Points Everywhere

Learn all about the wonders of Emirates business class, plus many points options to get to and from Santorini.

I also delve into ways to get around Santorini, and which options will make the most sense for your travel goals.

Santorini is well known for its iconic white and blue domed buildings crowding cliff edges with the Agean sea and sunset background. It is iconic for a reason! The views on essentially the entire island are incredible. This is a destination that I found is truly worth the hype – BUT I will say that there are ways that people typically experience Santorini that I would definitely NOT recommend. Listen for a curated list of experiences not to be missed, and what to skip. I promise my recommendations are going to differ from the crowded summer sunset views from Oia that you see again and again on social media. And best of all, I’m going to talk about how to do it on points and miles!

Panoramic Villa - Santorini Sky | Hotel in Greece - Elias- This was our specific villa at Santorini Sky. They all look amazing!

Ancient Thera - Museums and Archaeological Sites - Santorini

Akrotiri Village Guide: What to Do, Best Places to Eat & Stay

.Booking hotels on points is a great way to get started with using your points! It is generally simpler than booking flights (because there are fewer variables), so makes a great way to get started. Once you book your first trip, you’ll feel more confident and ready to take on more points bookings.

Many trips start with a specific destination in mind, flights are planned first, and hotels come next. There are some trips where the resort itself is the destination, and with those I typically book the hotel and then plan flights.

Ways to book hotels with points

• Transfer points to hotel partners (ex transfer Citi Thank you Points to Choice or Bilt Points to Hyatt)
• Use points earned with hotel brand from spend on a credit card or staying nights with that brand
• Free night certificates
• Portal bookings- brands not available to transfer to, using card-specific credits (like $300 Venture X, $50 CSP), Rove
• Booking with cash and using cash “credits” from specific credit cards (The Edit, FHR, Bilt hotel credit...)

Order of operations:

• Any free night certificates
• For shorter stays- Any credits that need to be used – FHR, The Edit, Bilt hotel credit. Skip these for longer stays in general unless piecing a few together
• What transferrable points chain hotels are available- Rooms.aero- Hyatt, Hilton, Marriot, IHG, Choice hotels, NO Wyndham
• Consider what points I have available and which I’m willing to part with
• Consider Portal bookings- brands not available to transfer to, using card-specific credits (like $300 Venture X, $50 CSP), Rove
  • Sign up here to earn 500 bonus Rove miles!
• If all else fails, Expedia through Rakuten or hotel site through Rakuten

Rooms.aero map view- Hyatt, Hilton, Marriot, IHG, Choice hotels

European Hotels that sleep a family of 4 -Click Here!

Booking a hotel is a great way to get started on turning your points into free travel! There are many ways to do this, but booking directly through a partner is my favorite way to get the best value. Cancellation fees are typically none (but check fine print), so it’s easy to book speculatively and then cancel or adjust plans after the fact if needed. Let me know how you have used your points to book hotel stays! Happy booking!

Booking flights on points can feel challenging at first- that’s ok! A common phenomenon in points and miles is finding it really easy to earn points, and then feel panicked when its time to use them. It IS true that earning points is harder than using them! Don’t get me wrong, there are tons of tips and tricks that can be used to maximize points earning, but it’s learning to SPEND your points wisely that makes it possible to unlock amazing free and almost free travel. There are more pitfalls when it comes to spending points, which often leads to “analysis paralysis” and people perpetually earning and never using them. Booking flights on points in particular is generally more complex than booking hotels, so overall booking flights on points is a HUGE topic that we could devote endless episodes to. This episode is starting with the basics of the process of how I think about planning flights for a points trip, and breaking down HOW I actually make it happen.

Disney World is high on travel wish list for many families, and for good reason! It might seem like using points and miles to make your Disney World on vacation achievable isn’t an option, but the truth is, there ARE ways to use points lower the cost for your Disney vacation, AND ways to maximize points earning for the portions you don’t book on points!

Flights

• Southwest
  • companion pass
• United
  • Look for “Saver” awards
  • Remember you can also book United flights through Air Canada to use Amex points
• American Airlines
  • Transfer Citi Thank You Points
  • Can also book through Alaska using Bilt points.
• Delta
  • Generally not a great deal transferring your transferrable points here, but can earn on a cobranded card or book through Virgin Atlantic for a better deal

Don’t rent a car – rideshare, Disney transportation, hotels in walking distance, outside hotel shuttles. City bus is an option!!

Rideshare- don’t forget to link Lyft to Bilt account. Pay with CSR and CSP 5x points. CSR $10 per month. Uber- UberOne free with platinum, $15 per month, extra $25 in Dec.

Disney World on- property lodging

• Book any hotel on property and purchase erase with Capital One
• WDW Swan and Dolphin- deluxe on property resorts
  • Bookable on Marriot points, often 50-65K (sometimes more)- dynamic pricing. About once a year Marriot offer for 5 free night certs up to 50K, which can be “topped off” to up to 65K!
• Do you work in a field where you could attend a conference?
  • Primary Care MER conferences. Book deluxe hotels at a discounted rate and then get reimbursed by your employer if you have CME funds.

Off Disney property lodging

• Hyatt Place Orlando/Lake Buena Vista
  • Shuttles to parks (Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom)
• Hyatt Regency Orlando
  • 20 min drive from Magic Kingdom
  • Family Suite with 2 queen beds and a double Murphy bed for 30 K
• Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress
  • Shuttles to all parks

Park Tickets

• Undercover Tourist or Get Away Today code as travel – erase with Capital One. Remember to click through a shopping portal like Rakuten to get to Undercover tourist to earn extra points for the purchase!
• Book a PACKAGE through Disney that includes hotel and tickets
• To EARN a lot of points on tickets/discount on tickets
  • Book on Undercover tourist through a portal
  • Sam’s Club GC at discount
  • Target – buy $100 GC get $10 Target gift card
  • Rove Miles- 3.2-6x on Disney GC through giftcards.com- can pair that with an “offer” on your card for 10% off purchase!!!
    • Sign up - www.rovemiles.com/?signup&referralCode=9CPGSRPO

Food

• Codes as Travel and can purchase erase with Capital One Venture X if dining package booked

Combine at Disneygiftcard.com

Keep in mind they can combine up to $1000, and can only use one GC per purchase. Could split tickets into multiple purchases

Disney Inspire credit card – SUB is $300 statement credit (after $1000 spend in 3 mo), $300 Disney Gift card (immediate)

In this episode I unpack the details of the recent changes to the World of Hyatt Program, and what this means for the future of this beloved points program.

In this episode I share how my family was able to enjoy a trip on points to San Antonio, TX at Hyatt Regency Hill Country. This is an incredible family-friendly resort that we would love to return to!

Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Villas- https://www.hyatt.com/hyatt-regency/en-US/sanhc-hyatt-regency-hill-country-resort-and-villas

Sample schedule of activities at the resort- https://www.hyatt.com/content/dam/hotel/propertysites/assets/regency/sanhc/documents/en_Us/special-events/Hyatt-Regency-Hill-Country-Resort-And-Spa-Activity-Guide-Summer-2018.pdf

Mr. Ice Cream - https://share.google/ZrzGr8o1dJoORjX1Y

Japanese Tea Garden- https://saparks.org/japanese-tea-garden/

Amex points have a lot of awesome uses, but my favorite use for Amex points are international flights! This is one of the ways to get amazing value out of your points. Similar to Chase, you have 2 main ways to redeem points for travel – portal bookings and transferring points to partners.

Portal bookings

Pros of Portal Bookings

• Simplicity
• Fine Hotels and resorts- With Amex Platinum you get $300 semi annually for Fine Hotels and Resorts hotel bookings (min 2 night stay). You also get late checkout, $100 credit, free breakfast for 2, and upgrades as available!
• You can book things you couldn’t by transferring points out – rental cars, cruises, certain hotels (like 4 seasons). I prefer to do these bookings on cash and use as a points-earing opportunity

Cons of Portal Bookings

• Hotel stays don’t always count towards status
• Glitches related to using a 3rd party booking service – harder when things go wrong
• Not getting the best value. But remember, there is truly no “wrong” way to use your points! But there are ways to use them so that points stretch further.

Transferring points to partners

• Hotels
  • Hilton (1:2)- transfer bonuses!
  • Choice Hotels 1:1 ( Citi is 1:2)
  • Marriot- avoid this
• Airlines
  • Jet Blue (250:200)
  • British Airways
• Flying Blue- Air France-KLM
  • 25% off award tickets for ages 2-11
  • Promos every month
  • Lots of business class award availability
• Avianca Life Miles
• Virgin Atlantic
  • Super low points prices
  • Watch for taxes and fees!
  • Can use to book Delta flights
• Emirates (1000: 800)
• Air Canada
  • Flights to Europe
  • Can use to book United flights
• Delta- likely won’t get great deals

How to Transfer Points From Amex

• First create a loyalty account for the program you want to transfer into
• Membership tab on bottom (star)--> Redeem rewards (under your total points number)--> Scroll down to transfer points
• Amex points can NOT be combined between people

There’s the basics on how to best use Amex points to book travel for free or very close to free! Booking in the portal is always an option, but transferring your points out to partner programs and booking with them directly is typically the best way to unlock amazing deals. I tend to use my Amex points to book flights. My most common pairing is a Hyatt hotel booked with Hyatt points from my Hyatt card and Chase points transferred to Hyatt paired with flights booked on Amex points. Now you’re one step closer to scoring amazing travel deals with your Amex points!

Amex Gold Referral Link: American Express

Rakuten Referral link: www.rakuten.com/r/COURTN29066?eeid=28187 Sign up to earn $50 (5,000 points) after spending $50. Rakuten is a great way to earn Amex Membership Rewards Points

Amex points are some of the easiest to accumulate a lot of. They can be transferred to a long list of hotel and airline partners. I love using these for international flights! Tthe secret to getting more value from your points is transferring points out of your Amex and to partner programs, then booking directly through that program.

Amex Personal Credit Cards

• The order of the personal card applications is important!
• Amex Green--> Amex Gold --> Amex Platinum
  • Amex Gold earns 4x on groceries and dining
  • Referral Link for Amex Gold: American Express
• Co-branded cards: Hilton, Delta, Marriot

Amex business cards

• Blue business- $0 annual fee! SUB 15,000 for 3,000 in 3 mo, 2x on all purchases up to 50K per year. 0% APR for 12 mo
• Business Gold- Spend $15,000 in 3 months- up to 200,0000
• Business Platinum - Spend $20,000 in 3 months

Rakuten!

· Rakuten Referral link: www.rakuten.com/r/COURTN29066?eeid=28187 Sign up to earn $50 (5,000 points) after spending $50

· Sign up, go to bottom right corner for account à Choose how you get paid à select Amex points. You need your PHYSICAL Amex card to be able to do this (the mobile one you get right when you are approved will not work!).

· If you already have an account you can change the way you are paid from cash to Amex points. This is so powerful because you will get WAY more value from the points than the cash. For example- Shutterfly 20x on Black Friday. Spent $400 on photo albums- 20% cash back is $80. 20x is 8,000 points! You can get a flight from US to Europe for as low as 6,000 points on Virgin Atlantic. Add in a transfer bonus and you are getting WAY more than $80 in value.

Amex points are versatile and can be easy to rack up quickly! They are a great asset to your points profile, and pairing with Rakuten can seriously boost your earnings. Join me next time to hear about how to redeem your Amex points for the greatest value.

One of the most common questions I get when people are interested in travelling for almost free on points and miles is “won’t this ruin my credit score?” While it IS true that you should have decent credit and your finances generally in order to get started, this hobby does NOT have to hurt your credit score! In fact, I have seen my credit score actually improve since I have started this 2 years ago. My credit score was good, but now its over 800! How is this possible? Let’s dive into how your credit score is calculated.

• Payment history – 35% of your score. This means that you want to pay on time and in full each month
• Credit Utilization – 30% of your score. How much of your available credit are you using? It is better to have a lot of available credit and not use very much of it vs. having a small amount of credit and using most of it. Adding more cards helps SIGNIFICANTLY improve this by adding to your available credit.
• Credit age or history – 15% of your score. Keep your oldest accounts open
• Account mix – 10%of your score. How diversified is your credit? Home loans, credit cards, etc.
• Account inquiries – 10% of your score. This is the one part of your score that is negatively impacted by applying for new cards. Your credit score will often dip a few points after an application, but it quickly rebounds and typically higher than before because your credit utilization is going to improve with increasing the total amount of credit you are extended.

How to use this knowledge

• Keep your oldest lines of credit open
• Pace your openings- 30 days min, I recommend 90 days
• Pay off full balance every month

My credit score has only improved since I got into this hobby. I was brought up with the notion that credit cards are bad and using credit cards should be avoided. In reality, as long as you are smart about credit card use and pay off your full balances every month, you will likely boost your credit score rather than hurt it!