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My First Un-Lazy Award Flight
Was nerding out worth it?
Earlier this week, I wrote about my two favorite lazy ways to use points. But just a day later I got home from a trip booked the exact opposite way: paying for an award-search service, scouring award space, juggling multiple airline loyalty programs, and snagging transfer bonuses. It worked, kind of. But I don’t plan to do it again.
The trip
The problem was that this wasn’t one of my usual “where can points take me cheaply?” trips. We had already decided on Portugal, were coordinating with my parents, and needed flights that fit the trip. Instead of building a vacation around the best award deal, I was trying to make award travel fit a vacation that already existed.
So I took to Roame to find the best way to get us to Portugal with points:
Air France to Porto: 15k Virgin points plus $182 in fees
Air Canada back to California: 47.5k Aeroplan points plus $80 in fees
After digging up those redemptions—and benefiting from a 20% Chase-to-Aeroplan bonus plus some Virgin points I’d accumulated during 30%+ bonuses—I ended up using about 52k credit card points and paying $260 for each ticket.
A basic economy ticket would have cost over 80k points (😬) if I simply bought it and erased the charge, so I came out slightly ahead taking the complicated route, but it wasn’t much of an upgrade: the Virgin booking included checked bags but the Air Canada booking didn’t, I wasn’t able to choose a seat for free until check-in, and the change and cancellation fees were so expensive that it wasn’t much more flexible than basic economy.
Lazy Take 🦥
Even after paying for an award search service and using two different loyalty programs with well-timed transfer bonuses, I ended up with only-okay value. Most of that is just a consequence of needing to fit my points into a specific trip: the best points deals happen when you find the cheapest flight and build the trip around the deal. But that’s why I prefer programs like Alaska Atmos or Delta SkyMiles that offer big points sales, and often nationwide ones, meaning even a dispersed family can get a bargain to the same destination. So for our next big family trip, I might end up saving points and hassle by just letting Atmos choose our destination for us.
This week on the blog 📝
In addition to writing about those lazy ways to redeem points, I updated the Global Getaways tracker after this month’s Atmos Members Day release.
Quick Points of the Week ⚡
Extra points 🪙
Southwest offers points for “burnout.” Free points (that don’t expire) for completing a “burnout quiz” and for a screenshot of your phone’s unread notifications—at least while they last. I never fly Southwest, but I’m taking some free points for when they get those big planes. (View From the Wing)
Earn bonus points when joining and dining with Atmos. New members can earn 2,000 points when spending $50 on a single dine or takeout order and completing an online review in the first 30 days. This is my go-to program, so this is a great time to join, but unless you use it a lot or are an Alaska loyalist, I think that Rakuten offers better everyday value once that bonus is in your pocket. (Atmos Dining)
New features 🆕
American Airlines launches cash and miles bookings. I don’t expect this will offer great value, but it could be a lazy way to redeem modest amounts of miles. (American Airlines)
Citi adds Strata eligibility pop-up. The new tool will helpfully let you know if you are eligible for a welcome bonus before committing to an application and credit pull. (Award Wallet)
Southwest Airlines will let you book inside ChatGPT. The airline is offering a plugin to let you search and compare fares and book inside the AI chatbot. (Simple Flying)
Deals 🏷️
Save at Amazon with points. While you can redeem credit card points at Amazon, the value is usually poor. But Amazon sometimes offers the ability to get a discount on your purchase when using points—even if you’re not using points for the entire purchase. These deals are often targeted, so it might be worth checking. I was offered a 40% discount, up to $35, when using 1,429 Amex points. Check to see if you were targeted for an Amazon offer to stack with the discount. (Doctor of Credit)
Sign-up bonus of the week 🎯
Nothing new caught my eye this week, but there are plenty of great offers still on the table:
Up to 80k points + $250 on the Delta Gold (our take: 🔥🔥🔥)
70k points + a free night certificate on the Hilton Honors (our take: 🔥🔥)
200k points on the Hilton Aspire (our take: 🔥🔥)
Up to 90k points + $300 on the Delta Platinum (our take: 🔥🔥)
Up to 50k points + two flight certificates on the Delta Reserve (our take: 🔥🔥)
75k points + $300 stays credit on the Capital One Venture (our take: 🔥🔥)
60k points on the Choice Privileges Mastercard (our take: 🔥)
180k points on the IHG Premier (our take: 🔥)
70-90k miles on United credit cards (our take: 🔥)
200k points on the IHG Premier Select (our take: 🔥)
70k miles + elite status on the Air France KLM Visa (our take: 🔥)
90k points on certain Avios-earning cards (our take: 🔥)
125k miles on the Citi AAdvantage Executive (our take: 🔥)
75k (+ 40k after $20k spend) on the Chase Aeroplan Card (our take: 🔥)
50,000 points + $300 Bilt Cash + Bilt Gold status on the Bilt Palladium (our take)
Lazy Pick ✅ (Sponsored)
A travel adapter that stays put. One of my frustrations of traveling in Europe is my travel adapters just barely getting a connection into the recessed wall outlets—and then inevitably falling out. Trying to solve that problem, I decided to get an Anker Nano adapter, and it worked like a charm. Unlike my older adapters, it fit snugly into the outlet, and the thinner design helped it actually stay in place securely, even when loaded up. This is going to be my go-to going forward, but note that it lacks surge protection and isn’t rated for laptops.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Enjoy the long weekend! 🦥
Hope it helps with the burnout!
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