November 6, 2026
Reader Success Story : Ski Trip to Niseko, Japan
Pam
Chrissy sent us her story about a ski trip to Niseko, Japan, along with three days in Tokyo. Here is her story:
Getting Started
A few years ago, I was at an event for my son in his college town, and I met a woman who told me she flies back and forth to see her daughter in another state for free. Then she showed me this app that tracks her points (she was using Award Wallet), and she had over a million! She told me she was into points and miles.
If there is one way to get me interested in something, it’s to tell me you have a trick! My husband, standing nearby and hearing it all, just laughed, knowing I had found my next hobby.
The next thing I knew, I was down a rabbit hole and had immediately found Points Talk Squad. I jumped in with both feet and within a week had my first card to begin our journey. I had a mile-long list of places I wanted to go, and if we could do it for free, I thought it might actually happen! I signed up for the courses and spent the next several weeks learning as much as I could. I listened to the podcasts and now even have a whole bullet journal dedicated to the details.
Cards Opened
Based on what I have learned from PTS, over the years we have each opened a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, all the Inks, Capital One Venture Cards, and an American Express® Gold Card. Of course, we used PTS affiliate links for the first cards, then gave each other referrals for the others. We already had an Alaska Airlines card and opened another; we live in Oregon, so Alaska Airlines is our go-to airline.
Our most recent points redemption, a ski trip to Japan, was my favorite so far because our kids are now grown, and taking them on one “last” family vacation before jobs and real life set in was amazing.
Ski Trip Details
Because we live in Bend, Oregon, we had to position to Seattle.
- Flights from the U.S. to Japan: We used Atmos Rewards earned via welcome offers and some actual miles flown (my husband travels for work so he does earn quite a bit here)
- Flights for 4 from Bend, Oregon to Seattle: 30K Atmos points total plus $44.80 in fees.
- Flights for 4 to Tokyo on Japan Airlines via Alaska Airlines: 30K points each plus $11.20 in taxes and fees, round-trip—this was an amazing deal! Total: 120K Atmos Rewards and $44.80 in fees.
- Hotel in Tokyo: We had to book two rooms for four adults (our boys were 18 & 22 at the time)
- Hyatt Centric Ginza in Tokyo for 62,000 points and no cash. This was for two rooms for two nights. We earned these points on the Chase cards and transferred the points to Hyatt.
- Flights from Tokyo to Sapporo to ski in Niseko: We transferred Chase Ultimate Rewards® to United and booked round-trip flights from Tokyo to Niseko on ANA for 10,500 points each (42K points total), plus $38.40 in fees.
- Hotel in Niseko: we booked our Hilton hotel via the Chase portal for six nights, using points, and paid 255K points plus $431.45 in fees. We had one room for all four of us!
Eating BBQ in an igloo!
Bottom Line
Before I learned about this hobby, we never would have been able to take this trip. Overall, I calculated this trip would have cost $16,769 in cash, but we spent only $3,551.
With a rental car, skiing, food, souvenirs, and snacks, we paid only another $2,800 after airline fees. We really maximized the dollars spent on this trip!
There were a few lessons….
- I booked our flights at separate times because of unforeseen schedule issues, so we didn’t all fly together. Still a deal, but I’d wait to put us all on one flight!
- I booked our rental car on one of our Capital One cards, planning to use the purchase eraser . . . but I used the wrong card. I used the one without the points already in place, so we did have to pay $700 for the rental car out of pocket. Next time, I’ll pay closer attention to which card we are using!!!
- Pay the extra (either in points or cash) for two rooms for four adults in Niseko. I wish we didn’t have four people and all of our ski gear in one very crowded room for six nights!!
Points and miles have not only made this trip possible, but they also got us to Europe last summer. And I am going to Italy in October, and we are headed to Costa Rica in the spring…. It’s safe to say I am absolutely hooked on this hobby, and as Pam calls it, a points-and-miles “career”!!!
Related Posts
A Trip to Japan on Every Budget
Reader Success Story: Mother-Daughter Trip to Japan
Podcast 204. All About Atmos Rewards with Traci
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 Points Talk Squad advertiser, but we always show the best public offer even when we don’t earn a commission. Terms Apply.
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