Travel Mom Squad podcast listener Larisa shared her story about a recent mother/son trip she took to Costa Rica and here’s how she made it happen:   Starting Out With Miles and Points I stumbled on to Points Talk with the Travel Mom Squad early in January 2024. I was looking for a podcast on […]

It won’t shock you to learn that each of us has the World of Hyatt Credit Card. While this card doesn’t currently have a huge welcome offer, it does give cardholders five elite-night credits on your journey to Globalist status. Additionally, one of the best benefits of this card is that each year on your […]

Hilton offers our favorite annual free-night certificate of all the major hotel brands. Surprised? We talk about Hyatt so much, and Hilton is usually low on our radar—except when it comes to their free-night certificates. The reason why Hilton shines with their free nights is that you can use them at almost ANY Hilton—even the […]

The Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines merger was completed in September. Here are some things you should know about the merger that may help you make even better redemptions. While I have never gotten over-the-top value with my Hawaiian miles like I have with several other programs, I have gotten good value with Alaska miles.  I have had […]

Rachel sent in her reader success story about her trip to Poland using points and miles. We hadn’t covered Poland yet, so this was great hear about and Rachel has me scheming to go there now! Here is her story:   Getting to Poland on Points and Miles I started getting into the points and […]

I travel to London quite often and have anxiously anticipated the opening of the Park Hyatt London River Thames. My daughter lives outside of London, so I don’t need a hotel very often because I usually stay with her. But I love going to the theater in London, so we decided to stay overnight at […]

I love a good airport hotel, and they get extra love from me when they are an in-terminal hotel! Talk about ease; waking up and walking to your gate is the best way to start a great travel experience. My sister and I had a great stay in Italy recently, and before we flew home, […]

Last year my sister and I visited Italy as part of our annual sisters’ trip which included NYC, London, and Florence. However, part of it (the Cinque Terre) was cut short because a family emergency she had. This year we decided to do that part of the trip and add on a couple of other […]

Annalee sent us in her reader success story to Amsterdam, Croatia, and Venice. She’s only been using credit card points and miles for about a year, so seeing what she has done is amazing! Spoiler Alert: she ended up swapping out Croatia for Switzerland! Here is her story:   Starting Out with Credit Card Points […]

We always say that it is easier to earn credit card points/miles and more complicated to redeem them. That is where we really find the value of flight award alerts. There are several award alert subscriptions you can pay for. These are especially valuable if you have flexibility, as they will alert you to significant […]

I love Air France/KLM for getting to Europe on points and miles. One reason is the Flying Blue Promo Rewards that come out on the first day of every month. Check out my post detailing the four reasons I love Air France. These are such good deals, so I will update this post monthly to […]

The Grand Hyatt Baha Mar is the destination of choice for our reader success story to Nassau. This is an extremely popular destination among points and miles users, and we haven’t booked it yet. Thanks, Amanda, for sharing it with us! I love that it was her FIRST redemption – showing everyone that even a […]

Lately, I’ve been going a day early for a positioning flight for two reasons—less stress about making my award flight and the ability to visit a U.S. city I love or haven’t been to. In this case, my sister and I met in Chicago for our sisters’ trip to Italy (again). Not only did I […]

My sister and I have just completed an almost two-week trip to Italy. We travel about two times a year with each other to foreign countries using credit card points and miles. We are both senior citizens, and we feel completely comfortable traveling worldwide. To encourage other senior citizens to feel comfortable traveling more, here […]

Today is October 11th, and I decided to go see my daughter and her family in London on October 22nd. That is less than two weeks away, and of course, I want to do it in business class with credit card points and miles. Here is how I looked for a last-minute business award flight […]

If there were ever two properties where you really can’t go wrong either way, it’s these. However, this is a question we get a lot, so I’ll highlight the differences between Canaves Epitome and Canaves Oia Suites in this post to help you decide which you’d prefer to book!   Redemption Options Both properties are […]

The Southwest® Companion Pass is among the best deals in the points and miles world.  Either my husband or I have had the Southwest Companion Pass off and on for the last seven years. When you earn the pass, you get to fly someone with you for free (minus taxes and fees starting at $5.60) […]

This year, our annual mom/daughter trip took us to Portugal on points and miles. Our primary goal was the Azores Islands, with a quick stop in Lisbon.   Flights to Portugal We opted to fly to London via Virgin Atlantic from Boston. Each of us took a positioning flight to Boston, and we met there. […]

Our recent trip to Portugal gave me the perfect excuse to review the Hyatt Regency Lisbon. This is a Category 4 hotel which means it will cost you between 12,000-18,000 points a night or you can use a Hyatt category 1-4 free night certificate. Occupancy for standard rooms is 2 adults so we opted to […]

Sometimes, a positioning flight allows you to visit or revisit a city before your main objective. In this case, my daughters and I were flying out of Boston on points and miles for our annual girl’s trip. Our primary objective was to visit Lisbon, Portugal, and the Azores Islands. One of my daughters had never […]

Hyatt keeps adding more hotel brands you can book with Hyatt points. Mr. and Mrs. Smith Hotels is one of their newer brands. This acquisition of over 1500 luxury hotels all over the world further cements why we love Hyatt so much. Mr. and Mrs. Smith is a travel company that offers a collection of […]