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 […]

Prague is one of my favorite places to visit: it’s cosmopolitan, it’s rich in history, it’s walkable and it’s budget-friendly. It’s a place you can do cheaply without points and miles, but utilizing points and miles for your airfare and upscale hotels will help cut your costs to pennies on the dollar. Here’s everything you […]

Alex and I just returned from a luxury beach stay at the Kimpton Seafire resort in the Grand Cayman Islands. I’ve been to Grand Cayman twice from cruise stops. Honestly, I wasn’t that impressed. I guess that is why I like to stay a few nights at a destination rather than just a few hours […]

Hi, I’m Samantha from almostfreetraveling.com, an expert on using credit card points/mile to Disneyland using points and miles. Today we’re looking at four different ways to use credit card bonuses to purchase Disney park tickets on points.    Citi Premier Citi offers 60,000 Citi Thankyou Rewards Points as a welcome offer for opening the Citi Premier […]

  Pretty much every kid wants to visit the “Happiest Place on Earth,” and many parents want to see the magic in their kid’s eyes as they experience Disneyland for the first time. But do you know what’s not so magical about the “Happiest Place on Earth”? How expensive it is!! Luckily, there are ways […]

In the fall of 2021 my kids and I went to Disneyland with my mom, sisters, nieces, and nephews. We had a group of 14 and we had such a great time! Of course, we visited Disneyland on points. Credit card points and credit card benefits helped us save big time for this trip. We […]

One of my favorite trips was when I joined my mom and my sister, Lindsey, to visit Greece! Greece and Santorini, in particular, had been on my bucket list ever since I saw Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I know I’m not the only one who felt that way after seeing that movie! I knew […]

I love Greece. It is a beautiful country of white sand, crystal clear turquoise waters, and gorgeous sunsets. Who wouldn’t want to go there as a family? While any international trip will cost more than a domestic trip, Greece is certainly doable. Let’s check out our Friday Family Vacation to Greece today! Our flights will […]

I just completed a stay at two Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotels in Queenstown, New Zealand. I have long wanted to try them out and see if we should recommend them. You can book these hotels with IHG points, but they are not branded by IHG. Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotels are boutique and luxury hotels […]

Back in 2018 my family took a trip to Kauai and fell in love with it. While we didn’t stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai on that trip, we did have dinner there and decided the Grand Hyatt was the place to stay for our next visit. Throw in the pandemic and it took us […]

Sun, beach, and waves? Can you beat that? Only if you can do it on points and miles AND you take your family to create some lasting memories. I still remember fondly being a child in San Diego with my parents and siblings! Such fun times that I thought it was surely the best vacation […]

When I decided to go to Australia with points and miles, I knew I would also add on a trip to New Zealand. I always hesitated to go to both places due to the distance involved. Fast forward to many LONG trips taken, like to the Maldives, Thailand, Vietnam, Dubai, etc., and Australia and New […]

  Family Vacation to Paris This trip is often requested by our readers and is quite doable. In these simple guides, I won’t go over every flight or hotel option but will pick one option for each, thereby decreasing that analysis paralysis we all run into. The hardest part of this plan is deciding what […]

I have long wanted to go to Australia and New Zealand as my London-based daughter and her husband have raved about both. I knew that their summer happens during my cold, snowy Colorado winters, so I started planning. Knowing that ANA business class to Australia was a great deal, I began my search there!  It […]

I previously wrote about booking an ANA flight to Australia with a free stopover in Tokyo. I used Hyatt hotels for my stays there. My trip report of points and miles to Tokyo, Hyatt hotel reviews, and our activities is here. And you can learn more by listening to this episode of our PODCAST!   […]

Back in October, my family of six spent three nights at The Seabird Resort in Oceanside, California.  We love traveling to Southern California with the kids and have done Newport,  San Diego, and Disneyland, but this was our first time to Oceanside. The reason we went with Oceanside this time was so that we could […]

Barcelona is one of my favorite European cities. The food, the people, the history, the architecture… this place is ready to wow every type of traveler. And with many points and miles to choose from to visit Barcelona, you’ll also have plenty of opportunities to save money. Here’s my complete guide to visiting Barcelona on points […]

  Mexico has been a yearly travel destination of mine for years and years. Today I want to show you how you visit Cancun on points. I’ll go over how to get flights paid for and give you some great options to consider when it comes to choosing your hotel stay.   Flights The first […]

In October I traveled to Cabo San Lucas with my 9-year-old daughter and oldest stepdaughter. I had been wanting to check out The Cape for quite some time, and my daughter’s fall break seemed like the perfect excuse to take a trip down to Mexico. So what did we think? Keep reading…   The Redemption […]

Last year, Alex and I went to Cancun on a mission. We wanted to compare the Hyatt Zilara and the Hyatt Ziva for our readers. The Hyatt Ziva was our favorite. This year we made a return trip to Hyatt Ziva Cancun on points. We knew it was the perfect place to bring Alex’s boys, […]

Alex, Jess, and I had planned to meet in Houston in December for a THM retreat to discuss upcoming plans and goals for 2023. We had always talked about going somewhere fun together when we hit a designated goal. That happened sooner than we thought (nice, huh?), so we changed our plans to a Cancun […]