This year, our annual mom/daughter trip took us to Portugal on points and miles. Our primary goal was the Azores Islands, with a quick stop in Lisbon.

 

Flights to Portugal

We opted to fly to London via Virgin Atlantic from Boston. Each of us took a positioning flight to Boston, and we met there. Prior to our flight, we went to the Delta SkyClub in Boston which is a gorgeous airport lounge!

All of the transferable currencies transfer to Air France, which made it easy for each of us to book our Virgin Atlantic flights (booked on the Air France site). I love this flight—the food is delicious, you can close the door of your little room, and the service is excellent. We were meeting one daughter in London, so we planned to fly to LHR and then take an inexpensive flight on TAP Portugal to Lisbon. 

We used 71,000 Air France Flying Blue miles + $206.30 to book these Virgin Atlantic flights on the Air France site. Here are the cash prices for each of our seats:

 

 

 

Transfer to Hotel

We took an Uber to our hotel, which cost us about $20. Unfortunately, we ran into a horrible traffic jam, which made the ride over an hour. However, our ride back was only 10-15 minutes. 

 

Hyatt Regency Lisbon

You can read my complete review of this hotel here. Long story short – we would gladly return to this hotel!

 

 

Activities in Lisbon

We only had two days here, so we used tours and a cooking class to fill our time. First up, a cooking class at Cooking Lisbon to make the famous Pastel de Natas. Ours were incredible (eat them warm), and the class had 8 students, so it was very hands-on.  We paid 80 Euros for this class and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

After we took our class, we walked around Lisbon and then took a 4-hour tuk-tuk private tour that we booked to see the main sites. It was great to make the most of our short time by NOT walking everywhere. Luiz was an entertaining host with a ton of knowledge about the main tourist attractions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we did another Viator tour to Sintra and Cascais (we all would love to live in the latter). Again we did a private tour, and splitting the cost of it made it reasonable. The ability to “call the shots” for how long to stay and where to eat made it much nicer. This was about a six-hour trip in a private van, and we all enjoyed it. 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are in Lisbon, eat at SUD Lisboa which was near our hotel – delicious! We also ate at Lupita Pizzeria and the pizza was some of the best we’ve had.

 

On to the Azores Islands

After three nights in Lisbon, we went to the Portugal airport to catch our cash flight on SATA to the Azores islands. Some of us used our Capital One Venture X credit for this. This was about a three-hour flight. We flew to the main island of Sao Miguel, landing in Ponta Delgada. We picked up our rental car and drove to our VRBO, about 30 minutes away. It was a lovely three-bedroom, two-bath villa with a shared pool and hot tub.

We wanted to be in the same house together, so we opted NOT to stay at a hotel with points. There is a Hilton Doubletree on the island, though, if that would be a good choice for you. Portugal on points and miles did not include a hotel stay on the Azores Islands.

The Azores Islands are often called the Hawaii of Europe, which describes this lush island filled with green vegetation and hydrangeas. With the green hills, it also resembled parts of Scotland—it is truly gorgeous. The only part we didn’t love was the difficulty of booking dinner reservations, as there were few choices. However, we agreed that we found some great places to eat – make your reservations early.

 

Day One

The Azores is a mecca of outdoor activities, with hiking being huge. We headed to Lagos de Sete Cidades on the first day. We hiked into a great view and stopped at some viewpoints off the road. Views of the twin lakes in the middle of a dormant volcano were worth the hike, which was easy. An enjoyable dinner was had at Tukátulá, a beach bar. 

.

 

 

Day Two

On day two, we visited Poca Dona Beija, which has thermal hot springs. These are quite plentiful around the island. The vegetation around this one was especially beautiful. For about $8, we could enjoy them for an hour and a half. That night, we had dinner at Casa do Abel, which had delicious steaks.

 

 

 

Day Three

In the morning, we opted for massages at Sensi Spa and Wellness. This place also books accommodations and would be a nice place to stay. It also has Mômô Restaurant, our favorite restaurant on the island. We had some really good food (two dinners and one lunch) there.

In the afternoon, we headed to Termas de Ferraria, a natural thermal pool in the ocean. You have to get there at the right time because it’s too hot at low tide and too cool at high tide.  There are several local beaches in the area:

• Praia dos Mosteiros was our favorite, with kids playing, ice cream carts, parking available.
• Praia Baixa d’ Areia

 

 

Day Four

We got up early, excited to see whales on a whale-watching excursion. Sadly, it was a bust; there were no whales, but there were many dolphins. We stopped at a delicious bakery for the bread they were serving at Mômô Restaurant and then went to the beach in the afternoon. Dinner was once again steak at O Baco Restaurant—it was a beautiful restaurant with exceptional food.

 

 

Flight Home from Azores

We flew United Airlines direct from Ponta Delgado to EWR in Premium Economy. This plane only had Premium Economy and Economy seats on it. Luckily, the flight was only 6 hours long. We used 50K United miles to fly directly to Newark (EWR) and on to Denver. Basically, these were domestic first-class seats with seatback entertainment and amenity kits. It beat flying economy class, though, and direct to NYC can’t be beat!

 

Bottom Line

One of my most anticipated trips each year is our mom-daughter girl’s trip, and this year was no exception. The laughter, the new jokes, and the time spent together are priceless. I’m sure we would find ways to make this happen without points and miles, but the ability to see the world together and spend so little money is something we never take for granted. Portugal on points and miles was a memory we will cherish!

 

Related Posts

• Girls Trip to Croatia with Points and Miles
• How to Go on a Greece Girls Trip and Not Go Broke
• Girls Trip to Florence, Italy on Credit Card Points/Miles