My husband and I quit our jobs in May of 2022 to travel for a year, which I have dubbed our “Year Long Honeymoon.” As you can imagine after quitting our jobs we had to create a pretty tight budget for our travels. One way we decided to save money was by utilizing credit card points for some of our flights and hotel stays.
We ended up getting 55 free nights at hotels by using our credit card points. That’s right, FIFTY-FIVE free nights in hotels just by using credit card points!
You might be thinking you need to open a crazy amount of credit cards to recreate this, but you don’t! Between my husband and I, the points we used to book these rooms only came from 6 cards. If you’re traveling with another person, having three travel cards each is totally doable if you have a plan.
Please only open credit cards if you can use them responsibly! I go into more detail on using cards responsibly at the end of this post.
Even if you don’t have a full year of travel planned, just getting five, ten, or twenty free hotel nights for upcoming vacations is still exciting! Free hotel nights are free hotel nights! And trust me the bed is always more comfortable when you aren’t paying to stay there.
In this post I will break down exactly what hotels we stayed at, what credit card points we used to book them, and tips and tricks I’ve learned this year to help you replicate this feat. The post is organized by hotel program as each one has its unique way of doing things.
Table of Contents
Travel Hacking Lingo 101
These are common jargony words and phrases used by the travel hacker/ credit card point community. Please ask a question in the comments if you need any further explanation.
- Travel Hacking: The art and science of using credit card points to get free travel, typically hotels and flights
- Player 1: The head point booker/ person obsessed with travel hacking and credit card points.
- Player 2: Usually the main point-obsessed person’s significant other. Player 2 could also be a friend, sibling, parent or anyone traveling with “Player 1.”
- CPP: CPP stands for cent per point. This is the calculated value you get out of using your points. To calculate CPP you take the amount of money you would have spent on the hotel stay (or flight or whatever you book) and divide it by the amount of points used. Example: the hotel cost $200 per night and you used 10,000 points to book it. The CPP would be 2.
- Sign Up Bonus: The amount of points you receive as an incentive to open a new credit card. This can be anywhere from 0 to 150,000 points. This is sometimes abbreviated as “SUB”
- Minimum Spend: The amount of money you have to spend on your credit card in a specified time (usually 3-6 months) in order to qualify for and receive the sign up bonus.
29 Free Nights at Hyatt Hotels
Total Points Used: 209,000
Average Points Per Night: 7,207
Total Money Saved: $5,447
Average CPP: 2.6
How I Earned the Points
There are a few ways to earn Hyatt points. You can earn them by staying at Hyatt hotels, by opening and using a World of Hyatt Credit card, or by transferring points from Chase Ultimate Rewards to your Hyatt account. I used a few of these methods to accumulate all the Hyatt points I used this year.
A large majority of these points came from the sing up bonus (SUB) I received when I opened my Chase Sapphire Preferred card in 2021, when the SUB was 100,000 points. I also received a few 15,000 point referral bonuses in 2022.
My husband has had a Chase Sapphire Reserve card for a few years. His SUB was used up in years prior for a few different things. However he did have a large chunk of points from putting some of our wedding expenses on his card in 2021.
Two people in the same household are able to transfer their Chase Ultimate rewards points to each other, so he transferred his points to my Chase account.
Once you have points in your Chase Ultimate Rewards account, it’s easy to transfer them to Hyatt. You have to have a Hyatt account first, then link your account by inputting your Hyatt account number in the Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer portal.
The final way I earned Hyatt points was by opening a World of Hyatt credit card at the end of 2022. The sign up bonus is only 30,000 points, but you also receive 2x points on all spend on the card for the first six months after opening it. I put most of our spend on this card to take advantage of the 2x benefit while I had it.
Tips to Maximize Hyatt Points
Hyatt is one of the few travel rewards programs left that utilizes a fixed award chart instead of dynamic award pricing. This means that depending on the category of the hotel you want to stay at, you will always know how many points are needed to book your stay.
The cash price of the hotel room might vary from night to night, but the amount of points stays the same. If the hotel charges $500 one night for a room and $250 the next night, the points needed to stay in that room will be the same both nights.
Hyatt hotels range from Category 1 to Category 8, with 1 using the fewest amount of points and 8 using the most points. Within each category hotels also have “Off-Peak” “Standard” and “Peak” point nights. You will have to check the individual hotel you want to stay at if the nights you’re looking to book are off-peak, standard or peak nights.
Regency Club
I always tried to book us a room with Regency Club access. Club access varies by hotel but typically it includes free breakfast, free coffee, tea and soft drinks throughout the day, plus an evening cocktail hour.
The evening cocktail hour is usually from 5-7pm and comes with unlimited drinks and hors d’oeuvres during the two hour period. Sometimes the snacks during cocktail hour are filling enough that you don’t have to eat dinner, which really pays for itself.
A Regency Club night at a category 1 property will cost 7,000 points.
Hyatt Hotels I Stayed At
- 3 nights at the Hyatt Regency Sofia in Sofia, Bulgaria: (Category 1) I used 21,000 points for a King Room with Regency Club Access.
- 2 nights at the Hyatt Place Bangkok Sukhumvit in Bangkok, Thailand: (Category 1) 10,000 points used for a standard king room. Read my review of the hotel here: Hyatt Place Bangkok Sukhumvit Review.
- 4 nights at the Hyatt Regency West Hanoi in Hanoi, Vietnam: (Category 1) I used 33,500 points to book a King Suite with club access. I knew I wanted Regency Club access which is normally 7,000 points per night for a category 1 hotel, but I saw you could book a suite with club access for 8,000 points a night and I thought “what the hell, why not?” One of the nights was peak night, hence why I paid 33,500 points instead of 32,000. Read my review of the hotel here: Hyatt Regency West Hanoi Review.
- 2 nights at the Hyatt Regency Manila, City of Dreams in Manila, Philippines: (Category 3) I used 24,000 points to book a standard king room.
- 7 nights at the Hyatt Regency Bali in Bali, Indonesia: (Category 1) 43,000 points to book a king room with Regency Club access (a few nights were off-peak.) As of March 28, 2023 this hotel is now a Category 2 property and requires more points to book. Read my Review of the Hyatt Regency Bali here.
- 4 nights at the Alila Manggis in Bali, Indonesia: (Category 1) I used 5,000 points per night to book a standard room.
- 2 nights at the Grand Hyatt Bali in Bali, Indonesia: (Category 1) I used 14,000 points to book a standard king room with club access. As of March 28, 2023 this hotel is now a Category 2 property and requires more points to book.
- 3 nights at the Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt, Germany: (Category 1) I used 13,500 points for a standard room; one night was off peak.
- 2 nights at the Thompson Madrid in Madrid, Spain: (Category 4) I used 30,000 points to book a standard room. As of March 28, 2023 this hotel is now a Category 5 property and requires more points to book.
16 Free Nights at IHG Hotels
Total Points Used: 179,000
Average Per Night: 11,188
Total Money Saved: $1,476.41
Average CPP: .82
How I Earned the Points
I signed up for the IHG Premier credit card in November of 2021 when the welcome bonus was 150,000 points.
The additional points I used came from a few paid stays at IHG hotels before we started our Year Long Honeymoon. In the section below I discuss how many points you can earn when using the IHG Premier card to pay for stays at IHG properties.
Tips to Maximize IHG Points
IHG points are almost always less valuable than Hyatt points. When booking award nights with IHG, a typical CPP is just .05 compared to 2 with Hyatt. That being said, IHG points are easier to earn, especially when using the IHG Premier card when paying for IHG stays. In total you get 26x points per dollar!
- You earn 10x points per dollar spent at IHG hotels for being an IHG member
- You earn an additional 6x points per dollar spent for having Platinum Elite status that automatically comes with the Premier Card
- You earn 10x points per dollar spent at IHG properties when using your IHG Premier Card
Paying for cheap or one off hotel nights with your IHG card really adds up quickly. For example if you pay for a $100 night at a Holiday Inn you would earn 1,000 points for being an IHG member, 600 points for being a Platinum Elite member, and another 1,000 points for paying with your IHG Premier card, for a total of 2,600 points for just $100 of spend.
IHG also offers a great perk where every 4th night you book using points is free. You may notice below that each of the stays I booked through IHG is exactly four nights. I booked that way to take advantage of the 4th night free and maximize my CPP. You could also book eight night stays to maximize this benefit too.
IHG Hotels I Stayed At
- 4 nights at Holiday Inn Express – Warsaw The Hub in Warsaw, Poland: I paid 36,000 points for a standard king room. I did not receive a room upgrade, but the free breakfast here was one of the best free hotel breakfasts I’ve ever had.
- 4 nights at Crowne Plaza Budapest in Budapest, Hungary: I used 70,000 points for the stay. The hotel was one of the nicest hotels we stayed at in Europe and worth the points. We stayed over my husband’s birthday so it was amazing to be able to treat him to a nice hotel for free! We got upgraded to a premium room on the highest floor but not a suite.
- 4 nights at Holiday Inn Plovdiv in Plovdiv, Bulgaria: I booked the hotel with 33,000 points. We got a corner room on the top floor.
- 4 Nights at Holiday Inn Istanbul City in Istanbul, Turkey: I used 40,000 points to book the hotel. We got upgraded to a suite with a huge living area. The hotel was not in walking distance to the main tourist sights but it was right next to a tram stop so it was still very easy to get around the city.
2 Free Nights at Choice Hotels
Total Points Used: 25,000
Average Per Night: 12,500
Total Money Saved: $671
Average CPP: 2.7
How I Earned the Points
I opened the Citi Premier card in January of 2022 when the sign up bonus was 80,000 Citi ThankYou points. I used a majority of my Citi points for Turkish Airlines flights but used the remaining 25,000 points to book this two night stay with Choice Hotels.
Tips to Maximize Choice Points
When transferring points from Citi to Choice Hotels the transfer ratio is 1 to 2. This means that I transferred 25,000 Citi ThankYou points to Choice and got 50,000 Choice points! This is a great deal to maximize your CPP. American Express and Capital One also transfer to Choice, but at a more standard 1 to 1 ratio.
One weird thing to note about booking award nights with Choice is the timing. Unlike other hotel brands where you can book award stays 12-13 months out, you can only book award nights 90 days in advance for Choice Hotels.
Choice Hotel I Stayed At
- 2 nights at the Hotel Aquarius Venice in Venice Italy: I used 25,000 Citi ThankYou points transferred to Choice to book the stay. The hotel was gorgeous and included free breakfast.
8 Free Nights Using the Capital One Travel Portal
Total Points Used: 81,254
Average Per Night: 10,157
Total Money Saved: $812
Average CPP: 1
How I Earned the Points
I applied for the Capital One Venture X card and then referred my husband to it as well. We both received a 75,000 point SUB and I received the referral bonus. This card has one of the highest referral bonuses at 25,000 per referral.
Tips to Maximize Capital One Points
I didn’t maximize these points. Simply stated, booking through the travel portal with any credit card company means you are not maximizing your points or CPP. When you book through the travel portal you get a standard redemption rate of 1 CPP. If a hotel costs $150 per night, you need 15,000 points to book it.
The reason I booked some hotel nights through the travel portal when I know it’s not the best deal is because we’re on a budget. We have a set budget for the year and for each country we visit. Singapore is an expensive country to budget and we couldn’t find anywhere we wanted to stay for under $100 so we decided to use our Capital One Miles.
If this was just a “normal” trip and not a “quit your job and travel for a year” trip I would have paid for the hotel with cash instead of points. That being said, travel hacking is personal and if you want to book through the travel portals, go ahead.
Hotels I Stayed At
- 3 nights at Hotel G Singapore in Singapore: My husband used 38,690 Capital One miles to book this stay.
- 4 nights Hotel Porcel Navas in Granada, Spain: I used 34,264 Capital One miles to book this stay.
- 1 night Hotel Arunda 1 in Ronda, Spain: I used 8,300 miles to book this stay.
Totals Points Used For 55 Free Hotel Nights
Total Free Hotel Nights: 55
Total Points Used: 494,254
Total Money Saved: $8,504.75
Average CPP: 1.72
The Credit Cards I Used to Earn 55 Free Hotel Nights
In each section above I explained how I earned the points for each hotel program. To recap which cards I used to book all 55 hotel nights:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred (for Hyatt hotels)
- Chase Sapphire Reserve (for Hyatt hotels)
- Note you cannot have both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve, you can only have one of the two. I have the Preferred and my husband has the Reserve.
- World Of Hyatt (for Hyatt hotels)
- IHG Premier (for IHG hotels)
- Citi Premier (for Choice hotels)
- Capital One Venture X (to book through the Capital One portal)
If you sign up for a credit card with the links above I may receive credit card points as a referral bonus which helps support this blog.
10 Tips For Responsible Credit Card Usage
- Always pay off your balance in full no matter what. If you are paying interest on your cards, the money spent on interest far outweighs any benefit you receive from the card.
- You do need a good credit score to get approved for most premium travel cards. If your credit score needs some work, it’s better to open some beginner no annual fee cards to build up your credit.
- That being said, responsible credit card usage improves your credit score. Both my husband and I have 800+ credit scores and I currently have 9 cards open.
- You need to wait 3-4 months between credit card sign ups. Your credit score might experience a small dip after opening a new card due to the hard credit check. Your score should be back up to normal after a few months.
- Don’t add your spouse as an authorized user – refer them for a new account. If you add your spouse as an authorized user on your card account they won’t be eligible to open that card on their own account. Instead open a new card, receive the SUB, refer your spouse and get a referral bonus, and they get a SUB too!
- Plan your sign up bonus minimum spend wisely. Most cards have a minimum spend of $3k-$6k in a 3-6 month period. If you’re currently on a tight budget and don’t plan to spend money in the next few months, don’t open a new card. If you have an upcoming wedding, medical expense, need a new computer, or typically spend a few thousand dollars a month, go ahead and open a new card!
- An important thing to remember as you get started is the Chase 5/24 rule. Chase will not approve you for any new credit cards if you’ve opened 5 or more cards in the last 24 months. Chase is a major player in the travel hacking game and has a lot of great cards, so plan wisely. Other companies like Capital One or American Express might still approve you if you’re over 5/24.
- If you are completely new to travel hacking, start slowly. You don’t have to plan an around the world trip to benefit from travel hacking. Open one card with a high SUB, see how you manage it and go from there.
- Always have a plan; don’t just open a card without researching if it fits your travel style. If you are visiting a part of the world that doesn’t have any IHG hotels, don’t open an IHG card.
- All of the cards mentioned in this post have an annual fee. Most of them are $95 a year but they come with benefits that are worth more than $95 if used correctly. However, each year you should be evaluating whether or not you’ll use the benefit and if it’s worth it to you to keep the card open. Whatever you do, don’t close the card within the first year or the credit card company could try to take back the SUB.
I know this isn’t for everyone. Travel hacking can be confusing at first and there is definitely a learning curve. As a former accountant, I am nerdy about numbers and organization and figuring out this kind of stuff is exciting for me.
Saving up this many points was a long game that took a few years. If you have a shorter trip planned, just focus on one or two cards and one or two hotel programs.
If you have a longer trip planned, slowly start opening cards and saving your points up. Remember it will take you at least a year if not more to properly space out opening new cards and meeting minimum spends.
If you are interested in signing up for any of the above mentioned credit cards, please leave a comment and I can send you a referral link. Referral links help me earn additional points to keep traveling and creating blog posts like this.
Please leave a comment on this post if you have any questions about travel hacking, specific hotels or credit cards, and you can always email me at kailyn@kailyntravels.com.
Pin this post to save it for later!
No Comments