Using credit card points and miles,  I planned a girls’ trip to Amsterdam with two of my daughters and a granddaughter. We used points for travel there and paid cash to stay at an Airbnb.  We had a wonderful visit and encountered so many friendly, helpful people during our stay there!  Here are some things […]

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, […]

My sister and I had an emergency interruption to our trip to Italy last year, so this year, we took a sisters’ return trip to Italy on points/miles. This trip was made possible by an incredible 90K Turkish Airline redemption from ORD-FCO and MXP-JFK—roundtrip business class for 90K each. Sadly, redemptions that low are now […]

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 […]

Ella and I recently returned from a 10-day trip to three different European countries. Our final stop was the Czech Republic, and it may have been my favorite of the three!  We spent three nights in Prague for $0. Here’s how we did Prague on Points and Miles!   Getting There We were traveling from […]

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 […]

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 […]

Elizabeth took her daughter McKenna on an unbelievable college graduation trip to four countries. Here is her story: My daughter and I took a trip to celebrate her college graduation and relax a bit before she started law school. My objective was a no-stress trip, to see as much as we could and decide where […]

Michelle sends us her reader success story to London and Edinburgh. We love both cities, so we can’t wait to hear how she did it!   Michelle’s Story I started leveraging credit card welcome offers to redeem flights and hotels in 2021 when my best friend showed my husband and me how to navigate this […]

We recently wrapped up our family of five’s second two-week international trip just this year. This summertime family trip to Italy and the Paris Olympics was a true trip of a lifetime, made possible with the help of points and miles. For two weeks, we visited Rome, Assisi, the Vatican, Florence, San Miniato (Tuscany), Pisa, […]

If you love Switzerland, you will love the Dolomites in Italy! I recently returned from visiting the Italian Dolomites with family. Although we stayed in a rather expensive Airbnb (that was perfection), we used miles to travel to and from Europe. The Dolomites is a stunning mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They are known […]

Switzerland on points and miles is a trip that Stephanie went on, then posted about in our Facebook Group. She kindly said that we could share it on the blog to help the rest of the Travel Mom Squad. On a personal note, I have traveled to much of where she went and it is […]

Here is Sayre’s reader success story to Europe on points and miles… and cash. She used a mixture of these things to craft the perfect 10 day trip to Europe! Here is her story:     I started using credit card points/miles with the simple goal to fly cheaper/more frequently from Raleigh, NC to New […]

 I want to say THANK YOU! Without your podcast, my family of four’s trip would not have been possible. We spent two weeks island hopping on our trip to Greece with points. This trip had a cash value of $35,000 but only cost us $2,000 due to the system you taught me to use. I […]

It’s no secret that all of us at TMS are huge fans of Greece, so of course, a trip to the capital city of Athens is a must at least once in your life! It’s made even better when you can visit Athens on points and miles. That being said, you don’t need too much […]

My latest stay in Greece was on the island of Crete at the Marriott Domes Zeen Chania Resort. My daughter, Kelly, had stayed there earlier and really enjoyed it. I wanted to stay in Crete, so I chose it as our destination. Crete is a huge island, and there are many different chain hotels to […]

Recently, I flew JFK-JTR (Santorini) on a Brussels Airlines Business Class Flight as I returned to Greece. This flight was booked on United Airlines for 88,000 United Miles plus $5.60 in cash per ticket. I made this trip with my friend Deanna, who has never flown business class before. Here is my review of the […]

I could go to two places every single year—Italy and Greece. I love these two countries and want to explore them more or return to cities that I love. This summer, I have trips to both of them. First, I’m back to Greece on points and miles. I have a friend who has had a […]