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 need to know about visiting Prague on points and miles. (Written by Kendyl from life-half-full.com, an expert on budget travel hacking and finding local eats and activities).

 

Getting There

With only Delta operating a direct flight from New York City to Prague, you’ll likely be taking a connection. Fortunately, there are many good options that will save you money on your flight to Prague from most major and mid-sized US airports.

One option is utilizing Virgin Atlantic miles to book AirFrance economy tickets. This redemption fluctuates from US locations, but East Coast round-trip tickets can run as few as 20,000 Virgin Atlantic miles. I often use point.me to easily find the best redemptions for travel destinations. I found flights from Chicago to Prague for just 16,000 miles for March 2023.

 

 

You can earn Virgin Atlantic miles by transferring points from all five major travel credit card companies. What’s great about Virgin Atlantic is that there is almost always a transfer bonus from one or more of the card transfer partners, too. This means you can transfer fewer points to earn the miles you need.

Economy seats on United can be found for about 33K each way from Chicago in March. The taxes and fees are less but how do you compete with 15K miles?

 

Prague is also easily accessible by train from many amazing European cities. Book your train tickets with Omio and use Rakuten for cash back on train ticket purchases.

 

Hotels

Though Prague is a walkable city with accessible, cheap public transportation options, staying closer to the Old Town Square will reward you with amazing charm.

Prague truly is a great place to stay in an Airbnb. The Airbnb options are very affordable- much more than the chain hotels- and are in better locations. Consider booking an Airbnb as a point-earning opportunity through a simple stack of buying an Airbnb gift card through giftcards.com within a shopping portal, then using your gift card through the British Airways / Airbnb partnership to earn 3 Avios per dollar spent. This Airbnb Plus with two bedrooms is less than $100 a night.

If you want to pay for your Airbnb with a travel card, you can use your Capital One Venture or Capital One Venture X  eraser tool to redeem your Airbnb stay at 1 point per dollar spent. Capital One cards are the perfect way to make your Airbnb stays completely covered.

If you’re interested in a true luxury experience right in the heart of Prague, the Andaz Prague is a beautiful hotel on the Old Town Square. The Andaz is a Hyatt Category 6 property with a standard redemption of 25,000 points a night.

 

 

You can earn Hyatt points by transferring points from the Chase Sapphire Preferred  to Hyatt directly or earn points with the World of Hyatt Business or World of Hyatt personal cards.

 

Things to Do in Prague

Prague Walking Tour

You can reserve your stop on a variety of pay-what-you-want walking tours through Old Town on freetoursbyfoot.com. However, I recommend Rick Steve’s Audio Europe self-guided walking tour of Prague. This tour had a great pace and takes you through a large portion of the city.

 

 

Prague Castle and St. George’s Basilica

Prague Castle is one of the best value experiences in all of Prague. You can pay an additional fee to enter the museum and specific parts of the castle grounds, but most of the castle is free to visitors offering stunning views of the city.

 

St. Charles Bridge

If you want to truly enjoy the bridge, you must go early or super later. In Rick Steve’s audio guide, you’ll learn more about the various statues along the bridge, giving a nice context. Visiting Prague on points and miles will not be complete without crossing this historic bridge.

 

 

Places to Eat

Letna Beer Garden

This beer garden comes with an incredible view of Prague. This place is cash only – so come prepared. They have a couple of pub food options and beer and cider.

 

Havelska Koruna

This is a very local place with classic dishes at local prices. The menu changes daily, and the items are available until they are sold out. Once inside, you’ll receive a ticket card to take to the counter with you.

 

Cafe Palanda

Our Airbnb hosts highly recommended this burger joint, which did not disappoint. For the quality of the food and serving sizes, it’s a great deal.

 

Lokal

Locals and tourists agree that Lokal is one of the best restaurants in all of Prague. Before you even get to Prague, do yourself a favor and make a reservation here.

 

Bottom Line

Prague is a great destination to enjoy Eastern European charm at an affordable price. With some solid redemptions to get you to such a small airport, you can make Prague work with a small travel budget, including your points and miles. Visiting Prague on points and miles is a must on one of your visits to Europe!