Start With the Trip

You’ve picked a trip, you’ve seen what it costs in cash, and now you’re looking at a points balance that might be small, or even zero. It’s easy to think it takes a mountain of points before any of this can work.

You don’t need enough points to pay for everything. Look at the trip first, find the piece where points help you most, and let cash handle the rest.

That’s how the business class flight I mentioned in the first guide worked: points covered the flight, and cash covered the rest of the trip.

Most trips come down to three pieces: getting there, a place to stay, and everything else, like dinners out, a rental car and tickets to whatever you’re going for. Points usually go toward the first two, and some programs let you use them on other travel too.

• Getting there
• A place to stay
• Everything else

Who’s going changes things more than almost anything. One plane ticket and four plane tickets are very different trips, even to the same place.

Some pieces cost next to nothing. A family of four visiting grandparents might need four plane tickets and no hotel at all, because they’re staying in the guest room. A couple driving a few hours to a city for the weekend skips flying entirely, so the hotel is the trip.

Once you can see the pieces, you usually know where to look first.

Start by looking at the piece that would take the biggest bite out of your budget. Then check what that same piece costs in points. When you go matters as much as where, because cash prices for flights are usually higher around holidays and school breaks, and hotel prices can jump around big event weekends.

Points prices can climb at busy times too. Many airline programs price seats with points based on demand, and hotel programs can also change how many points a night costs. A big cash number doesn’t automatically make points the answer, so if you already have dates, look up what they cost in points now and then decide.

Take a college football weekend. Hotels near campus can cost a fortune in cash, while the drive there is mostly gas. If points work for those nights, the hotel is where they do the most good.

A short, cheap flight you’d happily pay for is the opposite, and probably not the smartest use of your points. Once you’ve seen both prices, put your points where they make the biggest difference and pay cash for the rest without feeling bad about it.

There’s no rule that says points have to cover your whole trip, or even the same kind of expense every time. These four splits work for a lot of real trips.

• Points for the flights, cash for the hotel.

  A honeymoon far from home, where two long flights would eat most of the budget.

• Points for the hotel, cash for the flights.

  A trip to a big city, where the flight is short but a room downtown can cost a lot.

• Points for two tickets, cash for everything else.

  Two of you flying somewhere with plenty of affordable places to stay.

• Points one way, cash the other.

  When the flight there costs a lot in cash and the flight home doesn't, or your points only stretch to one direction.

Any split that needs seats for more than one person depends on what’s open, which is worth knowing before you get attached to one plan.

The points price you see today isn’t locked in, and it can go up at any point, sometimes with no warning. Seats and rooms with points aren’t guaranteed either, so the flight or hotel night you want may not be available with points. Many airlines only offer some seats at a points price, so if you need several seats on the same flight, there may not be enough for everyone.

That’s why you want a Plan B before you fall for one exact flight.

What can usually bend: your dates, your airport, and which piece gets the points.

Say you and your partner can’t find two seats with points on the Friday you wanted, but Thursday has room, so moving one day saves the plan. If the date is fixed, like a friend’s wedding, try a nearby airport, or put the points on the hotel and cover the flights with cash.

Check the points price one more time right before you book, since it may have moved. The more you can bend, the more your points can do.

Here’s the easiest rule to remember: the less flexible your trip is, the earlier you should start looking.

A family with school age kids heading off for spring break is the classic case, since plenty of other families want that same week. A couple who can go anytime in the off season has a lot more room to wait.

Many airlines let you book flights with points close to a year ahead, and the exact window varies by airline. Hotels usually let you book with points well in advance too, and how far ahead varies by program. Popular dates can go fast, so looking early usually gives you more choice.

Late isn’t always hopeless, either. Seats with points sometimes open up closer to the travel date, but you can’t count on it.

If you don’t have the points yet, your trip date also tells you roughly how much time you have to build them up, at a pace that fits your life.

Grab a note on your phone, or the back of an envelope, and write down four things:

Not sure which costs more? Look up the cash prices for your rough dates on the airline and hotel websites. You’re not booking anything yet, just getting a feel for the numbers.

Those four lines are your starting point. Everything we do next builds from there.

Next up in this series, How Do You Earn Points? looks at how points add up from the spending you already do.