Nancy sent in her reader success story that had seven out of her family of eight travel to Europe! Now that is an impressive redemption!

 

Getting Started

We just returned last month from an amazing 18-day trip to Europe and our biggest redemption yet, but before I get into that, I’ll go back to how it all started. Our points and miles story began in 2022 when I opened the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and began putting all our spending on it. I used the travel eraser to pay for seven round-trip flights to Cancun in 2023.

Then, a good friend of mine told me there was so much more I could do in the world of points and miles, and she invited me to the Points Talk Squad Facebook Group. From there, I started reading the articles, listening to the podcasts, and learning as much as I could. I used the PTS links to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card [Pam: thanks, Nancy!], and I referred my husband for that card, too. We then made our way through the Chase Ink Business cards, getting two of each. 

 

Planning Europe

At this point, it was 2024, and with our stash of Chase Ultimate Rewards®, I began planning the trip to Europe I had been dreaming of since I was 13. I have a blended family, so it would be my husband and me, along with five of our six kids, traveling to France, Spain, and Italy. My goal was to pay as little as we could out of pocket for transportation and lodging since I knew we would be spending a lot of money on food and activities. 

Flights

I watched prices for dates that might work for us as soon as possible after school would be letting out in the summer of 2025, and I found Air France economy tickets from Denver, our home airport, to Barcelona with a five-day stopover in Paris for 34,000 points each—plus a discount on my youngest daughter’s ticket since she was 11 at that time.

For the flight back, I found economy tickets from Rome to Denver for 20,000 points each, also with Air France. With those flights booked, I began searching for hotels. There was no more availability for the more affordable Hyatts using only points, so I then turned to the Chase Travel℠. My husband and I each booked rooms at the same time on the portal, he for three people and me for four. Here is the breakdown of those (all of these are the totals for two rooms):

Paris: Hotel Novotel Bercy: 4 nights = 163,120 points and $141 in taxes

Barcelona: Hotel Libere Barcelona Sant Antoni: 4 nights = 166,432 points and $101. 25 in taxes

Florence: Hotel Cimabue: 5 nights = 141,665 points and $133 in taxes

Rome: Fragrance Hotel St. Peter: 5 nights = 176,734 points and $273.59 in taxes 

These hotels were not in the city centers, which my husband really appreciated. We enjoyed getting to know some of the other neighborhoods that we probably never would have seen had we stayed in the more touristy parts of these cities, and we got really good at using public transportation!

 

 

Bottom Line

The total for our flights was 365,000 points and $2,015.30 in taxes, bringing our flight and hotel totals to 1,012,951 points and miles and $2,664.14. Had we paid cash, it would have cost $27,397.04, and it would have been unattainable for us. I can’t thank the Points Talk Squad enough for helping make this dream come true for my family and me!

 

Related Posts

How I’m Planning a Six-Week Europe Trip With Kids Using Points and Miles

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Reader Success Story: Once-in-a-Lifetime Trip to Europe