Now that the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is over, many families are starting to think more about travel goals. I love that the new year is sparking so many dreams and conversations about family travel. Yes!
I often get questions from people in real life and online about what advice I have for traveling with miles and points. And, while I have a lot to say about the subject, I have one piece of advice that is at the top of my list.
Plan Ahead
Plan ahead. Yes, that’s my #1 advice for families getting into this travel hobby with miles and points. It seems like an easy concept, but for many folks, planning ahead feels unnatural and weird.
What exactly do I mean by planning ahead? I mean that you need pick a date for your trip and allow enough time for all the things to happen before then.
It usually takes 3-4 months for one credit card welcome bonus to hit your account. You probably need more than one bonus to accumulate enough miles and points for a big international trip for a family, even if you’re flying in economy. So, you’ll need even more time to gather all the miles and points.
Then, to have the best chance at finding multiple award seats at a cheap price, you’ll want to book flights ~11 months in advance, which is when most airlines release schedules. This isn’t to say that you can’t snag a great award flight a few weeks or months before your trip. But, the chances of award availability for a family are much higher at 11 months out.
Case in point: Those 17,000-mile award seats I booked last summer on KLM from Amsterdam to Houston for this summer? The award price for my date is now 82,500 miles. Those award flights we booked last year to Portugal for this upcoming spring break? Not even available now.
Right now, I’ve got most of my travel details booked for 2024. I’ve still got a few positioning flights to take care of, but my big international flights are booked. I’m currently working on 2025 plans in my head. My family is dreaming of going to Japan in Summer 2025. That means I’ve got about 6 months to get all my miles and points accumulated so that I can book our flights at 11 months out.
Final Thoughts
Plan ahead!
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Great advise! Usually people tell me they want to use points for a trip less than 3 months away! I have a friend I travel with and I have to plan out the card apps ahead of time and spoon feed them to her one at a time. She says it is overwhelming and just too much planning and work for her and refuses to do it on her own. The benefit for me is this way she pays half the cost and we get to go on a nice vacation together. It often takes us 12 to 18 months to earn the points we need, and I book it as early as possible, so often 2 years ahead for a nice trip. We have taken our husbands on a few of these trips as well and used points they earned so we can get 2 seperate rooms. We could have never taken those trips without the big discount provided by using points and miles!
I would like to add that the planners should start practicing with award searches so that they can decide if whether their trips would become reality. For example, getting four roundtrip tickets to Japan in business class on very specific dates six months in ahead).
@Liam Ran Yes, for sure!