Recently, I booked my tickets to go home for Christmas to visit my family. I was SO proud of myself–I found a Delta flight nonstop from Manchester, NH to LaGuardia that got me back to NYC before dinner for only $120. Score, especially during the holiday season!
Alas, my great find wasn’t meant to be. Follow the jump to find out what happened.
If you follow me on Instagram (@apointearned for those who don’t! 😉 ), today was the day that I planned my roundtrip flight for in the jetBlue #GoForthWithJetBlue promotion. If you need a recap on what this is, or why I’m doing it, head on over to my earlier post on it.
I have to hand it to people who can manage to go about their daily lives (successfully, I might add) and still have time to blog. So let’s get point one right out the open: I’m sorry to have disappeared for so long! Between a crazy month of work and many weekends of travel–more on that below–I’ve neglected A Point Earned. Bad Sam! I’m not going to make promises, but I have very much missed blogging, and hopefully something like this doesn’t happen again.
So the fun part of being away for so long is that I can update you on all the traveling I did (and how I did it for cheap–that’s the whole point, right?)!
| Date | Item | Cash Spent | Points Used | Value of Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/12/2016 | Delta Airlines Flight #3702 | $42.10* | 0 | n/a |
| 5/15/2015 | Concord Coach #31 | $15.00 | 0 | n/a |
| 5/15/2015 | Amtrak #139 | $0.00 | 2,490 | $68.40 |
| 5/27/2016 | Amtrak #176 | $0.00 | 2,490 | $68.40 |
| 5/27/2016 | Concord Coach #36 | $15.00 | 0 | n/a |
| 5/30/2016 | Concord Coach #31 | $15.00 | 0 | n/a |
| 5/30/2016 | Amtrak #139 | $0.00 | 2,490 | $68.40 |
| 6/3/2016 | Amtrak #174 | $0.00 | 5,143 | $138.80 |
| 6/3/2016 | Concord Coach #36 | $15.00 | 0 | n/a |
| 6/6/2016 | Concord Coach #31 | $15.00 | 0 | n/a |
| 6/6/2016 | Amtrak #177 | $0.00 | 2,490 | $68.40 |
* I has a $200 Delta gift card thanks to my American Express Premier Rewards Gold card, which I used to offset the cost of the plane ticket.
Over the past four weekends, I’ve been traveling for three of them. On these three trips, I spent $117.10 to get back and forth from my destinations. I also used 15,103 Amtrak points, which are valued at about $412.40.
Although you can’t put a price on two graduations and a relaxing Memorial Day weekend, being able to save over $600 to see my family makes going to these important things all the more easier. If only Concord Coach Lines had a credit card (or frequent busser program!), I’d be all over that!
To me, this post highlights a couple things:
So there you have it–my return to the blogosphere! Sorry I was truant for so long, and to reiterate, I will try not to let it happen again!
In case you missed it, this is a multi-part trip framework. You can catch up on all the segments here:
So, let’s get rolling! The first part of the trip is taking Amtrak from New York’s Pennsylvania Station to Chicago’s Union Station. You’ll be taking the Lake Shore Limited #49 (a favorite of mine for getting to Utica) in a Viewliner Roomette. It’ll take just over 19 hours, but luckily you’ll have a bed for the trip.
This portion of your trip will set you back 19,424 points, which saves you $563.00. You could save ~16,000 points if you opted for the Reserved Coach Seat, but let’s be completely honest, that sounds TERRIBLE. Hard Pass.
One you get to Chicago, you’ll be staying at the Hyatt Place Chicago-Downtown/The Loop from 8/13 to 8/15. It’s a half mile walk from the station to the hotel. You’ll be getting in a little early, so your room won’t be ready for check-in, but hotels are usually pretty good about holding your bag(s) if you want to explore unencumbered.
The two days in Chicago will set you back a whopping 0 points. You may be thinking: “Sam 12,000 x 2 is certainly not 0.” And you’re not wrong; however, the Hyatt credit card’s sign-up bonus is two free nights at any Hyatt hotel. NICE!
This stopover on your trip gives you ~55 hours to explore Chicago, which isn’t a lot of time, but enough to get a few adventures in: Millennium Park, a Cubs game (they’re playing the Cardinals at home that weekend!), Art Institute of Chicago, Willis Tower Skydeck, Museum of Science and Industry, and Navy Pier to name a few!
On the afternoon of 8/15, walk back to the train station for your 2:15 train to Seattle!
Well, here’s something you probably all knew: blogging is hard work! I’m only a post in and it’s been a week. I think part of the slowness comes from the fact that publishing something (no matter the size) can be a little scary–you’re putting yourself out there for people to judge. The other side is that coming up with content can be tricky–I want what I post to be interesting, but also relevant. What’s a guy to do?
With that said, let’s explore the root of why I started this blog: I’m taking a $6,000+ trip to Hawaii in April for only about $600. A vacation for 90% off–do I have your attention now?!
Here’s what it looks like so far:
| Items | Points Used | Cash Value of Points | Cash Spent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2x Delta tickets JFK-LAX-HNL | 130,000 Delta SkyMiles | $1,021.00 | $11.20 |
| 2x Hawaiian tickets HNL-KOA | 9,000 American AAdvantage Miles | $174.00 | $11.20 |
| 2x United tickets KOA-DEN-LGA | 90,000 United MileagePlus Miles | $2,818.00 | $11.20 |
| 4 nights Hilton Waikiki Beach | 160,000 Hilton HHonors | $998.28 | $0.00 |
| 3 nights Hilton Waikoloa Beach (Cash+Points) | 60,000 Hilton HHonors | $737.94 | $515.34 |
| Oahu Rental Car | 13,056 Chase Ultimate Rewards | $163.20 | $0.00 |
| Big Island Rental Car | 23,808 Chase Ultimate Rewards | $297.60 | $0.00 |
Total: 485,864 points spent for a total value of $6,210.02. We’re paying only $548.94.
As this was a very “pieced together” trip, this wasn’t accomplished with only one or two credit cards. Between Nick and me, we applied for the following cards to make this trip happen:
Honestly, this is a long term game. We’ve been collecting points for almost a year, and this is our first major redemption. And in truth, we’re doing it sort of backwards. Rather than plan a trip and then base credit card bonuses around it, we’ve applied for credit cards and made a trip out of it. Because of this, there was no way that with our individual point balances we could create an entire roundtrip on one airline. For some, that might be an issue, but I think it’s actually a positive as it allows us to try out a bunch of different airlines and to use a variety of points.
What I will say is this: many people make it seem like you can only fly Emirates first class to get a great value out of your points. I disagree, and will disagree forever. What matters is that points got you to a vacation you might not otherwise take or a surprise visit home. That’s what matters most to me, and something I plan to highlight over and over again in this blog.
So, with a little planning–and a careful, methodical approach to managing credit cards–we’re taking the trip of a lifetime, and so could you!
EDIT: I think my next project will be detailing every leg of the trip and going into more detail on how we booked them. Thoughts?
