We recently stayed at the  Hyatt Place Panama City prior to moving to our Vacasa rental at Miramar Beach. We were a family of 29 people staying there in 7 rooms – what were our thoughts? As you all know, I love a good luxury hotel. While I wouldn’t classify the Panama City Hyatt Place a […]

We just got back from a family trip for 29 people to Florida.  Almost THIRTY people! Was it all on credit card points and miles? Not at all, but they certainly helped take the sting out of some of our travel. Here’s how we did it:   Flights on Points to Panama City, Florida Most […]

At the end of June, I took a 2,000+ mile East Coast National Park road trip, solo with my three girls. We departed from New York and drove through Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia. We visited three East Coast National Parks: Shenandoah National Park, Congaree National Park, and New River Gorge […]

At the end of June, my three daughters and I went on an East Coast road trip to visit their 34th U.S. state and three East Coast National Parks. After our first two days of driving, we made it to Isle of Palms, South Carolina to stay at the Boardwalk Inn at Wild Dunes Resort, a […]

Meghan sends us her reader success story to San Antonio, a popular Texas destination. Here is her story: My name is Meghan, and I love getting a good deal, so when I heard more about traveling on points two years ago, I was hooked. My husband, I, and our two young boys recently returned from […]

Our latest reader success story shows you how to score major points with your teenager by taking them to a concert at an international location. Christina’s story is about Amsterdam and a concert on points and miles!   Christina’s Story In a podcast, Jess mentioned that she would follow Taylor Swift around Europe. My 12-year-old […]

Using points and miles for families, especially large ones, is a little harder than using them for a couple’s trip or solo travel. You obviously need more points and will use more points. However, it certainly isn’t impossible, as shown by Alex’s Maui trip one year, when she had to find flights and accommodations for […]

Our latest reader success story is a 10-day European Vacation on points and miles. Andrew and his wife took their adorable 10-month-old on his first transcontinental vacation—here is Andrew’s story.   Getting Started Hello Pam, it took a while to put this together, but my wife and I wanted to share our experience learning about […]

Two credit cards come with a Marriott 35K certificate annually: the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card. In our opinion, these cards make the annual fees worth paying year after year. But what are some great ways to use a Marriott 35K certificate? Remember, it is possible to “top […]

We just enjoyed a huge family trip to Costa Rica. There were 16 or us in total! Here’s how we used points and miles to get to Costa Rica – well partially!   Flights to Costa Rica This trip was to celebrate two graduating seniors, and our daughter, Kelly from Colorado Springs, invited us to […]

Our latest reader success story comes from Cheryl and is all about three European cities on points and miles. Cheryl just started in 2023 and has had some amazing success! Here is her story:   Cheryl’s Story with Credit Card Points and Miles First of all, I wanted to say Thanks!   I started my […]

On our recent family trip to Japan, our family of 5 spent two nights in Osaka. Our family focuses on utilizing points and miles to cut down on travel costs, and we rarely (if ever!) have a trip that is 100% on points. It can be especially tricky and costly in points when, due to […]

Hilton has a new way to book stays with points—you can now book luxury campsites with Hilton. This includes luxury campsites and custom Airstreams, cabins, and luxury tents in scenic locations near national parks and beaches across America. Billed as AutoCamps, they are a great alternative to hotels and Airbnb. There are mandatory fees with […]

As someone who aims to visit all six of the Disney Parks, I couldn’t go to Japan without visiting Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. This was Disney Castle #5 of 6 for me, and I could barely contain my excitement! The Tokyo Disney parks are located in the Tokyo Bay area of the city. It’s about an […]

I love Southern California. My family always traveled there when I was younger, so I have wonderful memories of the beaches, amusement parks, and great weather. When Alex invited my husband and I to join them on their Spring Break vacation to Southern California, we were all in. Carlsbad, California, on points and miles, was […]

With the recent Hyatt award chart changes, the Hyatt Place Kyoto is one of the hotels making a rare downgrade in a category. It was previously a Category 3 Hyatt hotel, but as of March 26, 2024, it is a Category 2. This makes standard nights only 8k points per night! While traveling during the […]

Tokyo was the last city we visited on our 2.5 week family trip to South Korea and Japan. There are so many hotels in Tokyo that it was difficult to narrow down where our family of 5 would stay for our three nights. Pam and Jess had previously stayed at the Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills […]

Seoul, South Korea was the first stop of our family of five’s 2.5 week trip to South Korea and Japan. I originally booked two rooms at the Holiday Inn Express Seoul Hongdae with IHG points. However, after realizing we would want more comfort for our first few nights in Asia while we adjust to the […]

Our original plan for this trip was only to visit Japan. However, we were going to be visiting Japan during the Hanami Season – the Japanese art of springtime flower watching, aka Sakura or Cherry Blossom season. This is one of the busiest tourist seasons of the year in Japan. Finding five award flights (even […]

Like most of our readers, I usually pick our next trip destination and then plan and book everything for our family. I’m lucky that my husband is always up for whatever big plans I have for us, but I still occasionally ask if he has any ideas or requests. When I asked him what his […]

Laura shares her reader success story with us today – a winter escape to Arizona. I was raised in Arizona, and there is no better place to go to in winter! Here are all the details of her escape: Recently, my family just returned from a great winter escape to the Phoenix/Scottsdale area.  We flew […]