Episode #2: Budget-Friendly Family Travel: How We Use Points & Miles to Travel for Nearly Free
According to chat GPT, the average cost of a family vacation is over a thousand dollars per person and up to three thousand dollars a person for international destinations. Yikes! Today, we're talking about something that has absolutely transformed the way that we travel using credit card points and miles to book free flights and hotels, which has dramatically cut travel costs for our family of seven. And I'm going to teach you how you can do the same.
My family in Cancun, Mexico in 2024 where we used our Southwest points to fly roundtrip for nearly FREE! (we just had to pay the taxes and fees for each flight).
When I say free flights, free hotel stays, does it sound too good to be true? Well, that's what I thought a couple years ago, but boy, am I glad I learned about it anyway and gave it a try. Using points and miles to redeem for free or nearly free hotel stays and flights is totally possible, even with a family of seven. And if that sounds impossible or confusing or like something only travel hackers and spreadsheet wizards can do,
Stick with me. I promise I will break this down into mom brain friendly steps you can start using right away.
But before we dive in, if you are more of a visual person and want to learn more on this topic, be sure to grab my absolutely free guide, How to Save Big with Points and Miles.
Grab your FREE guide on earning points and miles for nearly free travel!
Okay, so first off, why do we use points and miles as a big family? I don't need to tell you that travel with a big family isn't cheap. Flights for seven, hotel rooms that can actually fit us all, chitching. But several years ago, I discovered the magic of credit card signup bonuses and travel rewards. And honestly, it felt like I was unlocking some sort of cheat code.
We have flown to places like Florida, California, Oklahoma, Texas, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Cancun, and my husband and I even flew in lie-flat business class to the Maldives earlier this year, all on points and miles. Using points instead of cash and staying in beautiful hotels that would have cost us thousands of dollars, all for completely free or nearly free, since you do need to pay for taxes and fees on flights.
How Do Sign Up Bonus’s Work?
Now you may be wondering, okay, so how do credit card signup bonuses even work? Well, the banks want your business. They want you to sign up for credit cards and they're hoping that you're going to be irresponsible and you're going to rack up a bill and pay them tons in interest payments. So credit card companies like Chase, Capital One, American Express and Citi offer signup bonuses, which is a big chunk of points or miles. If you spend a certain amount of money within the first few months of getting that card. So for example, a card might offer 75,000 points if you spend $5,000 in the first three months, which comes out to you needing to spend about $1,670 a month to hit that minimum spend. So if you're already spending that much on your regular family expenses,
Think about your groceries, your gas, diapers, medical or dental expenses, school activities, sports, utilities, cell phones, et cetera. Why not put it all on a card that gives you free travel in return? You're just making your money work for you. Now, an important note here that I do want to make super clear is that this strategy only works if you can treat your credit cards like a debit card. You gotta pay them off every month in full. You never want to carry a balance. Otherwise those interest charges add up and now you really aren't earning free travel. You're basically just paying for the points that you're earning. So the next important part is you gotta know how to choose the right cards that are going to give you the right type of points to use to earn free travel.
There are a lot of different travel cards that earn points towards free travel, but there are a few best for beginners and for those just starting out. They are super easy to use and understand. They earn flexible points that can be used with dozens of airlines and hotel chains, and they are a great starting point. One thing to keep in mind too, when looking at credit card welcome bonuses is, look at your expenses and make sure that you can comfortably hit that minimum spend. So for example, if you spend about $1,500 a month on everyday expenses for your family, then you could hit a $4,000 in three month minimum spend on a card. If you spend $2,000 a month, you could comfortably hit a $6,000 minimum spend in three months. Most credit card offers are going to be three months, but I've definitely even seen four, five or six months. So just make sure you're reading the terms on those cards and be sure to calculate your expenses so you know going into it, what you can hit, what you can't hit and that you're not going into debt.
My Favorite Beginner Card to Earn Points
So to start out, my absolute favorite card for beginners is the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
This was the very first card that I signed up for and I didn't even really know what I was doing. I had just seen someone online say that this was a good card to get for travel rewards. So I said, okay, sure, what the heck, let's do it. And I'm actually really glad that I did because this was a really good card to start with. And it's just an awesome card for beginners.
So right now the current offer for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is $75,000 Chase Ultimate Reward Points after spending $5,000 in the first three months. These points are flexible and they can be redeemed in the travel portal or as I'm going to get to in just a bit here, they can be transferred to transfer partners to get even more value and really spread your points out farther. This card also has some great travel protection.
like primary rental car insurance. So whenever we rent a car, we actually decline the insurance offered by the rental car company and just pay for the rental car with our Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. Since I know that it comes with that primary protection and we actually end up saving money, not having to go through the rental car company. The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card does have a $95 annual fee.
However, you get a $50 hotel credit annually, which you can use and redeem in the travel portal. And that basically brings that $95 annual fee down to $45 a month. And you are earning 75,000 welcome points. So definitely worth it because those 75,000 welcome points are worth easily a minimum of $750 in value.
Actually, it's way more value than that when we talk about transferring out to transfer partners, but even at the very, minimum, $750 worth of free travel value, and you're essentially paying a $45 annual fee. That is totally worth it in my book.
So if you are interested in getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, click HERE to apply for the card with my referral link so you can get started earning points right away!
My Second Favorite Card for Beginners
My next favorite card for beginners is the Capital One Venture. This card earns you 75,000 flexible points after spending $4,000 in the first three months.
And there's also a $95 annual fee. So pretty similar to the Chase Sapphire preferred card, different transfer partners points can be redeemed a little bit differently with those different partners. But this one is actually $4,000 in three months. Whereas the Chase Sapphire preferred is $5,000 in three months. So this might be a good option. If you don't quite think that you could hit that 5,000, then this 4,000 would be a great option for you.
Capital One points are able to be transferred to many travel partners and they are really great points to earn. You also earn two times back on everything. So it is a no brainer card to use when you know you're gonna be earning that two times back.
And this is actually the card I like to use when I go to Costco because as a family of seven, we rack up some pretty big Costco bills and why not get two times back instead of just one times back, which is what most other credit cards would be giving me. If you want a more premium card with airport lounge access, then the Capital One Venture X card is the card that I would recommend. This is actually the card I personally have.
While it does come with a higher annual fee you do get access to tons of airport lounges that you can eat for free before flights or during layovers and you get a $300 travel credit as well So I'd say this card is better for you If you also do some solo travel for work or go away as a couple Since it's not quite as useful for families, but it is a great premium card if you're interested in some of those benefits
And actually on our recent trip with our two oldest to Taiwan, I have a podcast episode coming out on that shortly, but I was able to get all four of us into multiple lounges in Las Vegas, in Seattle, and in the Taipei airport, all just by using my Capital One Venture X card. So we had a nice secluded place to sit and access unlimited food and drinks for free.
And it was just so nice to be able to have those benefits while we were traveling. And I'm a total lounge girl. So for me, I love my Venture X, but the Capital One Venture is also a great card as well.
If you want to begin with the Capital One Venture card, click HERE to apply and begin earning points!
Open Co-Branded Cards for More Points
OK, now another great option is to open airline and hotel co-branded cards. So if you fly one airline a lot like Southwest or United, their cards can give you perks like free checked bags, priority boarding, and you can earn a big chunk of points towards these specific brands without having to use your flexible points. Those flexible points could be transferred to Southwest or United, which is nice. You have those. But if you're wanting to kind of preserve those flexible points, then that's where those co-branded cards can be a really nice option. We personally fly Southwest often as it's a super family friendly airline.
Southwest Companion Pass & Hotel Points
We can usually find some pretty good point redemptions with Southwest. I've also been able to earn the Southwest companion pass by opening two different cards and earning 135,000 points. And basically what the Southwest companion pass is, is once you earn it, one person can fly free with you whenever you fly. So one of my kids was actually able to fly free with me for almost two years, anytime our family flew and I only had to pay like the $5 and 60 cents taxes on those flights. So this was a huge help for our family of seven and I will have a future episode planned later this year, all about how to earn the Southwest Companion Pass. Since strategically you do want to earn it at the beginning of a new calendar year since you earn your companion pass for the remainder of that year and the following year. So anyway, stay tuned to learn more about that and I'll be happy to share all the details on that when it's a little bit better timed. For more info on why I love Southwest so much and how you can fly for $5.60 each way, CLICK HERE.
Opening hotel specific cards for Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton and IHG are also a great option if you have a specific vacation plan and know how you'll use them and where you want to stay. I don't recommend just randomly collecting these hotel points though, unless you have a plan.
Getting the MOST Value From Your Points- Transfer Partners
Now let's talk about how we redeem points for maximum value and listen up here, cause this is really where the magic happens. So let's say you have 75,000 chase points. You could redeem those through the chase portal or transfer them to partners like Hyatt Southwest or United Airlines.
I recently did a little analysis and for the exact same Hyatt hotel on Maui in the travel portal with Chase, it was around 45,000 points a night. And you might think, well, that's not so bad. 45,000 points a night. This really nice Hyatt in Maui. Okay. I'm going to book it right there in your travel portal. Well, if you go look at Hyatt, just download the Hyatt app, sign up for the rewards program. If you go look at Hyatt, that exact same hotel, the exact same night is like 29,000 points a night. So just by taking that one little step of transferring your points from Chase to Hyatt and then booking directly with Hyatt, you are saving thousands of points. And so that's really why transfer partners is such a key thing when we talk about getting the most value for your miles.
How We Use Points as a Family of 7
So for flights, we transfer points to Southwest most often and book for the whole family. When we book early, we're usually able to get some really good flights. Usually during sales, there's just some really good options with Southwest or you can actually always look back later. And if Southwest has lowered the price of your flight, like point wise, you can actually change it and get those points back in your bank. I call that fishing for points. I just made that up, but it's a little game I like to play where I check on flights that we already have booked. And if I ever notice that the point value has dropped lower than what we paid, I'm actually able to get those points back. So that's one of the reasons I love Southwest.
I have also transferred my chase points to United and we've gotten some great value with United as well. Definitely some of their flights can be more points, but as long as you're kind of shopping around and finding a good deal, United can also be a great option for families for redeeming your points.
Now for hotels, we love Hyatt. Their point redemptions are family friendly and they stretch your points far. We once stayed at a Hyatt place. We got two rooms for our family of seven to be comfortable for only 8,000 points a room a night. So for 16,000 points for my family of seven, we were able to stay comfortably and get a free breakfast in the morning and it was a total steal. So definitely don't sleep on Hyatt and their awesome value for point redemptions. They just, cannot be beat as far as redeeming points with hotels.
We also like Marriott Residence Inn hotels. So if I do find like a good point deal for Residence Inns, then I will usually transfer either my chase or Amex points to Marriott for that.
So let me share with you some real life examples. So you can see that this is totally possible. We have done this successfully many times and you can too. So we have been able to use Southwest points to fly to some more aspirational places like Oahu and Maui, Hawaii to Cancun, Puerto Rico, and New York.
We flew Southwest last year actually as a family to San Francisco the day before we had a flight to London. So we were able to find out an incredible cash price on round trip tickets from San Francisco to London. So I didn't use points for them, but we had to position to San Francisco first from Las Vegas. And so having a nice stash of some of those Southwest points, I was able to book flights for a whole family from Vegas to San Francisco.
We actually stayed the night using points at a hotel. And so all of that was not cash out of our out of our pocket. I was able to use points to cover all of that to position ourself then for our direct flight. So that was super helpful. We also love visiting Disneyland in California, Anaheim, since it's just a four hour drive for us from from Vegas. And I usually like to use my Marriott points here because there's a residence in Anaheim real close to Disneyland.
And their one-bedroom suite has a living room with a pullout couch, little kitchen, we've got extra space. And so it all just really helps us out with cutting costs on eating out. And we just like to have a little extra space than just the standard hotel rooms. So it was a really great location. I think it was about 40,000 points a night, which was actually the perfect way for me to use some free night awards that I had earned from opening a Marriott card. That was one of the welcome bonuses was you get multiple free night awards.
Another incredible trip, and this is probably my crowning glory of points and miles is when my husband and I were able to take a kid free trip just this past February to the Maldives. They are a string of islands south of India and it had always been on my bucket list. The pictures are just absolutely gorgeous and just seems way out of reach. Like there's no way I could ever do that.
Well, I was able to stash up enough points for us to fly in lie flat business class seats there and back. And it was just an absolute dream trip. And the fact that all we had to pay for was our food and activities on this vacation was incredible. We stayed at a Marriott there as well that I was able to use points for and it was just out of this world.
So I'm here to tell you whether you want to use points and miles for family trips or for couples trips or both like me, it is totally possible.
Let’s recap what we've talked about so far and just share some tips to make it work for your family.
Recap & How to Get Started
So here's how you're gonna get started.
#1: First you’re going to track your expenses. Make sure you can hit the signup bonus without overspending. Most signup bonuses are within a three month period, so track your expenses.
So you can confidently hit that minimum spend to earn the points and make sure you are tracking it within the credit card app. It will tell you how much more you have to spend and what timeframe because you definitely don't want to miss that or else you won't earn those points, which is what this is all about.
#2: You're going to start with one card. So as I mentioned earlier, I really recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. It has a standard offer right now of 75,000 flexible points that you can transfer to partners like Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, airlines like Southwest, United, JetBlue, and many international airlines as well.
#3: You're gonna plan your travel goals. So think about what is it that you wanna do with your family? Where do you want to go? Do you wanna go to Disney? Do you wanna go to Hawaii? Do you wanna go to the Grand Canyon? Use that goal to pick the best card for your needs and look at the best award flights for your location and look to see which hotels are where you're wanting to stay. Then you can kind of work backwards and decide which cards would be best for you and your spouse or partner to both get to really start earning and racking up some of those points.
#4: Next, you're gonna want to stay organized, but this doesn't have to be as scary or overwhelming as it sounds.
So I use a super simple app called Travel Freely. It's a free app that you can use to track all of your newly opened cards. It doesn't ask for any sensitive info. You're not entering your credit card information. You're literally just saying, today is March 1st and I was approved for this card. You enter it in and it will keep track of the day you opened it, what card, how many points you're gonna be earning when your three month or whatever the minimum spend period is up and it will keep track of your annual fees, all of that information. It also tracks your 5/24 status, which will become more important as you continue to open cards and you want more chase cards specifically. But basically chase will only approve you for new cards if you've opened less than five personal cards from any bank within a 24 month period, hence the unofficial 5/24 rule.
I actually go into a lot more detail on important rules like this and how you can earn even more points by leveraging your spouse or partner in my step-by-step ebook, The Ultimate Family Travel Hacking Guide. So if you're interested in diving in deeper, grab this guide to really have the step-by-step help you need to be as successful as possible from the get-go!
#5: Don’t hoard your points. Points can devalue. Use them when you find a good deal and it works for your needs and it works for your family. I have saved points for a year or so knowing I was gonna be booking a big trip the next year. So normally I'm earning points to then use for like a trip the following year. When you find a good deal, use your points. Don't feel like you have to rack up a million points before you can pull the trigger on anything.
Final Thoughts & Tough Love
If hearing about points and miles to earn free travel is a totally new concept to you, it probably sounds super confusing, time consuming and too good to be true. I get it. That's why I've created a totally FREE GUIDE to help you get started on earning points to redeem for free travel. I basically created the guide that I wish I had years ago and it is the perfect beginner's guide for you.
And if you're ready to jump all in and want me to show you step-by-step with pictures and exactly how to earn points to destinations like Hawaii, Disney and Europe, then you're gonna wanna grab my in-depth guide, the Ultimate Family Travel Hacking Guide.
Now, remember, this isn't just about saving money. It's about creating those memories with your family. It's the look on your kid's face when they see the ocean for the first time, or those fun family breakfasts in the hotel lobby. And knowing that you made it happen with intention and smart planning. If traveling more as a family is one of your priorities, I can tell you that leveraging points and miles will dramatically cut down on costs. It is the strategy that is the most important piece of our family's travel puzzle and I know it can absolutely help you too. And listen, I know it can feel overwhelming at first, but if I can do it with five kids, a full-time job, and a dozen other responsibilities, you absolutely can too. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Here is where I give you a little bit of tough love. If you've been listening and thinking, this all sounds great for other people, but I don't have time for this. If you just committed to spend 30 minutes a week learning about this, keeping track of your points, I promise you, when you take that very first family trip, where you earned it for nearly free, you won't regret that small amount of time that you spent making it happen. I have never been on a trip that I've been able to get free flights, free hotel stays for my family and thought, man, I wasted so much time doing that. I can't believe I was spending those 30 minutes a week. What a waste. No, I've never once thought that and I know you won't either. So take the leap, trust me.
Reach out if you have questions, grab my guides. They are there to help you and dramatically cut down on your learning curve because yes, all the information is out there in little bits and pieces. But if you really want a quick roadmap from someone who has been there, done it and not only been there, done it, but done it with a family of seven, then I'm here to help you. So please, please, please take advantage of those resources that I have for you.
Until next time, keep savoring the moments and make memories that last a lifetime!
*Links to credit card sign up pages are my referral links. I do get some ‘thank you’ points for sending you to my link. Thanks for supporting this website & podcast!
