Portugal on Points and Miles
This is the second trip I have planned on points and miles after years of collecting credit card points to travel for free. Such is the life of a mom to a young child. I am ready for a vacation—but nervous about traveling with a toddler. Send your best tips pls.
Okay, let’s get into the details of how my family of three is traveling for nearly free to Portugal and London this January.
Positioning Flight
We are taking a positioning flight to New York City for our flight to Portugal. We live in Kansas City and while we did just get a brand spanking new airport, it is still a small Midwest city with very few international flights (come fight me if you want to say Kansas City is not in the Midwest, mkay).
We are taking Southwest Airlines from Kansas City to LaGuardia in NYC the day before our flight to Portugal. I am NOT missing the flight to Portugal. I plotted and planned for too long to miss my business class seat. I will hitchhike, throw hands, and walk through a mile of snow before I miss this flight.
We are using Southwest points to pay for the flights. Because our son is still under two, we are flying with him as a lap infant from Kansas City to New York. He turns two in Portugal during our trip so he is a lap infant on the way there and has his own seat on the way back. This makes planning a bit more complicated, but still totally doable.
When booking Southwest flights with a lap infant, you need to book the seats for the adults and then call Southwest to add the infant. You cannot book a lap infant online. There is no extra cost to add the lap infant and I spent maybe five minutes on the phone with customer service to get it done. Easy peasy.
Well, well, well, look who just made the world’s dumbest change in their checked bag policy.
Cost = 35,000 Southwest points and $11.20 for this flight.
Night in NYC
We are staying one night in NYC. We booked the Hyatt House Jersey City so we will be near Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) where we will catch our flight to Portugal on United Airlines.
We used a free night certificate we received from opening up the Hyatt personal credit card to pay for our stay. If you are traveling with a baby or toddler, you can request a crib be added to your room when booking your room online. It is subject to availability so know that it is not a guarantee!
Hyatt House Jersey City—Is Jersey City New York? This KC gal doesn’t know.
Note: We are flying into LaGuardia from Kansas City and to Portugal from Newark. Southwest does not fly into Newark at all. Check which airport you are flying into and out of in New York! You don’t want to have to switch airports to catch a connecting flight.
Cost = $0 for this hotel stay because we used a free night certificate.
Flight to Portugal from Newark
We are taking an evening flight out of Newark to Lisbon in business class, baby! We booked two United Polaris Business Class seats and added our son as a lap infant. There was a relatively small charge to add a lap infant. We also got to select our preferred meal type when we chose our seats—including for our baby! My husband and I are vegan so I didn’t expect much as far as food options go, but I was pleasantly surprised. There is a vegan option for your meal selection in United Business Class! Business class also includes two free checked bags per person, but we will not be checking bags because we would need to pay to check bags on our other flights.
Because we are flying on a United Polaris business class long-haul international flight, we will have access to the United Polaris Lounge in Newark. Can you tell that I am excited about it?? I have never been in an airport lounge. But ya girl has a business class ticket and they have to let me in now! You can access the lounge within three hours of your scheduled flight departure with a business class ticket.
Cost = 230,000 United points transferred from Chase (115,000 points per ticket) and $221.70 ($182 to add a lap infant and $ 39.70 for fees).
One BIG benefit of using United to fly internationally is that they charge almost nothing in fees when you use points. Many other international airlines charge a couple hundred per person in fees, even when using points. I typically save my Chase points to use exclusively at Hyatt, but I made an exception here.
We chose the vegan (strict vegetarian) meal option.
Hyatt Regency Lisbon
We are staying five nights at the Hyatt Regency Lisbon and paying a total of $0. We are using four free night certificates (the remaining free night certificates from opening up the Hyatt personal credit card) and paying for the fifth night in points.
Cost = $0 (four free night certificates and 12,000 points for the fifth night.
We are going to Lisbon!
Flight to London from Lisbon
This is the only flight we are 100% overpaying for (in points). The flight we wanted only had business class seats left and because our son will be two by the time we leave Lisbon to head to London, we had to purchase three seats. I normally wouldn’t choose business class for a short flight, but it is what fit our schedule and we are rolling with it. This is a good reminder that you don’t always need to get the very best deal to use your points and miles.
We are taking British Airways from Lisbon to London and paid using Avios transferred to British Airways using Capital One miles.
Cost = 60,000 Avios (I know, I know—we overpaid) and $75 for this flight.
Hyatt Place London City East
We are staying two nights at Hyatt Place London City East using points. I transferred points from Chase to Hyatt to pay for the stay. Hyatt is Chase’s best transfer partner, hands down. Your Chase points go further at Hyatt than with any other hotel.
London, here we come!
With points, this hotel cost us $0 to book.
Cost = 30,000 Points (15,000 points per night).
Flight from London to New York
Perhaps obviously, there are no direct flights from London to Kansas City. We will be flying from Heathrow to Newark and taking a second flight from Newark to Kansas City.
We are flying British Airways from London to Newark. Because our toddler is officially a toddler, he will need his own seat. We booked three seats but were not given the option to select our seats unless we paid another $300 (which I was not willing to do). I am hoping we can all sit together but if not, my husband can take our son and I will sit alone and enjoy some peace and quiet (kidding, kidding).
Cost = 75000 Avios and $300 in fees to book this flight.
New York to Kansas City
This is the only leg of the trip we booked without points. We paid $417.57 for the three of us to fly from Newark to Kansas City through Chicago on American Airlines.
Cost = $417.57
Total Cost
The total Cost for our flights and hotels for a weeklong trip to Lisbon and London for three people = $1,025.47
Almost half of the cost is the last stretch from New York to Kansas City. You could do this trip even cheaper if you live in a big city!
A little over a thousand dollars for ALL of the flights and hotels! This means we have more money to save and invest while still enjoying a family vacation. Traveling on points and miles is a fun and strategic way to make your money go further so you can use the money you save to invest for your future. It really is a win-win!