Want to learn to travel for (almost) free? Get inspired by what we did last month to earn and redeem points for free travel!
December Monthly Update tl:dr
December was a great finish to a fantastic year! We loved our 7 vacations in 2023 (worth about $40K!!!) on a shoestring budget of just $4,200! Our 2 big events in December were:
- Incredible trip to Turks & Caicos at an 88% discount!
- New Southwest credit card to help earn Companion Pass!
Despite taking a trip that would have cost over $10,000, our points and miles stash actually grew in December by an estimated $3800 of free travel.
If you’re new here and want to jump right into How You Can Travel for (Almost) Free, download our free eBook “Luxury Travel for Free” and get a free one-on-one consultation!
Annual Travel Budget Update
After 7 vacations this year, our total out of pocket cost for leisure travel came in at only $4,220. That includes flights, hotels, taxi/rental cars, food and drinks for the 2 of us for these trips:
- Spring Break All Inclusives in Cancun
- Nassau Bahamas
- Myrtle Beach
- New England & Acadia National Park
- Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks
- Punta Cana All Inclusive Resorts
- Turks & Caicos
I mean, $4,000 is a pretty typical vacation budget for 2 people to take 1 or maybe 2 vacations in the USA.
But we were able to take 7 vacations and that included 4 foreign countries!
Want to take more vacations for less then you ever thought possible? If you’ve got decent credit, follow the steps in our Guide to Free Travel to start traveling like Zuzu & I do!.
Points Earned & Redeemed in December
Zuzu & I redeemed 232,000 points and miles in December. But we also earned 98,339 points. We also got 1 new credit card which will help Zuzu get almost 2 years of free flights on Southwest!
Turks and Caicos Vacation
Known as one of the most expensive destinations in the Caribbean, Turks and Caicos is an absolute paradise. If we paid cash for everything that we got on this trip, it would have been $10,988 (which we could never afford).
Fortunately, we know how to travel for (almost) free with points and miles so our total out of pocket cost was only $1280. But that was less than our most expensive trip of 2023: $1581 for 7 nights in Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks.
We also used alot of our points on this trip.
Our round trip flights on American were 27K AA miles + $99 each for a total of 54k miles and $198 cash. btw, the welcome bonus for just 1 credit card can earn about that many AA points.
On both the flight to TCI & back, I got a free upgrade to 1st class! Yes, I left Zuzu in an extra legroom coach seat. And YES, I’m super lucky to have a wife who knows how much my 6’5″ frame appreciates sitting up front!
Zuzu & I used 175k Hyatt points to book 5 free nights at the luxurious Point Grace Resort. Since the cash price would have been $7,300, that means each Hyatt point was worth 4.2 cents!
Click here to see how we track our Hyatt Points Value!
The resort was the most chill, relaxing beach resort that we’ve ever visited!
On the 1st night, we splurged on dinner with a bottle of wine: $285 but WOW, was it great! And we got leftovers for the full size fridge in our suite!
That meal was our only cost for 5 nights at this luxury resort on Grace Bay Beach.
Zuzu & I love All Inclusive Resorts, partly because our food & drink budget is usually $0 at all inclusives. For example, we loved our October trip to Hyatt Zilara Cap Cana and Secrets Cap Cana in Dominican Republic. Our 5 nights in Punta Cana cost us $0 for room, food, and drinks.
Since Turks & Caicos doesn’t have an All Inclusive where we could stay for free, our food & drink was our biggest trip expense at $831. We also spent $251 on a rental car so we could explore the gorgeous island of Providenciales!
New Credit Card to Earn Free Flights
Although we usually focus on earning transferrable points from Chase and American Express cards, I got a new Southwest credit card in December. It’s my 1st step to earning a Southwest Companion Pass.
The Companion Pass allows Zuzu to fly for free anytime that I fly Southwest. She only pays the taxes and fees which are $5.60 one-way. For about $11, she can fly roundtrip with me anywhere in the USA.
A couple years ago, I had alot of domestic business travel. Zuzu was able to come along for free every time I flew Southwest thanks to the Southwest Companion Pass. We got $4,363 in free flights from that Companion Pass!
Read our Comprehensive Guide to the Companion Pass here!
It looks like my domestic business travel will ramp up in 2024 so we’re trying to earn the Companion Pass again. I expect to earn the Companion Pass by March 1, 2024. That will let Zuzu fly for free for about 22 months: the rest of 2024 and all of 2025!
Click here to see current offers on Southwest Credit Cards.
Future Travel Already Booked
Cancun all inclusive
For our fourth trip to Mexico since 2021, we used points to get two free round-trip tickets in First Class and five free nights at the wonderful Hyatt Ziva Cancun.
We even used a free Suite Upgrade Award (SUA’s are a free benefit to Hyatt Globalists) to confirm a huge Ocean-Front corner Suite with Club Lounge access.
World Of Hyatt Status Update
Last month we hit our goal of earning Hyatt Globalist status through February 2025. In December, we reached 70 nights which earns us another Hyatt Milestone Reward!
From all our research and talking with friends, Hyatt has the best hotel loyalty program. We regularly get thousands of dollars of value from the extra perks awarded to top level elite Globalists. Here are some of our favorite perks of being Globalist:
- Free breakfast
- No resort fees
- Room Upgrades
- Suite Upgrade Awards
- Free Parking on Free Nights
- Early Checkin & Late Checkout
- Dedicated My Hyatt Concierge Agent
In 2023, our biggest Globalist benefit was from 1 specific episode with my concierge. Click here to read how My Hyatt Concierge gave me a $7000 gift!
Points Balances
As of December 31, we had 1,262,006 points and miles in our accounts.
Even though we have to use them for travel, our points and miles balances really are like money in the bank to us. Our current stash is worth about $34,437 in free travel to us.
That’s a nice increase from November when our balance was worth $30,663 in free travel.
- Chase Points: 576,155 (worth about 3.9 cents each)
- Amex Points: 581,587 (worth about 1.6 cents each)
- Hyatt Points: 42,115 (worth about 3.9 cents each)
- Southwest Points: 18,381 (worth about 1.5 cents each)
- AA Points: 43,768 (worth about 1.7 cents each)
How To Earn and Redeem Hyatt Points
Next Month
January will mark the 6th leisure trip in 5 months for us. While we’re looking forward to 5 nights at another Hyatt All Inclusive Resort, we’re also looking forward to February when we can catch our breath and just enjoy some time at home.
As I mentioned earlier, I got a Southwest Credit Card in December and I plan to earn the welcome bonus in January. Earning the Companion Pass as early in the year is critical to maximizing the value that you get from “free flights for the remainder of 2024.”
By the way, if you’d like free help to find the best credit card for you, we’re happy to help. It doesn’t cost you anything and we’ll earn between 15k and 40k points just for referring you!
How Can We Help You Travel?
If you want to start traveling on points and miles, I’d love to help you just like I’ve helped our other friends. I don’t charge to help you.
Now’s a great time to start planning for free travel in 2024. If you have good credit and have about $1500/month of expenses, you can probably earn enough points in 3-6 months to get a free vacation. If you have alot of expenses or if you have a small business, you can earn free travel much more quickly!
If you decide to apply for a card, I’d appreciate it if you use our referral links.
Just drop us a note on the Contact Us page and we’ll come up with a free custom plan for how You Get To Travel!
Or, you can download our free eBook: Ultimate Guide to Free Luxury Travel!
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