I love two main annual fee cards regarding Hyatt stays on points: the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (or Chase Sapphire Reserve®) and The World of Hyatt Credit Card. I’ll go over this more below. Cards I hold for access and perks The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a $95 annual fee and allows me to […]

Free night certificates are part of a lucrative points and miles strategy.  When it comes to Hyatt, there are five ways to earn free night certificates. 1) Hold the Chase World of Hyatt personal card. Upon card renewal, you receive a free category 1-4 night every year. The annual fee is $95.   2) Spend $15,000 […]

Getting outside and enjoying America’s National Parks is one of the best ways to explore nature and connect with your family. In order to use points and miles, flexibility and variety are key when booking accommodations. Check out a few of my favorite options below. As well as a way to save on National Park […]

Each of these four brands comes with its own pros and cons when it comes to booking stays with points. So far, in my personal travel strategy, I primarily stay in Hyatt properties and fill in stays here and there with Hilton. This isn’t to say I’m opposed to Marriot or IHG, I just like […]

My first full-fledged points and miles trip was to Breckenridge, Colorado, and Moab, Utah. I used Chase Ultimate rewards earned from signing up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for my husband and myself. I referred my husband to earn an additional 15,000 points.  A few months before I started traveling with points and miles, […]

My mom and I just took my two kids to Santa Barbara. This is the second February we have taken this long weekend trip. February is the perfect time to escape the freezing Missouri temperatures to the mild 60 degrees and sunshine California offers.  Flights / Transportation: Roundtrip MCI to Santa Barbara using our Southwest […]

This Reader Redemption Story is from our friend and fellow teacher, Nicole. She and her husband visited Chicago during Christmastime to celebrate their wedding anniversary! I have always wanted to visit a big city during the holidays. This December, my wish came true when my husband and I traveled to Chicago to celebrate our 15th […]

For my husband’s 40th, we took a four-night trip to Napa, where he drank his first-ever glass of wine! We spent two days winery hopping and took a day trip to Lake Tahoe.  Flights / Transportation: Roundtrip MCI to Oakland using my husband’s Southwest Companion Pass and points. The cost for the 2 of us to […]

This past May, my family of four went to Hawaii with my mom and aunt. We used points and miles to pay for our hotels, rental cars, and flights. It was an epic outdoor adventure! Flights / Transportation: I booked a set of one-way flights for this trip. We flew KC to Maui, Maui to Kona, […]

This past December, my family traveled to NYC for four nights. From the nostalgic window decorations at Macy’s to the bustling Christmas Markets sprinkled around the city, the holiday season was truly alive!  Flights / Transportation: We flew roundtrip from Kansas City MCI to New York City—LaGuardia using our Southwest Companion Passes and points. The […]