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Last month, I shared how I booked my family of five on flights to Europe and back in business class using miles and points. It was a huge accomplishment, and it will be our first time enjoying lie-flat seats. I also already booked apartment rentals for us in Paris and Switzerland.
Since I booked the trip, I’ve been thinking about our accommodations. Our Paris flat has room for six people, so we could fit one more guest. And, our chalet in Switzerland has even more space. Why not give someone else the opportunity to travel with us? Obviously, I’m a huge fan of travel, and sharing my love of travel with others gives me great joy. That’s why I continue writing on this blog!
So, my husband and I talked about it in depth. We went back and forth on whether or not it would be a good idea to fill that space with an extra person. In the end, we decided that European travel is such a cool experience that we can’t NOT invite someone else when it wouldn’t cost us anything extra.
We discussed a short list of possibilities, and we decided to first extend an invitation to our niece. She is in her early 20s, so it’s not like she’s another child we have to supervise. She excitedly accepted our offer. I told her I may be able to reduce her cost of flights by using our miles and points for one or maybe both directions, but we’d have to see how things work out.
Using Miles and Points for Flights
I wasn’t too worried about booking her flights because it’s cheaper and easier to book a flight for just one person. She lives in the Houston area, so I figured she would fly in and out of Houston.
However, she felt uncomfortable flying internationally for the first time by herself, which is understandable. So I decided to look at the flights my family was already on.
First, I found a seat in economy class for the flight home from Zurich to Chicago. She would be on the same flight with my husband and sons and could go through customs and immigration with them in Chicago. I booked it for 30k United miles +$55.
About a week later, I decided to look at the flight again to see if any business class seats opened up. Much to my surprise, United had released more business class seats on the same flight. I canceled her first reservation and re-booked her a business class seat for 60k miles.
For her flight to Paris, I had to wait until my Flying Blue miles hit my Air France account. I planned to book her on our same flight from Dallas to Paris but in economy or premium economy.
Shockingly, there was one more available seat in business class. Ah what the heck, she may as well fly business class all the way. It cost 57,000 points + ~$200 cash. In total, the flights are only costing her around $250 cash for round-trip business class seats to Europe. She does still need to book her own flight from Dallas to Houston and then from Chicago to Houston, but those won’t be that expensive.
Travel While You’re Young!
I’m a firm believer that people should travel while they’re young and not wait for retirement or the perfect time. I hope our niece loves Europe as much as I do and that the experience cultivates a love of travel in her.
Will she see the worst side of my family on this trip? Probably. We can get testy when we’re tired and jet lagged. Oh, who am I kidding, it doesn’t even take those conditions for my kids to squabble.
But, hopefully this will be a great trip for all of us. Now we just need to cross our fingers that Covid doesn’t ruin this travel opportunity!
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I’d love to know more about the chalet rental in Switzerland. My brother lives there but can’t fit the whole family in his place so I’m trying to hunt up some alternatives. I’d ask him to look into it but the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze. Do you mind sharing the company you’re using?
@Christian I found ours on airbnb, but it’s one of these: https://www.wengenapartments.com
I guess you’re Nancy, but same comment 😉
Letcia
Hi Leana,
That’s so generous of you! I guess if she accepted is because she’s ok traveling with a family with kids. I need to read your previous post about your whole plan. I love Europe!
Leticia
Hi Leticia! Check out my proposed Europe itinerary. I can’t wait! https://milesforfamily.com/2021/08/10/proposed-switzerland-itinerary-with-teens-and-tween/
Probably not a popular opinion, but I would not have invited your niece. A 20-something, even one who has never left the U.S. before, is more than capable of traveling on her own to Europe in this day and age.
Also, while the apartment in Paris can sleep six, will everyone have their own bed? or will someone have to sleep on the floor or sofa or share a bed?
@John Sure she’s capable of traveling on her own. But haven’t you ever tried something new because somebody reached out to you and asked you to join them? I do that with things I enjoy–like dining at a Greek restaurant or attending a deep water exercise class. The people I’ve invited are totally capable of doing those things on their own, but never thought about it until I invited them. I never would have tried scuba diving if it weren’t for a persistent group of co-workers who encouraged me to take classes so that I could join them on their weekend adventures. To answer your question, the apartment has 1 room with a king bed and two rooms with two single beds in each. My niece and daughter will share a room.
I’m 42 and perfectly capable of traveling to Europe on my own. Would I do it? Nope. I’d be delighted to be invited in a trip where someone else planned it and I got to jusr enjoy the ride.
I am a little bit of a newbie, but how difficult is it to book your miles in someone else’s name ? I thought the person whose account the miles were in had to be on the same reservation in order to book that. You seemed to be able to use your miles solely for your niece without you on the reservation. Is that difficult, or do you know of a blog that fully explains how to do that because I have kids all over the place now and would love to be able to use my miles for their travel with us.
Thanks a bunch in advance !!
It’s pretty easy, you just put their name into the reservation. Most US-based airlines allow this fairly easily, but it is sometimes a challenge with airlines outside the US (for example, Signapore Airlines only lets you add four or five people to your “family” who you can book flights for.)
@Tom Yes, it’s fairly easy with most airlines to simply put someone else’s name on the ticket. I do it all the time. In most cases, it’s easier to book a flight for someone than it is to book them a hotel room. As the reader above said, a few international airlines have extra rules (like Korean Air made me register my family members in order to book flights for them).
Thanks folks !!!! I had NO idea it was that easy. I always was under the assumption you could only do it if I was also on the same reservation. Thanks a bunch for that heads up !!