Victoria S. has always had a passion for travel — and a knack for stretching her points to the limit. As a student, she hunts for redemptions that offer the biggest adventure for the fewest possible miles. First, she scored one-way flights to Japan with her boyfriend for just 30,000 points each. A year later, another irresistible points find took them to Paris — where the trip ended with an unforgettable surprise.
The trip: two weeks in Japan and Thailand
Flights: one-way tickets for two from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Haneda Airport (HND) in premium economy
Points spent: 143,750
Money saved: $3,450
Planning a points trip to Japan
Victoria and her boyfriend, Cole, started planning their big trip by each opening their own Chase Sapphire Reserve card, which offered an 80,000-point sign-up bonus. He opened his first, then referred her to the same card, giving them an extra 20,000 points to play with. With those 180,000 points, they were able to fly one-way to Japan and cover eight hotel nights once in Asia — and even have nearly 40,000 points left over.
To start their Japan trip planning, the Arizona-based couple repositioned from Phoenix to LAX and flew to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport for 30,000 points each on United Airlines, then took advantage of a cash offer of $100 each to upgrade to premium economy. They redeemed 45,000 Ultimate Rewards points in the Chase Travel portal for a hotel stay at APA Higashi Shinjuku Kabukicho Tower in Tokyo at 15,000 points per night.
From there, the two traveled north and checked in at Aspen Shiga in Shiga Kogen — which hosted the alpine skiing and snowboarding events for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics — for two nights at 13,000 Ultimate Rewards points apiece, which they also booked through the Chase portal.
“When you’re up in Shiga Kogen, you can see the snow monkeys [also called Japanese macaques] and they’ll come down to this little hot tub and just sit and hang out,” Victoria recalls. “It’s just the coolest experience ever.”
The travelers also used their proximity to Olympic slopes to log a little skiing of their own.
“The area gets some of the best powder in the world,” Victoria says. “We didn’t have time to get up to Hokkaido, where many professional skiers like to go, but it was still amazing. In the middle of skiing, a giant snow monkey just ran across the mountain in front of us!”
Victoria, who has traveled to Japan in February, May, and October in the past few years, says winter is a great time to visit, particularly if you want to redeem points. Crowds are much lower than in summer and cherry blossom season, and “you are actually much more likely to see Mount Fuji then,” she shares. Low season also meant she was able to book flights and hotels in Tokyo without much lead time — in November and December for travel the first week of February.
From Japan, the couple traveled to Thailand for six days, paying cash for their flights, but using remaining Ultimate Rewards points for their hotel stay in Krabi at Vacation Village Phra Nang Inn. Their three-night stay totaled 12,750 points, or 4,250 points per night booked through the Chase Travel portal.
“Our one-way flights and hotels in Japan and Krabi totaled less than 150,000 points, so we still have some left over to use on a future trip,” she adds.
*****
Getting engaged in Paris
The trip: flights to Paris for two adults
Flights: round trip from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) in economy
Points spent: 60,000
Money saved: $2,400
Just over a year after her winter trip to Japan, Victoria was on point.me browsing for flight deals “to anywhere, really,” she says. When she spotted a 30,000-point redemption for direct flights to Paris just four days before departure, she immediately booked two seats.
“I was kind of procrastinating my studying and looking on point.me for random places to visit, typing in every airport that I could think of, when Paris popped up,” she explains. “It was too good to pass on — I had to do it.”
Luckily, Victoria had been storing up points after her Japan trip, opening the American Express Platinum Card during a 175,000-point sign-up bonus, and was able to immediately transfer 60,000 Membership Rewards points to her Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account to book a pair of round-trip, direct flights from Phoenix to Paris on Air France.
Her flexibility paid off, too — not only did she go on her first European vacation, but her then-boyfriend surprised her by proposing at the Eiffel Tower. Cole had planned to pop the question in Arizona before the awards flights materialized in Victoria’s point.me search, and he was able to deliver on the trip of a lifetime.
In addition to having flexibility in travel dates and location, Victoria’s main tip for using points is to not overlook the “power of a positioning flight.” Being based in Scottsdale, starting her trip in LAX has been key for landing great rewards redemptions. She’s hoping to use a similar strategy for a scuba diving-themed honeymoon to Moorea next.
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