Our next reader success story comes from Melissa who used points for a family trip to Washington DC. Here’s her story:

I am actually sitting in the car driving home from our first family trip using points! My family of four drove to Washington, DC and we stayed at the Grand Hyatt. This was such a great hotel to be within walking distance of everything downtown.

We were able to do this by opening up the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It cost us 15K Hyatt points/night (so a total of 45K points for three nights). We also emailed Hyatt for a room upgrade and we got a high-floor room and welcome champagne. (Here’s info on asking for room upgrades). When I asked the kids the best part of our trip, they kept saying “the whole thing!”

 

 

I got into using credit card points and miles back in the fall of 2021. We purchased our dream house that required renovations. We renovated our home ourselves and thought instead of using debit cards for purchases, we should use credit cards to earn travel points. This way, when we were done with the work, we could spend our time traveling. We have spent so much time in the past few years renovating homes and planning a big move that we wanted to focus on spending time together as a family and creating memories.

So far, we have opened up two Chase cards, one American Express card, and one Citi card. My husband, who is a stay-at-home dad, has not even had a problem opening cards (I thought his lack of income would prevent him from being approved, but banks give him higher spending limits than me).

Our other plans include taking our family of four to Virginia Beach on the 4th of July (how else can I afford a beach vacation during a major holiday?) and Guatemala in February. Additionally, my husband and I are flying to Rome and Paris in the fall (in business class) to celebrate our 10-year anniversary, with the flights covered by points. These cards have saved us $22,000!

Never in my wildest dreams did I think points and miles would allow us to be able to do this. I thought if I could get one free trip, I would be grateful, and it is getting us four trips through accounts like yours that show people how to maximize best. Thank you for the content and for sharing your experiences.

Thanks, Melissa, for sharing your journey! We are so happy to hear how your family of four is creating such wonderful memories. We loved hearing your points and miles journey and your success story to Washington, DC.