All of our Sunday Success Stories serve as a living example that all of us average Americans can, indeed, see the world at prices we all can afford. We can do this by working together and sharing our stories. Send your story to me at rick@frugaltravelguy.com. Include your first name and last initial, along with your occupation and a photo, if you wish. - Rick
Dear Rick,
I just wanted to write in to thank you for everything I’ve learned from reading your blog. My family and I were able to vacation for a week in Maui this summer with the points/miles we accumulated in the past year. Here is the breakdown:
- 4 tickets on American Airlines from DFW-OGG. We used points from the 100,000 BA Visa offer that my husband and I each signed up for last May. Total fees were $85.60.
- 4 nights at the Grand Wailea. We used 262,640 Hilton points and received 78,792 points back thanks to their Points Back promo so each night was 45,962 points! Far better than the 80,000 points per night it normally goes for! We used points from the HHonors Amex card we each signed up for last February and this is the card I pretty much used last year for groceries and cable/cell phone. Self-parking was not available so our valet parking fee was $125.
- 3 nights at the Hyatt Regency Maui. Two nights in a club room (all that was available on points) 54,000 points. We used the points from the Chase Sapphire Preferred card I signed up for in December. I booked the last night in a standard room but ended up paying for an upgrade while we were there so we wouldn’t have to switch rooms. Our total including resort fee was $400.
- We booked our rental car through Costco.com. It started out at $300 for 7 days when I first booked it but I kept checking and a few weeks before our trip I was able to re-book at $159!
So for a grand total of $769.60 our family of four was able to have a fabulous vacation in Maui! We have enough miles saved up for a few more vacations and next year my husband and I will hopefully go to Italy for our 20th anniversary. Thanks again for all you do!
Elizabeth J.
Elizabeth, great trip and thanks for sharing. Below are some pictures Elizabeth has shared.
