✈️ Stop Paying Full Price for Travel

Tight on points? Here's how you can get you anywhere in Europe 😉

Author

Allie Rockwell
March 11, 2025

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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 👊🏽

Hello from Amsterdam! We have a lot of new friends here (welcome!) so I want to get us on the same page when it comes to points + miles.

Let’s dive in.

Here’s what’s on today—

🌎 World: Could VR travel replace feet on the ground for you?
✈️ Flight: Tight on points? Here’s a trick to get to Europe no matter what
💸 Points: Mastery of the basics→ Points + Miles foundation
👩🏽‍✈️ News: The future of aviation + top cards for this month

✈︎ Today’s World
Virtual World

Hmm, maybe VR could replace IRL travel

That’s a lot of letters- let me help→(V)irtual (R)eality Tourism. Could it replace travel IRL (in real life 😉 )? For some, maybe.

✈︎ Flight Deal

Going to Europe? Here’s a trick…

📉 I’ve been how I fly so many places in Europe on points. Firstly, there are MANY options for this but here’s a sneaky trick to consider 🙂 Take this flight (USING POINTS) for only 6k points to London and then hop on a quick, budget airline to your final destination. Barcelona perhaps? The whole thing would cost you a cool $75 in taxes plus $56 direct to Barcelona!

*Consider this a stellar strategy if you’re taking several people and/or are tight on points! 

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✈︎ Points + Miles

TOP STORY: Points + Miles Basics to Get You Going

How to Earn Points Without Extra Spending

I still remember our first big points win—round-trip business class to Japan for Geo and me. Flights that should have cost thousands and we paid just taxes and fees. After that, we never looked at travel the same way again.

Earning points is easier than you think—you just need the right strategy.

Earn Points on What You Already Spend

Most people think you have to spend extra to earn travel rewards. Nope! Just swap your payment method.

Example: Your Grocery Bill

  • Spend $1000/month on groceries with a debit card? You earn nothing.

  • Use a travel rewards credit card (like the this one, which earns 4x points at supermarkets)? You get 4,000 points/month.

  • That’s 48,000 points a year—enough for free flights or hotel nights.

Supercharge Your Points with Welcome Offers

Everyday spending is great, but the fastest way to earn a big stack of points? Welcome offers.

When you open a new travel card and hit the minimum spending requirement, you can earn 60,000–100,000+ points—enough for an international trip for you and your loved ones.

Our First Big Win

We opened 2 key cards- this Chase Preferred business card and this Capital One card, hit the welcome offers, used them for our regular spending, and booked business class flights to Japan nearly free.

Use the Right Card for Maximum Rewards

Want to earn even more? Make sure your card matches your lifestyle:

What About Annual Fees?

Worried about fees? Here’s the key:

If a card has a $95 annual fee but earns you $1,000 in free travel, it’s worth it. And there are plenty of no-annual-fee options too!

EXCEPT that it comes with a $300 annual travel credit, free lounge access, travel insurance and earns 2x points on EVERY purchase. That is more than enough to wipe out that fee as a traveler.

The Bottom Line: Start Small, Travel More

  1. Pick a good travel rewards credit card.

  2. Use it for normal spending.

  3. Hit a welcome offer to earn a big chunk of points.

  4. Watch your points grow.

Once you experience nearly-free travel, you’ll never want to pay full price for it again.

So, where would you go if your flights were free?

✈︎ Poll

Over here at Booked It Travel, we’ll be launching something VERY exciting! If you could take 60 seconds and let me know your opinion below, I’d be over-the-moon grateful:

How can we help you travel better?

Tell us what you'd be most likely to purchase:

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✈︎ Travel News

Quick Hits

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Thanks for being here and have a great Tuesday!

Allie