March 6, 2026

Reader Success Story to London and Amsterdam

Pam

Europe, Reader Success Stories

Melissa sent us her reader success story to London and Amsterdam:

I’m an ATA and an ATA Next Level student. We’ve just returned from our first points and miles trip, and I’m eager to share it with our community. 

We live outside of Washington, D.C., so we flew to London from IAD to CDG to LHR on Air France. It was our first time in business class, and it was great! The cost was 318,000 miles for four business-class seats, but a transfer bonus was available from Capital One, so we only had to use 276,000 miles.
 
 
 
 
We paid cash for our London hotel because we wanted to stay at a hotel with family suites. We stayed at the Landmark London in Marylebone, and it was dreamy. 
 
Our favorite activity in London was a speedboat ride down the River Thames through the Thames RIB Experience. 
 
 
 
 
On the way home, we added a 48-hour stopover in Amsterdam, completely free of charge! I booked economy tickets on KLM from LHR to AMS to IAD. I called KLM to request a delay for the second flight and add a stopover. The total cost of the economy tickets was 157K points for our family of four, but I booked during a transfer bonus from American Express, so I only transferred 132K American Express Membership Rewards®. 
 
 
 
In Amsterdam, we stayed at the Andaz Amsterdam Prinzengracht on points. The cost was 25K points per room per night. We booked two rooms for two nights, for a total of 100K Chase Ultimate Rewards® transferred to Hyatt. It was a super cool, quirky hotel in a phenomenal location. We walked to everything and never got in a car or subway. 
 
 
 
 
Our favorite activities in Amsterdam were a canal boat tour with Captain Jack’s and a private bike tour through We Bike Amsterdam. 
 
 
 
 
 
I would highly recommend this trip to everyone! 
 
Total points cost of trip: 508K points/miles 
  • 276K Capital One Venture Miles
  • 132K American Express Membership Rewards® 
  • 100K Chase Ultimate Rewards®
Total money saved: $16K!!
 

Bottom Line

Thanks for your reader success story to London and Amsterdam, Melissa! We love seeing families enjoying this hobby and creating wonderful family memories.

 

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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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