Airline reward tips? - Summer 2025 Mediterranean Trip

[**eeyore**]

We are planning a trip to Italy in Summer 2025, and I would LOVE to figure out a way to book some or all our airfare with miles/rewards (family of 5). I'm totally overwhelmed with where to start! I've read a bit about ANA Mileage Club (Star Alliance) and transferring AMEX points to book with them. I'm looking to take advantage of credit card sign up bonuses to rack up points that can hopefully be combined to book airfare. Does anyone have experience with this and how realistic is it to achieve this, especially since it will be a peak European travel season?

As a household, we are disciplined to payoff CC's each month, and we've had great success over the years utilizing SW bonuses to earn companion passes and miles, meaning we have rarely paid for domestic flights, but now that I'm looking at international travel, I'm back to feeling like a "beginner".

Thanks for any help/insight you might be able to provide

 

[msmayor]

I have used Amex points before on airfare, but never 'transferred' the points to a mileage program. I feel like there is more flexibility that way.

I would reserve and book air on Amex's site, using a combination of cash and points to pay for the ticket. What subsequently happens is that the full cash price of the ticket is charged to my Amex card, and then the points are redeemed for credit back to my account. This eliminates the need to find reward seats (which can be snapped up very quickly once released) and makes my ticket appear to the airline as a cash purchase, not a points/reward ticket that may have different restrictions.

 

[LynnTH]

We are planning a trip to Italy in Summer 2025, and I would LOVE to figure out a way to book some or all our airfare with miles/rewards (family of 5). I'm totally overwhelmed with where to start! I've read a bit about ANA Mileage Club (Star Alliance) and transferring AMEX points to book with them. I'm looking to take advantage of credit card sign up bonuses to rack up points that can hopefully be combined to book airfare. Does anyone have experience with this and how realistic is it to achieve this, especially since it will be a peak European travel season?

As a household, we are disciplined to payoff CC's each month, and we've had great success over the years utilizing SW bonuses to earn companion passes and miles, meaning we have rarely paid for domestic flights, but now that I'm looking at international travel, I'm back to feeling like a "beginner".

Thanks for any help/insight you might be able to provide

First thing - head over to the "I love Credit Cards" Forum. Great bunch of people over there and can definitely help you.

I have learned so much over there and have accumulated a ton of different points. Went on a Med Cruise last May. I researched and to find what airlines flew to where we were going and approximate cost in $ and points. My family then each opened up a United Biz Card to earn Sign Up bonuses. (Me, DH, DS25 and DD22). We staggered these to be able to meet the minimum spend, as I was still paying college tuition at the time, was not too difficult. With these points I was able to fly 5 of us to Rome and back from Athens.

We are going on a European Tour next May to Austria, Switzerland and Germany. Flights of course are not out yet for next summer but looking at this years flights (to sort of get an idea). I think we will probably use United again. Delta flights just seem way to expensive on $ and points. But again, will have to see when the flights are actually released.

I do have about 500,000 AMEX points, which transfer to Delta and I have about 1,000,000 Chase UR Points, which transfer to United. Nice to have a mix of points to be able to use.

This is just my experience (we fly from MSP) so your airlines might be different. Hop on over to the "I love CC thread". you will get lots of help!!

 

[EACarlson]

Are you ok with main cabin? You're going to have a very hard time finding 5 seats up front on any airline using points, and I believe ANA only opens one or two at a time. Five seats in main cabin can easily be done with points. You have to figure out which program is going to work best for you by doing a lot of research ahead of time. What airports are you looking to travel between? Determine an airline you're going to fly and then look at possible partner awards. If you can meet the sign up bonuses, you could easily get enough points to do this. Be aware of your timing though. If you're looking to travel in June of 2025 you would be looking to book tickets as early as July of this year. Not a lot of time between now and then to hit the SUBs and get the points you'll need.

 

[platamama]

I will echo what @LynnTH said about going over to https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...2023-see-first-page-for-addl-details.3905155/ for many more knowledgeable eyes to look at your question. Just copy & paste your post into that thread and there will be people who are experienced in what you're trying to plan who will help you out. First and foremost, do NOT add a spouse as an authorized user on a new credit card application because if you can have two (or more) adults (over 18) in your family that can apply for their own credit cards and use each other's "support" links it will boost your points accumulation like crazy. You definitely want to do this with a clear plan in mind.

With a family of 5 to Europe, know that most hotel lodging can't/won't fit more than 2 people to a room. I have a hard time finding places to fit 3 to a room. So going the AirBnB or VRBO or Booking .com route is the best option for everyone to stay together. And make sure there's AC because it gets HOT during the summer.

Hope you join the other thread!

 

[AlohaNow]

We’ve had great success with Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points earned on our Chase Sapphire cards. The true value of the URs is in the versatility of how many ways you can utilize them. I learned everything I needed to know, and more, about URs from The Points Guy website. I hope it’s ok to mention that site on here! We got our first Sapphire bonused at 80k points and then my husband grabbed one when it was bonused at an absolutely insane 100k points. Those wonderful days of crazy sign up amounts are over, but see what you can find and get the strongest sign up value that you can that works for your situation! We are easily able to combine points toward rewards since we are in the same household. The primers on the points guy website explain everything in great detail and list the current best credit card sign up bonuses. We have a son who lives overseas and that was our original intent for getting the cards, so that we can fly to visit him for free. It’s worked out great using the URs for that, and I will occasionally steal some URs for domestic flights as well. I too felt like a beginner in trying to find the best way to get international flights for free. But do some solid research online and you'll come up with the best plan of action to suit your needs. Happy travel planning!

 

[_19disnA]

If your trip is only about 1 yr away, doubt you will have much time to accumulate points from other flights. Perhaps if you spend a lot and charge it to your credit card, you might have enough points by the time of your vacation. I have found over the years that unless you are a frequent flyer (or perhaps a business traveler) you likely aren't going to get that many point from just flying.

Most cards offer some sort of gimmick to get you to sign-up since they make the majority of their profit from the fees they collect from merchants. My view is that hopping from one card to the next chasing whatever promotion they are offering is more hassle than it is worth.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We use Chase cards. Previously we really just used the Southwest card. In summer of 2022 we got the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. In 2023 we got the Chase Freedom. We convert Chase points to airline or hotel points. We used the Chase Sapphire Reserve to pay for my Global Entry.

In July 2023 (so peak season) we flew to Venice and back from Athens with a combo of points and cash. More points for the flight on Air France to Venice more cash (just to conserve more) than points with British Airways Athens to Chicago.

We booked our hotel in Venice with Hyatt points transferred from Chase.

In a few weeks we're going back to Europe (first trip was a cruise) and we paid 100% points for Virgin Atlantic flights premium economy from NY to London but cash only for PLAY airlines from Copenhagen to Baltimore. Hotel in London, Kronberg, Germany and Malmo, Sweden were booked with Hyatt points transferred from Chase points.

Hyatt points are amazing in their value in our opinion.

In October we're going to Japan 100% points (take that back I think that one was just cash but paid using the Chase card to earn points) Business Class Zipair with Chase points converted to them.

In 2025 we're going back to Europe (second cruise) have booked flights to Lisbon 100% with points for Business Class with Iberia. Need to book return flights. Booked with Chase points transferred to Iberia. For our Iberia flights I think only 2 seats per flight was available to book with points as in they don't want to sell much of their flights with people using points.

We're not overspending or anything like that to earn points. It's just us being more strategic in cards we have and utilizing sign up bonuses as well. We do have a Delta SkyMiles card and they increased the annual fee on that but put in a travel credit. We're using that to help offset our hotel for NY for this trip in a few weeks.

ANA by the way sounds amazing but it can be extremely difficult to book via points for them. The point value is best if booking with Virgin Atlantic points but to do that you have to call IIRC and yeah it can be a hassle.

Your issue is having 5 people which will downgrade your ability to utilize points more broadly or as well especially if for airlines you're trying to stay in the same class and near each other in seats and like another person said room size. Realistically even with sign up bonuses I'm not sure you'll be able to get enough points especially by next summer. You might consider focusing on lodging to use points for next summer depending on who you get a CC with and your traveling party characteristics (child vs adults).

 

[AlohaNow]

Much like Mackenzie, we were super loyal to our Chase Southwest card for years. Then I learned about Sapphire and URs and now we’re all about that. We do pay two annual fees to maintain the two Sapphires, but it is more than worth it for the rewards we are receiving.

Regarding your comment of “we’re not overspending or anything”, it reminds me of a funny interaction my husband had with someone when talking about earning URs, and churning for free travel in general. My husband’s co-worker said, “Well flying for free must be great, but I wouldn’t want to have all that credit card debt.” Ummm, who said we have any credit card debt? We charge absolutely everything we can to the card and make a single payment each month for 100% of the balance. We’ve done this for years and it is no big deal for us. I guess it can be a mind shift to have a single monthly payment in the thousands if you are just getting started. One caveat - we do not charge our auto or homeowner’s insurance, as there is an additional fee to pay them with a credit card. First rule of fight club: never pay for points!!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Much like Mackenzie, we were super loyal to our Chase Southwest card for years. Then I learned about Sapphire and URs and now we’re all about that. We do pay two annual fees to maintain the two Sapphires, but it is more than worth it for the rewards we are receiving.

Regarding your comment of “we’re not overspending or anything”, it reminds me of a funny interaction my husband had with someone when talking about earning URs, and churning for free travel in general. My husband’s co-worker said, “Well flying for free must be great, but I wouldn’t want to have all that credit card debt.” Ummm, who said we have any credit card debt? We charge absolutely everything we can to the card and make a single payment each month for 100% of the balance. We’ve done this for years and it is no big deal for us. I guess it can be a mind shift to have a single monthly payment in the thousands if you are just getting started. One caveat - we do not charge our auto or homeowner’s insurance, as there is an additional fee to pay them with a credit card. First rule of fight club: never pay for points!!

That's exactly us as well!

There is a segment of the population who just blatantly spend on their CCs indiscriminately and without care. There is a segment of the population who churn cards. But that's not us and clearly isn't you either. We have normal expenditures that make sense to put on a card that get something out of it. We don't carry balances over month to month to month.

I also shop using Southwest Rapid Rewards portal. Now I'm not getting a whole lot for it but our cat has to have food and it's the cheapest overall to do it through Petsmart especially with being able to easily pick it up in store and order online and I'm getting rewards through Petsmart, I usually try to time it right when they are doing bonus Petsmart rewards. Petsmart is a RR partner so why should I not earn rewards for something I need to purchase anyhow?? That one we also use the SWA CC for it too. But using the SWA shopping portal in terms of SWA points is that it helps for flights on that end.

 

[DanceDisney23]

If your trip is only about 1 yr away, doubt you will have much time to accumulate points from other flights. Perhaps if you spend a lot and charge it to your credit card, you might have enough points by the time of your vacation. I have found over the years that unless you are a frequent flyer (or perhaps a business traveler) you likely aren't going to get that many point from just flying.

Most cards offer some sort of gimmick to get you to sign-up since they make the majority of their profit from the fees they collect from merchants. My view is that hopping from one card to the next chasing whatever promotion they are offering is more hassle than it is worth.

I agree with this. I got a Delta card sometime before the pandemic. I have yet to use those points, and I fly on Delta several times a year for work.

I had booked DH and DD flights to Paris in April 2020 and got them a nice hotel with my Marriott points, but we all know what happened that spring.

Since then, flights to Europe have become ridiculously expensive, and I don’t have enough points to fly us there most times of the year. The flights I see on points also seem to start at crazy hours, have three connections, or you fly 1000 miles in the wrong direction before connecting to your destination. I feel like getting flights on points has gotten more difficult.

In about 7 years of using rewards cards, I got two tickets round trip to MCO on JetBlue points right before the pandemic, one round trip ticket to Frankfurt with my CSR sign up bonus (paid for two with points and cash), and two nights in a one bedroom suite at Sapphire Falls resort with Chase UR.

I really don’t see how people pay for whole family vacations with credit card points, and I use credit cards whenever I can and also travel for work and it’s still never enough for us three. But I don’t churn, maybe that’s why I don’t get good results.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I agree with this. I got a Delta card sometime before the pandemic. I have yet to use those points, and I fly on Delta several times a year for work.

I had booked DH and DD flights to Paris in April 2020 and got them a nice hotel with my Marriott points, but we all know what happened that spring.

Since then, flights to Europe have become ridiculously expensive, and I don’t have enough points to fly us there most times of the year. The flights I see on points also seem to start at crazy hours, have three connections, or you fly 1000 miles in the wrong direction before connecting to your destination. I feel like getting flights on points has gotten more difficult.

In about 7 years of using rewards cards, I got two tickets round trip to MCO on JetBlue points right before the pandemic, one round trip ticket to Frankfurt with my CSR sign up bonus (paid for two with points and cash), and two nights in a one bedroom suite at Sapphire Falls resort with Chase UR.

I really don’t see how people pay for whole family vacations with credit card points, and I use credit cards whenever I can and also travel for work and it’s still never enough for us three. But I don’t churn, maybe that’s why I don’t get good results.

Delta points are awful for redemeption. For our Europe trip last year we booked the flights in 2022 and just one person one way main cabin from Chicago to Venice stopping in Paris was 90,000 points that's why we did NOT go with Delta points redemption. It's a bit like Hilton's points redemption is normally fairly bad with one night costing far too much. I don't know if Marriott's point redemption is as bad as Hilton's.

We did use Delta points back in 2016 to go to Hawaii, it was 55,000 points main cabin for one person back then to get from KCI to Honolulu stopping in LAX on the way there but on the way back it was Honolulu to LAX to Wisconsin IIRC then to KCI and that was silly but we burned through the Delta points we had back then.

I think you more have to look at what points you're using because there's a lot better redemption out there than Delta. We've been Delta SkyMiles CC holders since 2013 (got it for our honeymoon due to the travel credit offered back then) but have not found the CC to be all that useful over the years.

We do not churn. I can tell you for our flight in a few weeks we booked them when Virgin Atlantic was offering a point transfer bonus that allowed us to upgrade to premium economy without having to transfer as many points.

 

[DCLMP]

Delta points are awful for redemeption. For our Europe trip last year we booked the flights in 2022 and just one person one way main cabin from Chicago to Venice stopping in Paris was 90,000 points that's why we did NOT go with Delta points redemption. It's a bit like Hilton's points redemption is normally fairly bad with one night costing far too much. I don't know if Marriott's point redemption is as bad as Hilton's.

We did use Delta points back in 2016 to go to Hawaii, it was 55,000 points main cabin for one person back then to get from KCI to Honolulu stopping in LAX on the way there but on the way back it was Honolulu to LAX to Wisconsin IIRC then to KCI and that was silly but we burned through the Delta points we had back then.

I think you more have to look at what points you're using because there's a lot better redemption out there than Delta. We've been Delta SkyMiles CC holders since 2013 (got it for our honeymoon due to the travel credit offered back then) but have not found the CC to be all that useful over the years.

We do not churn. I can tell you for our flight in a few weeks we booked them when Virgin Atlantic was offering a point transfer bonus that allowed us to upgrade to premium economy without having to transfer as many points.

Delta is awful on their own flights. I was able to use Delta points to book on West Jet PHX to Vancouver 12.5k each way and I used Delta miles last year on Air France from Copenhagen to Paris for 10k miles. I also got good redemption using United miles on Swiss air 8K from Rome to Zurich. I just booked flights to HND with AA miles business class for 60k miles each way on Japan Airlines.

You get better value using miles on partner airlines than the actual airline issuing the miles. They all use dynamic pricing when flying on their own medal. You can get some great redemptions using partners. I also could have used AA miles to fly to Vancouver from PHX on Alaska for 12.5k miles.
I'm flying Seoul to Lax premium economy for 50k miles with AA miles again on Japan Airlines ......another pretty good redemption. But I'm hard pressed to find anything great using AA miles on a AA flight or Delta on a delta flight.

 

[DanceDisney23]

Delta is awful on their own flights. I was able to use Delta points to book on West Jet PHX to Vancouver 12.5k each way and I used Delta miles last year on Air France from Copenhagen to Paris for 10k miles. I also got good redemption using United miles on Swiss air 8K from Rome to Zurich. I just booked flights to HND with AA miles business class for 60k miles each way on Japan Airlines.

You get better value using miles on partner airlines than the actual airline issuing the miles. They all use dynamic pricing when flying on their own medal. You can get some great redemptions using partners. I also could have used AA miles to fly to Vancouver from PHX on Alaska for 12.5k miles.
I'm flying Seoul to Lax premium economy for 50k miles with AA miles again on Japan Airlines ......another pretty good redemption. But I'm hard pressed to find anything great using AA miles on a AA flight or Delta on a delta flight.

How do you use Delta miles for Air France? That would be a great option for us. But all I can find online is that you can’t transfer miles from Delta to AF. And when I try to book through Delta, it doesn’t show me AF - or KLM - operated flights when I search with miles.

Edit: I found one AF flight through the Delta website which the app did not show. BOS to FRA. Return flight only has Delta options, either through JFK with a 6 hr layover or DTW for 200k points per person in economy. What am I missing?

 

[DCLMP]

How do you use Delta miles for Air France? That would be a great option for us. But all I can find online is that you can’t transfer miles from Delta to AF. And when I try to book through Delta, it doesn’t show me AF - or KLM - operated flights when I search with miles.

Edit: I found one AF flight through the Delta website which the app did not show. BOS to FRA. Return flight only has Delta options, either through JFK with a 6 hr layover or DTW for 200k points per person in economy. What am I missing?

I only saw them on flights between European countries.

 

[DanceDisney23]

I only saw them on flights between European countries.

Gotcha. Still doesn’t seem to be a great deal. I just looked at a round trip FRA-CDG in February. It came to 20k miles + €93.91 in fees ($100.50 in today’s exchange rate). Delta Skymiles are valued at $0.012 per mile. So 20k miles are worth $240 + $100 in fees = $340 total value of the flight.

The same flight costs $209.80 if I paid in cash.

If you consider the miles free, since you already have them, then you essentially get the flight half price if you pay with miles.

 

[DCLMP]

Gotcha. Still doesn’t seem to be a great deal. I just looked at a round trip FRA-CDG in February. It came to 20k miles + €93.91 in fees ($100.50 in today’s exchange rate). Delta Skymiles are valued at $0.012 per mile. So 20k miles are worth $240 + $100 in fees = $340 total value of the flight.

The same flight costs $209.80 if I paid in cash.

If you consider the miles free, since you already have them, then you essentially get the flight half price if you pay with miles.

I booked first class for 25k. Coach wasn't available. I don't remember taxes being that high, but it was two years ago everything has gone up. It was very worth it because the lines at CPH were out the door and down the street. We were able to use the priority line. This was the post covid Summer of hell at European airports.

I don't know if you read about all the lost luggage at LHR. We got to CDG 3 hours before flight and were flying business. Waited in the first class line for 90 minutes We didn't even have time to go to the lounge before boarding. So fun.
Things were better last year.

I agree with you with taxes that high it doesn't make a lot of sense. Keep in mind when you book with miles you get the class that allows you luggage. That could make a difference if you are looking at a basic fare.