4 tickets Phoenix to
Europe and Asia and Western Australia using United Miles
Retail Value = $8000
- Cash Paid = $401 (airports taxes and fees)
- Points used = 210,000 United miles
This type of award ticket costs a lot more now. I booked the
tickets in early September 2016 before they changed the rule in Oct 2016. The
routing was as follow: Phoenix to Rome (FCO) (stopover) then Rome (FCO) to
Haneda-Tokyo (HND) (Open jaw) And Hong Kong to Singapore (overnight) to Bang
Kok (overnight) to Perth (Western Australia) as destination. The reason for
Open Jaw in Tokyo and leave from Hong Kong was because it cost less miles
leaving from HKG than from Tokyo. I had to buy one way ticket from Tokyo to
Hong Kong.
4 tickets Lourdes
(LDE) to Rome (CIA) on Ryan Air
- Retail Value = $163.39
-
Cash Paid = $163.39
-
Points used = zero
The airfare for 4 tickets were only $20 per ticket. The rest
was for boarding pass, check in early, checked in bags. We had to check in before
we left for the trip and printed out the boarding pass to avoid the late fee
for check in at the airport. Ryan Air also limit the weight and size for carry
on bag.
4 tickets Tokyo
(Narita) to Hong Kong on Ethiopian Airline using Thank You Points
- Retail Value = $700
-
Cash Paid = $41.01
-
Points used = 45,255 Thank You points
My Thank You points were to expire in early 2017. That’s why
I needed to redeem for the flights. Ethiopian Airline don’t charge for checked
bags. There are other low budget airline that charge less for the same route
but other fees add up. I decided to redeem my Thank You points.
4 tickets Perth
(Western Australia) to Sydney using American Airline and British Air miles
- Retail Value = $800
-
Cash Paid = $34.00 + $34.06
-
Points used = 20,000 AA + 25,000 British Airway
miles
I had some leftover miles from AA and BA accounts to book 4
separate tickets from AA and BA airlines to fly on partners Qantas Airline.
Qantas allows 2 free checked in bags.
4 tickets Sydney to
Phoenix using American Airline miles
- Retail Value = $3000.00
-
Cash Paid = $173.92 + $173.92
-
Points used = 160,000 AA miles
I booked 4 tickets from 2 AA accounts. The miles earned
mostly through sign on bonus and transferred from SPG accounts. The reason I
booked Sydney to Dallas to Phoenix was to fly on the Airbus A380 and it’s one
of the longest flight (almost 16 hours). I chose not to pay to select the seats
before the flight because I checked the seat map once in a while before we left
and there were plenty of seats available. It turned out the flight was only ¾
full. We checked in a day before the flight and were able to select the seats
near the back of the plane. We had the entire row of 10 seats for 4 of us.
4 tickets Phoenix to
Seattle using Southwest Airline miles
- Retail Value = $500
-
Cash Paid = $22.40
-
Point used = 22008 Southwest Airline
I transferred 22k Chase points to Southwest to book 4
tickets.
4 tickets Seattle to
Phoenix using Delta Airline miles
- Retail Value = $500
-
Cash Paid = $22.40
-
Point used = 20,000 Delta Airline
I transferred 20k American Express Membership Reward points
to Delta to book 4 tickets.
3 nights at Foyer
Phat Diem in Rome
- Retail Value = $300
-
Cash Paid = $300
-
Point used = zero
Foyer Phat Diem is owned and managed by Dominican Sisters. I
reserved about 5 months in advanced. This place is always full especially in
the summer when lot of Vietnamese come to Rome for pilgrimage. The location is
not close to center but there’s bus and metro train near by. It’s across from
the park that we can see Vatican dome and St. Peter Square. We requested the
nuns for 4 persons room. They were so nice to assign us a specialty room with 4
beds. They said normally we had to book 2 rooms. Most hotels here only allow 2
or 3 people max per room.
1 night at Hotel Ai
Tolentini in Venice
- Retail Value = $125
-
Cash Paid = $125
-
Point used = zero
I booked this hotel right before get off the train. Hotels
in Venice are expensive. I booked one of the cheapest hotel and hoped for the
best. It turned out the location is very close to the train station. We only
had to walk about 500 meters with 4 carry-on. They also charged 10$ extra per
person since I only put in 2 persons in the reservation.
2 nights at Le Dokhan
Paris using SPG points
- Retail Value = $1000
-
Cash Paid = $300
-
Point used = 24,000 SPG
I actually reserved 3 nights at this hotel using 36,000 SPG
points. But when we checked in they noticed we had 4 people. They didn’t allow
4 of us (even 2 children) in the room. They gave us 2 options. Either upgrade
to the suite and pay extra $150 per night or book another room. We had no
choice but to upgrade to the suite and pay $150 extra per night. I decided to
cancel 1 night and took overnight train from Paris to Lourdes. This hotel is
very nice and close to Eiffel Tower. But it costs too much. They also offer us
free breakfast ($100 value for 2 nights).
1 night at Quality
Hotel Christina Lourdes using Choice points
- Retail Value = $150
-
Cash Paid = $0
-
Point used = 10,000 Choices point
This hotel is walking distance to the Shrine of Lourdes. We
had to take Uber ($10) from train station to the hotel and taxi ($40) to the
Lourdes airport. This is the good use of Choices points. The hotel has 2 queen
beds and good view of mountain. The overnight train arrived at 6AM. We took
Uber to the hotel and they let us checked in early so we were able to take a
nap before heading out again.
1 night at Sheraton
Roma using SPG points
- Retail Value = $150
-
Cash Paid = $0
-
Point used = 4000 SPG
This is good used of SPG points. The distance is not close
to the center. Hotel has shuttle bus to the airport for $12 per person. It’s
the big hotel so they don’t care how many people stay in a room.
5 nights at Hyatt
Regency Tokyo using Hyatt Points
- Retail Value = $1300
-
Cash Paid = $100
-
Point used = 60,000 Hyatt
I reserved for 3 nights at this hotel before the trip. I
requested the rollaway bed. The hotel charged extra $20 for extra person and
agreed to put in the rollaway bed. They upgraded us to the higher floor and
with Mt. Fuji view room. I decided to stay for another 2 nights here and
cancelled the 2 nights at Hilton Tokyo Disney. I cancelled 2 nights at Hyatt
Hong Kong to have the points to book for this 2 nights here. This hotel is in a
quiet location and near the park. The train station is underground of the
hotel. They have free shuttle bus to Shinjuku train station. There’s 7-11 store
underground.
3 nights at Holiday
Inn Express Mong Kok Hong Kong
- Retail Value = $300
-
Cash Paid = $150
-
Point used = 25,000 IHG
I reserved 1 night here before the trip using IHG points. We
checked in at 2AM with 4 of us arrived by Uber. The receptionist was not happy
but it’s for only 1 night so he let us stay in the room with 1 queen bed plus
sofa. I checked the rate in the morning and it was only about $70 per night. So
I decided to ask if we can stay for another 2 nights here. It was a typhoon
season in Hong Kong. The weather was not that good. I decided not to move to
Hyatt. This hotel also offer free hot Chinese breakfast. Uber cost about $30
each way from HKG airport to hotel.
1 night at Dwella
Suvarnabhumi Bang Kok airport
- Retail Value = $30
-
Cash Paid = $30
-
Point used = zero
This is airport
hotel. It’s convenient to the airport. Shuttle bus cost $2 per person.
2 nights at Quality
Hotel Sydney
-
Retail Value = $300
-
Cash Paid = $0
-
Point used = 24,000 Choices
We cancelled car rental in Sydney. So I needed to book 2
nights at the Quality Hotel near Sydney airport. It has 2 queen beds so no
problem for us. Uber costed $10 from the airport
2 nights at Park
Hyatt Sydney
- Retail Value = $1500
-
Cash Paid = $0
-
Point used = 2 free night certificates
I redeemed 2 free nights here because it’s more expensive
compare to Tokyo and Paris. The only good thing about this hotel is the view of
Opera House and the Sydney Harbour. The hotel is overprice. I requested the
rollaway bed with no problem. Uber costed $35 to airport.
1 night at Holiday
Inn Express Surrey Vancouver
- Retail Value = $150
-
Cash Paid = $0
-
Point used = 20,000 IHG
Trip to Vancouver from Seattle
Total for the trips
- Total Retail Value = $18,968
- Cash Paid = $2,070.64
-
Points used = 669,263 + 2 Hyatt free nights
certificates
We also spent about $600 in Uber and taxi fares between
airports, hotels and various places. I used Barclay card cash back and Discover
Card cash back to offset some of the travel expenses.
4 tickets train Rome
to Pisa to Venice using Italiarail.com
- Retail Value = $253.80
-
Cash Paid = $253.80
-
Point used = zero
We booked the train tickets few days before the trip. There
were 2 separate tickets from Rome Termini station to Pisa and then Pisa to
Venice train stopped in Pisa for few hours so that we can take bus to see
Leaning Tower of Pisa. We left Rome at 8AM and arrived in Venice by 6PM.
4 tickets overnight
train Venice to Paris using Italiarail.com
- Retail Value = $250.08
-
Cash Paid = $250.08
-
Point used = zero
We booked the tickets few days before the trip. We booked
the 4 compartment room. It has 6 bunk beds. The 14 hours train ride from Venice
to Paris was comfortable. It passed through the Switzerland border. I remember
they checked the passports around midnight.
4 tickets overnight
train Paris to Lourdes using trainline.eu
- Retail Value = $438.01
-
Cash Paid = $438.01
-
Point used = zero
I booked the train on the day of travel. There was no other
discount. There’s the high speed train that only take about 5 hours but I chose
the overnight to save on lodging although the fare is more expensive.
