How we went to Portugal and Spain on points and miles
Points and miles have allowed us the opportunity to travel significantly more while spending less thanks to our redemptions. Last year, we identified Portugal and Spain as our destination for our last international trip of the year. We targeted the week before and week of Thanksgiving to take advantage of some days off work without having to use all of our PTO. Thanks to travel hacking, we ended up saving over $11,000 when we went to Portugal and Spain on points and miles.
Here’s how.
Getting there – Chicago to Lisbon
With Lisbon identified as our first destination, we looked at airlines that flew direct from Chicago to Lisbon. We ended up booking through United on TAP (Transportes Aéreos Portugueses) – a Star Alliance member. The seats we booked were $700 each, saving $1,400 for the two of us.
Stay in Lisbon
We spent three nights in Lisbon. We used points to cover one night and paid for the other two on P2’s Marriott Bonvoy Boundless at the Lisbon Marriott. The one night we paid with points saved us $266.
Why didn’t we use points to cover all three nights? I have a favorable corporate discount where we decided we’d rather earn points on the stay than burn them.
The hotel was not the most centrally-located to the main attractions in Lisbon, but it was within walking distance to buses and trains, which we used the majority of the time we were in Lisbon. When we didn’t train or bus, we called Ubers, which are fairly inexpensive in Lisbon.
Thanks to our status, breakfast was included in our stay. This saved us money as we weren’t eating out every morning. We also were granted access to the M Club as well, which had drinks and snacks throughout the day.
Onto Barcelona
After Lisbon, we flew to Barcelona. Our flight was on TAP again and cost less than $100 a person. Given this low cost, we paid on my Chase Sapphire Preferred card and earned 2x on travel. We stayed another three nights in Barcelona, this time at the Four Points by Sheraton Barcelona Diagonal. Thanks to my corporate rate, this stay was only around 100 euros, so we paid with P2’s Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card and earned more Bonvoy points for future travel.
This hotel was in a great location, surrounded by public transit that could get us anywhere we wanted to go. Like at the Lisbon Marriott, breakfast was also included in our stay, saving us money on eating out.
And finally, Madrid
Our last stop on the Iberia Peninsula was Madrid. We took the train from Barcelona to Madrid, which was very easy to navigate and fairly inexpensive. Since this was our last stay abroad of the year, we decided to splurge and use points to book at the JW Marriott Madrid. For the nights we were there, which was a Wednesday to a Saturday, the cost was just over $600 a night. The hotel opened last year, and we were able to book our nights for just 40,000 points a night before the hotel opened. Now, nights at the JW Marriott Madrid can go for double the points we used or more.
This hotel was in a great location overlooking the Plaza de Canalejas. It was walking distance to everything we wanted to visit in Madrid and was very close to some prominent sites.
As Titanium members with Marriott, we got free breakfast here as well. Both P2 and I agree this was the best hotel breakfast we’ve ever had. We sometimes still talk about it. Every morning, we got made to order omelettes. They had a pastry spread, fresh fruit, oatmeal, jamon iberico, and more. The restaurant staff was friendly and responsive and noted our drink orders each successive day we returned.
Considering the savings on the hotel room, prime location, great breakfast, and exceptional service, the points we used was worth well over the $1,803.87 we would have had to pay to stay here.
Heading home – Madrid to Chicago
To return from our trip, we ended up booking seats on Iberia. Iberia is part of the One World airline alliance with airlines like American Airlines and British Airlines. We transferred Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Iberia to cover this flight.
The seats we selected were Premium Economy. These seats were wider with more legroom than typical economy. They are in a slightly more private section and receive more attention from the flight crew. After spending nine nights in hotels and one night on a plane getting to Lisbon, these expansive seats were a nice way to wrap up our trip.
Of course, these benefits don’t come without a higher price tag. If we had paid for these seats instead of coming home from Spain on miles, the cost per seat would have been $4,052.00. If you’re doing the math, that’s $8,104.00 for the two of us.
Summary
In all, going to Portugal and Spain on points and miles saved us $11,573.87. While we did still pay for some hotel nights, points and miles made this trip accessible. We were able to spend our travel budget on experiences rather than limiting ourselves because we had spent so much on the flights and hotels.
At the time, that was our highest monetary redemption trip thanks to travel hacking. We’ve since passed that with a trip in 2024 – more on that later.
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