July 17, 2026

Reader Success Story: Christmas in New York City

Pam

Reader Success Stories, US & Canada

Michelle sent us her reader success story, where points and miles allowed her to take her daughter on a memory-creating trip to New York City. Here is her story:

 

My daughter and I went to New York and spent two days and three nights for nearly free. For our flights, I transferred Chase Ultimate Rewards® earned on my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card to United Airlines. We used 197,898 points & $127 for taxes and fees, round-trip for two people.
 
We were on a red-eye flight, so we flew first class nonstop from SLC to Newark. On the way home from Newark to SLC, we flew premium economy because it was daytime and I wanted to save points. The redemption value was 1.42 cents per point, so I was pretty happy with it.
 

Hotel Stay

For our hotel stay, we transferred the Chase Ultimate Rewards® points we earned on my Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card to Hyatt. We used 75,000 points for three nights at the Hyatt Centric Times Square. The first night we booked, we didn’t check in until about 7:00 am the next morning because we were coming in on the red eye and wanted to check in right away and take a quick nap before starting our day.
 
I was also given a Guest of Honor Award—which gave me the equivalent of Globalist status for this stay—after I won a poetry contest hosted by another travel influencer I follow.  With Globalist status, we got a daily food allowance and a room upgrade. We would have spent $800 per night on our room, or $2,400 total, so the redemption value was awesome at 3.2 cents per point. 
 
 
We used 118,566 Capital One Venture Miles from my Capital One Venture X card to book tickets to The Lion King and the Radio City Rockettes’ Christmas Spectacular. The redemption value for those was not great, but it saved us $725.

 

Bottom Line

Thanks, Points Talk Squad, for helping me realize my dreams of traveling the world. I couldn’t have done it without you ladies!
 
 

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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. American Express is a Travel Mom Squad advertiser, but we always show the best public offer even when we don’t earn a commission. Terms Apply. 

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