How to book a budget trip with points

Good morning from New York City!

I’m writing to you on my long, 10-hour layover before getting into my cozy Qsuite to head back to Asia.

But if you’re feeling some wanderlust right now, don’t worry - I’ve got you covered:

• 🇲🇽 Budget Spotlight: Mexico City

• ✈️ Etihad has opened up a bunch of business-class availability

• 🤣 Meme

🇲🇽 Budget Spotlight: Mexico City

We often talk about using points and miles for those bougie flights where they give you a warm towel, champagne, and caviar.

And that’s all well and good. Because points and miles can truly open up those types of experiences that are otherwise inaccessible to the average person.

But what if you’re more tacos in a hostel than caviar in the sky? Well, miles and points can take you even further.

So today, I want to highlight a budget destination, along with some ways to use your points and miles creatively.

And we’ll start with my favorite city in the world: Mexico City. 🇲🇽

Getting to Mexico City is a breeze, thankfully.

We have TONS of options for great redemptions from basically everywhere in the U.S. and Canada.

Here are some examples…

You can fly from Phoenix to Mexico City for just 7,500 Alaska miles in economy or 15,000 miles in business class (on American Airlines).

Flying from the U.S. to Mexico for just 7,500 miles is… *chef’s kiss*

That’s less than what the guy sitting next to you probably spent on airport nachos.

Since you can just transfer points from a card that earns MR Points, getting Alaska miles is crazy easy.

Even if you’re in a city like New York, you could fly all the way to Mexico for just 8,000 American Airlines miles, which is AMAZING.

Even United offers cheap flights from cities like Chicago, which they only charge 9,500 miles to fly - an amazing rate for a nearly 5-hour international flight.

You can transfer UR Points to United, so signing up for a card like this one could get you and the family to Mexico with ease.

Once you’re in Mexico, you’ve got options… I’ve talked in the past about amazing hotel redemptions with points and miles…

…but this is all about that budget… so we’re going to take things to the next level. 😎

Check out this hostel for $16 per night.

It’s like staying at a 5-star hotel if that hotel had bunk beds, free Wi-Fi, and fellow backpackers who definitely want to tell you about their gap year in Thailand… worth it for the price, I’d say. 🤷🏼‍♂️

If you have Capital One Miles (which you should), you could pay for this with a card like this one and offset the entire purchase for… wait for it… 1,600 points per night.

1,600 points per night?? At that rate, you could sign up for the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and book 50 nights at cheap hostels like that.

For someone who wants to REALLY stretch their points and miles, this is a great tactic.

Hell, even if you’re traveling as a couple or with a family and want more privacy and space, you could still book a cheap normal hotel room like this one and use the same strategy for just 4,000 points per night (and it comes with free breakfast).

After all of this, you really don’t need to worry about other costs.

Mexico City has amazing public transit that costs about $0.25 per ride, street tacos that will cost you $0.50 a pop, museums that will cost you a few bucks, etc.

If you want to visit some of the famous sites like the ancient pyramids of Teotihuacan, you could book a tour through a site like Viator or GetYourGuide.

Afterward, you can use your Capital One miles again to offset the cost (since it’s a travel purchase) for just 3,500 points per person.

So let’s tally up some stuff… If you were traveling as a couple, you could book round-trip flights, hotels for a week, and a tour like the one above for the following totals:

• Round-trip flights: 20,000 points per person

• Cheap hotel or hostel: 11,200 points per person (for seven nights)

• Tour: 3,500 points per person

• Total: 34,700 points per person, or 69,400 points total

70k points for a one-week trip for TWO people, including airfare and accommodation, is amazing 😍

It just goes to show you that there are ways to use a single solid credit card offer to book a fun, exciting, and interesting trip without stressing about fancy business-class seats or 5-star hotels.

As always, check out our Top Cards List for recommendations on our favorite credit cards OR this page that highlights current elevated offers.

✈️ Etihad has opened up a bunch of business-class availability

Flying Blue has been in the news a lot lately. Last week, they devalued their entire loyalty program.

Yesterday, ThankYou Points changed their transfer ratio to Flying Blue, only to change it back right after I wrote a whole newsletter about it (I’m fine. Not bitter at all). 😒

And now, Flying Blue has opened up a bunch of business-class availability for Etihad - one of the best airlines in the world.

There’s not too much to say here other than if you have transferrable points at your disposal and have any travel plans to the Middle East, Africa, or Asia, this is a FANTASTIC option.

For example, you can fly between Washington and Abu Dhabi for 93,000 Flying Blue miles in business class.

Considering the 13-hour length of the flight, that’s a pretty solid deal.

Sadly, there are no transfer bonuses right now to ease the pain… but I’d still consider it a good deal.

Etihad has some of the most luxurious seats in the sky and has an amazing hub airport in Abu Dhabi.

If you connect through Abu Dhabi, you’ll be able to enjoy top-notch ground service for flying in business class as well.

I found some great deals, like flying from Abu Dhabi to Southeast Asia for just 53,000 miles, which is GREAT for an 8-hour+ flight.

So here’s the bottom line:

You can transfer points from every major bank to Flying Blue. Now is a great time to transfer miles and lock in some rare business-class flights on one of the world’s best airlines.

🤣 Meme

That’s gonna do it for today, my friends! I hope today’s newsletter had a little something for everybody!

Next time you hear from me, I’ll be in my cozy bed in the sky for my 32-hour Qsuites journey. Don’t worry, I’ll send pics.

Until then,

52°22'35.4"N 52°15'17.4"W