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In roughly a month I leave on a $100k trip of a lifetime celebrating my mom
I’m an only child and I’m especially close with my family. My mom is having a big birthday this year. I won’t mention the exact number, but it’s one that warrants an incredibly special and grand celebration. But how to celebrate? A party didn’t really seem like something she would particularly want. But, a trip? A trip would be the perfect gift. We would have shared experiences, memories, and pictures that will last forever. So that was it. Over a year ago my dad and I set out planning a secret, surprise trip to honor all of the incredibly wonderful moments, time, and love that she has given us. We booked our first flights nearly 10 months ago. My Dad and I have had an absolute blast picking out spots, flights, and secretly putting all the ducks in a row. It’s hard to believe that in roughly a month we leave on a trip of a lifetime to celebrate and honor my mom.
She has no idea where we’re going – only that it’ll last 3 weeks and fly her across many bodies of water 😉
She likes to plan things too. So over Christmas my Dad and I presented her with a photo album a few months before her birthday. This way she could wrap her mind around what was coming shortly after her real birthday. The first 2 pages contained a riddle explaining the concept of the trip, it’s magnitude, and the level of comfort she’ll enjoy. Here’s an excerpt:
It wouldn’t be a surprise if you knew many specifics
But at least once we’ll cross the pacific
I know what’re you thinking…how will I pack?
You’ll have weather reports to take care of just that
The rest of the book will be filled with family memories from the trip. My mom deserves the best and she’ll get it. Aside from a couple short positioning flights in regional premium recliners, she’s in for first class treatment on the world’s best airlines. We’ll stay in 5 star hotels from start to finish. My Dad and I, at worst, will rough it in business 😉
Nearly every single place we’ll go to has been paid for with points. I haven’t calculated every last bit, but the retail value is easily $100k+.
I should really be thanking Miles and my bad back for this trip. Without having a back surgery at the end of 2014 that put me on bedrest for 3 months I wouldn’t have had the time to dive deep into the rabbit hole of points and MILES – ahhhh Miles – he came into my life shortly after that. It’s been a phenomenal lesson to me: sometimes what first appears as a hardship is actually an opportunity to learn and develop….a blessing in disguise. This blog was birthed from hardship and this trip probably never would have happened without surgery and time away from acting.
There are a few little bits and pieces that still need to fall into place, but right now we’re at roughly $1600 a person and most of that is being spent on getting to and staying in one aspirational hotel that doesn’t accept points. The price will go up as we pick sights to see and obviously a lot of dining isn’t included.
We’ll be using roughly 750k air miles and 900k hotel points for 23 nights and many flights. My routing will put me at just short of 30k miles flown.
Most of the points we’re using were accumulated through sign ups, targeted promotions, and timeshare banking. We’re also booking 2 rooms or suites everywhere we go so the points start to add up and is why I started
Here’s a pic of my mom and dad enjoying British Airways First Class on our trip to Africa in 2015. It only gets better from here, mom 😉
Needless to say…I’m very excited to celebrate my mom’s birthday
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account openingÂ
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travelâ„
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travelâ„
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:Â
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.Â
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is great starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex®  and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travelâ„ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.Â
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