As Spring Break is upon us everyone and their mother is trying to get away for a little break – me included! My wife is a teacher, so we really look forward to these breaks and take advantage of her time off. Our daughter, Rory is almost 2 so we are somewhat hesitant to fly because we know it’s going to be rough, but its either staying home for the week or vacation – I will always pick vacation!
As we were doing research for places to stay we wanted to do an amazing vacation but spend as little as possible. We decided on Kauai. Our plans were to go to Kauai on Monday and Leave Sunday night on the redeye. Let me walk you through the plans, preparation and how we were able to take advantage of points for our amazing trip!
Flight:
By using points that I had accumulated through using my American Express Gold Card I was able to book our flight out to Kauai from Phoenix for both my wife and I for 130k points! We decided to fly first class on the way home, and economy on the way out there – and have our daughter is under 2 so she is a lap child (free). Luckily on the way out there I spoke to the flight attendant and got her to move the person who was supposed to sit on our row to another seat so we had our own row.
We stayed in Hanalei Bay for the first 3 days in an Airbnb that cost $250 per night – not too bad for these amazing views!
The next 3 nights we stayed at the Koloa Landing resort in Poipu beach – my daughters favorite spot! We spent $350 a night to stay here (which was the most expensive part of the trip) but you can find other places in Poipu for cheaper ($175 per night). My daughter loved the snacks and the Luau that we went to at the smith family gardens. Poipu beach (baby beach) is amazing for little kids who want to play in the water and have a great time!
Our family getaway ended up being much cheaper than other families because we used our points that I had saved from getting my new American Express Gold Card. I had accumulated 100k points for signing up and meeting their spending bonus, plus I had been using the card so I had a total of 150k points. I also signed up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and got another 100k points for signing up and meeting the sign up bonus. All in all here is how the spending went:
Flight 130k points + 50 taxes = Use Amex points & pay 50 bucks!
Hotel in Koloa $1050 = Use Chase points 100k Pay 50 dollars!
Airbnb in Hanlei $750 = I paid 750 dollars
Flights and Lodging = $850 for 7 days in Paradise
Take advantage of the point giveaways that new credit cards have to offer and vacation for cheap! For more information on how to get points for travel leave a comment below or reach out to our resident points expert John! He runs a website called theflyingmustache.com and is a whiz at flying and traveling for free!
I hope your next getaway is as great as mine!
-Shaun
Susan McCullah is an established writer who has created dozens of informative articles about credit scoring, identity theft, budgeting, taxes, debt, and finance. She has worked in the Credit Reporting industry for 15+ years and is FCRA certified. Susan regularly conducts in-person presentations and webinars on the topics of credit scoring formulation, raising credit scores, and identity theft.
