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We are an independent publisher. Our reporters create honest, accurate, and objective content to help you make decisions. To support our work, we are paid for providing advertising services. Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Next” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, our site does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. So, your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this site. And the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.
This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.
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To get the Biggest Travel with Smallest Money, it’s worth the time and effort to learn award booking tricks. But it takes practice!
If you’re looking for an easy way to to earn points and book cheap travel, I’ll give you a few ideas! So even if you’re new to our hobby, you can begin your miles & points journey right away!
Here Are Hassle-Free Deals to Help You Accomplish Your Travel Goals!
I’ll share my favorite no-brainer deals that can give you your dream vacation in no time!
And folks who’ve earned the Southwest Companion Pass get an even better deal. With the Companion Pass, a friend or family member flies with you for almost free on both paid and award tickets!
And there are no blackout dates! As long as there’s a paid seat, you can reserve an award flight.
If You Have the Southwest Companion Pass, You Can Take a Friend With You for (Almost) Free. That Nearly Doubles the Value of Your Points!
Remember, you’ll pay more points if the ticket you want is very expensive (for example, if you’re booking last-minute). And you’ll pay fewer points if seats are on sale. Check out this post on how to tell if a Southwest sale is worthwhile!
Emily Used Chase Hyatt Free Nights at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome, Which Frequently Sells for $750+ per Night!All Hyatt hotels are eligible for the free nights. No need to worry about hotel categories and other confusing details! Plus, each year on your card anniversary, you’ll get another free night in a category 1 to 4 Hyatt hotel!
Use Your Free Nights to Cover the Cost of Your Stay at the All-Inclusive Hyatt Zilara
The 40,000-point sign-up bonus is NOT enough to get you 2 nights at top-tier category 6 or category 7 Hyatt hotels. But you’ll have more flexibility to use your points for more nights at lower category Hyatt locations.
3 & 4. Citi Prestige 4th Night Free and $250 Annual Airfare Credit
Get 25% Off Nearly Any 4-Night Hotel Stay With the Citi Prestige!
To get the 4th night free on a paid stay, just call the Citi Prestige concierge at 561-922-0158 or email them at [email protected]. Just remember that after July 23, 2017, you’ll be refunded an average of the 4 nights you stay. And Citi will no longer refund taxes.
Note: If you choose to email, try to include as many details as possible, so there’s no back-and-forth. Include your full name, the hotel name, room type, dates, expected amount, and last 4 digits of your Citi Prestige. Team member Joseph prefers this method, and says the concierge usually responds with confirmation in less than an hour!
To use the airfare credit, use your Citi Prestige to book a paid flight directly from the airline.
Because you’re booking paid rooms and airfare, there are NO blackout dates. Plus, you’ll earn miles and points for your stay or flight.
JetBlue award flights work similarly to Southwest in that the prices for award flights are tied to the cash price of the ticket. So there’s NO confusing award chart!
There are also NO blackout dates! So as long as JetBlue is selling seats on the plane, you can book them with JetBlue points!
Million Mile Secrets Readers Love JetBlue. Its Mint Class Comes With Lie-Flat Seats, Tasty Food, and Terrific Amenities!
JetBlue points are worth ~1.4 centseach towards JetBlue flights.
Both Million Mile Secrets readers and team members really like JetBlue! Team member Scott likes the fast Wi-Fi. He’s also a sports fan, and enjoys the live TV!
6. Chase Ultimate Rewards or Citi ThankYou Points for Paid Travel
This is an excellent use of points if you want the most flexibility. And remember, you’ll earn miles and points for your flights and stays, with NO blackout dates!
After you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening your account, you’ll earn 2 complimentary nights at any tier 1 to 4 Ritz-Carlton hotel.
You’ll also earn 10,000 bonus Ritz-Carlton points (which are the exact same thing as Marriott points) after you add an authorized user and make a purchase in the first 3 months of opening your account.
Those nights could be worth hundreds more than the $450 annual fee!
The Ritz-Carlton Aruba Sells Rooms for ~$570 per Night!
Note: The certificates are good for 6 months from the date of issue, not a year like other cards.
This card also comes with a $300 annual travel credit. You can use it for airline lounge day passes, a yearly lounge membership, airline seat upgrades, baggage fees, in-flight internet & entertainment, in-flight meals, and Global Entry fees.
However, you can NOT use the credit for airfare purchases.
If you want an extremely hassle-free experience redeeming miles & points, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus might be for you. With the Barclaycard Arrival Plus, you’ll earn miles which you can redeem for statement credits toward $100+ travel purchases, including:
Airlines
Hotels, motels, timeshares, & campgrounds
Car rental agencies
Cruise lines
Travel agencies & discount travel sites
Trains, buses, limousines, and ferries
If It Codes as a Travel Purchase and Costs $100+, You Can Redeem Arrival Miles for It!
Similar to the Barclaycard Arrival Plus, the Capital One Venture earns miles you can use towards most travel purchases you make on your card, such as airfare, hotels, Uber, and more!
Venture miles are worth 1 cent each. To redeem your miles for travel, just buy travel like you normally would with your card. Then, you have 90 days to sign-in to your online account, find the travel purchase, and “erase” it with your miles!
You Can Use Capital One Venture Miles Towards a Sweet Airbnb!
It has NO minimum redemption increment when redeeming miles, unless you’re using miles to partially pay for a travel purchase. In that case, the minimum is 2,500 miles ($25).
It makes the most sense to book a ticket as close to $400 (but not above) as possible. That’s because you’ll pay 20,000 US Bank FlexPerks points whether your ticket costs $99 or $399!
Miles & points can be as complicated or UNcomplicated as you want them to be! You don’t have to memorize charts or spend hours trying to find available award flights and stays to get Big Travel with Small Money!
Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)
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