Splurges I’m Making for my Upcoming Trip to Asia

Some of you may find this hard to believe, based on the trips I’ve taken these past few years. But the reality is that I’m not conditioned for splurging, whether it’s spending cash or spending unnecessary miles and points. While I was lucky enough to grow up taking family vacations, we always stayed at the cheapest motels and minimized all other expenses. My parents were masters at stretching the dollar, and their financial discipline and frugality definitely rubbed off on me.

This sure came in handy after I quit my corporate job to stay home with my 3 kids. Those early years were tough. Thankfully, I got into this miles and points travel hobby to help us afford family travel. But still, with 5 people, we had to conserve our miles and points and find the cheapest redemptions in order to make our miles and points stretch.

Now that my kids are older and all 5 of us can’t travel together as frequently, travel doesn’t cost as many miles and points. I’m making different award spending decisions, splurging on more expensive seats and properties when the opportunity is right. My husband and I also have a few premium travel credit cards (with higher annual fees) that come with some “splurgy” benefits .

Splurges for My Upcoming Trip to Asia

Next month, my daughter and I head to Singapore and Thailand by ourselves (my husband and sons can’t travel this time). Here are some splurges we’re making on this trip thanks to miles and points and premium credit card benefits:

• I plan to use my free Admirals Club lounge passes from my Citi Strata Elite card before our flights leaving from DFW and on the return flight from SEA. Since my daughter is under 18, I only need to burn one pass for the two of us to get in.
• I used my husband’s Amex Platinum’s airline incidental credit to upgrade our AA seats to Main Cabin Extra on our domestic positioning flight. Our flight doesn’t land until close to midnight, so it will be nice to get off the plane more quickly.
• I booked a stay at the Grand Hyatt SFO  for 21,000 points instead of staying at the nearby Hyatt Regency SFO for 9000 points. I’ve stayed at the Hyatt Regency SFO a few times in the past, and it’s a great hotel. But for this trip, with a late night arrival and a morning departure the next day, the Grand Hyatt SFO is even more convenient.
• Our award flights across the Pacific are in Business Class (SFO to SIN) and Premium Economy (HKG to SEA) thanks to miles and points.
• We’re staying one night at the Andaz Singapore for 25,000 points instead of finding a cheaper option near the airport. The Andaz is right in the heart of the area of Singapore I want to explore the most.
• I spent an extra 15,000 Aeroplan points for Business class award flights within Asia (Krabi to BKK to HKG). Since these are short flights, I normally wouldn’t even consider flying in Business. But, I had the points to spare, and going through immigration first after landing in HKG will save us some precious time on our one-night layover.
• And the last splurge: I used my Citi Strata Elite card’s $200 “Splurge credit” to reduce the cost of buying first class seats on our last leg home from SEA to DFW. We will be dead tired, and I have to go to work the next morning. So, catching some zzzz’s on the flight and getting off the plane first sounds good to me.

None of the above splurges are necessary for anyone to enjoy a trip to Asia. But if I have the points and benefits to use, why not use them?