I know you’ve seen all our business class flights, and maybe you thought that was the goal of travel hacking. That may work for us sometimes, but there are several pros of flying economy. And more importantly, we don’t always fly business class—we fly economy most of the time.   Better Availability How many of […]

I remember a couple of family trips to Yellowstone Park from when I was young. I always enjoyed looking for a bear, seeing Ol’ Faithful, and enjoying cool mountain air (especially since we were coming from Arizona for summers). In those days, it was a sacrifice for my family to take us there because my […]

Say it isn’t so! United has devalued award flights to Europe! This has long been one of my “go-to” ways to fly to Europe. I guess I’ll have to earn more points in the future because it will now cost 33% more in points/miles when you redeem United miles for European flights. In the past, […]

While we are all about family trips using points and miles, we also believe in couples’ getaways and the value of spending time reconnecting with your significant other. We also love when newlyweds use points and miles to save on their honeymoon. Here are some honeymoon trip ideas—on points and miles, of course!   Costa […]

Costa Rica is a beautiful destination for a family vacation. There are plenty of activities to enjoy and locations to visit that will make for a fun and memorable experience. Jess went there on a family vacation and her daughter, Molly, still talks about it! Friday Family Vacation to Costa Rica is happening today—let’s recreate […]

IHG often has great signup bonuses on their cards, but they fall “under the radar” compared to the other hotel brands. They have long been my second favorite brand (after Hyatt, of course). We have many readers asking us about how we use our IHG points, so here goes! First of all, there are several […]

Recently, I was trying to book a ticket to London for an upcoming trip to visit my daughter. I travel to London frequently and have used many different carriers and points for my trips. I am traveling at the start of 2024 and ended up using an airline transfer bonus to reduce my cost in miles […]

Hyatt keeps adding more hotel brands you can book with Hyatt points. The latest news is that Hyatt has added the Mr. and Mrs. Smith Hotels to their portfolio. 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 […]

With the increased bonus on our favorite credit card for travel hacking, the Chase Sapphire Preferred, let’s go over some ideas about using 80K Chase Ultimate Rewards. Remember that you must complete the $4000 minimum spend so that you would earn at least 84K Ultimate Rewards.  This increased offer may not be around when you read […]

Our reader success story comes from Justine who planned an amazing honeymoon on points/miles to the Maldives and Japan. Here’s her story:   Background My [now] husband and I got engaged in March of 2021, and I immediately went into brainstorming an epic honeymoon (before wedding planning even ). We already had traveled a ton […]

Where in Europe do you want to go to? Greece, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Croatia? There are so many fabulous European destinations, and most beginner traveler hackers start with earning  Chase Ultimate Rewards, so let’s talk today about using Chase Ultimate Rewards for European flights. First off, there are 11 airline transfer partners that you can […]

We hear from many of our readers that they’d love to go to London for a family trip. I love London – the red double decker buses, Big Ben, and those red telephone booths are some of my favorite sights. Because one of my daughters has lived there for 17+ years, it is the international […]

We talk about it all the time, but finding award redemptions is the hardest part of booking award travel. Search engines make it easier, and more and more of them are available. Today let’s talk about the Awayz search engine. This site makes it easier to find hotel redemptions, with the plan to add flight […]

One of the perks of most hotel credit cards is getting a free annual night certificate each year. You have to remember to use them during the year that they are issued, though, and last year I almost forgot about using an IHG free night certificate. Yikes! I only had 24 days to use it […]

New York City is home to some of the most famous landmarks in the world, such as the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, the Empire State Building, and the Brooklyn Bridge. Whether you want to see one of these landmarks, catch a sports game, see a Broadway show, or enjoy the diverse food in the city, […]

It’s easier to earn points than it is to find award flights—we can all agree on that. We love using search engines like AwardLogic and Point.me to help us find award flights. I just checked out Roame, a new search engine for award flights, and was pleasantly surprised at the speed at which it worked […]

Is there a family anywhere that doesn’t love a beach vacation? They are so fun because they offer a perfect combination of relaxation and adventure. The beach provides a beautiful setting for family fun, from building sandcastles to swimming and sunbathing. Overall, beach vacations are ideal for families to bond, make memories, and have a fun […]

I have recently been using the Flying Blue program, which covers Air France and KLM airlines. Let’s go over 4 reasons I love Air France and the Flying Blue program so much.   Great for Booking Travel to Europe This is the number one reason that I love Air France. It is easy to book […]

One of our cute friends recently used a post we have about 15K to Hawaii to book her family’s trip to Oahu. Kasey of Days of a Wife has two cute twins, and we are sharing her story today! Thanks, Kasey, for letting us share it!     Hey everyone! We just got back from our […]

We’ve posted about using hotel annual night certificates before. However, Hyatt free night award certificates deserve a post of their own because they have so many different ways to earn and redeem them.   Earning Hyatt Free Night Award Certificates Only one credit card, the World of Hyatt personal card, gives you a free night […]

I’m a sucker for Disneyland because it’s much easier to do on points and miles than Disney World! There are so many hotel options on points within walking distance of the park entrance. My family has gone to Disneyland three times on points and miles. Here’s our favorite way to do it for Friday Family […]