January 17, 2025
Reader Success Story to Japan
Pam
Our latest reader success story is from one of our dads! This may be called Travel Mom Squad but we have a lot of dads who are readers, too and we really appreciate them. Here’s Jeff’s reader success story to Japan:
I just wanted to say thank you for your advice over the past seven months. I started this hobby in August 2023 after hearing a couple of podcasts. I’ve listened to every podcast, some of them twice.
Ten-Year Anniversary Trip to Japan
My wife and I just returned from a two-week trip to Japan for our tenth anniversary. This was my first redemption, which was aggressive, but I felt prepared. Everything fell into place flawlessly being able to book some of this stuff a week out.
Using points earned from four Chase Inks, two IHG cards, one American Express® Gold Card, and three Southwest® cards to each get Southwest® Companion Passes® to book our travel, we only spent $2,000 cash on travel and hotels on what would have been a $10,000+ trip. I did my research before opening cards so I wasn’t going in blindly, and thanks to your team, I think I’ve avoided many mistakes. [Wait a minute, Jeff! You pounded out those applications. You give new meaning to the saying, “go big or go home!” —Pam]
Hotels Using Credit Card Points in Japan
Our hotels included the Hyatt Centric Ginza, the Park Hyatt Kyoto, and InterContinental Hotel in Beppu. They were all incredible and we would highly recommend each of them. Most of our points came from our Chase cards, and we transferred our points to Hyatt. We also used IHG points for the InterContinental Hotel. We also paid for one stay in cash (which was painful) since we wanted a specific location in Tokyo.
The lobby of the Hyatt Centric Ginza! Pam loved this hotel, too!
Flights To and From Japan
Our outbound flights were on Delta One from Detroit to Haneda Airport. They cost us 85,000 each, which we paid for with some old Delta points that must have been sitting in our accounts for 5+ years and also some points transferred from the American Express® Gold Card to Delta. These were business-class flights! We flew home on United Polaris from NRT to DEN (75,000 each and $100 or so in cash from Chase Ultimate Rewards® to Air Canada).
We also enjoyed nice visits to Delta lounges in Atlanta and Denver, the United Club at Narita, and the Centurion Lounge in Denver. This was the first time we’ve ever flown lie-flat seats or set foot into a lounge. [Oh, oh, he’s hooked now. —Pam]
A first redemption and business class seats—way to go, Jeff!
Future Credit Card Points and Miles Plans
We also booked the Andaz Papagayo for next April while we were on our flight back from Japan. We have twin four-year-old boys and are excited to travel with them. My wife is now a believer and will hopefully remember this feeling next time I ask her to switch the card she is using. Thanks again to your team for making this possible.
Thanks, Jeff, for your reader success story to Japan! I can see many more points and miles trips in your future!
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Ultimate Reader Success Story to Japan
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What an amazing 1st redemption trip! We are heading to Japan in a few weeks thanks to points and miles, and I can’t wait.
One side note for Jeff with his twin boys: the Andaz Papagayo has some super poisonous trees on the property down by the beach (Manzanilla trees — you can google). If your boys try to climb the trees or stand under them if it’s raining their skin could get large blisters. Just a heads up since your boys are the age where tree-climbing might sound fun. Aside from that I have heard the property is amazing, and am looking forward to going. Just something to be aware of with kids.