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Through a series of testimonials from our readers, Milesopedia presents what you can achieve with credit cards and loyalty programs.
Here’s Marie-Josée and her family’s trip to Japan, South Korea and Thailand, and the savings she’s made with her reward points.
I’m 43 and I’ve been reading Milesopedia for about a year.
I love all kinds of travel! Every year, I stay in an all-inclusive and take at least two other trips (e.g. roadtrip to Iceland, ski trip in Western Canada, backpacking trip to Asia, semi-organized trip to New York).
However, I take far fewer luxury trips, as I prefer to do more.
Our big trip to Asia will be a family affair with my partner and my 16-year-old son. In autumn 2023, we’ll be away for a total of 10 weeks, visiting Japan, South Korea and Thailand.
Here is our planned itinerary:
To put together this itinerary and to guide me through my accumulation of points, I used Milesopedia’s mentoring service.
Most of my strategy with points was aimed at saving on transportation. All flights were paid for with points from 4 different loyalty programs (Aeroplan, CIBC Aventura, HSBC Rewards and Scene+).
I booked 8 different flights for 3 people. The following table summarizes my reservations:
All in all,
helped me save $9,455 on transportation for my family trip to Asia.
Accommodation, meals and activities will be paid for in cash.
For this project, I was the only one to sign up for credit cards. My partner doesn’t have the same discipline as me… but he’s trying his best!
With our credit cards, we have several additional travel benefits such as:
We can check baggage free of charge with Air Canada thanks to our TDMD AeroplanMD Visa Infinite* Card. However, as we have chosen to travel with carry-on only, we won’t be using this option.
In addition, we are entitled to a 25% discount on meals purchased on board and free access to the new Wi-Fi service.
My biggest piece of advice is planning.
I pay all my expenses with my credit cards and always pay the full balance each month. I plan signing up for new cards according to my actual future expenses.
To maximize point accumulation, I always buy gift cards at the grocery store with my American Express CobaltMD Card for stores such as Amazon, SAQ, Decathlon, SAIL, Canadian Tire, etc.
I always try to pay with the most cost-effective credit card for the type of expense I’m making. I choose the credit card with the best accumulation rate for an expense category like restaurants and groceries.
To save more on my plane tickets, I shop more than a year in advance so that I know the market prices and when to buy. Even once my accommodations and car rentals are booked, I keep an eye on the prices and don’t hesitate to cancel and book again if the new price is lower.
Finally, my last piece of advice is to travel light, even if you’re going to an all-inclusive resort!
All in all, my savings for my trip to Japan, South Korea and Thailand for 3 people came to $9,455. In order to reach the amount of spending required to unlock the welcome bonuses, I estimate that I have put nearly $31,500 on my credit cards. The points accumulation phase lasted around 2 years. With all my efforts, I got a 30% return on my expenses!
To save so much money, the key is to diversify the type of reward points. It would have been more difficult to accumulate points and book our 8 flights in the same loyalty program. In total, I used 5 different programs:
I have an array of cards in my wallet for the many benefits they bring me… but if I had to keep just one, it would be the American Express Cobalt® Card.
Read on for more testimonials from members of the Milesopedia community:
Do you have a testimonial to share? Please fill in this form and send it to info@milesopedia.com. If your testimonial is selected for publication, we’ll send you an Amazon gift card as a thank you.
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