We’ve been so busy travelling and writing about all the amazing places we’ve seen that I haven’t talked about miles and points recently. But I wanted to write a quick note on the subject since our miles and points strategy has really been key to how we are able to finance a large part of our trip and book comfortable—if not downright luxurious—flights and accommodations. From our ridiculous first class experience that kicked off the trip, to some fancy hotel stays, to even just saving us from paying cash for shorter-haul flights, we have easily gotten tens of thousands of dollars in value from our miles and points so far.
Here’s a case in point. I recently flew from Singapore to Detroit and then Detroit to Moscow for my quick travel break for 70,000 United miles. This trip would have easily cost a couple thousand dollars. I’ll be returning stateside again in Thanksgiving (flying Zurich to Detroit and then returning Detroit to Rome), and we recently booked those tickets for 30,000 United miles each way. How much did that save us? Well, United helpfully told us right before we checked out with my flight order.
Yep, that’s nearly $7,000 roundtrip. Although prices are probably higher due to the Thanksgiving holiday, I could most likely find a cheaper flight option if I wasn’t booking with points (that’s the difference in value versus out-of-pocket savings). But it still would have cost us a good sum of money. This is why you can get serious bang for your buck by using miles and points to book international travel and accommodations.
In case you haven’t read up on our miles and points strategy yet, check out these posts:
Miles and Points 101: Types of Credit Cards
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