Welcome Back!

Happy New Year 😊 

I just got back from my last trip of 2024, and it was a good one! I did actually get sick on the trip which is of course not ideal, but it is what it is 🤷

The trip to Spain (Madrid + Avila + El Escorial) was amazing, and please do take a look at my pictures - Pictures of the hotel, the business class flight, as well as everything else is in there! I didn’t take too many, but some great foods, sights, and more during my time. And holiday lights 🎄

Plenty of more traveling to do in 2025, and I’m as always happy that points and miles make that easier, and I hope to help you all through that too!

In today’s edition:

• 🇪🇸 Spain on Points 🇪🇸 

• 🏦 Transfer Bonuses ✈️

• ✈️ 25% Off to Europe, January Edition 📆

• 📰 Other Stories & Deals 💰️

• 💳️ Best Card Signup Bonuses 💳️ 

🇪🇸 Spain on Points 🇪🇸 

Spain was great, and booking the trip via points made it so much better! I thought I’d take this chance to show you all how I booked the trip, to maybe give some inspiration if anyone wants to go to Spain on points in the future ✈️ 

My flights were booked through Iberia, which uses Avios as their mileage currency. Avios are also used by British Airways, Aer Lingus, Finnair and Qatar, for reference, and so having Avios with one of these airlines means you basically can use them through any of those airlines. All the bank points (Chase, Amex, Citi, Cap1, Wells Fargo, Bilt) transfer to Avios-using airlines, so there are many ways to earn Avios!

I flew in Iberia economy from New York to Madrid for 17k points plus around $80 in taxes and fees - considering this is around Christmas time, I’d say that’s not bad. Throughout the year though, there are definitely better and cheaper ways to get to Europe!

The sweetener of the trip is that I returned in Iberia Business Class from Madrid to New York for 34k points plus around $150 in taxes and fees! Yes, 34k points! Some airlines charge that much for economy alone from the US to Europe, so being able to fly in transatlantic business for 34k points is an incredible deal, which is why I’m sharing 💸

Do note that these rates (17k in economy, 34k in business) are available depending on whether the date of the flight is considered “peak” or “off-peak” on Iberia’s award calendar. Peak prices are higher of course, but it just so happens that Iberia’s award calendar has Christmas Day as well as New Year’s Eve as off-peak travel dates. Nice way to use some less points to travel during the holiday season 🎄

As for hotels, I used some free night certificates and other travel credits to book the following properties:

• Hyatt Regency Hesperia Madrid: Used a Hyatt free night certificate earned through the Hyatt Credit Card

• Hotel Indigo Madrid Princesa: Used an IHG free night certificate earned through the IHG Credit Card

• Exe Reina Isabel: Used the $50 hotel credit given via the Chase Sapphire Preferred

So yeah, when points and credit card benefits cover the trip, it really is just amazing! Still spent quite a bit on food, of course 🍽️ 

Hope this helps! Do visit Madrid if you get the chance by the way, it is lovely ❤️

🏦➡️✈️ Transfer Bonuses

¹ This bonus is stackable with a separate 10% bonus for holders of the Aeroplan® Credit Card, for a total of 30%!

✈️ 25% Off to Europe, January Edition 📆

Its a new year, but its also a new month, meaning that Flying Blue’s monthly Promo Rewards are back!

As usual, on the first of the month, Flying Blue (mileage program of Air France and KLM) releases Flying Blue Promo Rewards, which are monthly promotions where routes between Europe and select destinations globally are offered for 25% off the original mileage price. Every month!

For this month, the US cities selected for this discount are Phoenix, Miami, Atlanta, New York and Chicago. You’ll notice that the New York and Chicago discounts are in Premium Economy ✈️ 

Without these promo rewards, economy flights from North America to Europe start at 20k miles each way + taxes & fees. With the 25% off from these deals, that now goes down to 15k miles each way (same taxes & fees). I’ve used these deals to travel to Europe and back before too!

Remember, just because these deals come from Air France and KLM does not mean you have to go to France or the Netherlands! Their intra-European network is far and wide, and as long as your origin or destination is a city selected for this month’s discounts, you’ll get 25% off, no matter the European airport involved.

This time around, there are some routes on sale in business too, like Europe to Mumbai and Europe to Madagascar! 🌍️

On top of this deal already, there is also a 20% transfer bonus to Flying Blue from Chase. So a flight costing 15k miles with this deal would cost just 13k Chase points while the transfer bonus is live! Being able to stack two deals in one (double-dip, as it were) is always great!

So yes, you can get to Spain for 17k via Iberia (or 34k in business), and you can get to Europe for 15k with these deals via Flying Blue. Lots of ways to get yourself to Europe! 🧳 

📰 Other Stories & Deals 💰️

• 🇬🇧 British Airways kinda destroyed how you earn status in their program - don’t worry, the reward chart was not changed!

• 🏨 If you have Bilt Status, take advantage of the status match to Accor!

• 🍁 Aeroplan limited their Pay Yourself Back program to 200k points per year…

• 📄 Tax season is coming up, but do remember that you can pay taxes with a credit card to earn points! For some with higher tax bills, this can be a chance to hit some signup bonuses easily!

💳️ Best Card Signup Bonuses 💳️ 

Again, the usual solid cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred^®/Reserve^®

• Chase Freedom Unlimited^®/Flex^®

• Amex Gold & Plat

• Capital One Venture X

• Citi Strata Preferred^℠

Do search for public links for the above cards to compare signup bonuses to make sure you get the highest one (incognito mode, Resy, etc.).

For cards with elevated signup bonuses (targeted bonuses are not included), I’ve got:

📤️ Spread the Word! 📤️

Thank you so much for subscribing! This newsletter is committed to providing you all with helpful info and tips to maximize your points and rewards, at no direct cost to you! (appreciate you using any of my referral links, though!)

If you do find this newsletter informative, helpful, or entertaining, I’d greatly appreciate you spreading the word about it! If not, please do give me feedback on how I can improve your Sense per Point experience.

Also, if my newsletter helps you to book travel using points, let me know! It’ll make me so happy 😄 

Hope that all makes sense! That’s all for this week’s edition of Sense per Point.

Wishing everyone a wonderful rest of your day and week 😊 

- Sean Kim

PS: If you want to make sure Sense per Point doesn’t get caught in your spam, you can move this email to your primary inbox, or Reply “Hello!” directly to this email by clicking the link and hitting send 📩