Rome had been on our family travel list for years and felt completely out of reach financially and logistically. Let’s be real… teacher salaries don’t equal jet-setting lifestyles.
The history. The food. The feeling of walking through a city where ancient ruins sit right next to busy cafés and tiny gelato shops.
But like most families, the price of getting four people to Europe can make it feel like a “someday” trip.
Flights alone can easily cost $1,000–$1,500 per person, and once you add hotels and transportation, the cost climbs quickly.
Instead of paying cash, we used points and miles to cover the biggest expenses — flights and positioning flights — which made the trip dramatically more affordable for our family of four.
In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly how we booked our Rome trip using points, including:
- The flights we booked
- How we positioned to Europe
- The points we used
- Where we stayed
- The logistics that made the trip smoother
If you’ve ever wondered how families actually take trips like this using points and miles, this is the exact process we followed.
Our Rome Trip Points Breakdown
Flights to Europe: ~120,000 American Airline miles + about $25 in taxes for four people
Positioning flight: 17,741 points + $22 total for four people on Southwest
Rome accommodations: Airbnb in Campo de’ Fiori area (Camp de Flora), which was the perfect location.
Using points for the flights removed the largest cost of the trip, which made the rest of the planning much easier.
Step 1: Positioning Flights to Save Points
One of the easiest ways to save a huge number of points on international flights is to position to a major gateway city first.
Instead of trying to book a flight from Kansas City to Rome — which often requires more miles and has fewer award seats — we flew to New York first.
We booked: Kansas City → New York using Southwest points and our Companion Pass.
This positioning flight cost 17,741 points and $22 total for our family of four.
Positioning flights are one of the most powerful tools when booking flights with points because major gateway cities have far more international award availability.
Step 2: Booking Our Flights to Rome With Miles
From New York, we booked our long-haul flight:
JFK → Rome (FCO) using airline miles.
For our family of four, the total cost was approximately 120,000 miles + about $25 in taxes.
For transatlantic flights, this is an incredible redemption compared to paying cash.
Even better, because of airline status, we were upgraded to extra legroom economy seats, which made the overnight flight a little bit more comfortable.
Flights are almost always the most expensive part of a Europe trip, so using points here makes the biggest financial difference.
Step 3: Planning the Rest of Our Europe Trip
Rome was the beginning of our larger Europe itinerary.
After Rome we continued our trip by train through Europe, which is one of the easiest and most scenic ways to travel between countries.
Our route looked like this:
Rome → Venice
Venice → Switzerland
Switzerland → Paris
Traveling this way allowed us to experience multiple destinations without needing additional flights.
Europe’s train system is incredibly efficient and makes multi-country trips much easier than many people expect.
Where We Stayed in Rome
Instead of using hotel points in Rome, we chose to stay in an Airbnb.
For families, Rome can be tricky with hotel points because many hotels only allow two or three people per room. That would have required us to book two separate rooms, doubling the number of points needed for the stay.
Instead, we stayed in an Airbnb near Campo de’ Fiori (Camp de Flora), which turned out to be an incredible location.
The apartment allowed our family to stay together comfortably and gave us more space than a typical hotel room.
The location was also perfect. Campo de’ Fiori is extremely walkable and centrally located, making it easy to reach many of Rome’s most famous sites on foot.
From our apartment, we were able to walk to:
The Pantheon
Piazza Navona
The Trevi Fountain
The Roman Forum
Many restaurants and gelato shops were tucked away and less touristy.
For families, this type of location can make Rome much easier to explore because you’re not constantly relying on transportation.
The Logistics That Made Rome Easier With Kids
Rome is an incredible city, but it can also feel overwhelming if you arrive without a plan.
The crowds are large. Lines can be extremely long. And many of the most famous sites require reservations.
Before we left for Italy, we spent time deciding what was worth booking in advance and what we could explore more casually once we arrived.
Planning those details ahead of time made a huge difference in how relaxed the trip felt once we were there.
What We Pre-Booked in Rome (And Why It Helped)
Rome is one of those cities where a little planning makes the experience dramatically better.
Instead of spending hours waiting in ticket lines or trying to find last-minute reservations, we pre-booked several key experiences before leaving for Italy.
This allowed us to walk right into some of the most famous sites in the world without the stress of figuring it out on the spot.
I share exactly what we reserved — and why — in a separate post here:
What We Pre-Booked in Rome (And Why I’d Do It Again)
In that guide, I break down:
- The attractions that are worth reserving early
- Experiences that were surprisingly memorable for our kids
- The reservations that saved us hours of waiting in line
If you’re planning a Rome trip, I highly recommend reading that post alongside this one so you can plan both the points strategy and the daily logistics.
How Many Points Does It Take to Fly to Rome?
One of the most common questions I get is: How many points do you actually need to fly to Europe?
The answer depends on the airline program you use and where you’re flying from, but for most economy flights to Rome you can expect:
25,000–35,000 points each way per person when booking a good award deal
50,000–70,000 points round-trip per person
For our family of four, we used about 120,000 airline miles total for the transatlantic portion of our trip, plus a small amount in taxes.
Compared to paying cash — which can easily cost $4,000–$6,000 for a family of four — this is where points create massive value.
A few things can dramatically improve your chances of finding these prices:
Being flexible with departure airports
Searching multiple airline programs
Booking flights when award seats are released
Using tools that help locate award availability
The Best Airline Programs for Flights to Rome
Rome is served by many international airlines, which means there are several airline loyalty programs that can work well for booking award flights.
Some of the most useful programs for finding flights to Rome include airline programs that allow you to book partner flights across multiple global airline alliances.
Many beginners assume they have to book directly through the airline they plan to fly.
But one of the most powerful points strategies is learning how to book the same flight using partner airline miles, which can sometimes cost far fewer points.
This is where tools like Google Flights, FlightConnections, and Seats.aero can be incredibly helpful when searching for award availability.
Tools I Use to Find Flights on Points
When I’m planning a trip like this, I almost always start with three tools.
Google Flights
This helps me see which airlines fly between cities and what typical cash prices look like.
FlightConnections
This tool shows airline routes and hubs so I can figure out which airports might offer the best award availability.
Seats.aero
This is one of my favorite tools for quickly finding flights that can be booked with points.
Instead of manually searching airline websites one by one, Seats.aero allows you to see where award seats are available across multiple airline programs.
If you’re booking a big trip or trying to find multiple seats for a family, this tool can save hours of searching.
Final Thoughts
Without points and miles, a trip like this might have stayed on our “someday” list.
Instead, we were able to take our family to one of the most historic cities in the world while keeping the trip financially manageable.
Using points didn’t just reduce the cost — it made the trip possible in the first place.
And once you understand how positioning flights, airline miles, and hotel points work together, planning a trip like this becomes much easier than most people expect.
If you want help figuring out which points strategy might work best for your own travel goals, start with my Beginner’s Guide to Points and Miles, where I walk through the exact steps I use to plan trips like this.
