2024 was another incredibly great year for travel for this grandma of 21! Business-class seats, luxury hotels, and wonderful memories were all made possible with credit card points and miles. Here’s Pam’s 2024 points and miles recap!

 

Pam’s 2024 Points and Miles Recap

January

I started this year in a BIG way with a trip to London to visit my daughter Lindsey. Then she and I headed on to Abu Dhabi in Etihad Apartments! It was an amazing and too-short experience—but even more amazing was that this experience cost me a mere 65K miles! We flew back to London in Etihad business class for only 45K miles each.

We stayed at two locations in Abu Dhabi, soaking in the sun while snow covered the ground in Colorado. The Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi was one of my favorite Hyatt stays.

Points and miles used (including flights to and from London): 370K.  Cash value:   About $18,000!

 

 

But wait! January continued with a three-generations trip to Cabo. We hotel-hopped to The Cape, a Thompson Hotel, and the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal. 

Points and miles used: 70K plus four free-night certificates.  Cash value: about $7,000.

 

 

February

In February, Alex and I took her 10-year-old on his birthday trip to San Antonio. (As you can see, most of our credit-card points-and-miles redemptions revolve around creating family memories!) This grandma appreciates being invited to these special occasions.

Points and miles used: 60K.  Cash value:  about $1,500.

 

 

March

Disneyland was our first trip in March. It was priceless to see five cousins running around and having fun together. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach for a little beach time before going to the happiest place on earth, Disneyland.

Points and miles used: 95K.  Cash value: about $2,000.

 

 

March travels continued with another three-generations trip to Roatan, Honduras, and a stay at the IHG Kimpton Roatan. I love Kimpton hotels, and the ability to stay at Kimpton properties for free is always a treat.

Points and miles used: 250K.  Cash value:  about $5,200.

 

 

March was my busiest month and it continued with a trip to both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur with Alex and Jess. Our TMS trips are so much fun—how couldn’t they be, with three women who love to travel and use credit card points and miles! Even the stifling heat in Kuala Lumpur didn’t stop us!

Points and miles used: 275K.  Cash value:  about $8,000.

 

 

Also in March, Alex and I went to Austin, Texas, for the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards. Points Talk with the Travel Mom Squad was up for the best travel podcast award. Our podcast didn’t win, but being nominated was an incredible honor!

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Austin. Although it seemed a little older, we really enjoyed our stay and would happily stay there again. The location is great!

 

 

April

In April, my husband and I joined Alex’s family for a trip to the Park Hyatt Aviara in Carlsbad, California. Spending time with Alex’s cute boys is one of our favorite uses of points and miles. Getting an upgrade to a suite made it even more special.

Points and miles used: 120K.  Cash value:  about $4,000.

 

 

May

The safari that didn’t happen occurred (well, didn’t occur) in May. We still enjoyed Nairobi and Mauritius before pivoting the planned safari to a trip to Sardinia, Italy, instead. Points and miles make those pivots much easier to handle than if cash were on the line!

Points and miles used: 881K. Cash value: about $28,200.

 

 

May ended with a family trip to Costa Rica with two of our daughters and their families. We used points to get there, but we rented an Airbnb so we could all be together.

Points and miles used:  just flights.

 

 

June

Greece is one of my favorite places to visit, and a friend and I went there in June—first to Santorini and then to the island of Crete. After our stay in Greece, we took a quick trip to Vienna, Austria, and stayed at the amazing Park Hyatt Vienna.

Points and miles used: 182K plus three 85K free-night certificates from Marriott.  Cash value: almost $9,000.

 

 

Later in June we took a huge family trip to Florida, staying at the Hyatt Place Panama Beach before an Airbnb stay. Having almost our entire family together for this trip was wonderful.

Points and miles used: 36K.  Cash value: about $600.

 

 

July

After our trip to Florida, my husband and I traveled with our London-based family to the exquisite Italian Dolomites. We flew Emirates business class there and thoroughly enjoyed our trip. Then we returned to the London area to visit our family longer.

Points and miles used: 284K (flights only).  Cash value: about $28,000. (British Airways flight value was ridiculous!)

 

 

August

My four daughters and I usually take a yearly trip; credit card points and miles are integral to this trip. This year, we visited Lisbon, Portugal, and the Azores Islands—gorgeous!

Points and miles used: 166K.  Cash value: about $9,500. (didn’t include Airbnb)

 

 

 

September

My other annual trip with my sister was to one of our favorite destinations—Italy! We visited Rome, Lake Como, and Cinque Terre, and we loved each one. Italy (and gelato) never gets old to me!

Points and miles used: 245K. Cash value: about $9,600. (not including cash stay at Cinque Terre hotel)

 

 

 

October

I took a last-minute trip to London to visit my daughter and her family in October. I was lucky to find excellent business-class flights to and from there. We even stayed at the Park Hyatt London River Thames the evening we saw Hamilton in the West End. 

Points and miles used: 195K. Cash value: about $12,000. (Those business class flights were worth a lot!)

 

 

December

Our annual TMS retreat was to Playa del Carmen. Believe it or not, we didn’t use points for our hotel stay. A couple of years ago, we stayed at the Andaz Mayakoba and ate at the nearby Banyan Tree Mayakoba. It was gorgeous and became a bucket-list destination for all of us. We decided to splurge on a cash stay at the Banyan Tree (it makes it easier when three people split the costs) and had a great time!

Immediately after Christmas, my husband and I again joined Alex’s family for another stay in Maui at the Maui Hyatt Regency. It’s always a fun time with Alex’s cute boys!

Points and miles used: 210K. Cash value: about $5,400.

 

I used points and miles for almost $150,000 worth of travel this year. Of course, this included mainly business-class flights and luxury hotels that I could never have afforded to pay for in cash!

 

Cards I Applied For

I have a large stockpile of points and miles, so I concentrated on the Chase Freedom Unlimited bonus match this year and reduced the number of cards I applied for. Here are the new cards my husband and I signed up for this year:

• Chase Freedom Unlimited® (husband)
• British Airways Visa Signature® Card (husband and me)
• Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Business Mastercard® (husband and me)
• card_name (husband)
• card_name (me)
• card_name (husband)
• Bilt Rewards Mastercard® by Wells Fargo (me)
• card_name (husband)

All information about the Chase Freedom Unlimited® has been collected independently by Travel Mom Squad. The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is no longer available through Travel Mom Squad.

All information about the British Airways Visa Signature® Card has been collected independently by Travel Mom Squad. The British Airways Visa Signature® Card is no longer available through Travel Mom Squad.

All information about the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Business Mastercard® has been collected independently by Travel Mom Squad. The Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Business Mastercard® is no longer available through Travel Mom Squad.

 

Altogether, we earned about 1,300,000 points for travel this year on welcome offers. There is seldom a time that I am not working on a minimum spend. We use our cards to pay our taxes, which is a huge expense for us as we are both self-employed.

 

Cards Cancelled, Downgraded

I canceled or downgraded the following cards:

• card_name (husband and me)
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (my husband and I each canceled two)

All information about The Business Platinum Card® from American Express has been collected independently by Travel Mom Squad. The The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is no longer available through Travel Mom Squad.

Plans For Next Year

I’ve already booked the following (so far):

 

• New Zealand
• Thailand
• Kimpton Roatan (return trip)
• Costa Rica
• Spain (and maybe Mallorca)
• Maui
• Bora Bora
• India
• Kimpton Tres Rios (opening soon, all-inclusive)

 

Bottom Line

Never, ever did I think that this would be my life. Travel is my passion, and the ability to travel so much for so cheap is unbelievable. My 2024 points and miles recap blows my mind—what will 2025 bring?

 

Related Posts:

• Alex’s 2023 Points/Miles Recap
• Jess’s 2023 Points/Miles Recap
• Pam’s 2022 Points/Miles Recap
• Alex’s 2022 Points/Miles Recap
• Jess’s 2022 Points/Miles Recap
• Pam’s 2021 Points/Miles Year in Review
• Alex’s 2021 Points/Miles Year in Review
• THM Podcast #56: 2023 Recap