We love using our points and miles for family trips and luxury vacations. However, points and miles can save the day (or vacation) in some instances! Having a stockpile of points and miles when you have to travel at the last minute (and the cost of travel is high) makes a huge difference. If you have a family emergency and suddenly need to be somewhere (and your finances are tight), they literally save the day.

On my recent sister’s trip, points and miles came into play once again in making a bad experience better. My sister’s mother-in-law, who was in her 90s, had a sudden health decline and was put on hospice care. We were in Florence (without our baggage to complicate matters). She needed to get home, and we had to cancel our last destination (Cinque Terre).

 

Getting Home

Luckily, my sister had purchased an Allianz insurance policy covering her flight home. I still had four days left on a return award ticket out of London, so I decided to return to London and visit my daughter. Cash prices from Milan to London were over $700 cash in economy class for a 2-hour flight—ouch! Luckily, I have points/miles.

I booked a British Airways flight for 22.5K AA miles. And this was a business class flight! That meant I got to check in for the flight in a special (shorter) line, went through fast track security, and relaxed in the BA lounge before my departure. This totally changed my experience at the airport and what had been a very stressful few days with locating our luggage, traveling by train to Milan, and booking new flights to get my sister home to Phoenix and me to London.

 

Fiasco in Florence

Because of our Fiasco in Florence with our luggage, we had a difficult time connecting with our bags again. We went to the Florence Airport not knowing where we would sleep that night. Our one goal was to get our bags so we could plan the next part of our trip.

Luckily, when we got to the airport, we were reunited with our luggage (it wasn’t easy). From there, we took a taxi to the Santa Maria Novella train station, and I found a train to Milan (where we knew we could fly out easily). It was a two-hour ride, and on the train we booked flights for the next day. That meant we had to have a hotel to sleep at. We got to work on that next.

 

Hotel

We were flying out of Milan Linate Airport (LIN), and so I looked at what hotels were near there. The Marriott Moxy Hotel was within walking distance, so that seemed perfect. It was only 24K Marriott points/night, so I could use a 35K annual free night certificate for our stay (which would have cost about $200). I hadn’t stayed in a Marriott Moxy, and while the room was small, the vibe was eclectic and fun on the main floor. I would stay in one again.

 

 

Bottom Line

Emergencies happen, even while you are on a fun trip. Sometimes you have to redirect, and without points and miles, that can be expensive. My sister’s emergency was covered by travel insurance, but my change of plans would not have been covered. Credit card points and miles save the day in many instances. On this trip, I saved a lot of money by having a nice stockpile of points/miles. When have credit card points/miles helped you out in an emergency?