Travel Plans 2019
Going into 2019, I wasn’t sure that I would have any exciting travel plans. Reed and I are saving to build a house and do not have a whole lot extra to spend on traveling this year. We’ve been looking into ways we can travel with reward points.
This got us searching using the Kayak Explore tool to see where we could fly to for a reasonable price. You can check out our post about using the Kayak Explore tool here. We found round trip flights to Amsterdam with British Airways for $400. So this April we are headed to Amsterdam!!
We were drawn to the Amsterdam flights not only for the ticket price but also because the travel time was reasonable with only one short layover in Heathrow. I’m excited because this will be my first flight with British Airways! We were able to book the flights with Chase points, so we got flights to Europe for free! I am working on a new post explaining how to book flights with Chase points.
To book our hotel, we used IHG points to book a stay at the Kimpton De Witt Amsterdam. This hotel is located right next to the central train station, making it easy for us to tour the city and visit neighboring towns. Hopefully, there will be a place to get a stroopwafel nearby!
We also couldn’t resist the chance to fly to one other country while we’re in Europe. It was hard to choose, but there was one place in Italy that we didn’t get the chance to visit that Reed and I have often talked about. We’ve decided to fit in a short trip to the Amalfi Coast! We booked flights to Naples and a hotel in Salerno with our additional Chase points.
The total duration of our trip is 9 days. This is much shorter than our first trip to Europe, but it’s still plenty of time to get see some new places. By booking all of our flights and hotels with points, we will be able to travel for free. We also plan to use our Capital One points to reimburse expenses like food and museum tickets, so we can save up for the remainder of the year.
And we all know how travel insurance can be very handy when you least expect it. If you are not sure if you need it or you are interested in comparing some of the providers – check out this guide.
Other trips this year will include weekend trips into the Rocky Mountains for skiing, hiking, and hopefully some hot springs. I’m looking forward to exploring some new destinations and bringing you some new and informative posts in the coming months!
