Points Travel in 2024
- Erin Cokeh Halla
- Jan 15
- 3 min read
I started playing the points game in February 2023, and soon booked several trips that I took in 2024. While we had a couple individual hotel point stays in 2023, 2024 was really where I saw the bulk of my research and points redemptions pay off! I always loved when people posted about their redemptions online because I learned so much about what was possible!
I took 3 international trips and 2 short one night staycations.
France (Nice and Paris)- March 2024
I took a girls trip with my cousin who got me into this points game. It was so fun, and even better to travel with someone else who knows how to use points, because we can share hotel rooms and split the points cost! She was also gracious enough to pay for our business class flight on Air France on her points so we could have this experience, as I was very early in my points journey at booking and didn't have enough.
LAX to CDG Air France business class- 0 out of pocket for me thanks to my cousin!
4 nights in Holiday Inn Nice- 48k IHG points (4th night is free when you pay on points), $800 value
CDG to LAX economy- 19.5k Chase UR points (took advantage of a 25% transfer bonus), $1791 value
My cousin used her points for us to stay at the Hotel du Louvre in Paris! What a luxury!
France, Norway, and Denmark- Summer 2024
This was my first big points trip that I planned- and there's absolutely no way we could have made this happen for a family of 4 without points
LAX to CDG to OSL Air France economy, taking advantage of a free stopover in Paris- 67,200 points (took advantage of a 25% transfer bonus), $4,865
Hyatt Etoile Paris suite, 3 nights- 72,000 points, $2400 value
Clarion Hotel The Hub Oslo, 2 nights- 16,000 Citi points- $740 value
Clarion Admiral Hotel Bergen, 1 night (2 rooms)- 16,000 Citi points- $700 value
Choice Hotel Stavanger, 5 nights- 40,000 Citi points- $1400 value
Clarion Hotel Havenkontoret, 2 nights- 16,000 Citi points- $1106 value
BLL to LAX KLM Economy- 67,200 Chase UR points- $7113 value
Vancouver, Canada- December 2024
On a fluke, I got face value tickets for the Taylor Swift Eras Tour in Vancouver! We went with another mother daughter duo- and one that also plays the points game! The price increases for hotel and airfare were insane, so I'm so glad we were able to book them on points and split the costs. I booked the hotel, and our friend booked our airfare on her points!
Holiday Inn Downtown Vancouver (20 minute walk from the concert venue!)- 157,000 IHG points- $4500 value (yes, the Holiday Inn was $1500 per night!)
Single night Staycations:
Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach- 29,000 Chase UR points- $580 value
Grand Hyatt Indian Wells- 20,000 Chase UR points- $400 value
That's a grand total of $26,395 in travel that we redeemed with 575,800 points! (For context, each sign up bonus yields between 75,000-150,000 points, so about 3 cards each opened between my husband and I). Because we covered the majority of flights and hotels on points, we were able to have extra experiences that we wouldn't have been able to otherwise. I'm pretty proud of how I used my points this year, and am so thankful that we had the opportunity to take these trips and make these memories!
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