What if I don't have enough points?

In an ideal world, traveling with miles and points goes like this: Apply for new credit card, get approved, meet the minimum spending, gather a big welcome bonus of miles/points, repeat with Player 1/Player 2/Small Business with additional new cards, accumulate enough miles to book a trip with miles and points. And they all lived happily ever after.

But sometimes, things don’t go perfectly. Maybe you have a large family, and the number of miles/points required for the trip you have in mind is daunting. Perhaps you didn’t get approved for a card after applying. Or, maybe you really want to travel sooner than it would take to rack up all of those miles and points.

Whatever the reason, there are still ways to utilize your miles and points combined with other ideas to save money on travel.

Options When You Don’t Have Enough Points to Book Your Entire Trip

Book some passengers with points and some with cash: If you’re a family of 5 but you only have enough points for 3 people, split your party into 2 groups. Reserve round-trip flights for 3 people, and put a price alert in kayak.com to jump on a good cash price for your remaining 2 people.

Book one-way tickets and utilize low-cost carrier for the other way: If you’re flying domestically, you can sometimes find great one-way fares on a low-cost carrier like Spirit or Frontier. Even if you’re flying internationally, consider using a low-cost carrier like ZipAir with one-way fares as low as $225 from Tokyo to LAX,

Buy miles/points: I don’t recommend this without doing the math first. But, sometimes airlines have sales on buying miles. If you’re not too far from an award, it can make sense to buy some miles to top off your account.

Book a different cabin: Maybe you had your heart set on having enough miles to book your entire family in Business class. If you’re running short of miles, consider booking Premium Economy instead.

Pay yourself back later: If you have a card like the Capital One Venture Rewards card, you can charge travel purchases and continue to accumulate miles for up to 90 days before paying yourself back.

Wait to book until closer to your trip: In my experience, the best time to find award availability is ~11 months before your trip. It pays to plan ahead. But, many times, you can find award availability closer in, which gives you more time to accumulate those miles.

Focus on cheaper transportation: Flying isn’t the only game in town. Consider driving, taking the train or even the cost of a cruise to your destination instead.

Final Thoughts

Being short of miles and points for a planned vacation doesn’t have to be a deal breaker. Focus on what you DO have and how much you can save with what you’ve got.