March 10, 2025
Aruba on Points and Miles
Pam
Michael sent us a reader success story about how he went to Aruba on points and miles. This got my attention as I had a trip planned to Aruba that same November. We used different points and miles but the end result was the same—fun in the sun for next to nothing!
Michael’s Story
I came across your account and wanted to share a recent success story about a trip I just took with my sister to Aruba. This trip to Aruba was paid for completely by points and miles.
First, for the flights, I used JetBlue points I accumulated using the JetBlue Plus Card. I earned 60,000 points for opening the card and spending $3,000 in the first month. [Pam’s note: Currently, the offer is 50,000 points after a $1,000 spend.] The flights in all were around 61,000 points, round-trip. These were direct flights from Boston to Aruba (which included a free checked bag for each of us since we used the JetBlue Plus card).
All information about the JetBlue Plus Card has been collected independently by Travel Mom Squad. The JetBlue Plus Card is no longer available through Travel Mom Squad.
For points to cover the hotel stay, I opened up an card_name. I used those points to book the Holiday Inn Resort in Aruba for four nights (and when you use points to redeem for three nights, you get the fourth night free). In addition to booking the room completely with points, the IHG card gives you Platinum Elite status. This allowed us to get a free palapa for the entirety of our stay, a free room upgrade to a partial ocean view, welcome drinks, and a bunch of other little perks.
Redeem 3 nights, get 4th night free when you redeem points for a consecutive four-night IHG® hotel stay, you can receive a fourth Reward Night free redeemable at that same hotel during that same stay.
It was an amazing trip that cost me $0 out of pocket.
Bottom Line
Great job Michael! I am a huge fan of using hotel status as you did with the IHG card for extra perks. I find IHG to be generous with their upgrades, especially in foreign countries! Thanks for sharing your story about Aruba on points and miles!
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Reader Success Story: Aruba on Points and Miles
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