Lauren sends in her amazing reader success story to Scandinavia, where she spent two weeks. Here is her story:
Last month, I was able to take my partner (my P2) and my in-laws on a two-week trip to Scandinavia, Finland, and Estonia for less than $900 per person. Below, I detail how we earned points, how we redeemed them, where we stayed, etc. All costs are for four people, specifically covering round-trip flights and hotel stays, unless otherwise noted. I think that once people are within Europe, how they get around is a matter of personal preference, but as you’ll see, we paid for transportation in cash once we arrived in Europe.
Card Strategy & Earnings
My husband and my father-in-law are big fans of Disc Golf, so when they found out in early 2024 that the World Championships would be held in Finland, we started planning a trip to include the tournament. So our card-opening strategy started in early Q2 of 2024. We both started with the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card in March of 2024. At the end of those 3 months, we had earned at least 256,000 points.
Shortly after, I opened the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card when it had an elevated offer of 75K. We then had about 355,000 Ultimate Rewards®.
In July and August 2024, my P2 and I opened a Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, which came with an elevated offer of 75,000 points plus a $250 travel credit. At the end of those 3 months, we had earned at least 166,000 Venture miles + $500 in travel credit. Our total was up to at least 521,000 points across Chase & Capital One.
In September and November 2024, we both opened an Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card with an elevated offer of 90,000 points. With referrals, we earned at least 258,000 points. The running total was then 779,000 points across Chase & Capital One.
We transferred 60,000 Capital One points to Choice Hotels to book one room for four nights in Helsinki. Then we used 96,000 points to book two rooms for four nights at other destinations detailed below, for a total of 156,000 Capital One points transferred to Choice. Lastly, for lodging, we used Venture miles to get a statement credit of $642 for a $891 stay in Lofoten, Norway, which is also detailed below.
Flights
We transferred 200,000 points to Flying Blue and booked business-class flights on KLM for four people from BOS to HEL for 50,000 points per person, plus $253.50 in taxes and fees per person.
Then we transferred 244,000 points and booked business-class flights on Air France for four people from Gothenburg, Sweden (GOT) to JFK for 61,000 points per person, plus $345.50 in taxes and fees per person. This was an intentional/speculative booking because we anticipated the JFK Capital One lounge to be open by the time we flew, and it was! Even if it hadn’t opened, JFK has direct flights to our home airport, which would still make it easy to position home.
All business-class flights were booked within one week of the dates becoming available in 2024 for 2025 departures, before the devaluation that took place earlier this year. Within Europe, we paid for all flights, planes, and trains in cash.
Helsinki
We spent four nights in Helsinki to adjust to the time change and to attend the disc golf tournament. My husband and I stayed at the
Clarion Hotel Helsinki and paid 60,000 points for four nights. My in-laws opted to pay cash on their own since they were splitting time between Helsinki and Tampere (where the disc golf tournament was held). These points were transferred from Capital One to Choice. We really liked this hotel since it had a rooftop restaurant and bar that provided almost 360º views of Helsinki.
Clarion Hotel Helsinki; photo from Choice Hotels.
Personally, I would not spend this much time in Helsinki. This city is a one-night stop, in my opinion, especially if you’re visiting in the summer and probably won’t be heading north to the Santa Claus village.
Norway
From Helsinki, we flew to Bodø, Norway, just inside the Arctic Circle. We enjoyed a visit to the Priority Pass lounge, where our family of four was able to get coffee and a full breakfast. Our flight was on a propeller plane, and we landed in Bodø around 9:30 am, which gave us ample time to catch a taxi from the small airport to the ferry port. It is walkable since it is flat and it only takes 30 minutes, but we still took a cab. From the ferry port, we scanned a QR code posted in the area to register for the free ferry to Moskenes, Norway, in the Lofoten archipelago. This lasted approximately 3.5 hours, and I recommend checking the weather beforehand to determine if you need to take motion sickness medication.
We stayed four nights at the
Ure Lodge in Lofoten using my and my P2’s Venture X travel credits, as well as some of my $250 Venture travel credit. We paid $248 out of pocket. I have mixed feelings about this accommodation.
From Lofoten, we did the same ferry back to Bodø and stayed the night at
Quality Hotel Ramsalt, which was a ten-minute flat walk from the ferry port. This hotel was very unique in that it had pinball and other games in the lobby. For one night, two rooms cost 24,000 points, which we transferred from Capital One to Choice. The next morning, we flew to Copenhagen, Denmark.
Quality Hotel Ramsalt.
Copenhagen
In Copenhagen, we stayed at the
Comfort Hotel Vesterbro. I didn’t enjoy this hotel as much simply because it felt sparse and poorly managed. Everything worked, but there were absolutely zero amenities (e.g., no water kettle in the room with complimentary tea and coffee, which is pretty standard in Europe), only one pillow per person on the bed, a note that said, “We only clean every four days and will not honor requests less than that,” and only one room key per room. The rooms were small but served their purpose. But the breakfast was terrific, like the breakfast in Helsinki!
Gothenburg, Sweden
From Copenhagen, we took a train to Gothenburg, Sweden, where we stayed at the
Clarion Hotel Post. This hotel was conveniently located right outside the train station and adjacent to a tram station that connects to the entire city. The hotel was beautiful and featured a theme reminiscent of an old post office. This hotel offered a similar breakfast, although we were unable to enjoy it due to our early flight. The rooms were larger, there were three pillows per person, and we also got a water kettle along with complimentary coffee and tea.
Clarion Hotel Post.
All the hotels we stayed at stored our bags until check-in, and all of them had self-check-in available as well.
Flights Home
From Gothenburg, we flew Air France in business class from GOT to CDG to JFK. We had access to a SkyTeam lounge, courtesy of our fare class, which was a nice perk. It offered coffee, juice, breads, meats, cheeses, etc. Right next to it was a Priority Pass lounge that appeared to offer the same amenities, although we did not enter. Note: The SkyTeam lounge only opens 1 hour before the first SAS flight of the day. Thankfully, that flight was the same time as our AF flight!
At CDG, we enjoyed the Air France Business Class lounge in Terminal 2E, Hall M. This lounge was spacious and offered the same amenities mentioned earlier.
Once we landed at JFK, we cleared border patrol in just a few minutes, thanks to Global Entry, and were able to exit and re-enter security for our positioning flight from JFK to CLT. We were able to visit the JFK Capital One Lounge which was absolutely the best lounge we have ever been in (even beating other Capital One lounges and IGA Priority Pass lounge in IST).
We made a reservation for the cheesemonger experience, which is an absolute must, and it made me consider routing all flights into JFK to experience it again. We sampled nearly a dozen different cheeses paired with our choice of wine between two options. But it wasn’t just cheese; it was like a cheese charcuterie board on steroids, featuring dried fruits, cured meats, pickles, jams, mustards, and more. The “mongers” were so skilled and excellent at their job! We also took advantage of the showers in the lounge, which we were able to schedule at check-in.
Our economy flight from JFK to CLT was booked using 27,000 points that we transferred to Flying Blue during a transfer bonus, which was then converted into 32,000 miles.
Totals:
Cash price at time of booking: $28,318.43
Total Points used: 627,000 from Chase and Capital One
Points and miles saved us: $24,750.36
We paid out of pocket: $3,567.41 or $891.85 per person.
Thanks, Lauren, for your reader success story to Scandinavia—that’s a huge amount of savings!
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