Inspiring Travel Stories Using Points

I'm Katie and I'm here because I know that travel costs add up , especially for a family , but I believe travel isn't just for the rich .

That's why , on Points for Normal People , I share the tips and tricks that my family has been using for over a decade to help you use your everyday expenses and credit card welcome offers to supercharge your travel points so that you can pay for entire vacations every year . Today we are wrapping up Season 1 .

And this wrap-up comes at a good time because I got some very unfortunate news this week . I'll explain that news and its implications before moving on to these stories . The bank that I've been talking about all season has now decreed that anyone who is an affiliate can no longer mention this bank's names , this bank's trademarks or its card names on podcasts .

It's actually broader than that and also includes all social media . This applies to anyone , like me , who has affiliate links to their credit cards and earns a cash commission when someone applies and if you follow me on Instagram , you're familiar with this nonsense already , because it's been like that on Instagram for a few years .

In fact , it's one of the reasons I started this podcast , so that I would be able to speak clearly about this bank .

Now the good news is that , as of now , this ban isn't retroactive , which means that all the current episodes I've published can currently stay up , and it's good news that I was already pretty much done with season one and we've covered this bank and this rewards program and these cards pretty thoroughly .

I know some of you are wondering why this is true and I don't have a definitive answer , but ultimately , it seems like this bank prefers to only have affiliates posting information on blogs . Blogs are easier for the banks to monitor for compliance because they can have a bot crawl it for compliance issues .

Basically , each bank has a laundry list of very specific requirements . Anytime an affiliate publishes content about a card . Usually it is very specific , detail-oriented things like which exact letters to capitalize and when we have to note that enrollment is required when mentioning a certain card benefit .

Understandably , they want these all to their standards and up to date , but it's still unfortunate because a lot of people like to learn via podcasts and now that medium is more restricted . So what does this mean ? Going forward ? First of all , I will still be continuing this podcast .

I will also continue being an affiliate of this bank , despite these many hoops I have to jump through . I don't make that decision lightly , but I am committed to providing my info and resources and course for free , because I believe you shouldn't have to pay money to learn how to save money .

That's not changing and , honestly , keeping affiliate links are the most straightforward way for me to maintain a business and keep my team and keep my info free . And keep my team and keep my info free .

It does mean , in seasons two and onward , I will have to be more strategic about the topics I discuss and the ways I discuss them to remain compliant with this bank's rules .

I still plan to cover the Southwest Companion Pass in season two , but it is impossible to cover this fully without mentioning this bank or its cards , because its cards are essential to earning a companion pass the easy way . So it may mean that certain episodes are published exclusively on YouTube or embedded on my website .

As of now I can still speak about this bank and these cards on YouTube , but I can't use the card names or bank name on my thumbnail or title or description . But the video content on YouTube can still include discussion of the cards .

Please know that I'm not being intentionally vague and I will also do my absolute best to find a way to continue to teach this information clearly , but sometimes I may need to refer to other ways to get information beyond this podcast . Now that the housekeeping is out of the way , let's hear some stories .

On these stories , I did have to edit out mentions of this bank , as you will see , but I think you'll see what I'm going for here . This first story came from Samantha and she wrote me and said I figured out this hobby in December 2022 , opening my first business card .

After that , I was hooked and jumped in full speed ahead and got my reluctant player two on board , meaning I just did everything for him .

He supplies his social security number who are 12 and 14 , and in the past one and a half years , we have already earned two Southwest Companion Passes and then traveled with the whole family to the Hyatt Ziva , a trip to Arizona and Nevada , where we saw Sedona , the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas .

Then we also did a Denver ski trip , two to three ski trips in Vermont through Vacasa Rentals and just recently came back from the Grand Hyatt Kauai in June . In October we're headed to the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Florida . With two kids in private school and competitive sports , we don't have much of a budget for travel .

I also wanted to add that IHG points have been a lifesaver for travel sports . We've saved well over $3,000 by using free hotel nights in random places for swim meets over the last one and a half years . I keep a spreadsheet of all our points , trips and the costs , and in just a little over a year I've saved $30,000 in travel .

Also , I got my parents on board . They have traveled with us to Ziva , cancun , kauai and Coconut Point , basically just by opening cards from this bank . They also earned the companion pass too . It has opened up a whole new world for them , as they would have never been able to afford it on retirement income .

I loved Samantha's story because it just shows how much this hobby can open up your possibilities . For many people you don't have a big travel budget , but this really adds to it exponentially .

I'll also add that almost all the hotels she was mentioning were Hyatt hotels , which means she took these points that she earned and she transferred them to Hyatt and booked from there . So you'll see that again and again in these stories .

That's why we talk about Hyatt as our favorite transfer partner , and that won't be the only transfer partner you use , but it's a really common one because it's easy and it's easy to get good value from it . If you go back , I have an episode just about Hyatt points and I even have a whole guide on using your points for Hyatt hotels .

This next story is from Robin . She wrote to me after lurking around many Instagram accounts for months in 2023 , I finally opened my first points card in June 2023 . At the time , it was so I could book a one-way business class ticket to meet my husband in Europe on one of his work trips .

He gets to go several times a year and I can meet him after his work part . However , after opening that first card with an elevated signup bonus and earning those 80,000 points and then following numerous points accounts by then , I was hooked . I then opened my first business card and got another 100,000 points . I was ecstatic .

Before these bank cards , I thought I was doing great with my Southwest cards , where I'd hoarded well over 100,000 rapid rewards points . However , now that I had earned a couple hundred thousand points much faster , I started thinking about planning a family vacation . By this time it was around October and I was thinking about summer 2024 .

After talking with my husband , we decided on a family vacation to Cancun and Playa del Carmen in Mexico . We loved Playa del Carmen , having gone to Secrets Maroma Beach on our honeymoon way back in 2010 , but that wasn't an option with our 8 and 11-year-old boys . I'd discovered Katie's Travel Tricks Instagram account by then and loved her content .

She was one of the only accounts that had lots of family travel that wasn't exclusively business class , disney or aspirational travel . A lot of her content was relatable travel and content and tips . It felt so normal and the type of information a friend would tell you about in real life .

But the big tip I got for my first big redemption to Mexico was before going to your all-inclusive resort , go to a cheaper regular hotel to do your excursions and adventures . That way you don't miss the all-inclusive experience . Duh , that makes so much sense . We wanted a week-long trip and we also wanted at least three days of excursions .

So we found a Hyatt in Playa del Carmen and while it didn't end up being drastically cheaper , it was still great . It was actually the second place we booked . Originally I had booked the Thompson Beach House , but the room was for two adults and when I emailed them to make sure I could have my kids in the room with me , they wanted me to pay extra .

I wasn't interested in that , so we moved to the Grand Hyatt . It was a wonderful hotel and I don't regret it . Plus , a different friend I met on Instagram gifted us club access , so we got free breakfast and practically dinners on a couple nights . We paid cash for two excursions Shell Hot and Rio Secreto .

The weather was not in our favor so we didn't do a couple of things we wanted to do , but it wasn't that big of a deal . We still had a great time . Then we took a hotel-arranged taxi the almost two-hour trip to our all-inclusive Dreams Playa Mujeres .

We'd looked into the much-hyped Hyatt Ziva Cancun but even before the recent points increase , it was more than I wanted to pay . Dreams was wonderful and we paid 29,000 points per night , plus $83 a night per kid .

We even got talked into a 90-minute vacation club talk and it was super easy to say no to , and in exchange we got $250 in resort credit that we used to almost fully cover the dolphin swim excursion they had right at the resort . We spent four nights there and we loved it . We will definitely go back for a long weekend sometime .

It's only a two and a half hour direct flight for us , so easy to get to . All in all , we used our Southwest points and I was able to get a companion pass in 2023 , so we only had to buy three tickets Plus 200,000 of those transferable points , for this trip covered the hotels , which would have cost around $6,000 .

That is well over a typical one-week vacation budget . I'm a convert to this lifestyle and so happy , and I continue to learn tips from Katie that I use in planning my trips , especially the unpopular ones that other Instagrammers don't talk about but Katie shares , because some things work better for people in different situations .

For example , I will be comparing hotels in the bank portal for a trip to Rome this spring with my family , because there are so many more options versus the one Hyatt in Rome , where I'd need two rooms .

My goal is to not use cash as much as possible right now , so I want to compare what will work best for my family , and I love that Katie stresses to do what's best for you and your family . Thanks , katie . It's funny to read this . I'm reading it to myself . You're such a joy and I'm so glad you're in this space .

So thank you so much , robin , for sharing your story with us . I just love hearing how people can piece things together in order to plan the trips that they want to plan . This next story compares a few trips and is from someone on our team , sadie .

Sadie writes a lot of our blog posts and so she recorded this so you can hear her talk about her own trip .

The taxes and fees were $5.60 per person each way , which comes out to $44.80 round trip for all four of us . From the airport we walked to the metro station and took the subway into DC . The metro is so easy to use and cheap . Station and took the subway into DC . The metro is so easy to use and cheap .

Since public transportation is so convenient , we didn't need to rent a car . We stayed at the Hyatt Place , Washington DC National Mall for four nights . This location is within walking distance to the National Mall and two metro stations , making it super convenient . We transferred 36,000 credit card points to Hyatt to pay for the stay .

At the time of booking , the price was only 9,000 points per night . There were no additional fees , so it cost us $0 . Free breakfast is included for everyone at this hotel . We booked a standard room with two queen beds , but at check-in we were upgraded to a one-bedroom king suite .

Activities in Washington DC are very inexpensive because there's so much to do for free . The monuments , all of the Smithsonian Museums , the National Archives , national Zoo and Arlington Cemetery are all free to visit .

On the 4th of July , we got to enjoy all the festivities , like the Independence Day Parade and watching fireworks on the National Mall with the Washington Monument in the background . It was such a fun experience and the memories we made as a family are something that I will treasure forever . I love trips like this because they're so easy to plan and book .

With credit card points , you can transfer points to Southwest for airfare and to Hyatt for hotels . The redemption rates are affordable , even when traveling with the whole family . This trip cost us just over 82,000 points and about $45 in cash for flights and hotel . Most of the activities were free , so our only real expenses were the metro , food and souvenirs .

The next Points and Miles success story I want to tell you about is a milestone birthday trip my family is taking to Japan and South Korea this fall . This one was more complicated to put together and took a lot more points , but we're so excited about it . One thing that makes points and miles so great is that there are so many ways to use them .

You can use them to save money on simple family trips like our trip to DC , or you can use them for bucket list experiences that wouldn't be possible otherwise . We're starting the trip by flying from Nashville to San Francisco on American Airlines . We booked these tickets for 30,000 miles plus $22.40 in taxes and fees for all four of us .

We're staying in San Francisco for two nights before heading to Japan . I used my $300 travel credit from the Capital One Venture X to cover the hotel , plus $50.60 in cash To get to Japan . We're flying business class from San Francisco to Tokyo on Japan Airlines .

People often say it's impossible to find business class to Japan for four people , but if you're flexible with dates and keep a lookout for when they drop award space , it is possible to find . We booked through British Airways for 77,500 points and $253.80 in taxes and fees per person .

You can book Japan Airlines business class with fewer miles and way less taxes and fees through American Airlines . But we didn't have enough American Airlines points for all four of us , so instead we transferred 310,000 credit card points to British Airways . To book the tickets From Japan to South Korea , we booked a Japanese budget airline called Peach .

The cost was $260 for all four of us and I used my Capital One VentureX travel credit to pay for those . In case you're wondering how , I had two travel credits to use . You get $300 in travel credits each year . You have the card , so I used last year's travel credit and a portion of this year's travel credit towards this one trip .

To get back from South Korea , we're flying Asiana Airlines Business Class from Seoul to LAX . Those tickets were 75,000 points and $90.85 USD each , booked through Air Canada Aeroplan . I booked the tickets while the bank had a 20% transfer bonus to Aeroplan , so we only needed to transfer 250,000 total points for all four of us .

With the transfer bonus , I ended up with 300,000 points in my Aeroplan account . In LA , we'll spend one night at the Hyatt Regency by the airport that we booked , with 12,000 credit card points transferred to Hyatt . The next morning we'll fly home to Nashville using 31,938 Southwest points and one companion pass For lodging in Japan and South Korea .

We decided to pay mostly with cash instead of points and stay in Airbnbs instead of hotels . We could have flown economy to save points and use those for hotels , but since this is a milestone birthday , we decided it was worth the splurge for business class , with all of our plane tickets and accommodations for 16 nights . We used 603,938 total points .

That was 560,000 credit card points , 31,938 Southwest points and 30,000 American Airlines points . The cash we paid is $3,073.13 , plus 560 travel credits from the VentureX . The cash cost , if we didn't use points , is $34,637.93 . That's a pretty amazing savings .

We never would have been able to take this kind of trip without points and miles , but because of points we're able to fly four people round trip in business class to Asia . We are so excited to take this trip .

If it fit in my budget , then I could go . If I found it would be more expensive than expected , then I would have to change cities . As an example , my friends and I really wanted to go to Banff and then we found out how expensive both flights and hotels were there in the summer and we didn't end up going .

Now , thanks to Travel Points , I plan trips more around the city I know I want to visit or a hotel I want to go to . I never thought I would plan trips around hotels , but hello , hotel Indigo , galapagos and many , many others .

I'm no longer ever restricted by flights or hotel costs because I know I won't be paying for them anymore , or at least I'll be paying about 80% less because of points and miles . Travel points have also allowed me to really up my mother-daughter vacations .

My mom and I would take one vacation every year or every other year within the US , but last year we were able to go to Aruba and I was able to pay for my mom's flights and mine and our hotel room completely on points . And then we used the $300 VentureX credit for our car rental , I think .

Total we paid about $1,000 out of pocket for that trip and saved almost $4,000 from points . This would never have been possible if not for credit cards . This coming year we're going to Portugal and Italy .

The fact that I'm able to now bring my mom with me anywhere in the world instead of being limited to the US and limited by money , it makes my heart burst with such gratefulness . I would tell a newbie that Travel Points takes the limits off of planning your dream vacations .

It allows you to open your mind to the possibilities of all the different cities and states and countries you can see and experience . I now no longer feel like there is a city I can't visit because of this .

I know now that there will always be a way to get to where I want to go and stay for nearly free , and for those people who aren't looking to go on big vacations but are looking to use this to help with finances . It can do that too .

It can take away the financial burden of staying in hotels for your kids' travel sports , or going to a destination wedding of a family member , or visiting family across the country . The limits are endless . And we'll wrap up with one more story from Erin .

Erin is also on our Katie's Travel Tricks team and she admins our Facebook group , answers a lot of our Instagram questions and writes our newsletter , so here's the story that Erin has to share .

But the cost is always pretty prohibitive because the prices are always pretty astronomical around that time of year . For this flight , or for this trip , we used 80,000 Southwest points plus a companion pass for our round-trip tickets from Chicago to San Juan .

We had earned these points with a card that specifically earned Southwest miles , but since Southwest is a transfer partner with the bank , you could easily earn their flexible points and transfer them over to Southwest for those flights their flexible points and transfer them over to Southwest for those flights .

For our lodging , we transferred over 117,500 points to the Hyatt program and we actually stayed in three different Hyatt hotels for this trip .

The first night we spent at the Hyatt Place , chicago O'Hare , because we live in Iowa and so we drove over to Chicago for our flights and we wanted to just have a place to stay so that we weren't cutting it close because we had an early flight in the morning .

When we got into San Juan , we stayed at another Hyatt place for a single night and that was 9,500 points the Hyatt place by Amon .

If we were going to go back , I would definitely stay at the Hyatt Place or Hyatt House in San Juan because those locations both offer a shuttle into Old San Juan and it would have made it really convenient to visit that part of the city .

So I would not stay at the Hyatt Place by Amon again , just because it's a little bit further out from the things that we wanted to do .

For the rest of our time we used 100,000 points for five nights at the Hyatt Residence Club , jurado , hacienda Del Mar , and this was in Jurado , which is about an hour west of San Juan , and it was a Hyatt Vacation Club resort . So typically the people there are people who have bought into the timeshare program and so they go down on a regular basis .

We loved our time at the Hyatt Residence Club and would highly recommend it to anybody . It was actually really hard to get our kids to leave and go explore other parts of the islands because they were having so much fun right there at our resort .

They had a huge swimming pool , direct beach access , they had popsicles in the morning and bingo by the pool in the afternoon and all kinds of other activities going on throughout the day . My kids got really involved and , of course , made vacation friends , which made it just a little bit easier for us because they had other kids to play with .

This past spring break we actually took another trip back down to Puerto Rico and this time we used 132,000 points transferred from the flexible bank currency over to Hyatt to stay at the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve in Puerto Rico for six nights . To stay at the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve in Puerto Rico for six nights .

That location is just a little bit east of San Juan and it was also a beautiful property with everything you could imagine wanting . I think if we were to go back , we would probably do the Hyatt Residence Club again , just because we liked that it was a little bit smaller than the Grand Reserve and a little bit easier to get around .

My kids also found there were more activities for them to do and when they participated in the activities they got to get a free frappe drink from the bar , which was probably their favorite part of vacation .

So all of these things were made entirely possible by earning points and miles from credit card sign-in bonuses , because without that we would not be able to have these kinds of trips in our vacation budget . Thanks so much for letting me share .

I think it's really fun to hear where people are going and sometimes it inspires you for something that you may not have thought you even wanted to do . As we wrap up season one , your action items today are ways you can make sure you're in the know .

If you'd like to keep getting updates from me , I plan to take just a few weeks off before starting up again in season two . If you haven't gotten it yet , sign up for my Points 101 guide in the show notes . Like all my resources , it is free , with no upsells .

It will also get you on my weekly email list , which is the best way to be notified about new articles we write and new offers that are coming through credit cards . If you're ready for more information than that , sign up for my free course at learnkatiestraveltrickscom . Next , so many of you have left such nice reviews .

If you haven't , I'd appreciate it so much if you take a minute to leave a review , which helps more people find the podcast and start to learn about this wonderful hobby . And , lastly , if you have topics you'd like to see covered in future episodes and future seasons , please let me know . You can email me at katie at katiestraveltrickscom .

I'm so grateful that you've spent this time listening to season one with me here . It was a learning curve for me to learn a new digital medium , but it's been so lovely and I'm so glad that I took the plunge . I look forward to seeing you in season two .