Hodgepodge: The Best Word to Describe my Spring Break Travel Plans

My family’s next “big” trip is in March when we head to St. Maarten in the Caribbean. Now that the holidays are over, I’ve spent the last few days finalizing the details for this trip. After looking at the trip in total, the best word to describe our travel plans is hodgepodge.

Hodgepodge (noun): A heterogeneous mixture; jumble; mishmash

Most “normal” travelers book round-trip tickets on the same airline, book one hotel destination, and keep it simple. But when you travel on miles and points, it pays to think outside the box and be flexible.

Hodgepodge Details

Flights: Cash prices for flights to St. Maarten from DFW have consistently ranged from $550-$800+ per person. Yowsa! Multiply that X5 people, and we wouldn’t be flying if it weren’t for miles and points.

Originally, I booked flights from DFW to SXM with an overnight stopover in Charlotte for 10k AA miles each. That was a steal! However, those flights were one day later than our ideal departure date. So, over the last few months, I continued searching for good award seats that leave the day prior. And, I found a great alternative on our desired date, except with two different airlines.

DFW to FLL on JetBlue for 8000 miles each

(overnight in Miami)

MIA to SXM on AA for 7500 Alaska miles each

Return trip:

SXM to FLL on JetBlue for 9300 miles each

(overnight in Ft. Lauderdale)

FLL to DFW on United (with short stopover in Houston) using 14,000 Lufthansa miles (for 4 of us)

FLL to DFW on AA using Citi Strata Elite card’s Splurge Credit (nonstop for my oldest son so he can get back to college on time)

Hotels: Lodging in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale over spring break weeks is expensive! Hotel rooms near the airports are averaging $300/night, and we would need two rooms each way. That’s potentially $1200 for our Florida stopovers.

Thankfully, I was able to use our free night certificates that we get from our Chase IHG and Hyatt credit cards. I booked two Hyatt rooms near FLL airport one way, and two IHG rooms near MIA airport for the other stopover.

Bottom Line

Booking a trip for 5 people with miles and points requires multiple award currencies and flexibility. Our itinerary isn’t as straightforward as most would prefer. However, we are saving a few thousand dollars by booking with miles and points, so for me, the hodgepodge itinerary is worth it.