New to points…start here
We have two kids in college, so we have lots of flexibility when we travel. I know not everyone has that flexibility.
I have a friend wanting to go to Hawaii with her family of 5. She just started to redeem points so here is the advice I am giving her:
Dream trip: Kauai, Oahu (to do Arizona) and Maui. We have done Hawaii 5x’s. I love this dream trip idea for her. My goal is to help her save as much money as possible using points. She’s smart and knows she wants to stay at the Hyatt’s there. She has 300,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards. I don’t know if we can do the whole trip for 5 for that total but I told her we could try. If we can get either hotels or flights for her family that would be a significant savings. We might have to trim down the dream but that is her decision. My goal is to help her save money using points.
First, I would look at hotels. The Hawaii hotels available for point stays go quickly. She could use the Hyatt website to search for rooms for her dates and check availability. I usually keep a yellow notepad beside me when I work on trips putting all the data I find on it. Which dates are available how many points etc. I want to match that data up with flights. To save time I recommend trying a website like www.maxmypoint.com.It can do the work for you. However, I would double-check everything on the website (for example Hyatt) before transferring any points.
Next, I would look at flights. I automatically search Southwest first since we have a companion pass. I also know she has ultimate rewards. Next, I use point.me to search for flights. I get it free with my American Express Platinum card. If you don’t get it free another great resource would be PointsYeah | Free AI(All Inclusive) points travel | award flight search.
If she cannot get it all done for the points she needs, I can suggest what card she should add or we can look at google flights/hotels to search for prices.
Once she is ready to start booking, we will check one last time everything is still available. Then we will start moving points and firming up reservations.
