Michelle sent us her reader success story to Italy. I especially love this story because they took grandma along! Here’s her story:

I first got into points and miles in 2023 after stumbling across the Travel Mom Squad podcast. Soon I became totally obsessed! One idea that really caught my attention was flying business class for an overseas trip. I would never pay cash for a business-class ticket—it’s just so expensive—but with points and miles, it suddenly felt possible.

Credit Cards Opened

There was one big, immediate goal: to take my husband, kids, and mother-in-law to Italy. I spent about a year figuring out which cards I would need to open, and specifically which cards I could gently (or not-so-gently) persuade my P2 and my hesitant-but-willing P3-in-law to open. To figure out my best options, I ran practice award searches for months on PointsYeah and seats.aero and eventually decided on American Airlines for the flight to Italy and United for the return trip.

Between the three adults, we opened five American Airlines cards (three personal, two business) and five United cards (again, three personal, two business), making sure to stack referral bonuses whenever we could). We were all set to cover the flights.

Flights in Business Class

But then Flying Blue had a massive sale: business-class flights to Europe for just 50K miles for adults and 37.5K miles for kids! Thanks to a stash of American Express Membership Rewards®, I was able to transfer enough to Flying Blue to book all five tickets through Air France. So we decided to save our American miles for a future trip instead.

For the return trip, I knew from all my practice bookings to Los Angeles that the best I could do with United was a two-stop itinerary, probably with an economy leg in the U.S., for 88K miles each. So I grabbed Rome-Frankfurt-Newark-Los Angeles tickets when they became available, bracing myself for a three-flight/two-day itinerary that would include a brief hotel stay in Newark.

Itinerary Changes

Then, a few months before the trip, United emailed me about a schedule change. In their new plan, they had me flying out of Frankfurt and then into Frankfurt, which obviously made no sense. I used the United chat feature to sort it out and lucked out because they asked what itinerary I wanted. I asked for a one-stop, business-class itinerary and suggested a few flights that would allow everyone to sleep for at least one long leg. Success! After about an hour on the chat, we ended up rebooked on a Rome-Newark-Los Angeles route, in business class the whole way, without paying any extra miles and without having to stay over at a hotel.

Tips for Business-Class Travel with a Family

Flying business class turned out to be even more magical than I had imagined. Priority check-in was great. I’d never been in an airport lounge with my family before, and the sparkling new Air France lounge at LAX absolutely blew us away. The kids loved the buffet and the room to stretch out. (We had also used the card_name benefits to get Global Entry (and therefore TSA PreCheck®, too) for free, which made security a breeze.)

On the flight, the partially enclosed pods on Air France from LA to Paris were incredible. Both kids slept a solid seven hours, which made adjusting to Central European Summer Time so much easier.

One tip for families flying in pod-style business class: Book your seats so you and your child are across the aisle from each other, not side-by-side in the middle pods. I had booked us across the first row, but next time, I’d put us all on one side of the plane. That way, either parent can easily reach either kid by just stepping across the aisle. [Editor’s note from Traci: YES. This is the way.]

Enjoying Air France business class!

Venice and Murano

When we arrived in Venice, it was early evening, but to my crew, it still felt like morning. We had used Hyatt points to book a three-night stay at the Hyatt Centric Murano, located on the island of Murano (a quieter, more suburban-feeling part of greater Venice). I had arranged ahead of time to catch the Hyatt’s private water shuttle, and it worked out perfectly. The pier was easy to find, and it saved us from having to figure out the vaporetto (water bus) system for the first time while juggling all our luggage.

We ended up really liking the Hyatt Centric Murano! I used two Guest of Honor awards to get free breakfast for everyone at the hotel restaurant, and that turned out to be one of my husband’s favorite perks of the whole trip. The vaporetto stop is right in front of the hotel (though you do have to buy your passes at a different stop a little farther away), which made it super-easy to get to the main island. We bought 48-hour passes, and they worked out perfectly for our stay.

Hyatt Centric Murano

Surprisingly, I think most of us actually liked Murano even more than the main island of Venice! It was sleepy and charming, and the kids loved spotting all the tiny glass animals in the shop windows. We also really enjoyed the glassblowing demonstration at the Glass Cathedral—such a cool experience in a beautiful, historic setting.

Florence, Sorrento, and Rome

For our next three stops, Florence, Sorrento, and Rome, we decided to stay in Airbnbs instead of hotels. I figured we could all use a little more space to spread out (and not be on top of each other 24/7!), plus I liked the idea of having a kitchen to cook a few meals or heat up restaurant leftovers. I made sure to book places that were central and walkable in each city.

Cooking eggs with a Duomo view—surreal!

In Florence, we could see the Duomo right from our kitchen window! In Sorrento, we were awoken at 4 a.m. on Good Friday by an incredible sight just beneath our balcony: a 500-person procession, complete with solemn brass music, Gregorian chanting, and participants wearing traditional capirotes (the tall, pointed hoods worn during Catholic Easter rituals in southern Italy). It was striking, a bit surreal, and completely unforgettable.

Good Friday Procession

We used Capital One Venture Miles, which we earned through two card bonuses and everyday spending, to erase about half of our total cash cost for trains, tours, and apartment rentals. It made a huge difference in keeping our overall expenses down.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

Booking Viator Tours

One trick I learned while booking tours through Viator was that if I had the Capital One Shopping extension activated while browsing the site, I’d always receive an email the next day offering 25-27% cash back on Viator tours. I booked several tours (including an amazing pizza-making class in Sorrento!) using this discount, and ended up with several hundred dollars in rewards that I could redeem for gift cards.

Primaluce Pizza School in Sorrento

Return Flights

The journey home was just as wonderful as the rest of the trip! We flew United Polaris to Newark and then continued on United business class to Los Angeles. The Prima Vista lounge at Rome Fiumicino was a great start to the flight, and our Global Entry status made immigration a breeze when we landed.

Prima Vista Lounge at FCO

Sleeping on the plane helped us handle jet lag much more easily—the kids even went straight back to school the day after we returned! One of the highlights of the United Polaris flight for them was getting to choose toppings for their ice cream sundaes, which they enjoyed even though they had already eaten their body weight in gelato while in Italy.

Ice cream sundae on United Polaris—yum!

Bottom Line

All in all, a trip for five that would have cost us around $30,000 if we had paid cash ended up costing about $5,000 (including trains, tours, apartments, and taxes on the flights), plus around 900K points. It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but with the magic of points and miles, I’m already planning our next overseas adventure!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us, Michelle—and here’s to many more family adventures with points and miles. We appreciate you taking us along on your reader success story to Italy.