June 28, 2024
Reader Success Story: One Month in Italy
Pam
We have a doozy of a points and miles redemption for you today! CJ shares her reader success story: One Month in Italy! Yes, a FULL month!
Hello! Since Italy is a popular travel hacking destination, I wanted to share how we booked a one-month summer trip on points. This is for 2 adults and 2 kids ages 10 and 7. We decided to start in Southern Italy and work our way North to help with the heat and ease of travel. I hope this helps those of you planning a similar trip.
Flights to/From Italy with Points and Miles
Business class seats from JFK-Naples are on Air France. They were 217K points plus $822.26. I used a transfer bonus from BILT, so I only needed 104K points.
From Milan, it was LIN-JFK on KLM. It was 192.5K points. plus $1217 in taxes/fees, I only used 160K points because of a transfer bonus. Another option would be on an Emirates flight MXP-JFK direct, but that would have cost 87K points per person, and I didn’t want to spend that many points. You can book it for less points on Aeroplan, but it’s harder to find availability.
Positioning flights to/from JFK were 88K miles booked through Virgin Atlantic for Delta flights from JAX. There was also an additional fee of $44.80.
Hotels Booked on Credit Card Points and Miles
I booked two nights at the Conrad NYC Midtown in New York City using our Hilton American Express Business Card free night certificates. (This was a previous offer this past year.)
In Sorrento, Italy, we booked six nights for 300K points. Both myself and my Player 2 have the Hilton cards, which give you the 5th night free, and we were able to combine our points as well. When you book the standard room, it only allows 3 people, but I emailed the hotel, and they are ok with adding a 2nd child for free since the room is big enough.
In Rome, we booked the Tribune, a Hyatt hotel for 72K nights, using a Hyatt Suite Upgrade Award so all 4 of us can fit in one room. For most Hyatt hotels in Italy, you need a suite for a family of 4.
We booked the Il Tornabuoni, Florence, for 4 nights for 116k pts and used an SUA as well. (You can read Pam’s review of that hotel here.)
We are staying at the Hyatt Centric Murano, Venice, for three nights for 45K Hyatt points, using a Suite Upgrade Award (SUA) and the Hyatt Centric Milan. We had to get two rooms for the hotel in Milan, and they cost us 60K Hyatt points. The Park Hyatt is more central but costs a lot more. Another option is Hotel Indigo Milan (IHG), but I couldn’t find points availability.
I booked all other accommodations through Airbnb or booking.com. We saved approximately over $29k on this trip. I love that saving so much on flights and hotels allows us to splurge more on tours and experiences. Happy travels, everyone!
Bottom Line
Not only did CJ save a ton of money, but she has also booked some luxury stays/flights for her one month stay in Italy! I absolutely LOVE Italy and would love to do this trip, too!
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