How To Find Amazing Point Deals On Virgin Atlantic

People ask me all the time how I find great flight deals to Europe. There are no tricks, but there are some tips to find them. 

#1 is planning early. If you haven't started planning for next summer, you are late! But I'm here to help. 

#2 is knowing where to look for those deals

#3 is having the points available to jump on them when you find them

Let's go step by step and see what we can find. Suppose we are looking to go to Europe in summer 2025. Usually, I look for flights at least a year in advance so I can find the best deal and get my points earned in time to buy the flights when they open 330 days in advance. But sometimes you can't plan that far out so let's see what's around now. 

My two favorite airlines currently to hop across the pond are Virgin Atlantic and Flying Blue (KLM and Air France).

First, let's check Virgin Atlantic to see how many miles we would need to book Washington DC to London on July 8th.

Even now, you could book a flight from Washington Dulles to London for just 6,000 Virgin points and $73 in taxes in July 2025. Pretty sweet. Last month, Chase was offering a 40% transfer bonus and this month American Express is offering the same deal. With the transfer bonus, this flight would only cost approximately 4,000 points. Crazy! 

For a family of 5 like mine, you are talking just 20,000 points and less than $400 to hop across the pond. 

Now let's check Flying Blue. 

Flying Blue is the loyalty program for both KLM and Air France. It's not the loyalty program for Virgin Atlantic, but that airline shows up on the portal as well. But now look at the points. On Flying Blue, it would cost you 20,000 miles and $124 in taxes for the one way flight from Washington Dulles to London. Still a great deal, but definitely not as good as on Virgin Atlantic. Occasionally, Chase and Amex will offer transfer bonuses to Flying Blue as well making this deal even better. 

To find these deals on Virgin, you will need to start at the reward seat checker. Once you enter your departure and destination airport, you will get a view of the month you choose and available reward seats. 

Then you go to the actual website and put in your dates to locate the flights. 

Now here's where it gets interesting. You might be saying this is all great, but I don't have any Virgin Atlantic or Flying Blue points. 

That's true, most of us don't. 

But if you follow my blog or have worked with me in the travel coaching program, you know how much I love flexible points. My favorite flex points are Chase and Capital One and this is when they come in especially handy. 

Both Chase and Capital One are transfer partners for Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic. You can read here about how to transfer your flex points to dozens of different airlines and several hotel chains. 

Remember once you transfer your points, you can't get them back even if the flight is no longer available. 

Right now, you can pick up 75,000 Capital One points by applying for the Capital One Venture or Venture X cards. 

• Both come with a 75,000 bonus for a $4,000 minimum spend. 
• The Venture card has a $95 annual fee and the Venture X has a $395 annual fee because it also comes with a $120 Global Entry credit, Priority Pass membership and a $300 travel credit. 

For Chase points, our favorite cards are the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve credit cards. 

Both come with a 60,000 point bonus for $4,000 minimum spend. The Preferred has a $95 annual fee and the Reserve has a $550 annual fee, but comes with a $300 travel credit, $120 Global Entry credit and Priority Pass membership. 

Don’t spend tons of money on your next vacation. Instead, let us help you travel for almost FREE forever. Join our coaching program today, and start making your travel dreams a reality—just like this success story!

We can’t wait to see you in the program and help you unlock all the amazing travel rewards waiting for you.

Woohoo! Let’s make your next trip an AlmostFREE adventure!

https://travelplus.virginatlantic.com/reward-flight-finder/results/month?origin=LHR&destination=JFK&month=02&year=2025

Travel Insurance: Do You Need It And Which Should You Choose

Are you travelling for the holidays? A lot of us are and well, when we travel things happen. So the question is should you buy travel insurance? 

Well it depends. 

Our client, Deborah, said that travel insurance recently saved her thousands of dollars when she and her partner came down with Covid while on a trip to Croatia and Greece. They had to change plans and stay at an island hotel for 5 days while they recovered. Travel insurance covered the additional hotel nights, cancelled hotel nights, food and transportation. 

Some credit cards include travel insurance if you buy your flights, hotels or car insurance with it. If you use points to buy your flights and/or hotels, coverage will depend on how you booked the flight and hotel. Did you transfer the points to an airline or hotel partner, if you did, then Chase considers itself no longer responsible for the trip. And you would only be covered if you purchased travel insurance from the carrier or hotel brand. 

If you booked through the Chase Travel Portal, then Chase would still cover your trip and would refund you in cash rather than points. 

The credit cards we like that include travel insurance are:

Chase Sapphire Reserve -  details about coverage from Chase.com 

• Travel and Emergency Assistance Services: If you run into a problem away from home, call the Benefit Administrator for legal and medical referrals or other travel and emergency assistance. (You will be responsible for the cost of any goods or services obtained.)
• Trip Delay Reimbursement: If your common carrier travel is delayed more than 12 hours (six hours for Sapphire Reserve) or requires an overnight stay, you and your family are covered for unreimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket.
• Trip Cancellation / Interruption Insurance: If your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours and hotels.
• Baggage Delay Insurance: Reimburses you for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing for baggage delays over six hours by passenger carrier up to $100 a day for 5 days.
• Lost Luggage Reimbursement: If you or an immediate family member check or carry-on luggage that is damaged or lost by the carrier, you're covered up to $3,000 per passenger.
• Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver: Decline the rental company's collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card. For Sapphire Reserve cardmembers, coverage is primary and provides reimbursement up to $75,000 for theft and collision damage for rental cars in the U.S. and abroad. Sapphire Preferred Cardmembers can be reimbursed up to the actual cash value of the vehicle, but coverage excludes certain cars, such as high value and exotic vehicles.
• Travel Accident Insurance: When you pay for your air, bus, train or cruise transportation with your card, you are eligible to receive accidental death or dismemberment coverage of up to $500,000 ($1,000,000 for Sapphire Reserve).
• Certain travel reimbursement, cancellation protection and emergency services are available to Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardmembers on eligible travel booked with their credit card. Here’s some more information about the benefits offered with the card.
• Emergency Evacuation and Transportation - If you or a member of your immediate family are injured or become sick during a trip far from home that results in an emergency evacuation, you can be covered for medical services and transportation up to $100,000.
• Roadside Assistance - If you have a roadside emergency, you can call for a tow, jumpstart, tire change, locksmith or gas. You’re covered up to $50 per incident 4 times a year.
• Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit - If you're 100 miles or more from home on a trip, you can be reimbursed up to $2,500 for medical expenses if you or your immediate family member become sick or injured.

Chase Sapphire Reserve is one of our favorite cards, it comes with 60,000 bonus points, $300 travel credit, Priority Pass Lounge Membership, $120 Global Entry credit and more.

Capital One Venture X - details about coverage from Capitalone.com 

• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance - If you booked and paid for your trip with a card belonging to a network that offers trip cancellation and interruption insurance, you may qualify for reimbursement in certain situations. For example, they can include unexpected health issues or accidental injuries. The death of an immediate family member or someone in your travel party may also qualify. Maximum reimbursement depends on your card and can vary significantly. For example, some Capital One consumer credit cards may offer up to $2,000 per trip. (For others, it could be less or more.)
• Trip delay insurance - Travel schedules don’t always go as planned. Flights may get delayed or severe weather may affect your travels. Or you may need to pay for a meal or last-minute hotel room while you wait. If you paid for your trip with a card that has trip delay insurance, certain reasonable costs you incur during the delay might be covered.
• Rental car insurance - If you pay for a rental car with your card, you might be able to skip the added cost of buying insurance through the rental company. Credit card rental car insurance through some Capital One cards could cover collisions and theft.
• Lost or delayed baggage insurance - Lost, delayed or even stolen baggage can interrupt your trip. If you need to buy replacement items, you could be reimbursed.
• Travel accident insurance - In cases of severe injury or death, you or your family members could receive benefits if you booked and paid for your trip with a card that offers travel accident insurance.

Capital One Venture X is my second favorite credit card because it earns 2x points on every purchase, offers a 75,000 bonus, $300 travel credit, $120 Global Entry credit and access to Capital One Lounges. 

If your credit card doesn't cover your needs or if you need additional travel insurance for a cruise or tour, I recommend Faye Travel Insurance. It's generally inexpensive and you can adjust coverage on the company website to suit your needs. 

I am an official partner with Faye Travel Insurance so reach out if you need help with this. 

You Got Capital One Lounge Access, Now What?

 

Enjoying an alberol spritz in the Capital One Lounge in Denver! So even though my flight was delayed, I was able to charge my phone, do some work, enjoy a drink or two and a nice meal. 

Lounge access comes with my Capital One Venture X credit card. In fact, I added my three children as authorized users which is FREE and they get lounge access too. Well worth, the $395 annual fee. 

But while I was waiting in line, I heard so many people confused about how lounge access works and how much it costs. 

So let's try to sort this out. 

You Got The Capital One Venture X Lounge Access, Now What?

For simplicity, I am going to focus on the Capital One Lounges (currently in Washington DC Dulles, Denver, Dallas and coming soon to Las Vegas) and the Priority Pass (a network of 1,600 lounges worldwide). I know there are other lounges out there for business class and various airlines, but we are just going to focus on these. 

First question, how do you get lounge access:

• Capital One Lounge - Capital One Venture X credit card holders get unlimited lounge access for Capital One Lounges. They can also bring two guests with them. Capital One Venture credit card holders get 2 lounge passes per year. 
• Priority Pass Lounge - Capital One Venture X credit card holders get membership included as a benefit for the card holder and authorized users. Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card holders get membership for the card holder only. Amex Platinum and Business Platinum cards holders also get membership included. Chase Sapphire Reserve, Amex and Capital One Venture X card holders can bring two guests. 

The Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card used to include a restaurant benefit as well which was awesome, but it dropped that benefit in July 2024. 

You Got The Capital One Venture X Lounge Access, Now What?

Once you activate your membership online to the Priority Pass, you will get a card in the mail and a digital card that you show at the lounge entrance along with your boarding pass. You can download the app and find lounges worldwide. 

You can only visit the lounge while you are waiting for a flight departure and not  upon arrival unless you are connecting to another flight. 

For the Capital One Lounges, you show your boarding pass and your Capital One credit card. Since there are only three lounges currently, they are packed and often have a waitlist. 

It's a good idea to get on the wait list, but it's a bit tricky to find in the app. 

You Got The Capital One Venture X Lounge Access, Now What?

• Login to your Capital One account
• Click on Explore rewards and benefits
• Click on Lounges in the upper right corner
• Click on the lounge
• You will see the current capacity and then a button to join the waitlist 
• Once you do that, you will get a text when it is your turn to enter 
• You have 10 minutes to show up or you will lose your turn and have to join the waitlist again

Both the Capital One Venture X and Venture card come with a 75,000 bonus for a $4,000 minimum spend. The Venture X carries a $395 annual fee, but you get a $300 travel credit, $120 Global Entry credit, Priority Pass membership and Capital One lounge access for the card holder and up to 4 authorized users for FREE. The Venture card only carries a $95 annual fee and comes with 2 lounge passes each year. 

The Chase Sapphire Reserve carries a hefty $550 annual fee, comes with a $300 travel credit, $120 Global Entry credit, Priority Pass lounge access and 1.5 to 1 value for Chase Ultimate Rewards points in the travel portal. 

Both Capital One and Chase Ultimate Reward points are considered flex points and can be transferred to dozens of airlines and hotels. 

If this sounds interesting to you, I recommend going through my points and miles course which includes a 1:1 strategy session with me, a custom tracker and ongoing group coaching. Let's get you traveling for almost FREE and making those priceless memories! 

How To Hack Southwest Airlines Flights For Less

One of the benefits of the relatively new fare class Wanna Get Away Plus at Southwest Airlines is the ability to change your flight day of for FREE. It's called the FREE day of standby change. 

How To Hack Southwest Airlines Flights For Less 

Saavy travelers have figured out that "day of" means 12:01am. 

So theoretically, you can book a cheaper flight and then change your flight the night before at midnight to the flight you really want. 

This hack may only cost you $20 per ticket or just a handful of points and you could save up to $50 per ticket or thousands of points.

This hack means you don't have to hope that you qualify for a FREE change due to weather or a schedule change. 

How To Hack Southwest Airlines Flights For Less 

The only catch with this hack is that there needs to be a seat available on the flight and you may get a lousy boarding position. If you do get a lousy boarding position, you can try using an upgrade boarding from your Southwest Priority credit card or your Southwest Performance Business credit card. Both come with 4 upgraded boardings per year. 

If you don't have a Southwest Airlines credit card yet, you can use my referral link here to apply. However, if you are interested in earning the Southwest Companion Pass for 2025-26, sign up for my Travel Coaching Program first. It's affordable and personal to your travel goals. And I'm challenging myself to help 25 people earn the pass this January. Don't wait, there are only a few spots left! 

 

buy the wanna get away plus fare and then day of you can switch flights for free to any flight on the same day that has room in the wanna get away plus and wanna get away fares

1500 points or $20 difference between fares bwi-san dec. 14

Is The New 85,000 Southwest Bonus Offer Right For You?

Southwest launched a new whopping 85,000 bonus offer this week on all three of its personal credit cards! First, I'll tell you about the offer and then I'll tell you why you may NOT want to jump on this. 

The new offer is for 85,000 bonus Southwest points when you spend $3,000 on any of the three personal credit cards. 

• The Plus with an annual fee of $69 
• The Premier with an annual fee of $99
•  The Priority with an annual fee of $149 

Each card comes with slightly different benefits like early bird check in, FREE upgrades, $75 Southwest credit and bonus anniversary points. 

To decide on which card, you have to decide which benefits you will actually use. My favorite is the Priority card because although it has the highest annual fee, it comes with a $75 credit making the annual fee just $74 and you get four upgraded boardings per year. Love these when I forget to check in right at the 24 hour mark. 

Here comes the catch! You can only hold ONE personal credit card at a time and you can only get the bonus every 24 months. 

So with this offer, you have to decide whether or not you plan to earn the Southwest Companion Pass for 2025-26. The Companion pass is the best travel perk around. It is BOGO flights on any Southwest flight. No hidden charges, no fees, no limited availability. If there is a seat available on the plane, you can add your companion FREE. Well you do have to pay the $5.60 taxes. 

I have had the Companion Pass for the past 10 years and used it to fly to Hawaii, Cuba, Florida, New York, Washington DC, and many more. It has saved me thousands of dollars in FREE flights. 

Hyatt Kaanapali, Maui

BUT here's the catch! The best time to earn the Companion Pass is at the beginning of the year because the pass is valid for the year you earn it AND the following year. 

So if you earn the pass in January 2025, it is valid for all of 2025 and 2026. BUT if you earn the pass in September 2024, then it's good for the rest of 2024 and all of 2025. A full 6 months less! 

Make sense?

You earn the pass by collecting 135,000 Southwest points. The new 85,000 bonus offer puts you closer to earning the pass and if you read our Companion Pass plan, then you will know how to earn the pass quickly. 

And you can only earn the bonus once every 24 months. 

So timing is everything. But if you don't need the Companion Pass, this is a great offer! 

 If you decide to apply for this new offer, consider using my referral link here. 

If would like help deciding what to do with this offer or future travel, join my travel coaching program.

Why I Visited Two Capital One Lounges In The Same Day

They say once you experience something you can't go back. Well, that's how I feel about airport lounges. A quiet space amongst the chaos of the airport. A place with food, drinks and my favorite, coffee. A place with WIFI, comfy chairs and sometimes even a resting room and showers. 

Recently, I spent time in the new Capital One Lounge in Washington DC Dulles Airport and then just hours later during an extended layover, visited the Capital One Lounge in Denver. 

How much does this all cost? Nothing if you are holding a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card or  Capital One Venture X credit card. There are a few others too that include this benefit, but I'm going to focus on these two credit cards. 

There are 1,500 Priority Pass lounges around the world and three Capital One lounges (Dallas, Denver, Washington DC Dulles). Everyone must present a valid boarding pass to enter and check in at the lounge desk. You can find a list of all the lounges worldwide on the Priority Pass website or app.

• The Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card includes the Priority Pass membership. Once you receive your credit card, just login to your Chase.com account and activate the membership. Priority Pass will send you a physical card in the mail. You can also access a digital card online. Through July 1st 2024, the pass includes some restaurants too where you are eligible for a $26 per person credit. The pass is good for the card holder and two guests. Authorized users also get a Priority Pass membership, however, it costs $75 per year to add an authorized user so that's not the best option.  
• The Capital One Venture X  credit card includes the Priority Pass membership as well, but not the restaurant credit. It is also valid for the card holder and two guests. A benefit of the Capital One Venture X is that you can add authorized users for FREE and they ALSO get FREE Priority Pass lounge access for themselves and two guests. I added all three of my children as authorized users which helps them build their credit and gives them an emergency credit card plus they have access to Priority Pass lounges and the three Capital One lounges. Pretty sweet! 

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is offering an increased bonus offer right now of 75,000 points for a $4,000 minimum spend, but it does carry a $550 annual fee. 

The Capital One Venture X is offering 75,000 bonus offer for $4,000 minimum spend and a $395 annual fee. 

Both are great cards and can have a vital part in your travel strategy. Join my travel coaching program for help to determine which one best fits your needs for your future travel goals. 

Why You Should Jump On This Bonus Offer Before It Ends

 

We are hearing that the increased bonus offer for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit cards is ending "soon." 

Though we don't know exactly when soon is, if you are thinking about jumping on this offer, you should do it sooner rather than later. 

These cards are my favorites because Chase Ultimate Reward points are so flexible. You can transfer points to dozens of different airlines, hotels, use them in the Chase Travel Portal or even pay yourself back though I don't recommend doing this.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve cards also offer great benefits and should have a primary spot in everyone's wallet and travel strategy. The Sapphire Preferred credit card is also an excellent card for a student once they have built enough credit to qualify. 

Right now, you can earn 75,000 CUR bonus points with a $4,000 minimum spend. The Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee and the Reserve has a $550 annual fee, but the Reserve card also comes with a $300 travel credit, $100 global entry credit, Priority Pass membership and an increased value for the points in the Chase Travel Portal.

I love CUR points because of their flexibility. You can:

• transfer them to dozens of different airline loyalty programs 
• transfer them to several hotel chains (Marriott, IHG, Hyatt) 
• use them to buy hotels, flights, activities and car rentals in the Chase Travel Portal 
• pay yourself back 
• get a statement credit 

75,000 points equals $750, however, if you use them in the Chase Travel Portal with your Preferred credit card, you get 25% more value making them worth $1,000. And if you combine the points with your Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, then they will be worth 50% more in the Chase Travel Portal for a whopping total of $1,250. 

If you don't have one of these in your wallet yet, this is the time. If you decide to apply, please consider using my referral link. 

Thank You Southwest For A Surprise LUV Voucher

 

Flew home from the East Coast a few weeks ago on Southwest Airlines. All was going well. The first flight took off on time, but the connecting flight was a different story. We arrived in Denver to change planes and found that our flight was delayed about three hours and now scheduled to leave after midnight. 

The gate crew said it was a weather delay due to unstable weather in Florida where our plane was coming from.  We had checked to see if there was another flight leaving Denver earlier that we could request to hop on, but no luck. So we waited. 

The good news was that there was a Capital One Lounge in Denver and a restaurant included in the Priority Pass. The Priority Pass is a benefit included in the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. You can read about this amazing perk here. 

Our flight eventually took off and we arrived home late, but safe. 

My experience with weather delays is that you are usually out of luck for compensation.

So imagine my surprise when I received this email a few days later.

Woohoo! Two $100 vouchers for the delay. Nice! But why? This google search may provide a bit of an answer. 

Why did Southwest give me a voucher?

Flyers can receive a Southwest LUV Voucher if their flight is canceled or delayed within seven days of departure, they arrive three or more hours later than planned, and the delay or cancellation was caused by something Southwest could control, such as maintenance or staffing.

In my case, the gate crew told us it was a weather related issue. However, reading further there is another issue if your delay is pushed past midnight and/or three hours. Both of which were true in our case so that may actually be the reason we were awarded the vouchers. 

As promised, a few days later this email showed up with a voucher number. The voucher had also been added to my Southwest account, 

The voucher is a travel credit that has to be applied to a cash ticket. However, now that you can pay cash and points for a flight, you can actually use multiple forms of payment for the same ticket. So in theory, you could use the voucher and then use points to buy a flight. Once you cash in the voucher, it is non transferrable. But the first time you use it, you can actually use it to buy a ticket for anyone. 

Thank you Southwest! Nice to be compensated without having to ask. 

Why You Should Apply For This 75,000 Bonus Offer

 

Two of the best credit cards for Chase Ultimate Rewards just increased their bonus offer! Woohoo! 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve cards offer great benefits and should have a primary spot in everyone's wallet and travel strategy. 

Right now, you can earn 75,000 CUR bonus points with a $4,000 minimum spend. The Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee and the Reserve has a $550 annual fee, but also comes with a $300 travel credit, $100 global entry credit, Priority Pass membership and an increased value for the points in the Chase Travel Portal.

I love CUR points because of their flexibility. You can:

• transfer them to dozens of different airline loyalty programs 
• transfer them to several hotel chains (Marriott, IHG, Hyatt) 
• use them to buy hotels, flights, activities and car rentals in the Chase Travel Portal 
• pay yourself back 
• get a statement credit 

75,000 points equals $750, however, if you use them in the Chase Travel Portal with your Preferred credit card, you get 25% more value making them worth $1,000. And if you combine the points with your Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, then they will be worth 50% more in the Chase Travel Portal for a whopping total of $1,250. 

Like this redemption in the Chase Travel Portal through my Chase Sapphire Reserve account, this Hilton in Moorea has rooms at $938 dollars or 62,554 CUR points. 

And if you transfer them to an airline or hotel, the points could be worth even more depending on the specific flight or the number of rewards needed per night.

Plus if you transfer points to IHG and buy three nights, you get a fourth FREE so that could be very lucrative. 

Hyatt hotels usually fall in the sweet spot of redemption value as well.  

You can only hold one of these cards at a time and you can only get the bonus once every 4 years. You can apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve here using my referral link. 

Hot Tips: Maximizing Points and Miles to Slash College Costs

It's that time of the year, time to visit college campuses. If you are like me, you may be visiting campuses all over the country. This trek can cost thousands of dollars if you pay for hotels, flights, food and the car rental. Or you can save thousands by using points and miles. And since college tuition is closing in on $100,000, every penny saved is worth it. 

I just returned from a two week mega college campus visit and I'm going to break it down so you can see how I used points and miles to save. 

We started by flying Southwest Airlines exclusively because I earned the companion pass last year. This alone can make a huge difference. The Southwest Companion Pass is the best value around. BOGO for any flight, anytime for up to two years on Southwest Airlines. You can read about how I earned the pass here. 

My daughter and I flew from San Diego to New York to Nashville to Providence, Rhode Island and back to San Diego. Four flights paid for with Southwest points and my daughter aka my companion flew for FREE. The value on the flights alone was approximately $1,200. 

Now, let's talk about hotels. This was the Wyndham hotel we stayed at in Vermont. It was probably the nicest Wyndham I have ever seen. Two nights, one night I actually paid for because I wanted to earn a few more Wyndham points for my next trip. The second night was FREE with my Capital One travel credit. Here's the breakdown of where we stayed for the rest of the trip and how we paid for the hotels each night. 

• 3 nights in New York - We stayed at a Marriott Residence Inn with an expiring FREE hotel night certificate and 40,000 Bonvoy points
• 2 nights in Vermont - paid for one night at the Wyndham, used the Capital One travel credit for the second night.  
• 2 nights in Nashville - 24,000 points transferred from Chase to stay at the Hyatt House for two nights
• 1 night in Boston - stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites with a Hilton FREE night certificate 
• 1 night in Connecticut - used 23,000 IHG points to stay at a Holiday Inn Express
• 1 night in Washington DC - Holiday Inn Express booked through the Chase Travel Portal with 13,000 Chase points
• 1 night in Pittsburgh - 12,000 points transferred from Chase to Hyatt to stay at the Hyatt House 

10 nights in hotels cost me $170. The savings are approximately $1,800. And guess what, all the hotels included FREE breakfast. Another savings of approximately $200. 

We visited one Priority Pass lounge during our trip at the Pittsburgh Airport and ate at two restaurants included in the Priority Pass; The American Tap Room at Reagan National Airport in Washington DC and Providence Provisions at the Providence Theodore Francis Green Airport. Unfortunately, restaurants will be dropped from the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card in July 2024. 

These visits saved us another $100 in meals. 

The car rental was $700 for the two weeks. I paid for it with the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card so I earned 3x points and got great car rental insurance. If you had a lot of Capital One points, you could have paid for the car rental with that card and erased it. 

I paid for the gas with my Capital One Venture X card for 2x points. I paid for meals with my Chase FREEDOM Flex card which gets 5x points on restaurants this quarter due to the rotating bonus categories. 

We took a few Lyft here and there which I paid for with my Chase Sapphire Reserve for 10x points. 

So in summary, this trip could have cost approximately $5,000. 

• $1,200 for flights 
• $1,800 for hotels 
• $500 for meals 
• $700 for the car rental 
• $200 for gas 
• $100 for Lyft 

But with points and miles, this trip cost $1,200 and I earned thousand of points and miles to use on my next adventure. 

If you would like support with your own points and miles planning, join my travel coaching program. It's affordable and you get one on one support, a customized tracker, live group coaching forever and my points and miles video course.