2019 Travel Reflection

As the year has come to an end, I would like to look back on what has so far been the best travel year of my life. In the past 12 months, I have flown on 8 different airlines, including Australian and US carriers. To date, I have flown on Virgin Australia, Qantas, Jetstar, American, United, Delta, Frontier, and Southwest. All of this flying has totaled over 39 thousand miles, which is 1.6x around the earth. On the 22 flights, I have spent nearly 4 days of my life in the air, totaling a whopping 93 hours, 50 minutes. None of this includes the 3 last flights I will be on before year’s end. I will get to try two new airlines. British Airways and Air France will provide three more flights spanning just over 3,900 miles, and I’ll be in the air close to another nine and a half hours.

I am saying none of this to brag in any sort of way. I am going to attempt to explain to you how you could travel in similar ways, spanning much less or more distance than I have this year, for a lot less cost than you would think, using points and miles. Let me give you a hint; it is because of points. Also note, that unless otherwise written, these flights were for four people.

My family and I started off the year with a trip to Australia. For the main flight from the East Coast to Australia, we flew from Washington National (DCA) to Los Angeles (LAX) to Sydney (SYD). Here is where the savings began. We transferred a total of 160,000 MR points to Delta, for which we got a 6 hour Delta flight and a 16 hour Virgin Australia flight for four people. We got those points from a retention offer my mom got for holding onto her American Express Platinum Card, as well as the 5x points earned on airfare and money spent on other purchases. In Australia, we paid for flights to Hamilton Island on JetStar in order to see the Great Barrier Reef. Due to JetStar being a budget airline, the flights were relatively affordable and normally cost just above $100 USD one way. On the way back, we used 20,000 American Airlines AAdvantage points per person to fly business class to Melbourne. For the flights back to DC, we chose to pay for tickets with cash, since there was no good award availability, and we flew American Airlines to take advantage of our status. When we were in Sydney, we stayed at the Hilton Sydney for 30,000 Hilton Points per night for three nights. It was a terrific rate, especially when you include the unbelievable free breakfast and great executive club. In Melbourne, we stayed at the Double Tree for 30,000 points per night for two nights. For everything else, we elected to stay in AirBnbs, some of which were particularly unbelievable along the Great Ocean Road.

To visit family in San Francisco, we used 75,000 United MilagePlus points to buy three round trip plane tickets from Washington Dulles (IAD) to San Francisco (IAD). My dad had already been out there for work, so his tickets were covered by his company. I got to check out my first Priority Pass restaurant and got to fly on a 777 domestically. We stayed at the DoubleTree in San Jose near our family for 30,000 points per night for two nights.

During the fall of 2018, Frontier had come out with a sale on their Washington National (DCA) to Denver (DEN) route. I do not remember the exact price, but if you can use a mix of their promotions, you can find this route for around $60 one way per person. I know that Frontier is definitely not the most comfortable way to fly, but for the price, the convenience of flying out of DCA, and the good times of those flights, for us it was the right choice. We are fortunate enough to have great family friends who live in Colorado, so there was no additional cost for lodging.

Next, we went to Cancun for spring break. We flew down on Southwest in order to maximize our Companion Pass. We flew direct from Baltimore-Washington (BWI) to Cancun (CUN) for just under 12 thousand points one way and only had to buy three tickets. We got our Southwest Points and Companion Pass by signing up for the Southwest Priority Credit Card last February. On the trip, we were able to get a great paid deal by staying at the Villa Del Palmar, which was just outside of central Cancun and was all inclusive. If you plan on going to Cancun, I would recommend a stay here. Flying back, we didn’t have any luck with points, so we bought tickets for around $170 one way from AeroMexico, but flying on Delta.

Over the summer, my family and I got to go on a quick trip to the Northeast in order to see Boston and visit friends in Maine. Southwest operates a flight from Washington National to Providence, Rhode Island (PVD). We were able to find flights for around 6,400 points per person round trip, a steal if you ask me. We bought three tickets and used Companion Pass, so the flights totaled under 20,000 points round trip for the entire family. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Portland, Maine for a high 70,000 points per night for two nights. We all managed to squeeze into one room. It was a lot of points, but compared to the paid price of over $500 per night, we used the points well, especially once you factor in its unrivaled location and convenience.

Finally, this year I have been fortunate enough to go on a number of business trips with my dad. Since his flights and hotels are paid for by his work, I have been able to tag along, once again using the Companion Pass. Because there were only the two of us, it was perfectly fine for us to be in one hotel room, which he would have had to stay in anyway through his work. Anytime I go with him, we just have to pay $11.20 for taxes and fees for my flights. That’s it! Because of being able to do this, we got to visit Niagara Falls, went to a Buffalo Bills game, and flew all the way to Los Angeles the day school ended last year. Yes, I had to explore Santa Monica and Disney Land by myself, but I was still able to enjoy the afternoon and evenings with my dad. I am definitely looking forward to tagging along with him on more trips next year.

All in all, I have had an unbelievable year making memories that I know will last for the rest of my life. Remember, your points aren’t getting any more valuable, so you may as well just spend them now. Yes, we did have to pay for  some tickets and accommodations, but when the cost of the stay is a better value than using points, you can save your points for a later trip. I hope that anyone reading this has had just as amazing a year, possibly flying farther than I for cheaper. If you are not limited to a school calendar, as we are, you can have some amazing award opportunities during off-peak seasons. I have had fun this year traveling for free, maximizing points and miles, and look forward to doing more of the same next year.