Nancy’s 2024 Travel Plans with Miles and Points

Welcome to 2024! I hope that everyone had a nice break over the holidays and enjoyed ringing in the new year.

I am so excited for my family’s upcoming travel plans in 2024! Because of accumulating miles and points through credit cards, we’re able to afford more trips than we could if we paid cash for everything. Plus, we’re able to splurge on some fancier airplane seats and hotels thanks to miles and points!

4 Big International Trips

Normally, I wouldn’t plan 4 big international trips in one year. But, I have no good explanation for how this happened. Carpe diem!

Portugal: In just a few months, we’re heading to Portugal to explore the country and visit our friends who moved to Portugal last year. We are flying Business Class to Lisbon (see this post), and we’re flying Premium Economy and Economy on the way home (see this post), all using miles and points. Most of the time, we are staying in a house rental. But, we’re using our Venture X travel credit for one night in a hotel (see this post).

Costa Rica: After school gets out, my entire family of 5 is heading back to Costa Rica. We were there in early 2020 just before the pandemic shut everything down, and we had a fabulous time! This time, we’re spending a few days in the San Jose area scoping out potential expat retirement communities. Then, we are splurging on a condo in the Manuel Antonio National Park area. We are flying both ways in Economy class using AA miles one way (see this post) and United miles on the way home (see this post). We’re also using Hyatt free night certificates for a hotel in San Jose (see this post).

Europe: This summer, my daughter and I are going on a cruise through Norway’s fjords (with stops in Germany and Denmark). But first, we’re making a few pre-cruise stops in Spain and the Netherlands. We are flying to Madrid in Business Class (see this post) and flying home in Economy class (see this post) using mile and points. I’m utilizing Hilton points for a few hotel nights in Amsterdam (see this post), plus IHG free night certificates in Hamburg (see this post).

Hong Kong: I just booked flights to Hong Kong in the past few weeks for a fall trip. My daughter and I are flying Business Class there and back (see this post and this post) using miles. I haven’t booked a hotel yet, but I’m considering booking a Hyatt hotel with points.

Domestic Trips in 2024

My family also has some domestic trips in the works that we are taking in pairs:

Denver: My son and I will be traveling to Denver for a rock concert. I haven’t booked flights or hotel yet.

New Mexico: My husband and I are taking a quick trip to New Mexico to celebrate our 20th anniversary. I booked us flights in domestic First Class with miles (see this post).

Cincinnati: We’ve used miles and points to send my husband and oldest son to two tennis tournaments in the past few years (Laver Cup in Boston and the U.S. Open in New York). In 2024, they are going to the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio. I’ve already secured them flights using AA miles.

Family visits: We will likely visit my son in college twice in 2024, plus travel to South Texas at least once to visit family. These are road trips that require no flights.

Overall Thoughts

When I put it all on one page like this, we have a TON of travel coming up in 2024. However, not all 5 of us are going on all trips. I’m even sitting one out (the tennis trip). I hope that this post inspires you to dream about your own travel wish list and see what is possible when you start accumulating miles and points.