best travel deals and point redemptions of 2023
7. two one-way economy tickets from Chicago to Belgrade on KLM during July (high season) for 42,800 points + $370
The cash value for these tickets would have run us $1600! Flying US to Europe during summer is no joke.
6. two nights at the Ramada Anchorage for 40,000 points
Hotels in Anchorage, Alaska are outrageously expensive. I’m talking $365 + taxes and fees for a crappy motel experience. I can imagine how grumpy we would have been if we paid $400 a night at the Ramada. Luckily, it hurt a lot less using points.
5. Marriot 80k bonus
Marriot ran an incredible point bonus earlier this year to promote ‘Marriot Homes & Villas” which seems to be the brand’s take on Airbnb and short-term home rentals. If you booked a 4 night stay, you received a 40,000 point bonus. So I took advantage and booked 4 nights at an apartment in Sofia for $260! Talk about a return on investment.
4. $85 Virgin Hotel Dallas, Capital One Premier Collection
My newest travel obsession is the Capital One Premier Collection hotels. You get access to this collection if you’re a Venture X cardholder and BOY can the value add up. During our stay, we received the following add-ons:
$100 experience credit (i.e. dining credits)
$60 breakfast credit
Complimentary WiFi
Room upgrade
Early check-in
Late checkout
Essentially, after using our dining credits, the room paid for itself!
3. Chicago to Las Vegas roundtrip 2,500 + $52 on Spirit
What made this redemption stick out was getting stuck overnight in Atlanta.
Spirit canceled my connecting flight from Atlanta to Las Vegas the due to “weather”. When an airline cancels a flight due to weather in the US, it’s usually a nightmare due to the lack of US Department of Transportation laws holding airlines accountable, leaving stranded passengers without food, hotel, delayed baggage, or lost time vouchers.
In my case, I usually jump up and down with joy when I have a flight get canceled because I know my Capital One Venture X will give me a $500 payout for hotel, food, & other necessities. So without further ado, here is all the value I got out of the 2,500 points +$52 roundtrip redemption:
The Club Atlanta lounge ($50)
Uber ($20)
Hilton Atlanta Airport ($300)
Starbucks latte ($7!)
Hotel breakfast buffet ($40 including a nice tip)
Complimentary hotel shuttle
Sushi for lunch and more to-go for dinner ($96 including a nice tip)
The Club Atlanta lounge ($50)
Plaza Premium Dallas lounge ($40)
The Club Las Vegas lounge ($50)
The Club Atlanta lounge ($50)
= $703 added value
Added bonus: I was able to collect 1,324 Spirit points on the new segments I was rebooked on.
This year I will be eyeing the Spirit Mastercard to take more high-value point trips around the US!
2. $565 pp 8-day Alaskan Cruise (including taxes and fees!)
I caught this deal on cheapcruises.com and couldn’t pass it up! My mom and I decided to book the deal and made the trip even cheaper by using 42,500 United miles each to fly from Chicago to Anchorage ($620 cash), and 25,000 miles each to fly from Seattle to Chicago ($270 cash).
1. Capital One Travel Sale
The best deals I grabbed this year were a part of the Capital One Travel Sale which took place in October. During this sale, I was able to snag over 20 free flights and booked a variety of hotels with $100-200 off. One of the trips took place this year when a friend and I took a weekend trip to Miami. I was able to snag my flight for free, his for $25 on Frontier roundtrip, and book our hotel for $100 off.
