✈️ 5 Tips to Book CHEAP Summer Travel

Good morning ☀️ from Booked It On Points: A curated collection of travel tips and personal stories by me, Allie→ because you’re meant to experience meaningful travel no matter life’s constraints 👊🏽

Let’s dive in.

Here’s what’s on today—

📉 It’s true my friend. This flight above ⬆️ will cost 55k points and $5.60 in taxes and fees. Picture being able to fly your loved ones on a once in a lifetime trip to Asia- this is your ticket. 

✈︎ Points + Miles

TOP STORY: Booking Cheap: Summer Travel Edition

You’ve made it through winter and what do you deserve more than anything else? Some (CHEAP) summer travel plans 😉

Awhile ago I was spending A LOT of money on summer travel.

Kids are in school, so summer is the main time to travel which means→ high season prices.

It’s painful.

But then, I used points + miles to fly roundtrip to Croatia for less than $500 as a family of 4 in late JUNE and life has never, ever been the same.

Let me break it down with 5 tips for Cheap summer travel→

1. Book Early—Or Snag Last-Minute Openings

Ideally, you’d book summer flights with points 6–12 months ahead. But if you didn’t (oops, life happens), don’t stress! Airlines often release more award seats closer to departure. Set up alerts on Seats.aero or Googleflights.com  to get notified when space opens up. Better yet, I use Daily Drop Pro to never over pay on travel, whether in points OR in cash.

2. Use Transferable Points for Maximum Flexibility

Not sure which airline to use? That’s why transferable points exist!

Points from:

• Chase Ultimate Rewards 

• MR rewards 

• Capital One Miles 

  … will transfer to multiple airlines, giving you more booking options.

• Flying business class? MR points transfer to ANA or Virgin Atlantic for premium seats at solid rates.

• Economy flights? Chase points transfer to Southwest (great for domestic trips) or United (solid for international flights).

3. Best Redemptions for Summer Travel

Some programs have sweet spots that work especially well for summer destinations. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Europe: Transfer MR points or Chase points to Virgin Atlantic and book Delta flights for way fewer miles than Delta itself charges.

• Hawaii: Transfer Capital One points to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles and book United flights for just 7,500 miles one-way from the West Coast (yes, really!).

• Domestic U.S.: Use British Airways Avios (via Chase, MR points, or Capital One) to book American Airlines flights for as low as 7,500 points one-way.

4. Get Creative with Your Route

Sometimes the “perfect” flight isn’t available, but there’s always a workaround.

• Take a 👀 →

  Want to fly New York to Santorini but can’t find a direct award ticket? Try booking New York to Athens on points, then grab a cheap cash or Avios flight to Santorini.

5. Don’t Forget Credit Card Perks

Your travel credit cards can do more than just earn points—they come with perks that make your life easier:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred & Reserve: Earns Ultimate Rewards, which transfer to multiple airlines and hotels and has stellar travel insurance built in!

• Capital One Venture X: Transfers to great airline partners and gives statement credits for travel purchases. Did I mention lounge access to +1,000 airport lounges across the world?! 🤤

Final Thoughts

Booking summer travel with points takes a little strategy, but it’s 100% worth it. If you haven’t started, go check award availability ASAP. And if you need more points, now’s a great time to open a new card and earn a welcome bonus before summer hits.

Got a specific trip in mind? Let me know—I’d love to help you find the best redemption! Happy booking! ✈️

✈︎ (Our) Travel News

📣 Booked It Announcement 📣 

Let me tell you a story…

Eight years ago, I looked at Geo and said, “I need to take a trip.” He thought I was joking. So naturally, I booked us two round trip tickets to Barcelona. 💃✈️

The flights alone were $2,000. Our accommodation? Sketchy. And to top it off, Geo got violently sick from some bad pizza on our first night. 🍕💀

Spending over $4,000 on a week in Europe stressed him out. Not being able to afford more travel stressed me out even more.

That’s when I got to work. I studied. I signed up for courses. I talked to anyone who had cracked the code on cheap travel. And I learned A TON.

Now, we’re taking everything I’ve learned and building a community of like-minded travelers—something I wish I had back when Geo was curled up in a hotel bathroom all night. 🤦‍♀️

Here’s what we’ve come up with! These are some of the offerings what we’ll be diving into 👇

*We’re starting small with 15 founding members.

What’s it mean to be a founding member?

Just $30 for 3 months of access! 

Only $30 for the whole 3 months. If you’re planning a trip this summer I am sure you will save WAY more than that by being a part of the community. 

Use the poll below to let us know if you want to be added to the waitlist. We plan to open up sign ups in 30 days. This does not mean you are committed to signing up. We will send you all the details when we open it up!

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We would LOVE to have you in our community of founding members as we work to make this community overflow with knowledge, support and experience from all types of travelers!

Next week we’ll be coming to you from our new home in Uruguay! Until then, have a great week!

Allie