A SUPER saver has revealed how she bagged honeymoon flights in business class worth $18,584 for just $173 – and you can do it too.
Travel writer Emily McNutt wanted to treat her new husband to airborne luxury after their wedding, and she found a way it would cost next to nothing.
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The secret lies in travel reward schemes, in which credit card companies offer thousands of air miles to new customers.
Many are transferable between airlines — so if you play your cards right, you can use them to go almost anywhere.
You don’t have to have flown with the airlines before, and if you clock up enough points, you only have to pay taxes and fees – a tiny fraction of the total fare.
Emily writes on CNN: “Here’s how we booked our $18,584 honeymoon flights for less than $175 — and how, with some effort, flexibility, and homework, you can do the same.”
In September, Emily is flying from New York to Singapore — currently the longest non-stop flight at 9,537 miles.
She said: “Since it’s’ our honeymoon, we decided to splurge on business class — especially considering it’s’ a nearly 19-hour journey.”
But business class tickets of up to $10,000 each are way over their budget.
On their travel date, Singapore Airlines was charging $6,516 per seat one way — which would be $13,032 for the pair.
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But using air miles, they paid just $5.60 each in taxes and fees — a fantastic total of just $11.20.
The business class seats each cost 99,000 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles.
And Emily explains it’s straightforward to get hold of them, as the airline partners with major United States credit card points schemes, including Chase, Capital One, and Citi.
She already had enough American Express points to cover the 198,000 air miles needed for her and her fiance.
So, all she had to do was transfer the points to KrisFlyer miles and then book her date.
If you don’t already have points, you can get loads by signing up for new cards.
Amex Platinum offers a welcome bonus of 100,000 points if you spend $6,000 in the first six months.
And you can get another 60,000 if you take out an Amex Gold Card and spend $4,000 in the first six months.
That’s almost enough for two business class flights to the other side of the world.
Easy returns
Emily is ending her honeymoon in Thailand, and this time she found a great deal with Etihad.
Two business class seats from Bangkok to New York, with a stop in Abu Dhabi, would typically cost $5,552 on their travel date.
But Etihad also accepts air miles for the trip, including those from partner airlines such as Air Canada.
Emily writes: “Just like Singapore KrisFlyer miles, it’s’ also incredibly easy to acquire Air Canada Aeroplan miles — even if you never step foot on an Air Canada plane.
“That’s because the Aeroplan program is a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, and Capital One miles.
“In other words, you can transfer points from any of those three programs to Aeroplan and redeem for flights with Air Canada — or any of its partners, such as Etihad or dozens of others.”
Until recently, Chase offered 80,000 points as a bonus for new Sapphire Preferred Card customers.
Emily used 170,000 Amex and Chase points to buy the two one-way tickets, leaving $162 to pay in taxes and fees.
She said: “Ultimately, using travel rewards helped my fiancé and me to afford supreme luxury in the sky on our honeymoon — something that would have otherwise been unachievable.
“By rethinking our credit card strategy and putting the right travel credit cards in our wallets, we were able to afford two magnificent flying experiences for just $173 out of pocket.
“So, now we can look at spending our honeymoon budget on terrific hotels and delicious food when we arrive — what could be better than that?”
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