Unveiling the Chase Ultimate Rewards: Why 23,363 Points in 2023 are Worth Celebrating

 

I love when I see my rewards summary in my inbox. Now you may look at this Chase Ultimate Rewards summary and say, wait, you only earned 23,363 points in 2023. But let me explain. 

This summary is for my Chase FREEDOM FLEX credit card. It's a no annual fee card with 5x points rotating bonus categories. 

What does that mean? FREE money! Woohoo! 

Unveiling the Chase Ultimate Rewards: Why 23,363 Points in 2023 are Worth Celebrating

I earned those 23,363 points on purchases that I was going to make anyway like gas, groceries, Amazon, Paypal etc. 

But I intentionally used this credit card when Chase offered 5x points on those types of purchases. 

Chase rotates the categories every quarter. This quarter the categories are groceries and gyms. You can activate the offer in your Chase.com account.

The secret here is to earn the points on the Chase FREEDOM FLEX credit card and then transfer those points to your Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve account to squeeze more value out of them for incredible trips like this one in Chile. 

Unveiling the Chase Ultimate Rewards: Why 23,363 Points in 2023 are Worth Celebrating

The reason is that when you spend the points from your Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve account, you get 1.25% or 1.5% more when you book travel through the Chase Travel Portal and you can transfer the points to a dozen different airlines and three hotel chains. You can click here to find out how we use Chase points to book insanely cheap nights at Hyatt. 

 

The Chase FREEDOM FLEX is offering a $200 or 20,000 CUR points on $500 minimum spend. This no annual fee card earns 5x points on rotating bonus categories and 5x points on gas and groceries for the first year up to $12,000. Please use my referral link if you decide to apply for this card. 

Unveiling the Chase Ultimate Rewards: Why 23,363 Points in 2023 are Worth Celebrating

If you don't have a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve credit card, you can read about these cards here. They are the key to our success, we love the flexibility of the Chase Ultimate Rewards points for almost FREE travel. 

Again, if you decide to add any of these card to your strategy, please use our referral links and if you would like support with your travel goals, join our Travel Coaching Program. 

What Are Chase Ultimate Reward Points And Why You Want Them

One of my favorite rewards programs is the Chase Ultimate Rewards. These are points you earn with a number of Chase credit cards including the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Preferred, FREEDOM, Ink and FREEDOM Unlimited. There are pros and cons of each card depending on your goals. You can read my past posts to research specific cards, but here I am going to focus on the rewards program as a whole. 
Ultimate Rewards are just one of a few programs that are not tied to any one airline or hotel brand which means flexibility. You can transfer reward points at 1:1 to most airlines and hotels except Marriott Bonvoy which is 1:3:

Different airlines that include: 

• Aer Lingus
• British Airways
• Jet Blue
• United
• KLM
• Southwest
• Air France
• Emirates
• Iberia,
• Singapore Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic.

Different hotels include:

• IHG
• Marriott
• Hyatt

Once you transfer to an airline or hotel, you can use these points to book on partner airlines or transfer to another program. For example, if you transfer Ultimate Reward points to Marriott Bonvoy, you can then transfer those same points to dozens of different airlines like American Airlines. Pretty awesome, right? And it gets even better because Marriott Bonvoy will give you a 5,000 mile bonus for the transfer. 

What Are Chase Ultimate Reward Points And Why You Want Them

Another way to use the Ultimate Reward points are to book through the Chase travel portal. If you hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred credit card, you get better than 1:1. Sapphire Preferred credit cardholders get 1:1.25 value and Sapphire Reserve holders get 1:1.50. Let's check it out. 

In the portal with the Sapphire Reserve, the Springhill Suites in Durham is listed at 13,155 points per night or $197.33. If you booked the same hotel straight from Marriott, it would cost you 20,000 points per night or $158.90 per night. 
So if you pay with points, you get more bang for your buck by using the portal, but if you paid cash, you would be better off booking straight from Marriott. However, if you transferred Chase Ultimate Reward points to Marriott and then booked your room, you would really get a sweet deal. 

Look at this:
Ultimate Rewards transfer to Marriott Bonvoy at 1:3 so you would only need approximately 6,750 Ultimate Rewards points to equal 20,000 Marriott points and boom, FREE night. 

Flexibility is key to this program. You can earn Ultimate Reward points pretty quickly too as most purchases earn 1 point per dollar, but travel and dining earn more. 
When things are uncertain in travel like right now, I like the idea that I can accumulate points in a flexible program and be ready when I can travel again. 

Real Client Case Study: Building a Points Strategy from Scratch

Real Client Case Study: Building a Points Strategy from Scratch

Recently I sat down with a new client to audit her credit card setup and figure out how she could earn and redeem points more effectively. Here's exactly what we went through — and what we decided.

Her Starting Point 📋

• Cards she holds: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Delta Amex Gold, Wells Fargo no-annual-fee card
• Airlines she flies: Primarily Delta, but price-sensitive — so JetBlue, Frontier, and Spirit (RIP ✈️) make regular appearances
• Big recurring expenses: Rent and tuition (paid twice a year, but may incur a 3% credit card fee)
• Home airport: Salt Lake City (SLC)

She was using the Sapphire Preferred for almost everything and the Delta Amex only for Delta purchases. No specific trips on the horizon yet.

---

The Strategy: Go Deep on Chase Ultimate Rewards 💳

Since she has no destination locked in, flexible points are her best friend right now. She already has a small stash of Chase Ultimate Rewards from her Sapphire Preferred, so we decided to build on that foundation rather than start somewhere new.

One big win here: Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer 1:1 to JetBlue — one of her go-to airlines. That's a genuinely useful transfer partner given her flying habits.

💡 Quick tip: The Chase Sapphire Preferred includes a $50 annual hotel credit when you book through the Chase Travel Portal. With a $95 annual fee, that brings your real cost down to $45.

---

The New Card Conversation: Freedom Unlimited vs. Freedom Flex

Both are no-annual-fee Chase cards that funnel points into the same Ultimate Rewards bucket — meaning they work with her Sapphire Preferred, not separately from it. You can read about how to combine CUR points here. 

Chase Freedom Unlimited

• 1.5x points on all purchases (better baseline than the Sapphire Preferred)
• 3x on dining and drugstores
• Current offer: 20,000 points after $500 spend 🎉

Chase Freedom Flex

• Rotating 5x quarterly bonus categories (this quarter includes Amazon — easy way to stack up to 7,500 bonus points fast)
• 3x on dining and drugstores
• 1x on everything else
• Current offer: 20,000 points after $500 spend 🎉

Both are worth considering — the right pick depends on whether she prefers a consistent flat rate or wants to actively track and maximize rotating categories.

---

Two Free Accounts Worth Opening 🛍️

We also talked about signing up for Rakuten and Bilt:

• Rakuten — shop through their portal and earn cash back or points on purchases you'd make anyway. Use a referral link to get $50 or 2,500 Bilt points after your first $50 purchase.
• Bilt — lets you transfer points to dozens of different airlines and hotels. You can also open a Bilt credit card to earn points on rent payments with no transaction fees, but it's a bit complicated so we decided to table this one for right now. 

---

What About the Delta Amex? 🤔

We discussed cancelling it. Here's the logic:

• $150 annual fee
• She rarely uses it
• It's not her oldest card, so the credit score impact would be minimal

Bottom line: keeping a card "just in case" when it costs $150/year and sits in a drawer isn't worth it.

---

Where Things Stand

She's in a solid position. By consolidating around Chase Ultimate Rewards, adding a no-annual-fee earning card, and plugging into Rakuten and Bilt, she'll be sitting on a healthy stash of flexible points whenever she's ready to book something. No trip needed yet — just a smart setup so the options are there when she wants them. 🗺️

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. 

Or you can book a consulting call with us for just $100. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

***In honor of every new paid client, we will make a donation of 10% to one of our favorite charities.

Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards

 

I've used Chase Ultimate Rewards to travel all over the world for FREE. The points came in very handy to erase Airbnb reservations (this promotion ended) and for flights when we visited the Perito Moreno glacier in Patagonia, Argentina. 

I love CUR rewards because they are so flexible. If you don't know where you want to stay or where you will be traveling, then these points are for you. That's because you can transfer them to dozens of different airlines and three hotel chains, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott. 

Sometimes the deal is even better transferring CUR than using the points in the travel portal and sometimes the portal is a better value. 

Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards 

Here is an example that happened just last week. 

I had my eye on the Hyatt in Evanston, Illinois, just outside of Chicago for an upcoming trip. 

The cash price was showing $350 per night, ouch! 

In the Chase Travel Portal, it was showing $320 per night or 48,005 points. I get 50% more value for my points in the portal because I have a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. The Chase Sapphire Preferred gets 25% more value in the portal.  

But when I checked the Hyatt website, standard rooms are just 12,000 points per night. 

Woohoo! That means by transferring CUR to Hyatt at 1:1 cuts the number of points needed in half and has a value of $740. Nice. 

It's simple to transfer CUR points to dozens of airlines and hotel chains. When you log into your Chase.com account and click on redeem points

Then click on the menu in the top left hand corner and choose transfer to travel partners. 

CUR points transfer immediately to Hyatt and you must transfer in 1,000 point increments. Sometimes Chase will offer a bonus when you transfer. 

You will need to create an account with the EXACT name on your Chase account BEFORE you attempt to transfer the CUR points. 

Once you submit, you cannot get the CUR points back so be certain this is what you want to do. 

When I transferred to Hyatt, the points showed up immediately in my new Hyatt account and I could book the hotel in Evanston. Amazing! 

Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards 

Right now, the Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card is offering a 100,000 CUR bonus with a $8,000 minimum spend. It's a hefty minimum spend, but usually it is set at $15,000 so you might say this minimum spend is a bargain. If you have a big expense coming up or can handle the minimum spend, this bonus can be worth thousands of dollars. 

We are hearing this bonus may end September 23rd. 

Last Chance To Get The 90,000 Chase Ink Business Bonus

Chase appears to be ending the 90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards bonus offer on the Ink Business Cash and Unlimited credit cards. We are hearing that both offers will end on January 18th. 

These annual fee business cash cards were offering 90,000 bonus Chase Ultimate Reward points when you spend $6,000 in the first three months. 90,000 points are worth approximately $900, but can be worth much more if you combine them onto another card. 

This is a great offer IF you already have or can also apply for a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card. Why? Because the Ink Cash card does not allow you to take advantage of all the ways to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards on travel. 

But you can transfer your 90,000 points to another card that does offer the travel opportunities like the travel portal and transferring points to airlines and hotels. 

Make sense?

The Ink Business cash card also earns 5x points at office supply stores, streaming services, internet, cable and phone. 

So you may be asking what qualifies as a business? Lots of small businesses count like selling items on Ebay, Etsy and rental income. 

You are also allowed to hold each of the Ink Business cards so you may want to apply for one of the no annual fee cards with the bonus offer ending soon and then turn around an apply for the Ink Business Preferred credit card with its new 100,000 bonus point offer. This card does carry a $95 annual fee and a $8,000 minimum spend, but 100,000 points are at least $1,000 in travel and maybe more if you transfer the points to your Sapphire Preferred or Reserve credit card. 

You can read about how I use Chase Ultimate Rewards points for almost FREE family travel here. 

If you apply for any of the INK credit cards, please use my referral link so I can continue to help you travel for almost FREE. 

If you want help walking through this process, register for my Travel Coaching Program or book me for a 1:1 coaching session. 

 Ends Jan. 18th 

How I Booked Overwater Bungalows and Flights In Tahiti for $140

When I asked my children where they wanted to celebrate their graduations,
they decided on Tahiti. I was a bit surprised since my first thought was that’s where you honeymoon. But I was game. And they added, we would love to stay in those over the water bungalows. Makes sense!

So how do you get a family of 5 an almost FREE trip to Tahiti? It takes a lot of planning and time. I wanted to walk you through my process so you can see the strategy in action. 

And I need to mention that if you are looking for help planning your next trip, I just launched the second cohort of my Travel Coaching Program. There are still a few spots open. And right now, I am donating 15% of all the proceeds to the Israel Emergency Fund.

But I'll share my process here so if you want to do it on your own, you can. Because my goal is that everyone can travel for almost FREE and enjoy those priceless experiences.

I start with research:

• Who flies to Tahiti
• Which islands should we visit
• What is there to do there
• Do we need a car
• Where will we stay

And of course, the most important question of all: which over the water bungalows do we want to stay in. 

After doing the research, I decided for this trip: 

• We should fly American Airlines - 70,000-80,000 miles per round trip
• We will visit Tahiti and Moorea - we can take a short ferry between these islands. 
• We will need a car on both islands
• Besides the OWB, seems to be most cost effective for our family of 5 to stay in Airbnb

Now this is the way, we travel, but you might make different choices for your family. Now the fun part, earning all the points. For this trip, we will need approximately: 

• 400,000 American Airlines miles for 5 r/t tickets
• 299,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points for 2 nights in an OWB bungalow and a garden room (we need two rooms for 5 people)
• Capital One points to erase the Airbnb, rental cars and tours

It sounds like a lot, but let’s break it down:

• Barclays American Aviator bonus offer 70,000 miles for $99 annual fee and one purchase - my partner and I each opened one of these
• Chase Ink Business Preferred bonus offer 100,000 Ultimate Rewards for a $95 annual fee and $8,000 minimum spend - my partner and I each opened one of these
• Several friends opened the Chase Ink Business Preferred using my referral link - bonus 40,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points for each one
• American Airlines Online Shopping portal
• Chase Ultimate Rewards Shopping portal
• Capital One points using my partners Capital One Venture X card and my new Capital One Venture X bonus. 

So what did all of this get us:

• 240,000 American Airlines miles netted 3 round trip flights
• 128,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points netted 2 round trip flights
• 299,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points netted 2 nights in the OWB and 2 nights in the garden room
• 74,000 Capital One points netted 3.5 days in the Airbnb

So right now, I estimate the amount I saved using points and miles at approximately $11,000. Pretty good. I have spent $400 on annual fees and $340 on taxes, fees.

Between now and the actual trip, I will continue to earn Capital One points so I can erase the Airbnb, tours and rental cars.

And when I’m relaxing on the beach in Tahiti, I’ll enjoy it just a bit more because I didn’t spend an arm and a leg to have this dream vacation.

If this sounds amazing, but you are confused about where to start and how to get your next trip for almost FREE then join the second cohort in my Travel Coaching program. Sign up by November 1st. 

How To Earn The Most Points and Miles on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

One of our first FREE trips was to Thailand and Japan. It was an amazing one-month adventure rich with culture and new experiences. It was especially sweet because not only was it FREE, we actually made money on the trip. I vowed never to pay for travel again. 

One of my tricks during the holiday shopping season is to lean heavily on online shopping portals and then use the right credit card to double or even triple dip on points and miles. 

As we head into Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I am going to show you how to do it too. 

Before pressing the place order button, check cashbackmonitor.com to see if the online retailer is listed on any shopping portal. Most major retailers are listed on shopping portals as part of their marketing strategies. All the major airlines and some hotels offer shopping portals plus there are cashback portals and flexible point portals like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Barclays, and Capital One.

Once you see where the retailer is listed, you can compare the points and miles offers. 

For example, I type in Best Buy and bam, it's listed all over the place from cashback to Southwest to Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Depending on your strategy, you may pick one portal over another. 

• if you need to top off an account
• you have points that are expiring and you need some activity
• you are trying to earn enough points for a specific trip 

There are a lot of reasons to pick one portal over another. 

My go-to portal is the Chase Ultimate Rewards since I can transfer those points to dozens of different airlines, hotels, use them in the travel center or pay myself back. Points earned in the Southwest shopping portal count towards the Companion Pass. 

Sometimes the portals will offer bonus points too so if I saw a great bonus offer in another portal, I would head there. 

You can click on the portal out of cashback monitor and log in from there. Some of the portals require a separate login from your regular airline mile account. 

Then make your purchase just like you would normally. The portal will track your purchase and a few days later you will get an email letting you know that your purchase is being tracked. 

Now one more thing before you push the button to make that purchase and after you click through to a shopping portal, be sure you use the right credit card. If you have a Chase FREEDOM or FREEDOM UNLIMITED or FLEX card, then check your bonus categories. If the store you are making a purchase from is listed, then use that credit card to get the bonus on top of the portal bonus. For example, Q4 2021 bonus categories are Walmart and Paypal. Can you use Paypal to pay for this purchase? Many retailers offer the option, then do it and collect 5x bonus points on top of the portal points. 

If not, is the retailer an office supply store? If so, use your Chase Ink credit card to earn 5x points and so on. Amazing!

If you don't have a Chase FREEDOM card or Southwest Credit Card, consider using my referral links so we can continue helping you get the best deals in travel. 

That's how we do it here at almostfreefamilytravel.com. Happy holidays! 

 cashback monitor 

Chase and use the Chase Reserve Credit Card 

Stack, Stack, Stack To Earn The Most Points And Miles

This is the best time of the year to earn so many extra points and miles! The secret is to stack the offers when you are doing your holiday shopping online. A few things to keep in mind, you don't have to use the credit card that matches the shopping portal. For example, you can shop in the Southwest Shopping Portal, but pay with your Capital One credit card to get 2x points. Make sense?

 I'll give you several examples that I've actually done in the past week. 

Example #1 

Southwest Shopping Portal is offering 1,000 extra points if you spend $200 in the portal. That's easy, let's stock up on pet food. 

The Southwest shopping portal is also offering 2 points per $1 spent on purchases at Chewy. Awesome. Then we pay for our purchase with Paypal and our Chase FREEDOM FLEX credit card which nets us 5x points since this card has the 5x bonus rotating categories. 

So this one pet food purchase should earn:

• 1,000 bonus Southwest points 
• 400 Southwest points 
• 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards 

Example #2

I was referred to Rakuten.com and bought flowers for a friend through 1-800flowers. I spent $65 on flowers, but got a FREE $50 for following the referral link plus 10% bonus cash back. Then I linked my Bilt account with my Rakuten account. Rakuten transferred more than 5,000 points into my Bilt account. You don't need a Bilt credit card, just create an account. Be sure your email is the same on both accounts. Woohoo! When I'm ready I can transfer the Bilt points to dozens of airlines or hotels like Air France, KLM, Southwest, Hyatt and more. On the first of the month, Bilt offers transfer bonuses too so I may be able to squeeze more value out of those points. 

So this flower purchase earned:

• $50 referral cash 
• 10% cash back 
• 5,500 Bilt points that I can transfer the points to dozens of airlines or hotels

Example #3

I wanted to buy a new Iphone, Capital One Shopping was offering 10% back on Apple purchases and I could pay for the phone with Paypal and my Chase FREEDOM FLEX credit card for 5x Chase Ultimate Rewards points. 

So this phone purchase earned:

• $69.90 Capital One shopping rewards which I can use to buy gift cards for stores like Home Depot, Ulta and REI.  Use this referral link and you get a FREE $40. 
• 3,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points 

To find these deals, start with cashbackmonitor.com and my new fave Rakuten.com. The $50 referral offer is still active so use my link. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Book a 1:1 consulting call, download my ebook, custom tracker or Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process.

Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the coaching program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

What Is A Transfer Bonus And How Can It Mean Big Savings For You

 

One of the top reasons, we love Chase Ultimate Rewards points is because they are so flexible. You can use them in the travel portal to buy flights, hotels, car rentals and even cruises. You can also transfer them to dozens of different airlines and several hotel chains. 

And sometimes, Chase offers bonus points when you transfer your Chase Ultimate Reward points to specific partners. You can get as many as 100% bonus points. When the bonus offer coincides with a fare sale, then wow! 

Like right now, Virgin Atlantic and FlyingBlue are doing a fare sale and Chase is offering a 40% bonus to Virgin. 

What does this mean? Take a look at some of these fares being offered by Virgin. 

• Heathrow to LAX for just 9,000 Virgin points. 

If you were to take advantage of the transfer bonus, just 7,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points would equal approximately 9,000- 10,000 Virgin Atlantic points. Wow! You could transfer a few more points and fly Premium or Upper Class.

To transfer Chase points:

• Login to your Chase.com account
• Click on redeem points 
• Hover over travel and click on transfer to travel partners
• Click on the partner you want to transfer points TO
• Enter your membership information
• Your name must match exactly! 
• Enter the number of points you want to transfer (must be in increments of 1,000)
• Confirm
• The transfer should happen almost immediately

Word of advice, do NOT transfer points until you know how you are going to use the points. You CANNOT get them back. 

Chase transfer partners are a great way to make that bucket list trip affordable.

One of our favorite Chase Ink Business cards, the Business Unlimited, has a points promotion ending on November 7th. The minimum spend is $6,000, there is no annual fee and the bonus is 90,000 points which equals $900, but if you hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred card, you can squeeze more value out of this one. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is also offering a bonus $300 travel credit right now which is an amazing offer. 

If you would like help planning your bucket list trip, reach out to me. I'll help you use points and miles to make your memorable trip affordable. 

 

Points Ecosystems: A 4-Person Portugal Field Test ✈️

Portugal is absolutely one of those bucket-list destinations! Sun-drenched cities, incredible food, and history around every corner. Even better? With some clever planning, it’s also an incredibly affordable one. Before we dive into what to eat and see in Lisbon and Porto, let's look at the most exciting part: free flights!

I often hear from clients who get stuck at the points-redemption stage. They have the points, they want to book, but they freeze up worrying they aren't getting the best deal or doing it "right."

I’m about to show you that there isn't one "right way." There are many different ways to get to the exact same destination using different combinations of points and miles, and all of them are wins! Hopefully, this case study takes some of the pressure off your next big booking.

The Ultimate Points Challenge

Recently, my family of four headed to Portugal for a much-needed getaway. But this wasn't a simple round-trip for four. Because of different schedules and starting points, we were traveling from four different cities on four different days to converge on Lisbon.

This logistical challenge turned into a perfect, real-life points-and-miles case study, demonstrating how powerful diverse redemptions can be. Here’s a look at the strategy for each traveler:

Traveler 1: The Multi-City Mixer

• LAX → MAD | Nonstop via Iberia Airlines | 18,000 Iberia Avios + $60 | |
• Seville (SVQ) → LIS | Positioning flight (booked via portal) | 8,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) 
• ATH → CDG → LAX | Return via Air France/KLM (Flying Blue) | 20,000 Chase UR (transferred to Flying Blue) + $80 
• Total Cost | | 46,000 points + $140 | The takeaway here is using Avios for low-tax redemptions and then transferring Chase points to a partner (Flying Blue) for the long-haul return.

Traveler 2: The Direct & Diversify

• LAX → LIS | Direct via TAP Portugal (booked via portal) | 22,000 Chase UR 
• OPO → AMS → SAN | Return via KLM (Flying Blue) | 20,000 Chase UR (transferred to Flying Blue) + $80 
• Total Cost | | 42,000 points + $80 | A great reminder that sometimes the easiest redemption is through a portal (Chase) for the outbound, while a partner transfer (Flying Blue) is best for the inbound.

Traveler 3: The Flying Blue Promo Fare Hunter

• SFO → CDG → LIS | Air France Promo Fare | 18,750 Chase UR (transferred to Flying Blue) + $120 
• LIS → AMS → SFO | KLM Promo Fare | 18,750 Chase UR (transferred to Flying Blue) + $177 | | 
• Total Cost | | 37,500 points + $297 | This person shows the magic of Promo Fares. They saved the most points overall by being flexible with connections and leveraging a great monthly transfer bonus.

Traveler 4: The Avios Madrid Hub Master

• ORD → MAD | Iberia Avios Redemption | 20,750 Iberia Avios + $67 
• LIS → MAD | Cheap cash positioning flight | $50 
• MAD → ORD | Iberia Avios Redemption | 16,000 Iberia Avios + $36 
• Total Cost | | 36,750 points + $153 | The Avios sweet spot is real! By routing through Madrid, they used significantly fewer points for a transatlantic trip and spent only a little extra cash on the positioning flight.

The Grand Total & The Earning Strategy

To move four people from four different starting points across the Atlantic, we used:

Total Points and Miles Redeemed

• Chase Ultimate Rewards: Approximately 107,500 points

• Iberia Avios: 45,750 Avios

• Total Cash Paid (Taxes/Fees/Cash Leg): ~$670

That’s four transatlantic flights and two positioning flights for minimal cash! 🤯

How We Earned the Points

Now for the second most-asked question: How do you have so many points?

• Chase Points: My large stash came primarily from my Player 2 (P2) downgrading his Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card earlier this year and immediately reapplying to snag a huge 100,000-point welcome bonus. This is a classic, powerful strategy.

• Iberia Avios: I earned 100,000 Iberia Avios a few years ago when Chase offered a whopping bonus on their co-branded Iberia Visa. I canceled the card after a year, but I kept the points alive by making a small, occasional purchase through the Iberia Shopping Portal—a simple trick to prevent expiration!

That's how it's done! Once you knock the big ticket item—the flights—out of the park for practically free, then you can relax and move on to redeeming for hotels, activities, and rental cars. If you aren't using points yet, focus on earning them for your next big trip. It’s absolutely worth the effort!

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Book a 1:1 consulting call, download my ebook, custom tracker or Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process.

Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the coaching program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities.