Category: Redeeming Points
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Wellness on Points: Miraval Resort and Spa
When you think of all-inclusive resorts, you probably think of unlimited piña coladas poolside with a DJ somewhere in the Caribbean. Most people will tell you that there aren’t any true all-inclusives in the United States, and that’s technically true. However, there is a small chain of domestic mostly-inclusive resorts that are very different from…
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San Diego Family Vacation: Spring Break on Points
I grew up in Southern California, and San Diego holds a special place in my heart. It has that amazing Mediterranean climate, without the traffic and density of LA. I take my son back with me to California every year to visit my family, and this year, I decided we’d bring my daughter too, and…
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How I Booked a $20,000 Luxury Trip to Paris for 93% Off
When I took my children to the post office to apply for their first passports, there was a poster in the window that featured a picture of the Eiffel tower. My son, who was six at the time, ran up to the poster and said, “That’s the Eiffel tower! I want to see the Eiffel…
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Booking First Class through Alaska Airlines
I live on the East Coast, so Alaska Airlines is not an airline that I had given much thought to. When I first got into points and miles, none of the major banks were transfer partners of Alaska. Though I would occasionally see some stellar-looking redemptions for Alaska points come up in search engine results,…
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Family Trip to Boston: A Cash and Points Trip
I just returned from taking my two kids to the Boston area to visit our cousins. I booked this trip right after I started collecting points and miles, so I wasn’t able to do the whole thing on points, but I was able to leverage some of the techniques I’ve learned from award travel to…
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How Points and Miles Got Me to the Floor of the Eras Tour
I’m on my way home from a quick trip to New Orleans, where I had the great fortune to see Taylor Swift perform one of the last shows of the Eras Tour. Although I didn’t redeem points to buy my ticket, points and miles were the reason I was able to get a ticket, and…
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My First Redemption: New York City
My first sign-up bonus was 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points from the Ink Business Preferred. Here’s how I used some of those points (and a few others) to book my very first* award trip. There’s an asterisk* because although this was the first redemption I made, it wasn’t the first points-funded flight I got to…
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How I Used Points and Miles to Go to a Points and Miles Conference
Fall is conference season in points and miles land (and maybe in every other land, too?), and because I’ve fallen completely down the rabbit hole, I was itching to go to an event where I could talk to other people who shared my affliction. I settled on TravelMoreCon in Dallas because of its commitment to…
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3 Reasons Award Travel is Better than Cash Travel (Besides the Fact That You’re Not Paying Cash)
1. Award travel is more flexible than travel booked with cash. Although airlines have instituted more lenient change and cancellation policies since covid, most of us are conditioned to think of air travel as non-negotiable. Even now, in order to get the lowest fares, you usually have to book a non-refundable “Basic Economy” fare. It…
Kate's on a Plane 