Stop the FOMO: Here's How to Use Points & Miles to Book Europe Next Year
Deep into summer, the travel envy is real 😅 Your feed is flooded with friends sipping wine in Santorini and wandering cobblestone streets in Rome. If that's you, here's the good news: now is the perfect time to start planning your own European adventure for next year — using points and miles.
So where do you start? Let's break it down.
The 4 Types of Points & Miles You Need to Know
Not all points are created equal. Here's a quick rundown:
1. Airline Miles ✈️
The most familiar of the bunch. Fly with an airline, earn loyalty miles. Many airlines belong to alliances or partnerships, meaning you can fly one carrier and credit the miles to another. You can also rack up miles faster by opening an airline-branded credit card that earns miles on everyday purchases. Once you hit the threshold, redeem them for a free flight or cabin upgrade directly through the airline. Simple enough.
2. Hotel Points 🏨
Same concept, different category. Stay at a hotel, earn loyalty points. Add a hotel-branded credit card to the mix and you'll earn even faster. Stack up enough and you're looking at free nights.
3. Flexible Points 💳
Here's where it gets interesting. These are earned through bank-branded credit cards — think Chase, Capital One, Amex, and Citi — and they're not locked into one airline or hotel. Instead, they can be transferred to more than a dozen different travel partners, giving you serious options. You can also spend them directly in the bank's travel portal on flights, hotels, car rentals, activities, and even cruises. One important note: use them before you cancel the card or they disappear.
4. The Others: Bilt, Rove & Rakuten 🛍️
Bilt functions like flexible bank points, but you earn them by paying rent — yes, really. Rove and Rakuten are shopping portals that layer bonus points on top of your regular credit card earnings when you shop online. Think of them as a rewards multiplier for purchases you're already making. Use my Rove referral link and get 500 points when you sign up. Use my Rakuten referral link and get $50 when you spend $50.
Why Flexible Points Win
Here's a real example that says it all. A client came to me with nearly two million American Airlines miles — which sounds incredible, and we did manage to book business class flights for her whole family. But when it came to hotels? She had to pay cash 💸
If those had been flexible points instead, we could have covered both the flights and luxury hotels entirely on points.
That's the power of flexibility.
Our Favorite Card Right Now 👑
Now that you understand the difference, you'll have a whole new appreciation for the Chase Sapphire Preferred's current 100,000-point welcome bonus. Those are Chase Ultimate Rewards — flexible points that transfer to dozens of airlines and hotels, including the best sweet spots like Avios, Flying Blue, and World of Hyatt.
The card runs just $95 a year, and a new $100 hotel credit effectively knocks that down to $5 back into your pocket. For what you get in return, that's a no-brainer.
👉 Ready to start earning? Read more about the Chase Sapphire Preferred here — and if you decide to apply, we'd love it if you use our referral link!
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 pay a travel planning fee and we will find all the best points and miles deals for your trip!
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.
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