eye on the annual fee posting.

I currently have two Atmos Rewards business cards. I will cancel one of those when the annual fee hits. And then I currently also have both Southwest® business cards, and I don’t really want to pay the annual fee on both because they raised the annual fees.

I think I’m actually going to keep the Performance business card, which is the more expensive annual fee, because with that one, you get to select seats at booking. You don’t have to wait until 24 or 48 hours before your flight. And so for me, that perk is worth the annual fee being a little bit higher. So I think I’m going to keep the Performance business and cancel the Premier business once the annual fee on that one hits.

And then Alex just reading hers reminded me, Ted got one of the Hawaiian cards, or Ted, I got for Ted one of the Hawaiian cards last year before it went away. And he earned the welcome offer on that one. There’s no real reason for us to keep that card. And so once the annual fee on that one hits, I’m going to cancel that one also. What about you, Pam?

Pam: Okay. Yeah, for me, I am going to cancel all my present Atmos cards so I can reapply. Uh, I think I’ve got, I’ve got a few. I think I’ve got a couple business and I’ve got the personal or something. So I’m going to get rid of all of them. Um, Ink business cards, we each have one. I’m going to cancel one for each of us. I want to get way down on that.

And then we too have, we’re on the gravy train, and it’s taken me a long time to get down to just one. I want to get down so we each have one because I’m hoping I can get back on the gravy train. I don’t know. I don’t know if people get back on the gravy train, if it’s a one-time gravy train, or if it’s something that you can get back on. So each of us, um, needs one Amex Platinum business canceled this year, so we can hopefully get on it. TBD, we will see if Pam and Lee get back on the gravy train after that. Okay, Alex, what about you?

Alex: All right, well, same thing as you guys. I currently have two business Platinum cards, probably going to be three based off what I was saying earlier. So I only need to have one, so I’m not going to keep more than one in long term. I opened Hawaiian cards for myself and Mitch and we’re, I don’t need to keep those cards. Mitch has two Citi AA cards, we don’t need both of those. I actually think the time is coming up pretty soon for me to get ready to cancel one of them.

I have the IHG® Business Premier Card. I’m considering canceling that one. I don’t have another IHG card. So, I don’t know. Sometimes I like to keep cards open to help me extend the life of points expiring. I don’t, there’s other things I can do, cancelling an IHG card, I’m not going to lose my points. With co-branded cards, you don’t lose your points when you cancel them.

Jess: But you will lose the ability to get the fourth night free on award stays.

Alex: But I would lose, yeah, I would lose the ability to get the fourth night free. But I also, but what I was going to say before with getting, with canceling the card is I want to be able to get it again or I want to get the personal version and I have a lot of Chase cards and I feel that’s kind of getting in my way a little bit and so if I try to, you know, get rid of some of these Chase cards, maybe I can get some more.

But the problem, sometimes I keep my IHG cards is because I think their expiration is fine. I think it’s something like 24 months with no activity. And so I probably have activity, but I just, I don’t like having to worry about it. It’s the same thing with the American Airlines® cards. I don’t actually probably need to have an American, I do, I do need to have an IHG card. Like Jess said, I want the fourth night free. So my plan would be to get another one.

But with American Airlines, I don’t get any benefits really of having their cards, but I like to have it, so I just know it’s going to extend the life of my points expiring. If I just, I don’t know. I’d probably be fine. But and it’s so easy to keep your, your AA points alive. You can just go through their shopping portal and get some more points. But I just don’t like worrying about it.

When you have points across every single program, I just like the peace of mind of not having to be, “Oh, when do these expire?” I don’t want to have to think about it. I just wish they’d be like Delta and Southwest and United and your points would never expire. That’d be really nice if AA got on board with that. 

Anyway, okay, moving on to trips already booked. Okay, buckle up, guys, Jess is up. We might be here for 30 minutes. Just kidding.

Jess: I’m gonna make it quick. I think this is actually less than I had last year, so I’m doing a little better.

Alex: People are like, “Wait, what? You’ve booked for more than one trip?”

Jess: I have through July booked. Okay, so January, I’m going to Kimpton Roatan with a couple of girlfriends. We’re all turning 40 in 2026. And so going to celebrate our birthdays. Um, and I can’t wait to go to the Kimpton Roatan because you two speak so highly of it that I’m excited to do that.

In February, we are taking a family trip to Tanzania, going on a safari, and the safari itself is not covered with points, unfortunately. But the five of us are flying Qsuite to Tanzania and back in Qsuite. That’s all covered with points. And then Ella and I are staying a few extra nights. We’re going over to Zanzibar, and we’re going to stay at the Park Hyatt Zanzibar. Those three nights are covered with Hyatt points.

For spring break, we’re kind of just keeping it low-key. We’re going to go to Chicago, um, visit some family, and stay at the Park Hyatt Chicago. I’ve never stayed there. I know Pam has, and she really liked it. And so excited to go to the Park Hyatt Chicago. The really cool thing is Ted and I are both going to have Companion Passes in 2026. And so Molly’s bringing her friend along because I said, you know, you fly free with me, someone could fly free with dad, and then we’ll get we got a suite at the Park Hyatt, we can all four fit in there. So no extra money on our end to bring a friend for Molly. So that’s really nice.

 

I actually just surprised Ted with a trip to London in April. That was his birthday gift. We are going business class on British Airways there and back. There’s a direct flight from Houston, and we are going to stay at the Park Hyatt London on Hyatt points. The three of us are going to Budapest in at the end of April. We are flying, I think we’re flying all different ways. I’m flying British Airways.

Y’all are flying United, right? Or you booked through United?

Alex: I think we’re flying Turkish booked through United.

Jess: Okay, yes. You’re flying Turkish, and then we’re all flying Turkish home from Istanbul.

Alex: Yes.

Pam: Are we going to Istanbul too?

Jess: I mean, we have to get, we have to go there at some point because we’re flying home from there.

Pam: But yeah, but are we going to stay there? I mean, I love that we’re talking about this on the podcast, and I don’t know.

Alex: I know, right? It’s like, okay, here’s the thing. I pulled up the flight. Mom, you and I are flying from Atlanta to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, but we booked it via United. And then we just have a layover there. I don’t know how long, but we’ll be there for a little bit and get to go to the amazing lounge, assuming our layover is longer. I don’t know why I can’t pull this up on United right now, how long our layover is. Oh, we have three hours there.

Pam: Perfect.

Alex: Yeah. So we’ll be good. And then we go from Istanbul to Budapest. We’ll, we’ll meet Jess.

Jess: Yes.

Alex: And we’re staying at the… do you guys remember the name of the hotel we’re staying at?

Jess: It’s a Hyatt Unbound Collection, right?

Alex: I’ll pull it up, too, guys. You’re getting, you’re getting the live, this is a live episode.

Jess: Párisi… Párisi Udvar. Does that sound right? 

Alex: Yes. Yep, that’s it. Yeah. And here’s the really cool thing about that one. I’m super excited to stay here. We booked a suite that has two bedrooms.

Pam: Woohoo!

Alex: And I think it was, we’re there for three nights, and it was 120,000 points total for our three-night stay.

Jess: Yeah.

Pam: So I get a real bed?

Alex: Yeah, you get your own bedroom.

Pam: Whoa!

Jess: Pam’s living the life.

Alex: So, anyway, I’m super excited to stay there. Like we didn’t need to use a suite upgrade award, like we just booked straight into a two-bedroom suite. So, how many points is that a night, you guys?

Jess: 40,000.

Pam: 40.

Ales: 40,000. That’s really good

Pam: That’s amazing.

Alex: So we each paid 40,000 points for this stay since we’ll be there for three nights. And then, yeah, we haven’t figured out the last part, but I’m assuming we’ll go back to Istanbul and do something.

Pam: Yes. Spend a couple days in, a couple nights in Istanbul. Isn’t there a Park Hyatt there? 

Jess: There’s a Park Hyatt there, and that’s the one that’s amazing.

Pam: Yeah, let’s do it because I’m all into Park Hyatt’s this year.

Alex: This year? Every year. 

Jess: Every year. All right, then we are going to, I snagged two nights at Alila Ventana Big Sur a year ago. So we’re finally going. Um, so we’re doing Alila Ventana, and then I also booked a couple nights at this place called Carneros Resort and Spa. It’s an SLH property, but you can, I used Hilton free night certificates because it’s 170,000 points a night, which I’m absolutely not paying. So I’m excited for that little California getaway.

In June, we have our big summer family trip, and we’re going to Italy this year. Molly’s very excited because she has a 300-day streak on Duolingo for Italian. So I told her she has to practice while we’re there. We are using Flying Blue for our flights there and back. We’re going to stay a night at the Park Hyatt Milan, two nights at Grand Hotel Victoria, and then we head to the Dolomites, and we’re staying at a rental house that Pam has stayed at before. Did not use points for that portion.

Pam: Oh, it’s so gorgeous. It’s so gorgeous.

Jess: Yeah, did not use points for that portion, but I think it’s, I don’t think there are any hotels in the Dolomites that take points, or at least I didn’t see any. And this, this house just looked fabulous. So I was, “I have to stay where Pam stayed.”

Um, and then in July, my mom and I are taking our annual trip together. We are going on a French river cruise with Helene from Helene in Between. And we used Flying Blue for our flights to France. And we didn’t use points for the cruise itself, but we need to stay a night in Lyon before the cruise, and there’s an Intercontinental there. And so I’m really considering using that $250 IHG credit from Chase or maybe seeing if it’s part of Fine Hotels and Resorts or, you know, using one of those credits for this pre-cruise hotel night because I feel that’s the perfect time to use it when you just need a night or two in a random city. And so, that is, that is all I have booked for 2026 so far.

Alex: That is a lot. Also, a lot for Ted to travel so much, but he’s taking a sabbatical, right?

Jess: Yes. So he’s a professor, but he’s taking a very overdue sabbatical in the spring. And so, I was, we need to, you know, we normally can’t, he normally can’t travel at all during the school year except for on spring break. And so I was, we have to take advantage of, you know, being able to travel in April or early May together when we normally can’t travel, and it’s a little more off-peak. So, yeah, I’m excited about that.

Alex: All right. So to start off, Mitch and I are headed to back to the Maldives. We’re going at the, in March. We’ll be there in March. So I don’t have anything really planned for January or February. So, I’m probably going to really be regretting that here really soon because it’s that dreary winter time. So I’ll have to figure something else out.

Alex: I mean, I actually do. I am going to Sacramento for my niece’s wedding. So I do have that in February.

Pam: I’d be happy to plan something with you. We can do a short trip to get out of the winter blahs.

Alex: Yeah, I like that idea. But what were you going to say, Jess?

Jess: Don’t you all always have a soccer tournament?

Alex: We do, but the thing that’s true, my niece’s wedding is kind, is right then. And so, I’m currently trying to figure that out because Mitch and my two older boys will be playing in a soccer tournament that weekend. And so I’m trying to figure out, do I go down to the soccer tournament and fly from St. George to Sacramento and take my younger two and we go for a few days or I just say, “You know what? I can’t make the soccer tournament work. I have to miss their games,” and just go to the wedding and not try to do both. So that’s what I’m currently trying to figure out, but yeah. That’s the tricky part.

Jess: I guess that doesn’t really help because even the soccer tournament is still in Utah, so it’s not like a real vacation away from the cold.

Alex: It’s, but it’s Southern Utah, and it’s usually much nicer weather. We’re out there playing outdoor soccer, so it’s nice. So, but back to the Maldives, we’re flying Qsuite there and back. Super excited for that. We’ve done that once before, and it was incredible. Last time we stayed at a Marriott property, this time we’ll be staying at a Hyatt property. I booked the Alila Maldives. I need to go in. What’s really nice about staying at the Alila is, well, first the bad part. The bad part is they don’t let you apply suite upgrade awards here.

So, I want an overwater villa. That is a non-negotiable for me, at least this time. So, I reached out to the hotel, and you can pay cash to upgrade to get a confirmed upgrade before you go. So I’ve already talked to the hotel, I know the pricing. I just need to get back to them and say, “Hey, this is the room that I want to book.” It’s $100 a night extra if you want a lagoon overwater villa. If you want a sunrise or a sunset, one of them, it’s $200 a night. So it’s just figuring out how much I want to pay for the different types of room. And I’m trying to do a little bit of research to figure out what, what’s worth it. I don’t want to pay a $300 a night upgrade if the $200 a night upgrade or the $100 a night upgrade is good enough. So that’s kind of what I’m figuring out.

Jess: I feel like those prices are really reasonable for the Maldives, though.

Alex: So reasonable, right?

Jess: Yeah.

Alex: Yeah, for just, yeah, to get a confirmed upgrade, I totally agree with you on that. Which makes me think I actually probably should get that done because what if they’re, “These prices are too low, let’s raise these.” So I probably need to finish that. That’s a good thing to, for me to work on this week.

Then, for spring break, we are headed to Oahu. This is, you guys all know we love Hawaii. We’ve never been as a family to Oahu. I have been once in high school. I went with some a friend and her family. We went to Maui and we spent two days on Oahu. And I was, that was fine. It’s not really my thing.

But when we went to Maui, we did that timeshare presentation where we could do a buyback kind of thing, not a buyback, what is it? An encore presentation for another discounted stay. And one of the properties is Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club. And I asked people about it on Instagram stories. I was asking about, should I, the Westin, um, in Princeville was the other one I was considering, and people were, “No, Ko Olina Beach Club is so nice. You should go there. Your kids will love it.” It’s not in Waikiki area. It’s, it’s a different area where it’s more chill. They’re, “You’ll love it.” It’s actually really close to the Aulani Disney Resort. So it’d be kind of cool to see that as well.

So I was, “You know what? We’ve never covered Oahu, any of us.” And so I was, “You know, we should just give it a try.” There’s so many things to do there that I think would be really cool. There is the Pearl Harbor. There’s the Polynesian Cultural Center, which we can go visit. I did that, and I loved that when I went with my friends.

So I’m, we’re just going to try something new. We’re going to give it a shot. We are staying one night because the timeshare presentation is for a five-night stay. We’re going to go for six nights, and we’re going to stay one night at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki. I already got a suite upgrade award applied for, it’s just a one-night stay. But I was, “I have the suite upgrade award, I’m going to apply it,” and you know, that should work out good.

So I’ll report back for anybody who’s wondering about Oahu, what’s what I’m excited about is our flights there and this was a big reason why I was, “Let’s just do it. Let’s try Oahu,” was we have a direct flight from Salt Lake to Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines and we had opened up all those Hawaiian cards. And the flights were only 15,000 points per person. And so we paid 90,000 points to get our family to Hawaii. So I was, that’s a pretty good deal. We haven’t flown Hawaiian Airlines. I’ve flown it, but we haven’t as a family. I think it’ll be kind of fun to try something new.

So, yeah, just trying something new. We are flying Southwest home with our Companion Passes because I didn’t want to have to take a red eye home. But even with these prices, it was cheaper than flying Southwest there and having companion passes. So it worked out pretty good for us. So yeah, I’ll report back all about that after that trip. And then as Jess mentioned, we got the Budapest trip, which you saw us or heard us planning in real time.

When I have a kid that turns ten, we always do a, my mom and I take that kid on a trip just the two of us. And so we are doing that, but we have not planned when we are going, but I have a kid turning ten very, very soon. But we’re planning on going to New York City. I don’t think either my mom or I wanted to go to New York City in January. So we need to figure, we need to sit down and talk about when that will work for our schedules, Mom.

Jess: Hey, do it right now. Do it. Do it live. 

Alex: I was just gonna say, we will spare you all and not plan that trip live. And then next for the end of the year, when my kids get out of school, we’re going to Europe. We’re flying in and out of London, but we are planning to go to Portugal. We just booked in and out of London because the flights were ridiculously low miles. We booked via Virgin Atlantic when there was a transfer bonus.

But before that, we are getting ourselves to Boston. I have some Delta flight credits from some other trips that we had to cancel. And so we’re going to use those to get to Boston. I’m hoping we can go to, I’m waiting for the Red Sox, their schedule, at the time of recording, the schedule is out, but the times of the games aren’t out yet. And I need to figure out if I need to add a night to our stay to make it so we can go, or if the games will be late enough or early enough that we can make it work without changing our plans. But we’re going to go to Boston, we’re going to do all the Boston things. We have it, right now, I think we have three nights booked, and then we fly out of Boston on Virgin Atlantic premium economy to London. So that’s why we’re going to Boston before. 

But this has been something on our radar for a couple of years, where we’re, we want to go to Boston, we want to take the kids, go to a Red Sox game, do all those things. Mitch has never been. I’ve been with my mom, years ago. So yeah, that’s the plan, go to Boston, fly to London, and then take a cheap flight once we land in London to Lisbon. We’ll do some things in that area, and then we’re planning to drive down to the Algarve area, and then we’ll fly out of the airport there back to London, spend a couple of days with my sister and her family, and then fly Delta booked via Virgin Atlantic from London to Salt Lake City.

So that’s our big family trip for the year. And then my mom and I have a trip to very similar to Jess’s trip, actually. We are going to Hotel Grand Victoria, just the two of us. This is what, I think it’s the end of August, early September maybe. And we’re going to stay at the Park Hyatt Milan and Hotel Grand Victoria. We need to probably get going on our flights for that. We haven’t booked those yet. And then that’s it. I don’t have anything planned for the fall or anything else. So, well, I guess that’s kind of fall, but I don’t have anything planned with my mom and my sisters. We always plan a trip together. I don’t have anything else planned for my family into the fall or, you know, holiday season.

Pam: So, as you’re talking about this, Alex, all of a sudden I realized that you’re going on family trips without your dad and I this year. That’s really sad. How are your kids gonna do that?

Alex: Well, here’s the thing.

Jess: How is Alex gonna do it?

Alex: Yes. Well, we’re staying at a timeshare, that’s how. No. With Portugal, I haven’t booked any hotels yet. I only have our flights, and I’m actually thinking that we’re going to do Airbnbs. I did try to get you to come on that one, but and I’m still, I’m still actually going to work on it though. Once you tell, I don’t know your exact dates, but maybe you, could you guys go to Boston? I did apply suite upgrade award for that stay.

Pam: You know what, as you were talking, I was thinking that maybe we could go to Boston and um, yeah. 

Alex: So that’s my key, though, is I apply suite upgrade awards when my Mom can’t come with us. 

Pam: Yes, exactly. So last year for me was completely insane. I did 17 trips. I am just getting over jet lag from my last trip to India, and I’m making a very slow start this year. I really am just starting to plan a few things, and I’m told myself I was only going to do one trip a month, which is insane, I’m sure, to all of you listening. But I already, when I was going through this, I go, “Oh, I’ve got a couple trips on a, you know, a couple months,” but I think one’s at the beginning of the month and then at the end. I’m really trying not to do, I’m trying to spread them out more. So I’m… 

Alex: Those were the months that you didn’t run it by Jess and I.

Pam: I know, I know.

Alex: Last, I think it was last week’s episode, we talked about that. You’re supposed to run it by us.

Pam: I know. I will from now on. So, I had nothing at all booked for January and February, which really honestly are the months I want to have things booked, but I, you know, I’ve got a granddaughter getting married, as Alex said in February and my daughter Casey and I were supposed to be in St. Kitts right now, but she and I both have traveled a lot in the last couple months and so we, we pushed that, we canceled that, beauty of points of miles, just get all those points of miles back.

And I just rebooked us a couple days to go back to the Park Hyatt St… Well, to go to the Park Hyatt St. Kitts on, um, in February. So I have that. She, this was her, her suggestion. She goes, “Maybe I don’t want to go to Alexis’s wedding all pasty white. Maybe we could redo St. Kitts the week or two weeks before her wedding, and we can get all tan.” I don’t really care about the tan, but she does. So that was the thinking behind that. 

So I do have that now booked in February. March is really open for me. So I’m up to something, Alex, if you want to do something in March or maybe we could book Kai’s, um, trip in March. I have nothing at all.

In April, we have the Hungary trip. End of May, beginning of June, um, finally I’m going on that African safari that was canceled. So that is rebooked. Marriott was lovely. They let me book it for the same price, which was insane. It was 70k a night, the fifth night free. I mean, you can’t touch it anymore. So I’m really excited about that.

Jess: I don’t know if I would call them lovely, considering it took you a year to get them to agree to that.

Pam: Yes, I, I was persistent, you know, lovingly persistent. And it was kind of hard for me, but yes, so we are going to the JW Marriott. Before that, we’re going to, um, we have to fly out of New York City and I love, so I booked us at the Park Hyatt in New York City so that we could go see a play and my husband is very patriotic and has never been to the Statue of Liberty and so I wanted to, um, him to be able to do that.

I just booked, I, I’m, it’s later June, um, a trip with three or four nights in Oceanside at the Seabird Resort, which I love. And I used, uh, Fine Hotels + Resorts® credits for that.

Um, we presently have four, um, Platinum or Platinum or Platinum Business cards, and so I use the Fine Hotels + Resorts that were expiring for the quarter for this, um, it’s semi-annual, isn’t it? Yeah, so I used those. So I was excited about that. So my, um, stepmother and my sister and I are going there.

In July, the actually the beginning of July, I’m going with, um, a granddaughter and a daughter to Greece. And so that’s planned. And then from there, we’re going back to London and then going with their family into Norway. So all of these international flights are all booked. They’re all on, um, in business class using points and miles, of course. We’ve got a stay in Greece in the island of Ios with, um, using Hyatt points. We’ve got a couple stays in Norway, just some short stays using um, points. 

In August, we take our grandsons, um, or we take grandchildren every year. We skipped last year. I think we actually skipped the last two years. But we’re going to Kona, and we have a timeshare that we do that with. I could use points and miles for the flights, but I actually just paying cash and trying to keep my status.

Um, my sister and I are going to Switzerland. We are doing the exact trip that Jess did. We’re staying at the Park Hyatt. Um, we are booking with through Chase Travel, I believe, for the hotel that you stayed at in near Grindelwald. We’ve got business class flights with, uh, miles, all set. And then, as Alex said, we’re going to Lake Como, and I’m finally redeeming myself going to Lake Como with her since I, last time…

Alex: Yes, I finally get to check out this hotel that you two rave about all the time.

Pam: I know. And I finally get to check out the Park Hyatt Milan. So that’s what I have done. It still looks like quite a bit. I’m sure I’m going to add in a couple, um, other trips.

Jess: Yeah, when you’re, “I’m not doing anything,” I’m like, “Greece, Norway, Safari.” Seems like a lot to me.

Alex: Italy, Switzerland.

Yeah, yeah, I can’t help myself, but I am starting off slower. So those are the trips that we’ve booked, but we still have a few trips we’re scheming about. So Jess, share those with us.

Jess: Yeah, so fall break, Molly’s fall break is always in October, but I’ve learned my lesson about booking before they release the schedule because I sometimes pick the wrong week, and then I have to cancel everything. So that should come out in January or February and then I can actually buckle down on booking something, but I have no idea what we’re going to do.

Um, last year Alex and I were supposed to go to the Hyatt Regency Hill Country with our families, and then they, their lagoon that they’re building got delayed, and we don’t want to go until that’s done. So maybe we could do that.

I texted Alex after she was so obsessed with her Disney Cruise, like, “Hey, we should go on a Disney Cruise for fall break together.” So I don’t know what I’m going to do. I think it’s going to depend on Alex’s schedule and our schedule, and whether they overlap, or…

Alex: Well, here’s the thing…

Jess: … whether she has somewhere else she wants to go that’s not with me. I don’t know.

Alex: I don’t even know if my family can go anywhere for fall break because this year, I had to cancel fall break because Cruz still had football going on. So…

Jess: Okay, well, your other three children deserve a vacation.

Alex: Yeah, because they didn’t get any vacations earlier in the year. They didn’t get to go to Portugal and Hawaii.

Jess: Maybe you and the other three and me and Molly could go somewhere.

Alex: Yeah.

Jess: I don’t know. I’m just saying.

Alex: I’ll look into it. I got to, well, first we should see if our days even, our fall breaks even align.

Jess: I’m going somewhere. I don’t know what Alex is doing.

Alex: I might be going back to the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley for a staycation.

Jess: For one night.

Alex: For one night, like we did this year.

Jess: Um, and then Ted and I are both going to have Companion Passes in 2026, and we always go somewhere the full family of six after Christmas. And so after Christmas through the New Year, we go on a trip every year. I’m leaning towards Costa Rica for 2026 because we’ll both have Companion Passes, and it’s such a quick flight from Houston, and Southwest flies there. 

I found a hotel through Chase points boost that they have rooms that sleep six, but they’re huge rooms, um, multiple bedrooms, multiple bathrooms, and they’re currently on Points Boost for 2 cents per point. So if that is still available when our dates open up in the Chase portal, I am planning to book that for us, but I have not booked it yet.

So it’s in my mind, it’s stewing, but it’s just, it’s going to be a while before Southwest releases those flights, and it’s going to be a while before Chase opens up those dates. So for now, it’s just, it’s just a dream.

Alex: Well, I’m excited to see how it all comes together.

Jess: All right, what about you, Alex? Do you have any trips you’re scheming about?

Alex: I don’t have any major…

Jess: I guess the Kai New York City one is kind of scheming because it’s not booked.

Alex: Yeah. No, that’s not booked. We need, we need to do that, and I actually will probably be texting my mom once we’re done recording and trying to get that figured out. I know I want to stay at the Park Hyatt, and I have the Delta Personal Platinum card that comes with a companion ticket every year. And so my thoughts are is we will fly direct Delta flights there and back using that. So we’ll see.

Um, the other thing is we did go on that Disney Cruise, and I did purchase a placeholder. And so I have two years to use it, so I don’t have to use it in 2026. But I figure I might as well use it in 2026. So I just need to figure out when I can, I’m getting to the point where my kids, not just their school schedules, but their sports schedules, kind of get in the way of things, and I have to figure out, okay, when does Cruz start football?

And also, we have to plan a trip to Colorado to visit my parents and my kids to hang out with their cousins. That, they love doing that trip every year. So it’s just kind of figuring out those pieces, and then when can I fit in a short cruise? I think we’d probably do another maybe four, four night cruise or something. Yeah. So we’ll see. I, I’ve got, you guys have, as you can tell by this, I got a lot of planning I need to do between the cards I want to open this year and other trips to take. So we’ll see.

Pam: Well, I don’t like to be here in Colorado during January, February, even March, but I don’t want to plan really big trips. I’d like to see a lot of my granddaughter, who’s a senior, her basketball games, and my husband really doesn’t want to travel during that time. So originally we had planned to go back to New Zealand and Australia, and because of all her games, we decided not to. So I planned to be gone during that time, but I plan to take a lot of shorter trips.

My sister and I had originally booked St. Lucia, the Secrets there, but I need to call her and tell her we can’t do that because it’s right…

Alex: Just tell her to listen to this episode, then she’ll find out.

Pam: Yes, she can find out. Yes. It’s too close to the St. Kitts trip. I did tell her that might not work out. Um, so I would go plan a trip down there. I would go down to Mexico. We are supposed to go down to Cabo to the Park Hyatt in a couple weeks. We’ve got our fingers crossed that opens. If it doesn’t, I’d probably plan another trip down there this winter.

I’m going to go down and visit my sister in Arizona. And I have a lot of IHG points. I think purchasing IHG points when they have their 100% bonus is a really good deal, and I’ve done that a couple times when I’m trying to meet a minimum spend. So I’ve got, I’m very flush with IHG points.

Alex: I don’t think you need to, I don’t think you need to purchase anymore for a bit. 

Pam: I don’t think I need to. I need to use some first.

Jess: Well, I actually remember that because the episode that we did about… 

Alex: That was for Point, on Points Talk Premium.

Jess: Oh, it was on Points Talk Premium. We did a whole episode about our current points stashes. And you weren’t there for the episode, but you sent your screenshots to Alex, and she put them in the outline, and I was, “Why does Pam have that many IHG points?” 

Alex: It was like 500,000, isn’t it?

Pam: Yes. Yes, between your dad and I.

Alex: I was like, she’s been buying these for sure.

Pam: I definitely. Yes. I can’t help myself. It’s such a good deal. So I love the Kimpton Roatan. So I’m thinking of trying to sneak a trip in there to the Kimpton Roatan.

Alex: I love that one too. And I agree with you, Mom. I’m kind of in the same spot where I’m thinking if I can just get in some long weekend trips, that will be easier for me. I have a hard time feeling like I’m missing out on my kids’ things. I don’t love missing a lot of their games either. And so I like the idea of taking smaller trips, but I love the Kimpton Roatan and I want to take my family there too because it was, I think they would love, my boys, especially Kai, loves snorkeling and I just think he would love, the snorkeling there is, I didn’t do it, but they say it’s some of the best. So. Yeah. 

Pam: Well, when you decide that you’re gonna take your kids, let us know, and your dad and I will come with some of my points I have for them.

Jess: She can cover everybody.

Pam: No, but two kids can stay with me.

Alex: That’s a solid deal. I’ll take you up on that.

Pam: That’s, yep. So as you can see, we take our points and miles seriously. We are already planning for 2026, for all of our trips, for the cards we can open, and the, all the different places we can visit. Where are points and miles taking all of you next year? Be sure and share this podcast with a friend, and we would love it if you would leave a 5-star review.

Thanks so much for listening to Points Talk®. Make sure to hit the subscribe or follow button from wherever you’re listening so you never miss an episode. Wanna start jet setting even faster? Follow the links in the show notes to learn about everything we discussed in today’s episode. And to stay connected and follow along, follow us on Instagram @PointsTalkSquad. We can’t wait to see where in the world points and miles take you.