October 16, 2026
Reader Success Story: Family Trip to Greece
Pam
Here is Demita’s reader success story all about her family’s trip to Greece:
My name is Demita, and I’m a mom to two girls. I recently took my family to Paris and Greece! It was the most complex points trip I’ve planned. I opened my first Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card 13 years ago, but I’ve only been intentional about the hobby for three years.
For this trip, we covered all flights and all hotels fully on points or credit card credits. Food, activities, and the rental car all went towards new SUBs (sign-up bonuses on new cards), generating more points.
Flights
We flew Air France from DTW to Paris to Athens for 70,000 points total for a family of 4, plus $400. We originally had an eight-hour layover in Paris, but you can call Air France, book over the phone, and extend the layover for free, so we extended it two days to ease into traveling this far for the first time.
For our flight from Athens to Santorini, I used my Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card $300 travel credit, plus $53.60 cash. From Santorini to Athens, I used hubby’s Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card $300 travel credit for the flight, plus $23.20 cash
Our flight home Athens-Paris-DTW: 103,000 points plus $643.60.
Total out-of-pocket flights for a family of four: $1,120 for flights (mostly taxes on award flights). We transferred Chase Ultimate Rewards®, American Express Membership Rewards®, and Capital One Venture miles for these flights.
Hotels
In Paris, we needed two rooms for two nights! In Europe, occupancy is generally limited to two people per room. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Paris for ~172,000 IHG points.
In Athens, we stayed at the Grand Hyatt Athens for 109,000 Hyatt points. We stayed a total of five nights, split between the beginning and end of the trip. We had a GOH (Guest of Honor) award, which gave us Globalist benefits. We ended up with a suite upgrade (1st stay: a corner suite; 2nd stay: a private pool), free club lounge access, and free breakfast at the hotel restaurant.
Magma Resort Santorini was our stay in Santorini. Our room was breathtaking, and breakfast was included in the room rate. This was our splurge at 55,000 points a night x 3 nights. Great off-the-beaten-path location; we rented a car and we avoided all the crowds in Santorini.
Total out of Pocket for this hotel stay: Zero dollars at booking!! You have to pay taxes on hotel stays in Greece; we paid ~90 Euros total.
Total Out-of-Pocket Cost, flights and hotels combined: $1,210 US dollars for a family of four for 12 days for Paris and Greece, with breakfast included for 90% of the trip.
Thanks for sharing this dream trip with us, Demita!
Related Posts
Family Trip Back to Greece on Points and Miles
Reader Success Story to Paris and Greece
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