Over the years, we’ve had many readers share their success stories with us. Folks for whom traveling domestically once a year was a luxury are now traveling the world with just a few credit card sign-up bonuses. And the best part? They are sharing their stories with us and others who benefit from knowing that it is possible to see the world at prices we can all afford.
If you have your own success story to share, please email us and if it gets published, we’ll send you a $25 Amazon gift card as a thank you.
Dear FrugalTravelGuy,
A good friend introduced me to the miles world 1 year ago. Since then, my family and I have been collecting points through credit card sign up bonuses, shopping portals, referrals, and dining rewards.
We recently planned a family trip to Europe for this summer. We are flying from Miami to London on Delta Business Class for 62.5 k miles and $5 each. We are flying from London to Dublin on British Airways using 4.5k Avios and $27 each. Then we are flying from Dublin to Miami on American Airlines Business class for 50k miles and $45 each. We were able to book these award flights through credit card sign up bonuses from the Citi AAdvantage, AMEX Delta Gold, and Chase British Airways card. Our total flying expenses were only $231 for three people. Round trip business flights from Miami to Europe are $3500+ so this saved us over $11,000!
Through reading articles on the FTG blog, it made most sense to redeem free hotel night awards in London (over points) since the hotel rates are typically high. Through 3 Hyatt credit card sign up bonuses, we are staying 6 nights for free at the Hyatt Regency in London. Luckily they are even able to accommodate all 3 of us in 1 room since this is a luxury in Europe! This saved us $2000 in hotel costs.
We are going to be staying at the Hilton in Dublin for 40k points per night. We earned these points from multiple Hilton sign up bonuses such as the Citi Hilton Visa Signature and AMEX Hilton Surpass cards. Since I am a Hilton Gold Member, we’ll be enjoying free breakfast and lounge access (with free dinner) during our stay. We saved $1000 on hotel costs for 4 nights, not including the free meals.
We are excited to experience our first international premium class flight! Thank you to the FTG crew for helping us save over $14,000 on our trip to Europe! Now we can splurge on tours, entertainment, food and shopping!
-Yvette C.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Annual Fee: $95 fee waived for the first year
- Foreign Fees: No
- Card Type: Bank
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- Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $625 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
- Named Best Credit Card for Flexible Travel Redemption - Kiplinger's Personal Finance, July 2016
- 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
- Earn 5,000 bonus points after you add the first authorized user and make a purchase in the first 3 months from account opening
- No foreign transaction fees
- 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
- Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards. For example, 50,000 points are worth $625 toward travel
- No blackout dates or travel restrictions - as long as there's a seat on the flight, you can book it through Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Annual Fee: $95 fee waived for the first year
- Foreign Fees: No
- Card Type: Bank
| FTG Review | Reward Breakdown | Points Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
Breakdown
Earn (pt.)
Spend
First 3 months
50,000
$4,000
Travel Purchases
2.00
$1
Restaurants Purchases
2.00
$1
Coffee Shops Purchases
2.00
$1
Fast Food Purchases
2.00
$1
Alcohol & Bars Purchases
2.00
$1
All Purchases
1.00
$1
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