The step-by-step approach we used to get more than $30,000 in free travel value.
The Ordinary Travel Family consists of five travelers, which means travel costs can add up if we aren’t smart about the way we approach travel.
This doesn’t mean that EPIC ADVENTURES are out of the question. In fact, we start with the epic travel adventure in mind and then figure out how we can make it happen in a way that fits our budget.
Even before we embarked on this unbelievable two-week amazing family travel adventure to Australia, I got questions from pretty much everyone I know… friends, family, work colleagues, you name it. The questions mostly sounded like:
· How can you afford 5 round-trip flights to Australia during peak holiday season?
· How can you afford 2 hotel rooms per night for 12 nights?
· If you are using miles, are you on planes all of the time for work?
· Did the credit card sign-ups ruin your credit?
· Is the amount of work to manage points worth it?
And on and on and on!
To be clear, I do travel for work, but the overwhelming majority of the miles and hotel points were accumulated through non-travel activities, and I will detail out the entire points generation strategy, the way we spent the points, and the overall travel value we received.
Everyone wants to know how we accumulate points
I’ve been fascinated by travel hacking for several years, dabbled around for a while, but got serious about it two years ago once I saw a clear path to rack up the points for big time vacations.
Below is precisely what I did to accumulate the points:
I had a SPG Amex for several years, and it used to be our family’s default credit card. Thanks in large part to the devaluation of the points when it converted to Marriott Bonvoy, we have reduced spend on this card (we still use it) in favor of other credit cards.
I signed up for the Chase Reserve card when it was new and the sign-up bonus was 100k Chase Ultimate Rewards points. This has become our default card for expenses where other cards don’t have an advantage.
We signed up for the Chase Ink Business card and got another 100k Chase Ultimate Rewards points. There are also a few categories of spend that give you the highest amount of points.
Barclay American Airlines card for 60k American Airlines points. This is the one they pitch on every AA flight.
Citi AA Mastercard (not the $450 annual fee one) for another 60k American Airlines points.
Hilton Amex for the 100k sign-up bonus. We also use this exclusively for gas and grocery, earning 6x points per dollar.
Platinum Amex for the 100k Amex points. I also use this card when booking travel and for certain shopping based on the Amex offers.
Finally, most of my work travel was on American Airlines and other OneWorld partners. Hotels varied, but generally were spread across Hilton, Marriott, and IHG properties.
Yes, when I write it down, it even seems like a lot of work to me! Keep in mind that the credit card sign-ups were done over a couple of years, and the spend was optimized to the cards with the best point return value.
How did we use all of these points?
I was able to use American Airlines economy saver awards leaving on December 24th taking us from Chicago to Sydney (with a 7-hour layover in Dallas).
On the way home (same route), we used a combination of Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex points.
For domestic travel within Australia to and from Cairns, I booked flights on Qantas through American Airlines using AA miles.
For hotels, as a family of 5 we needed to book 2 hotel rooms each night. I was able to use a combination of SPG/Marriott points, Hilton points, and IHG points to cover 10 of the 12 nights. Our only lodging cost was the 2 nights ($362 USD) for our condo near the beach in Cairns.
It all broke down as follows:
200,000 AA miles used for 5 one-way economy seats from Chicago to SYD. At the time, I got 10,000 miles credited back afterwards because of having the AA Citi card (that benefit was recently discontinued).
234,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points redeemed for 4 one-way flights home
102,000 Amex points for my one-way flight home
160,000 AA miles for the domestic round trip CNS to SYD (based on availability I had to book Wendie and the girls in first class based on economy award seat availability – They definitely didn’t have any complaints!).
90,000 Marriott points for 2 nights (2 rooms) at the Marriott Sydney Harbour Circular Quay (amazing views!)
84,000 SPG points (booked before they combined) for 5 nights (2 rooms – took advantage of book 4 nights get 5th night free)
160,000 Hilton Points for 2 nights (2 rooms) at the DoubleTree in Cairns
70,000 IHG points for our last night (2 rooms) at the Holiday Inn Darling Harbor
Seems like a lot of work… was it worth it?