Cathie shares her reader success story about traveling to Paris and Greece with her family of eight for two weeks! Here’s her story:

My husband had always dreamed of taking his daughters—ages 19 and 21—on a trip to the Mediterranean, but it was never financially possible. And certainly not now that we have two additional children—ages 2 and 4—plus the older girls’ boyfriends. But when I discovered points and miles, I realized there was a way!

I had casually used points and miles for years, but I hadn’t realized their power until two years ago—July 2023—when I discovered how to use a transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic to travel to Europe for nearly nothing. After more research, I found that Points Talk Squad could provide a road map to help achieve our dream. I started planning and opening cards, and was able to create a two-week dream trip for all eight of us: six adults and two kids.

 

Flights to Paris

Our itinerary included direct flights from Minneapolis to Paris, three nights in Paris, direct flights from Paris to the island of Rhodes, Greece, eight nights on Rhodes, flights from Rhodes to Athens, three nights in Athens, and flights back to Minneapolis from Athens with a layover in AMS. 

We used a total of 766,000 points and $7,300 out of pocket. We earned these by opening a variety of cards between my husband and me over the course of about a year. The total value of the trip was about $33,500, so it never could’ve happened without points and miles! [Editor’s note: less than $1,000 per person for eight people for this long of a trip is amazing!]

Our flights to and from Paris were an incredible value. Since we were traveling as such a large group, we booked economy award tickets. We used Chase Ultimate Rewards® and American Express Membership Rewards® points, transferring them to Virgin Atlantic during a 30% transfer bonus, to book Air France and KLM flights. Before the transfer bonus, flights from MSP to Paris were only 15,000 miles per person, and return from Athens to MSP were 23,000 miles. Taxes and fees were about $1,000 total for all flights, and our seat selection was $800 total for a mix of standard and extra legroom seats. We were given the option to upgrade to business class on the return flight for only $675, but that was out of budget for all of us to be able to do it, and we didn’t want to split up. 

We used 93,000 points from my husband’s American Express® Business Gold Card for the MSP-to-Paris flights. 111,000 Membership Rewards® and 30,000 Ultimate Rewards® were used for the Athens-to-MSP flights. The Membership Rewards® points were earned from an elevated 50,000 point offer on The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express and the remainder of a 90,000-point point offer on the American Express® Gold Card. The Chase points were from an Ink Business Cash® Credit Card with a 90,000-point welcome offer. 

 

 

Lodging in Paris

Our three nights in Paris were at the Hyatt Regency Étoile. We only needed two Regency Club rooms to fit six adults and two children. These rooms also came with lounge access. We used 144,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® transferred to Hyatt—only 24,000 points per room, per night. The hotel has now gone up a category, and I had to book a year out to find availability. We used points from the Ink Business Cash® card and my husband’s referral bonus on the same card. 

 

Flights to Greece

Our flights from Paris to Rhodes would have been $1,056 for all of us, but I wanted to reduce my out-of-pocket costs, so I booked these through American Express Travel® using points earned from a huge 250,000-point welcome offer on the Business Platinum Card® from American Express. I was able to use 106,000 Membership Rewards® to book these flights. Seat selection and bag costs were an additional $173. 

 

Lodging in Greece

We chose Rhodes over the more frequently mentioned Greek Islands because it offers great beaches with all-inclusive options and some lovely ancient history and sites. This was a perfect fit for our family. We booked four nights on points at the all-inclusive Akti Imperial Deluxe Resort and Spa Dolce by Wyndham. Rooms fit a maximum of three people, so we needed three, but there were no additional charges for the all-inclusive. Rooms were only 15,000 points per night, plus a 10% discount for having a Wyndham Business Earner card. I used the 100,000 points I earned from the welcome offer on card, earnings from spending, and 25,000 points bought for $178 during a points sale. 

We spent the second half of our time on Rhodes at Atlantica Aegean Blue. This was also all-inclusive but didn’t have a points option, so I booked our three rooms through the Capital One travel portal using my Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card to earn 10 points for every dollar we spent. I then used points from the bookings and the 75,000-point welcome offer on the card to purchase-erase $1,200 (120,000 points), which brought my cash cost for the rooms down to $3,000. 

 

 

Athens Visit

Finally, we paid $550 cash on Aegean Airlines to fly from Rhodes to Athens. Several point options were considered for our stay in Athens, including the Grand Hyatt Athens and the Marriott Brand Hotel Grand Bretagne. We ended up paying cash at Hotel Attalos because of the location, family-room options, and low cash cost. We booked one room through Chase Travel℠ using cash and my $50 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card hotel credit. Additionally, we saved $150 by utilizing the Delta Stays hotel credit on my Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card. This brought our total cost for three rooms for three nights down to $1,470. 

 

 

Bottom Line

The trip was a huge success for everyone in our group, and we made so many memories thanks to points and miles. We loved Paris and Greece so much. 

Thanks for sending in this story, Cathie, and congratulations on your amazing success story getting the whole group to Paris and Greece! That was an outstanding achievement, and those memories made it all worth it! 

 

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