Shauna sent in her reader success story about a family trip to Alaska using credit card points and miles. I love that she was an extreme couponer (like me, in a past life)! Here’s her story:

 

Hi PTS team, my name is Shauna! My family of four lives near Portland, Oregon. Our daughters are currently ten and seven. I’ve always loved to travel, so I was thrilled to discover the Points Talk Squad and learn how points and miles could help me travel even more, and for so much less than I’d spent before.

 

After a few years in my young adulthood when I didn’t use credit cards responsibly, I found myself fascinated by the frugal living/minimalism movement in my thirties. Somehow, my online path led from frugal living to extreme couponing to points and miles! (I do tell my mother-in-law that this hobby is like extreme couponing for travel.) At first, it all sounded too good to be true, and I was definitely wary of getting into debt again or screwing up my credit score. But after a lot of online research—and hearing a testimonial from a (very responsible) friend—I got over my fears and gave the points-and-miles hobby a try. I’m so glad I did! 

 

I found PTS pretty quickly after learning about points and miles, and really appreciated their family-centric approach to travel. This was the content I needed to turn everyday spending into memorable family vacations. 

 

Although we’ve used points and miles for “sexier” trips (my first big redemption was plane tickets to Slovenia!), one of my favorite things about this hobby is that it lets me say yes to shorter, more spontaneous trips that would otherwise be too expensive to pursue. 

Like many people, I’d always dreamed of seeing the Northern Lights. I saw that the current solar cycle was set to peak in 2024-25, making it one of the best times to catch the Aurora Borealis in person. Although Iceland is on my bucket list, my husband and kids don’t have unlimited time off, and Alaska is much closer to us here in Oregon. I did a little research and learned that the northern parts of the state were best for spotting the Northern Lights. The kids had a three-day weekend scheduled for the end of September in 2024, so we planned a long weekend in Fairbanks. 

 

 

 

Alaska Airlines is one of the best options out of PDX regularly, and never more so than when you’re flying to Alaska! They now offer a nonstop route to Fairbanks, but at the time, it had one layover each way, either in Seattle or Anchorage. I used seats.aero to pinpoint the best days to fly there and back (and to confirm that Alaska Airlines had the best deal) and booked the tickets using 100,000 Alaska miles (25,000 miles per person, round trip).

 

As we got within a few weeks of our trip dates, we learned that the day we’d planned to leave coincided with the kids’ annual school Jog-a-Thon. They really wanted to be there for the event, and luckily, we had booked with miles, so we could pivot without a change fee! The best flights through Alaska were more expensive (both in dollars and points) by this time, but we were able to cancel our original itinerary for a full refund and book four round-trip Alaska flights through Qantas on the dates we wanted for 160,000 miles (transferred from American Express). I had never booked an Alaska flight this way before, but the transfer went through immediately with no issues. 

 

I racked up a lot of American Express Membership Rewards® by signing up for the American Express® Gold Card, taking a targeted offer to upgrade to The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, and then taking another targeted offer to sign up for yet another American Express® Business Gold Card! This happened over a few years and yielded more than 400,000 American Express Membership Rewards® for me without affecting my 5/24 status. Pretty amazing! I’m now slowly downgrading and closing these cards (after their one-year anniversaries, of course) to save on the expensive annual fees.

 

Before renting any car, I always look up reviews for the rental companies at that specific airport. I never rent from anywhere with less than four stars if I can help it, especially at a small airport where “skip-the-counter” perks often don’t apply. In my opinion, there’s nothing that can sour a trip faster than waiting in an hour-long line for a rental car after your flight! 

 

In Fairbanks, we opted to rent directly with National. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express comes with free elite status at National, which is also beneficial. At the very small Fairbanks airport, National and Enterprise share a counter, so I’d recommend using whichever company offers the best rate. We had a great experience with them overall. Our rental was $298, and I used my husband’s Chase Sapphire Reserve® to pay for the car, so his $300 travel credit covered the entire cost. The Chase Sapphire Reserve® also comes with excellent primary rental car insurance, which is fantastic to have whenever you’re renting a vehicle! 

 

 Fairbanks is pretty slim on hotel options, but luckily, there is a Hyatt Place in town! Although it isn’t downtown, it’s conveniently located near the major highway that runs through town, making it easily accessible to anywhere in town. The complimentary breakfast was a nice touch, and parking is free. There are several fast-food options nearby for a quick meal if needed, and a Fred Meyer grocery store less than a mile away. I hadn’t stayed at a Hyatt Place before—I would say it’s comparable to a Holiday Inn Express: complimentary breakfast, a small indoor pool, and pretty basic, but perfectly fine for our family. 

 

 

 

 

We paid 12,000 points per night for a total of 48,000 Hyatt points. My husband and I each opened a Chase Sapphire Reserve® in 2023, in addition to several Chase Ink cards the following year, and accumulated a decent number of Ultimate Rewards® that we could transfer to Hyatt. 

 

The first night, we arrived in Fairbanks close to midnight, and were all too tired to go driving around the remote countryside looking for the Aurora Borealis. But on our second day, we were determined to stay up. I was using the Fairbanks Aurora Tracker, and the evening looked promising. We debated for a while, but eventually decided to spend $50 per person to make a reservation at Aurora Pointe. If you’re in the Fairbanks area, you can drive to any of several locations 15 to 20 minutes outside the city with minimal light pollution, park your car, and wait to see if anything shows up in the sky. With the kids, we thought staying in the car from 10:00 pm to an undetermined time in the middle of the night might be challenging, to say the least. Unfortunately, neither of my kids is a car sleeper! 

 

For us, Aurora Pointe was worth the investment. It’s a warm building on a remote hilltop with snacks, hot cocoa, games, chairs, and sofas. They provide a live scan of the sky outside using extra-sensitive tools to show any solar activity, plus a knowledgeable guide/photographer. We got very lucky, and there was some activity starting at about 10:45 pm. A kind soul loaned me his extra tripod, and even my phone photos on night mode turned out incredible. (I didn’t realize before, but a tripod is a MUST!) About an hour later, we even got to see some “dancing” lights. The whole experience was pretty amazing. Unfortunately, the kids were really over the entire thing by about 12:30, and we had to call it a night. (Note to self, maybe rethink having the kids along on a trip designed around staying up all night?? They did great overall, but we definitely were a bit tired and grumpy by the end of the trip.)

 

 

 

 

On the other nights we were in town, we kept an eye on the forecast (and on the sky!), but we didn’t see anything as dramatic as we’d seen at Aurora Pointe. There just wasn’t much solar activity in the following nights, so we were grateful we’d decided to invest in that experience.

 

 

While we were in Fairbanks, we wanted to have some other quintessential local experiences. Part of the challenge of visiting in late September/early October is that winter activities, like dog sledding, are not yet open, while most summer activities close by mid-September. You can’t see the Northern Lights in the summer because the sun stays up all night, but in the winter, you have to contend with sub-zero temperatures and driving in snow. We opted to travel there in the fall, so we sought out the handful of year-round activities in the area. 

We visited Running Reindeer Ranch and had the opportunity to spend a few fun hours learning about and mingling with reindeer. It’s a family-owned ranch, and the reindeer are obviously so loved and pampered. Petting a sweet, squishy reindeer chin was unexpectedly a highlight of the whole trip. The entire experience was very relaxing and accessible to all ages. 

 

 

 

 

We also took a tour of the Aurora Ice Museum at the Chena Hot Springs Resort, about 40 minutes outside of Fairbanks. Maybe “museum” is a bit of a stretch, but it was still very cool to see! The inside of this enormous freezer building has been covered with ice blocks and ice sculptures made by two local artists.

 

 

In Fairbanks, we toured the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitors Center, which was probably one of the best visitors centers we’ve ever been to. The history and culture of the region are really beautifully captured in detailed, life-sized displays and exhibits. They have a look-and-find activity for kids that engaged our kids for over an hour, while we learned more about the indigenous peoples and modern life in Alaska’s interior. Right outside is the famous Moose Arch, and you can follow the trail along the waterfront in either direction to see more of downtown Fairbanks. 

 

A lot of things were closed for the season. However, the kids still enjoyed exploring Pioneer Park (and its great playground), and we dipped into the Pioneer Museum, a small museum maintained by the local historical society with lots of artifacts from the early days of Fairbanks. This seems like a really cute little theme park for the summer months! 

 

We had considered making the drive to Denali Park, but unfortunately, we arrived just after the park closed its main facilities and many of its roads for the season. We didn’t feel it was worth the two-hour drive each way, given how tired we were from staying up late each night in search of the Aurora. But we did pop up the hill to the University of Alaska to get a glimpse of Denali from a distance. 

 

Finally, a quick shout-out to a few of our favorite places to eat in town. The Cookie Jar Restaurant is deservedly famous; visit on a weekday if you can to avoid the long line! Regardless, the food was worth the wait. We also really enjoyed The Hungry Robot pizza. It wasn’t far from the Hyatt Place and had delicious pizza, with both classic and unique toppings (like pickle pizza, which has started a real trend at our house). Everywhere, the locals were friendly and welcoming. We really enjoyed our time in Fairbanks! 

 

• Alaska flights, round-trip PDX to FAI, four people: 160,000 Qantas miles (transferred from AMEX) and $122. Retail price: $3,602.56. 
• Hyatt Place hotel for 4 nights, standard 2-queen room: 48,000 Hyatt points (transferred from Chase) and $0. Retail price: $1,113.92.
• National rental car: $298, covered with a Chase annual credit
• Aurora Pointe for four people: $200
• Running Reindeer Ranch for two adults, two kids: $381
• Aurora Ice Museum for two adults, two kids: $70

 

We felt fortunate to have seen the Northern Lights on our trip; the guide at Aurora Pointe told us that there hadn’t been any activity over the last week. It made me think of all the people who had paid plenty of money to get there, only to leave disappointed. Not only did we save a lot of money using points and miles, but I feel like it took a lot of pressure off of what could have been a costly, once-in-a-lifetime trip.

 

One of my husband’s coworkers said of his own trip, “We’d better see the Northern Lights!! We spent thousands of dollars to be there!” By getting the basics of the trip—hotel, airfare, and car—for nearly free, we felt comfortable spending more money on local experiences, and we wouldn’t have felt as cheated if the Northern Lights hadn’t appeared. Since we got to see them, I feel even more grateful that points and miles empowered us to say yes to this trip!