Travel Party of 5 | Points & Miles for Family Travel

We share a quick life update and explain why we are taking a four to six week break so we can reset and come back stronger. Then we dig into the latest Chase and Hyatt changes, run our midyear points and cash back totals, and share how we finally locked in business class seats for our upcoming London and Scotland trip.  • announcing a short podcast hiatus and the reasons behind it  • plans to set...

We just pulled off a travel move that still makes us laugh: a luxury stay at Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach that was booked on Hilton points, covered by stacked Hilton resort credits, and somehow ended with us up $38 thanks to a perfectly timed Amex offer. If you’ve ever wondered whether points and miles are actually worth the effort, we walk through the real math, the real cards, and the real chec...

Rakuten Referral Link: www.rakuten.com/r/RAYAPI6?eeid=28187 Chase Sapphire Reserve 150K REFERRAL LINK! Capital One Shopping Referral Link (turns out I do have one!!!!) We share the exact tools we use to plan trips faster, keep packing under control, and squeeze more value out of everyday spending. We also break down a 10x Chase Ultimate Rewards play using Paze, including where it works, how to sta...

We share how we’re reshaping our points and miles strategy after Hyatt devaluations, including new card moves and the reality of planning family travel when award space disappears. We also walk through our Italy and Switzerland pivot, plus a credit score rebound that lets us apply for new cards with confidence.  • choosing the Bilt Palladium for the signup bonus and transfer partners  • why we ski...

Istanbul Bosphorus Cruise Istanbul Full Day Guided Tour Reliable Travel (booked everything in Cappadocia for them) Balloon Turca (booked by/through Reliable Travel) Ariana Sustainable Luxury Lodge (an SLH property!) We trade our usual family travel format for a couple’s Turkey anniversary recap that is packed with points and miles tactics you can steal for your own peak season trips. Melissa walks...

Chase Sapphire Reserve 150K Offer!!! (thank you for using our link!) Marriott Homes & Villas Promotion - register and book by 5/14/26! Spirit Airlines disappears, Hyatt pricing shifts again, and we map out how we keep our family travel plans steady when loyalty programs and flight options change. We also share updates on three international trips and the exact points and miles moves we’re maki...

We break down a simple way to think about travel insurance so we stop guessing and start choosing coverage that matches the trip. We also share what happened on our Thailand trip and how our annual policy reimbursed a missing-bag wardrobe and an unexpected ER visit. • thinking in four layers: health insurance, credit card coverage, standalone policy, evacuation membership • deciding when travel in...

We share why points and miles meetups can unlock the next level of award travel learning when free online info stops being enough. Raya recaps her Phoenix Award Travel 201 meetup, the best nuggets she picked up from real conversations, and a few credit card strategy updates tied to American Airlines status goals.  • quick family update after Flu B runs through the house  • what the Award Travel 20...

Bangkok is our last stop in Thailand, and it turns into the most chaotic stretch of the whole trip. We break down how we booked a luxury Park Hyatt stay with points and Amex credits while juggling traffic, malls, heat, and two kids getting sick at the worst possible times. • flying Bangkok Airways and dealing with delays plus airport traffic • using the Bangkok taxi kiosk system and deciding when...

Ang Thong National Marine Park Boat Tour Koh Samui ends up as our favorite stop in Thailand thanks to an incredible Hyatt Regency stay booked on Hyatt points, a surprise suite upgrade, and family-friendly perks that actually make travel easier. We also share the stuff no one puts on the brochure, including a brutal sunburn mystery and what a 13-hour Ang Thong National Marine Park tour really feels...

Elephant Sanctuary - Half Day Program If you're interested in the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which is the card that gave us the Edit credits we reference in this episode, here is our referral link: Chase Sapphire Reserve!  As always, thank you for using our links! In this episode, we recap the start of our Thailand trip and the messy travel day that kicks it all off, from a forgotten CPAP to a c...

Combo 1: Capital One Venture ( or Venture X) + Capital One Savor cards Combo 2: Chase Sapphire Preferred (or Reserve) + Chase Freedom Flex cards Combo 3: Citi Strata Premier + Citi Double Cash cards Combo 4: Amex Gold + Amex Blue Cash Preferred cards (our Blue Cash Preferred link is not as high as the regular offer so just google for that one!) *Thank you for using our referral links so we can ear...

Show Notes Links: - Savewise: getsavewise.com (referral link!) - AwardTool: awardtool.com (referral link!) - Six Suitcase Travel Claude is claude.ai  In this episode I'm sharing 4 new things I've been using and really liking lately. SaveWise for portal and card offer stacking, a clean system for tracking credits, a pragmatic way to find rooms for five or more, and the award search method...

CARD REFERRAL LINKS!  The Hilton offers are all elevated until April 15, 2026. If you're seeing these links after that date, they should still work but will not be elevated offers.  Hilton Honors Amex (No Annual Fee!) - 70K Hilton points + FNC Hilton Surpass card (Amex) - 130K Hilton points + FNC Hilton Aspire Card - 175K Hilton points (no extra FNC but this card does come with one every year...

We pull back the curtain on the unseen work of family travel and share how we’re prepping for two weeks in Thailand with three kids, seven flights, and one last-minute work trip. Points, packing, meds, and mindset—all simplified into four clear buckets you can reuse. • why Thailand matters to us and how points make it possible • building one master spreadsheet for flights, hotels and transfers • m...

Travel with Kids Podcast rec! What happens when your kids fly business class before they can spell it? We tackle the uneasy question head-on: are we raising entitled travelers—or can points-powered perks actually teach humility, gratitude, and grit? Drawing from our own path—from rural road trips and solo backpacking to parenting three kids with a points strategy—we share the mindset shifts that t...

Our 2026 travel plan blends status goals, certificate plays, and a careful move toward cash back so we can travel better now and fund freedom later. Along the way we test gold reselling, protect 5/24, and hold out for premium flights that fit a family of five. • shifting from constant new cards to maximizing existing spend • step-by-step approach to buying and reselling gold with guardrails • Hilt...

We play a family travel Would You Rather built around real points-and-miles tradeoffs, from Hyatt love to premium economy sanity. Along the way we compare Chase, Amex, and Citi, weigh taxes and fees, and debate lounges, breakfast, and splitting flights with kids. • quick update on Bilt changes and current cards • luxury hotel without breakfast vs budget stay with big breakfast • free family trip i...

https://5calls.org/ https://www.standwithminnesota.com/ Chase Ink Premier Referral Link (Also 100K Ink Preferred!!!) Never used Rakuten? Join now and earn $50 cash back! www.rakuten.com/r/RAYAPI6?eeid=28187  Free flights don’t feed your kids on vacation. That’s the real truth because even with points and miles, we still need to fund the real costs of travel - meals, trains, tips, tours, and all th...

Chase Sapphire Referral Link - Earn 125,000 points with Sapphire Reserve® or 75,000  bonus points with Sapphire Preferred®  Chase Ink/Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business Referral Link (if you've never had one!) - Earn 200,000 bonus points with the new Sapphire Reserve for Business credit card and access over $6,500 in value your first year . You can also earn bonuses with the Ink Business Pre...

InKind Referral link (Save $25 off your first bill!):  https://app.inkind.com/refer/RUL9NCCP Three spreadsheets I mentioned for tracking credits:  Thrifty Traveler Credit Tracker (you have to make a copy) Points Talk Squad Credit Tracker (you have to make a copy) I have combined the above two, in different tabs, on the same Google Sheet doc.  Frequent Miler Tracker (not using this one) In this epi...

We revisit a year of family travel to rank the hotels, flights, and upgrades that delivered real value, and we tell two travel stories that never made it to air: a runaway carry-on on an escalator and a seatmate who ate our snacks. We also reassess elite status and share where we’ll spend points next year. • best hotels across Barcelona, Cabo, Lake Tahoe, Cologne • worst stay experience at Thompso...

Thanks for finding our podcast! We are a family of 5 who does most of our travel using credit card points and miles and we share how we leverage credit card offers to earn a ton of points/miles so we can afford travel as a larger family. Follow us on Instagram @TravelPartyof5 In this episode we travel from Strasbourg France to Cologne Germany for more Christmas Markets!  • setting souvenir budgets...

Strasbourg AirBnB (not sponsored, paid with our own money!) Magical Christmas Markets of Europe (please note: we are not affiliated with this group in any way, and potentially it is run by a travel agency? Either way, lots of good info in there!) Thanks for finding our podcast! We are a family of 5 who does most of our travel using credit card points and miles and we share how we leverage credit c...