Another Great Redemption Benefit To Flex Points!

One of the huge perks of having flex points like Chase Ultimate Reward points is that you can transfer the points to a dozen different airlines and several hotel chains like IHG, Marriott and Hyatt. In fact, Hyatt often offers sweet redemption deals. 

This comes in handy when you need points in a loyalty program that you either don't have enough points or you don't have any. Points transfer to all these programs 1:1 so some transfers offer better value than others. 

For example, this past week, I was ready to book a Southwest flight to the East Coast, but I was short about 3,000 points. No problem, it took just a few minutes to transfer 3,000 points from my Chase account to Southwest and book the flight. 

To transfer points: 

1. login to your chase.com account

2. click on redeem points 

3. click on travel and transfer to travel partners

4. click on the loyalty program you want to transfer points to

5. confirm your loyalty program number 

6. enter how many points you want to transfer 

7. confirm and submit 

Some transfers happen immediately and others may take as much as seven days. You cannot transfer back to Chase so only transfer points when you are certain. 

If you want to start earning Chase Ultimate Reward points, we recommend you start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card with a 60,000 bonus, $4,000 minimum spend and $95 annual fee or the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card  with a 60,000 bonus, $4,000 minimum spend and a $550 annual fee (this includes a $300 travel credit, $100 Global Entry credit and Priority Pass Lounge membership plus 1.5% point value in the portal). 

If you decide to apply for any of those credit cards, please consider using my referral links. 

And if you would like help with redeeming points, you can enroll in my Travel Coaching Program or just book a 30 minute travel coaching session here. 

 

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

Unlocking the #1 Hyatt Points Sweet Spot

 

You already know how much I love flexible points like Chase Ultimate Reward points and Capital One points. You can use them in the portal, transfer them to dozens of airlines and hotel chains or just use them for a statement credit. 

One of the sweet spots is transferring Chase Ultimate Reward points to Hyatt. I wrote about an awesome redemption in Chicago last year, but here we go again. 

I was looking at Hyatt Place in Raleigh Durham and found one for just 5,000 points per night. Check out the cash price of $280 per night. Can you believe it? I couldn't. Now I didn't have any Hyatt points, but I had Chase Ultimate Reward points. 

Unlocking the #1 Hyatt Points Sweet Spot

So I transferred 20,000 CUR points to Hyatt. The transfer happened almost instantly. And then I could book four nights in the hotel at 5,000 points per night. 20,000 points = $1,140. Amazing! Remember, once you transfer the points, you cannot transfer them back to Chase, but you can cancel the reservation and the points will be returned to your account, in this case, to my Hyatt account. 

There are quite a few ways to earn CUR points, but the easiest is to open a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve credit card. The Chase FREEDOM UNLIMITED OR FLEX are no annual fee cards that are great to pair with the Sapphire cards. 

This is just one of the reasons why I love flex points like Capital One and Chase. 

If this interests you, but seems confusing, let me help you. Enroll in my travel coaching program. We will explore your travel goals, review your credit cards and make a plan. Then you can join our monthly live coaching sessions for more support. 

The Trick To Getting More Value Out Of Chase Ultimate Reward Points

 

When I wake up and see this in my Chase.com account, that makes for a great day! I applied for the new Chase FREEDOM Flex card in October and bam, this month, I was awarded the 20,000 point bonus. 

The Flex card requires just a $500 minimum spend in the first three months to earn the bonus. It has no annual fee and right now, it also earns 5% at grocery stores for the first year or up to $12,000. It also comes with the Chase rotating categories which for Q4 are Paypal and Walmart. 

I already had the Chase FREEDOM card, it's been my go-to card forever. But this is a new product so I was eligible to apply and get the bonus. I may close my old FREEDOM card or I may hold onto it in order to max out the rotating categories. 

Chase Ultimate Reward Points are amazing because they are so flexible and during the pandemic, Chase added a pay yourself back benefit to the Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards where you can cash in the points for grocery and home improvement purchases. The Sapphire Preferred card has a $95 annual fee, but I think it's totally worth it. This is one of my favorite cards. The Sapphire Reserve has a $550 annual fee, but before you gasp, it also comes with a $300 travel credit which right now is a grocery credit plus FREE Doordash, Lyft and Peloton membership and a $120 credit at Doordash. It also comes with a $100 Global Entry credit and FREE airport lounge access. 

So here's the trick to get more value out of the points. 

The Sapphire Preferred gives you 25% more for your points in the pay yourself back and Chase Travel Portal and the Sapphire Reserve gives you 50% more. Chase also allows you to combine your points from one credit card to another. So you can easily move your points from your new FREEDOM FLEX card to your Sapphire Preferred or Reserve to get more value. 

It's easy. 

• Just log into your Chase.com account
• Click on the earn/use points and you'll see this dashboard. It's expanded a lot since the pandemic started. One of the things I love about Chase is how user friendly the site is. You can see exactly how many points you have, how to use them, and how to earn them. 
• Click on combine points and you will see the option to move points from one card to another. You can also move points from one family member to another if your family member only has a no fee card or even a Preferred card. 

Chase will ask you how many points you want to move, review your order and bam, instant transfer. Now you can use those points for travel or to pay yourself back for any qualified purchases you made in the past 90 days. 

If you decide to apply for the Chase FREEDOM Flex or Sapphire Preferred, please consider using my referral link. You get the same bonus and I also get a small bonus for referring you. That's how we do it at almostFREEfamilytravel.com 

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. 

How to easily find available award space

 

In our travel coaching program, we are actually finding that most people are very good at earning points and miles. It's the spending that is hard. 

Trying to figure out how to use the points and miles gets overwhelming. 

Trying to figure out where the best deals are and how to transfer those flex points is difficult. 

But now there are several FREE services out there that can help. Joining our travel coaching program is another way to get support and you can read about that here. 

How to easily find available award space

We are going to focus on three FREE services: Roame, Points Path and Points Yeah.  Roame and Points Yeah have a paid membership level as well where you get more information. Points Path says a paid service is coming soon. 

Points Yeah and Roame are website platforms and Points Path is an extension that works with google.com/flights. I decided to test the different platforms by entering the same search criteria on all three platforms. I entered LAX to Rome in economy for 1 person departing around October 15th. 

Once you download the Points Path extension, it automatically shows results when you search with google flights. For this search, it found the lowest mile redemption as a Lufthansa/United flight for 43,900 and $45 which it classified as a "great deal".  Many airlines are not working with Points Path yet so it feels a bit limiting. 

Roame is a search tool. I entered the LAX to Rome flight and it gave me 5 possible flight redemptions. It found an American Airlines flight for 26,500 miles and $5.60 taxes. Pretty good deal! It also found United Airlines, Jet Blue, Delta and Alaska flights for varying numbers of miles. I also like that Roame displays the transfer partners like American Express, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy. But it is missing Bilt and Capital One. 

Points Yeah is the most interesting to me. It gave results for Flying Blue which we are finding has great deals right now. It also managed to find an American Airlines flight for just 19,000 miles and $5.60 in taxes. Wow. I actually thought this was a mistake, but Points Yeah prompted me to book the flight on the American Airlines website and there it was. 

I also like that Points Yeah includes Bilt and Capital One in its transfer list. It does not include Marriott Bonvoy though. 

How to easily find available award space

Bottom line, these three platforms can help you figure out how to spend your points and miles to get the best value. 

If you prefer personal and custom help reaching your travel goals, consider joining my travel coaching program and let's work together.  

 

How To Squeeze More Value Out Of Your CUR Points

 

My favorite flexible travel points are the Chase Ultimate Reward points. I used them to fly our family of five to Europe a few years ago. 

You can transfer them to dozens of airlines and a few hotel chains plus use them in the travel portal or just pay yourself back. 

Right now, the Chase Ink Business Preferred is offering 100,000 bonus points with a $8,000 minimum spend. Wow! That's $1,250 worth of travel. 

The secret here is to have the right mix of Chase cards to max the value out of the points. 

The Chase Ink Business Preferred and the Sapphire Preferred gives you 25% more for your points in the pay yourself back and Chase Travel Portal, but the Chase Sapphire Reserve gives you 50% more. 

How To Squeeze More Value Out Of Your CUR Points 

So here's the secret. Chase allows you to combine your points from one credit card to another. So you can easily move your points from your FREEDOM FLEX or Unlimited card to your Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve to get more value. 

 

• Just log into your Chase.com account

• Click on the earn/use points and you'll see this dashboard. It's expanded a lot since the pandemic started. One of the things I love about Chase is how user friendly the site is. You can see exactly how many points you have, how to use them, and how to earn them. 

• Click on combine points and you will see the option to move points from one card to another. You can also move points from one family member to another if your family member only has a no fee card or even a Preferred card. 

Chase will ask you how many points you want to move, review your order and bam, instant transfer. 

How To Squeeze More Value Out Of Your CUR Points 

Now you can use those points for travel or to pay yourself back for any qualified purchases you made in the past 90 days. 

If you decide to apply for the Chase FREEDOM Flex, Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve or Business Ink please consider using my referral link. You get the same bonus and I also get a small bonus for referring you. That's how we do it at almostFREEfamilytravel.com 

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. 

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.

How You Can Use Capital One Points To Erase Travel Purchases

 

Oh yes, the island of Moorea in French Polynesia is the picture of that perfect vacation. And what makes it even better is when you pay with points and it's almost FREE. 

If you would pay cash for this vacation, it would really put a dent in your wallet. 

Hopefully you have been following along as I walk through using points and miles for our family of 5 to spend a few weeks in French Polynesia. 

How You Can Use Capital One Points To Erase Travel Purchases 

First we secured flights for FREE for all five of us, then we secured the over the water bungalow and garden room. Next, we worked on the airbnb.com and tours. 

Now, we paid for the rental car using points. 

And this time, I used one of my favorite tricks. The travel eraser by Capital One. 

Some will say this is not the best use of your points since it really is a statement credit. But I believe that the value of points and miles is in the eye of the beholder and if I can get a $1,300 charge for the rental car down to $0, then it's worth it to me. 

How You Can Use Capital One Points To Erase Travel Purchases 

And the best part is that I never even paid for this purchase. Keep reading and I'll show you this trick. 

So we are assuming that you have already earned the bonus on the Capital One Venture or Venture X or Venture X Business cards and the points are in your account. You can access them by logging into your Capitalone.com online account and clicking on view rewards. 

If you scroll down, you will see "cover travel purchases." If you click there, you will see your travel purchases for the past 90 days that are eligible to be erased. It is a 1:1 value. 

You can choose to erase the entire purchase or just a portion. It can take a few days for the credit to post to your statement. If you can time the credit after the purchase and before the statement closes, you actually never pay for the purchase at all.

How You Can Use Capital One Points To Erase Travel Purchases 

If you look below, I made the purchase for the rental car on Feb. 2nd and then erased it on Feb. 4th and the credit posted on Feb. 6th. The statement closed on Feb. 8th with a balance minus the credit. 😊

Since I thought I would pay for the rental car closer to the actual trip, I had used some of my points to erase ferry tickets. But to get a $950 discount on the rental car, it's worth it. 

This is just one of the reasons why I love flex points like Capital One and Chase. 

If this interests you, but seems confusing, let me help you. Enroll in my travel coaching program. We will explore your travel goals, review your credit cards and make a plan. Then you can join our monthly live coaching sessions for more support.