We all love a tropical beach vacation, traveling in business class, or staying at a luxury hotel. However, one of the less-talked-about features of credit card points and miles may be the unsexy award redemptions we can make that are just convenient or emergency lifesavers. Let’s talk about a few of these.

 

Family Emergencies

Emergencies happen in all families: there’s an illness, a death, or a family member needs help. In the past, I’d have to pay a lot of money to fly to be there for family during these kinds of emergencies or maybe even not be able to go at all. Now, with a healthy stockpile of credit card points and miles, I can always meet my family’s needs. When my granddaughter was hospitalized during COVID, I could head to London within a couple of days to help my daughter and be a support to her. That would have been nearly impossible without credit card points and miles.

 

 

Alex used miles to fly to Denver when her sister Kasey broke her foot. Since I had a trip that couldn’t be canceled, it was a relief to me that someone was there to fill in and help Kasey.

One of my favorite reader stories was from someone who told us how some of her family members couldn’t afford to come to her grandmother’s funeral.  But she was able to use credit card points and miles to help them get there. That was a heartwarming story about using points and miles!

 

Hotels During Home Renovations

Traci shared this experience with me:

One year, when we lived in Houston, there was a hard freeze. Because our house was being renovated after being flooded by Hurricane Harvey, our water main was temporarily uninsulated, and our pipes burst. We had no running water in the house, and none of our neighbors or local friends had moved back into their homes yet, so we couldn’t use their showers, either. 

We used some IHG points to check into a local Holiday Inn Express for the day to take showers, use the bathroom, etc. until our pipes were fixed.  I never imagined I’d be excited to use points to stay at a Holiday Inn Express three miles from my house, but those points sure did come in handy that day.  

 

Travel for Kids’ Sports

Alex uses points and miles to stay at hotels for her boys’ many out-of-town sports tournaments. She pays zero dollars, while other parents spend $200/night. We marvel that people can afford that on multiple nights. Getting into this hobby is worth it just for that!

We’ve done this, too, ourselves!  We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Idaho Falls for our grandson’s soccer tournament. It was so much fun being able to do this last minute, and it meant a lot to him that we were there, too.

 

 

Family Events

Another reader told us about her young nephew inviting her to his birthday party. She normally couldn’t make this happen, but because she had a stockpile of points and miles, she was able to make her nephew’s birthday dreams come true.

 

Early Airline Departure or Late Arrival Times

I live about an hour from the Denver airport. I’m not too fond of an early morning departure from there or a late arrival home. I don’t sleep well when I know I have to get up too early, and I wouldn’t say I like driving home when it’s dark because I don’t see as well then, either. Having the option of staying at an airport hotel in these instances makes my life so much easier. The Westin Denver Airport or Gaylord Rockies are some of my favorite stays at Denver International when I get in really late at night.

 

 

Unexpected Snow or Bad Weather

Jess spent some time in a Hyatt hotel (of course it was a Hyatt!) when their power went out during a hurricane in Houston. Just this year, she gave her brother a Guest of Honor award stay when Hurricane Beryl hit.

I have used points and miles twice to get out of Denver earlier than planned to position for an award redemption.  A bad snowstorm hitting would have made my positioning flights doubtful, so getting flights out out a day early was essential for me and meant I could still make my other flights.

When we were in Australia, we were supposed to head to Auckland, New Zealand, but we got word of flooding. That stockpile of points and miles was essential to completely changing our New Zealand trip. Points and miles saved the day for us! The same thing happened when my African safari was canceled, and I had to change plans.

 

 

Last Minute Changes to an Itinerary

Megan made a recent pivot to her upcoming February school-break trip because she found out about a friend’s wedding scheduled the weekend before she was supposed to leave. She was able to change all her Southwest flights for no fees, then add a few hotel nights on points near the wedding venue. So now she’ll be able to attend the wedding and keep her original trip plans.

 

Bottom Line

These seemingly unsexy award redemptions with points and miles came in clutch for each of us and are just another reason we love them so much! When have unsexy award redemptions saved the day for you?

 

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