We have 11 million credit card points.
You don't see that message every day.
A family from Utah with four young children have been unable to travel due to the coronaviruses epidemic. They want to go back into the world.
Because of the business they own, and using credit cards to maximize both their personal and business expenses, they're sitting on an impressive 11 million points.
There is a family with four kids. It made us want to know more. The plan was laid out after we received more information from the family.
You can find your next redemption sweet spot with the app. Today is a good day to download for free.
Four kids are under the age of 10. They want to travel more when the youngest is able to walk.
Salt Lake City International Airport is their hometown airport.
We wanted to know if they have a preferred hotel or airline.
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The Business Platinum Card from American Express allows the family to enroll for complimentary Gold status with Marriott Bonvoy and the other hotels.
They have the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card since they often fly with Delta Air Lines out of Salt Lake City.
What types of trips do they like to take? They like to visit theme parks and explore nature and prefer to introduce their child to travel slowly. Domestic trips and things within North America would be easy.
The parents want to take a second honeymoon at the end of the year or early in the year of the following year.
We're going to focus on three trips.
They have more than 8 million American Express Membership rewards points and more than 2 million Chase Ultimate rewards points.
The numbers will be used for trip planning.
There is no way to pay for your tickets with points. The exception is Universal Studios in the state of Florida.
Chase points can be used to purchase these tickets. The family can redeem their points at a rate of 1.5 cents per point to buy tickets.
Children younger than 2 don't need a ticket when accompanying a paying adult at Universal.
Points can be used to save money at Universal.
Click on "Activities" at the top and type in where you want to go and the dates of your trip to find these tickets.
There will be a lot of results if you search forOrlando. The "Activity Name" box is located on the left side of the screen.
There are two main theme parks at Universal, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, and this family can use 100,586 Ultimate rewards points to purchase tickets for two days.
If you want to hop from one park to another during the same day, you'll have to pay more, but if you want to buy tickets for fixed dates, it's the cheapest.
Adding a water park for an additional cost is the same thing as adding a park.
Secrets to know before your next trip.
The tickets are only for entry to the park. Express Pass is not included.
Is Universal's express pass worth it? It saved you time in line.
Hyatt Place is a great place to stay.
Free breakfast is offered to all guests at Hyatt Place locations. It is possible to save a lot of money before you go to the park.
These are the best places to stay at Universal.
Two hotel rooms are the best option with two adults and four kids. The family will spend 80,000 points on this booking if they go to Florida for five nights and stay at more than one Universal Studios.
It is possible to transfer Chase Ultimate rewards points to World of Hyatt at a 2:1 ratio.
The value of the redemption is over 2 cents per point, which is above the average value of Hyatt points.
It's always a good idea to compare options when booking flights.
It is possible to transfer American Express Membership rewards points to Delta Skymiles. It will cost 23,500 points. The family can book five tickets since lap infants are free. There are 117,500 miles for the itinerary.
The cash prices on these tickets are okay. If you use your points as cash to buy these flights in the travel portal, you could spend less points.
By booking this way, they will spend 105,730 points and save 11,770 points. The pricing takes advantage of using Ultimate rewards points at a value of 1.5 cents each.
SkyMiles won't be earned on the flights if they are booked in Delta basic economy. The family should spend more points to book a standard economy ticket so they can earn miles when booking through the Chase portal.
You can walk from Hyatt Place to Universal's theme parks on a daily basis. This family would need to rent a car if they were to go beyond this.
The average cost for a large SUV or minivan in the Chase portal is close to 60,000.
The total cost for the hotel, flights and park tickets is more than two hundred thousand points. Adding a rental car would bring the total to over three hundred thousand points.
Their out of pocket costs will be limited to lunch and dinner every day, and any activities outside of Universal's theme parks.
The family likes to get away from it all and go to nature. A direct flight to a location with inexpensive hotels, great local food, beaches and marine life sounds like a good idea.
San Jose del Cabo is in Mexico.
Points and miles are how to get to Los Cabos.
You can either fly directly from Salt Lake City to Los Cabos International Airport or you can stop at one of the airports.
Good value can be found with award prices. Cash prices are around $600 each for these flights. 150,000 Skymiles is the price for five tickets.
If partner award space is available, it's possible to book the same flights for less with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
Delta awards can be booked with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
The flight distance should be under 1,500 miles if you fly directly between Salt Lake City and San Jose.
The flights will cost 11,500 Flying Club points. A savings of 35,000 points is achieved for five tickets. The family would be in Main Cabin economy if they booked through Virgin Atlantic.
Depending on how you book your award ticket, it can cost more or less to fly on Delta with a lap infant.
The award redemptions for two adults and three children are cheaper if you book with Virgin Atlantic.
The family would pay 10% of the adult cost to add a lap infant to the reservation. Taxes and fees should be added to that number.
The price for a lap infant with Virgin Atlantic is 1000 points. Booking these Delta flights through Virgin Atlantic will save another 1000 miles. It is possible to transfer points from American Express to Virgin Atlantic at a 2:1 ratio.
Virgin Atlantic can be used to save money on lap infants.
The Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos is one of the most well-known hotels in Los Cabos.
Each room at the Hyatt Ziva will cost 25,000 points per night, which is more than an all-inclusive property would cost.
Additionally, that only covers two people in each room, and that adds up to 12,500 points. There is a limit on how many people can stay in a room.
This family would need to book two rooms and add an additional guest to each one in order to accumulate more points.
Children under the age of 2 can be added to the reservation for free, but this still adds up to a lot of points, which can be expensive during a weeklong holiday.
There is a Category 1 property that can charge as little as 3,500 Hyatt points a night. The Hyatt place is in Los Cabos.
Breakfast is included at each hotel I've stayed at, I promise. One hotel can be seen from the other.
You won't get the all-you-can- eat-and-drink treatment at Hyatt Place but you will get daily breakfast and you will save a lot of points. This family could save 108,000 points per night if they booked this cheaper option.
They will have free access to the local beach, a pool at the Hyatt Place and a lot of other activities.
By booking their flights the right way and staying at an inexpensive property, it's possible to travel to a place that many people think is expensive. Points and miles are used to make that happen.
The family would spend 42,000 Hyatt points and 117,000 Virgin points to visit San Jose del Cabo.
They will spend an additional 648,000 Chase points if they choose to go for the all-inclusive experience at the Hyatt Ziva.
It is worth considering a hybrid approach in order to see which vacation style they prefer better.
Parents need to take a break from their kids. Parents are considering a second honeymoon in the early to mid-20th century.
Thailand provides the perfect mix of many things to do, access to nature, the ability to relax, and great cultural elements to explore, and we think it's the perfect place to go for vacations.
Points and miles are used to get to Thailand.
It's not possible to book these flights at the moment because this trip will happen at the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2024. Booking with ANA Mileage Club is likely to be the best option.
Depending on the season, there are different award costs for flights. When booking award flights, you must book round-trip itineraries with ANA.
"Y" is economy pricing, "PY" is premium economy, "C" is business class and "F" is first class.
The couple will pay 100,000-115,000 miles per person for the business class flights between Salt Lake City and Thailand. If they fly in first class, that goes up to 195,000-210,000 per person.
The best places for first-timers to visit Asia.
The ANA can take up to 48 hours to complete a transfer.
Once you find the flights you want, it's always a good idea to put ANA flights on hold before you transfer your points. The seats are held for you while you wait for the points to show up, and you can complete the booking once they do.
This is the second honeymoon for this couple and we assume they want to stay nice.
The Park Hyatt Bangkok is a great example of using points. Rooms cost 20,000 points per night during standard pricing.
It's not great value, but it's better than paying cash when you're sitting on a mountain of points.
They might consider The Sukhothai Bangkok if they are looking for something tranquil.
"While located in bustling Bangkok, the hotel is the epitome of tranquility, surrounded by lush gardens with a large pool, full-service spa, and award-winning dining," reads the description on the hotel's website.
The Small Luxury Hotels of the World property can be booked with Hyatt points but doesn't offer perks like status recognition. There is free breakfast and free wi-fi on these bookings.
Getting elite-like perks at small luxury hotels of the world
These are typical tourist scam on your trip to Thailand.
You can spend three nights at one of these hotels for less than 50,000 points. When you're ready to redeem, you can transfer these from Chase to Hyatt.
There are a number of places to visit after these three days. If they would like to escape to an island for beaches and time in the water, they could head to the island. They could go to the other side of the world to see grand temples.
There are 10 beautiful Thai islands that aren't Phuket.
The Tropical Pool Villa is located at the Cape Fahn Hotel. The Hyatt points can be used to book this. It would take 85,000 points to stay for five nights.
The room has a pool, living room and bedroom.
They should look at the Ultimate Pool Villa at The Ritz-Carlton.
It costs 166,200 points to stay in this room on most nights.
There is a balcony over the ocean, a private pool and a king-size bed in this villa.
They can get a fifth night free if they stay for five nights or more. Staying four nights or five nights would cost the same amount of points.
American Express and Chase can be transferred to Marriott Bonvoy. Your points should show up immediately with Amex, but that's not the case with Chase. One or two days is how long it takes to transfer from Chase to Marriott.
Since they tend to lose value during the transfer, using your Chase Ultimate rewards or American Express Membership rewards with Marriott isn't the best option. The points are worth less than half a cent on this reservation.
Booking with the American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts program would allow you to use Membership Reward points at 1 cent per point for perks such as free breakfast and an on-property credit for meals or spa visits. They wouldn't get Marriott points for their stay.
It would take 343,210 points to book five nights in this manner. The FHR program is only available to those with a Platinum or Centurion card from American Express.
There are destinations that can be added onto a trip to Thailand.
There are many options for this couple to head north.
They can book a small luxury hotel in the city for 12,000 points per night. Breakfast and room upgrades can be booked with Hyatt points.
The Four Seasons Resort is located outside the city. This couple could pay with points because it's part of the Fine Hotels + Resorts program.
For a five-night stay, you can expect to pay an average of 57,616 points per night.
The service and on-property restaurants at the Four Seasons are top-notch, even though the hotel is outside the city.
A review of a resort.
Let's assume the couple flies to Thailand in the business class option and then spends three nights at The Sukhothai Bangkok and five nights at the Four Seasons Resort.
They will enjoy a second honeymoon in Thailand using points and miles, after spending eight nights in Thailand and overnight flights back to the US. They will spend over half a million membership rewards points.
Thailand's fantastic train service can be used to get between the two cities.
The family would spend 431,316 points from Chase and 626,080 points from American Express. They have 11 million points and spending around a million points on these trips doesn't make a difference.
Not every family has 11 million credit card points, but this family is lucky enough to be in this situation.
This mountain of points can be used for a family trip to Universal Studios in Florida, a trip to the beach in Los Cabos, and a second honeymoon to Thailand.
With their remaining 10 million points, they can upgrade their rooms or flights, add more trips or even use their points to fight inflation by using programs like Chase's Pay Yourself Back.
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