Trips Videos

My family spent $5k on a $125k SURPRISE Trip Around the World for my Mom’s 75th!

a group of people sitting in a chair

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My family spent $5k on a $125k SURPRISE Trip Around the World for my Mom’s 75th!

My Dad and I couldn’t love my mom more, and we wanted her to have a truly ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE for such a momentous birthday. I mean she was turning 75!!! So…nearly a year and a half before the big day, starting in 2015, we brainstormed. A Party? Nah… What else do you do besides a big party? Then it hit us. A BIG TRIP. My mom has always wanted to visit the factory that makes her perfume, a perfume that she has worn for over 50 years! How cool is that? It’s called Habanita and it’s made by Molinard whose factory is in Grasse, France. She’s also wanted to go to Bali…So which place would we go to? How about both? How about more than both? WHAT IF WE MADE THE WHOLE THING A SURPRISE?! YES! So what started as an idea that became a trip turned into a great big, mega, all first-class, 5 star, SURPRISE TRIP Around The World. In total…the retail cost would have been more than $125k for the flights and hotels. We paid roughly $5k…not including the food.

How we earned the points?

It took us between 12 and 18 months to not only earn enough points, but make sure that we could find the award availability to make every destination fit together like a jigsaw. In the end we used far less than we earned, but most of the cards that we used are listed on my top credit card page. This entire website is geared towards educating you on how I continue to take dream trips that are largely offset with points and miles earned from credit cards and every day purchases. We did not spend a single dime that we wouldn’t have otherwise spent, we just optimized every single dollar to earn as many points as we could.

If you’re interested in the cards that we think are the best, and some tips to get started, I would highly recommend checking out our Top Credit Card page. This trip was mainly achieved by combining an assorted of points earned from Chase, Amex, Citi, Marriott, IHG, and Alaska Miles. Since taking trip Capital One has created a program that could effectively achieve many of the same results we had. While this trip was an absolutely dream, I can’t stress enough that you should pay your bills on time, in full, and not go into debt and pay the high financing charges associated with carrying debt. It’s been 4 years since we took this trip and most of the cards I added to my wallet are still in it – they have continued to provide immense value for my everyday purchases and ability to continue to take dream trips.

Check out our Top Credit Card page to learn more

Miles Credit Cards

Below you’ll find reviews of every flight, hotel, and lounge we visited. Within those reviews you’ll get tutorials on the points I used, how I found award availability, and tips on how you can book it yourself.

My goal with documenting the trip is that you are inspired to take your own dream trips. Points and miles has created not only a business for me, but the opportunity to share experiences with the most important people in my life that I will never forget.

A quick sizzle on the trip

 

Here’s a little ditty my mom wrote…

Christmas, 2016 was the first I had heard of a 3 week round the world trip for my 75th Birthday!!  My son and my husband had been working on this trip for over a year prior!!!  I was so excited, but no information was given on exact destinations – only temperatures for each destination for the time period we would be there, and 5 countries and 6 cities!!!  I only learned of each of the destinations as we were at the airport ready to depart!!!   What fun!!!!!  How exciting!!!

Here is a glimpse of our trip! We went through Beijing, Singapore, Bali, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and the South of France.

Everything was a surprise for my mom. She had a feeling about different places that she might visit…but she didn’t know 100% until she got a boarding pass. SO MUCH FUN!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Visiting the Molinard Factory was icing on the cake. A lifelong dream of my mom’s. She’s worn their perfume for 50 years!

a woman standing in front of a building

 

a woman sitting in a chair with a cake

a stuffed animal on a lounge chair

a bathroom with a large mirror

Afternoon Tea

a tray of pastries on a table

TIPS:

a man and woman sitting at a table with drinks

How much did this all cost in dollars and points?

Total value:  $125-130k+                  Paid:  $4500-$5000 +/-

Total value of Flights =  Roughly $110-115k

  • Mom and Dad
    • $42,500k each
    • Paid $1000 +/-
  • Zach + Miles
    • $27-30k
    • $1000

Total value of hotels: Roughly  $13-14k

  • Paid – roughly $2700

Full break down of the points used:

In total:

  • IHG = 670K
  • Marriott Rewards: 310K
  • Alaska = 190k
  • Singapore Air = 278k
  • Hilton = 60k
  • AA = 160k

The Flights:

The Hotels

We were gone a total of 24 days and stayed in luxury hotels all the way through. We flew the best the world has to offer, and all it took was planning and understanding exactly how to utilize points to their potential.

a stuffed animal in front of a sign

We have been so blessed to be able to experience something like this and create these memories of a lifetime. I’m excited to share with all of you, and teach you how to do it too!

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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