The Secret To Taking An Almost FREE Family Summer Vacation

Washing elephants in Thailand. Once in a lifetime experience! 

So you want to take a big family vacation next summer? And of course, you want to take that trip for almost FREE, right? Well, the secret is planning early.

Here are the things you need to figure out now.

1. Where do you want to go? Europe, South America, Hawaii, Asia?
2. Which airlines fly there? Who are their partner airlines? And what points can you use to get miles on those airlines?
3. How many miles do you need for free tickets? And how can you gather the rest of the miles quickly?
4. Put the plan in action

The plan takes a bit of research. For example, we would like to go to Europe next summer. We are a family of 5. Currently, I have 3 one way tickets on United. So the question is how can we get the rest of the tickets we need to get all of us to Europe for FREE.
Since we want to fly together, I am targeting United Airlines which is part of the Star Alliance. Starwood Points can be transferred to United, but the ratio is 2:1 so it's not a good option. BUT Starwood Points can be transferred to Singapore Airlines at a 1:1 ratio with a 5,000 point bonus for every 20,000 points you transfer. You can also book one way tickets and use less points than United charges for the same flights. Hmmm, now we are getting somewhere.
If you want to go to South America, American Airlines will probably be your best bet. Starwood points transfer at a ratio of 1:1 with the 5,000 point bonus. Plus British Airways is a partner with LAN Airlines and offers ridiculously cheap flights for Avios points within South America.
If you want to go to Asia, you may need to look at United or American who partners with Japan Airlines.
Sometimes you have to act like a detective to try and figure out the best scenario and then just go for it. Be flexible, reach your minimum spend quickly and transfer the points and book your flights.