Trips I Plan to Take in 2022
One of my goals for 2022 is to be more organized and intentional with my credit cards and points. This will look like:
Maximizing the value of all my cards, and canceling or downgrading the cards that no longer provide value.
Planning my travel as far ahead of time as possible, and only signing up for new cards that are working towards a specific goal.
To accomplish this, I am starting to plan out how to take advantage of my card benefits now. I’ll be checking this post regularly to make sure I’m still on track with my plans. I hope this post encourages you to take a look at your card benefits and points programs to figure out how to best use them in 2022!
Travel Plans
Here are the travel plans that I am currently expecting for the year. Of course, everything can change with a newborn joining the family during a pandemic, but I am going to plan on these for now and make changes later as needed. Some of these trips are more set in stone because they are planned around an event (like a couple friend’s weddings) while others will depend on how we are feeling later in the year.
Scotland for just me to attend a friend’s wedding
Ottawa for my husband and I to attend a friend’s wedding
Cancun for me + 8 family members
Midwest US trip for me, my husband, and my son to visit family
Northern California trip to visit friends and for my husband to ski
Some close to home road trips spread out throughout the year
Credit Card Benefits
I have so many credit cards that have benefits that need to be used within a specific timeframe. Here’s a look at the cards that I have and the associated benefits that need to be used this year:
$200 Credit on Vacation Rentals to use by November: I may use this on my trip to Edinburgh to book an Airbnb for me and some friends. If we end up booking a hotel instead, I’ll have to look into some alternatives for this one.
$300 Credit in Capital One Travel Portal to use by November: I might use this to book flights for our Ottawa trip. The option to use a cash equivalent would be nice considering we won’t be able to make a decision about how long we might be gone until closer to the travel date.
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card
$300 Marriott statement credit - I have $65 left of this credit to use by September: I’m not sure how I will use this yet, glad I have some time to figure it out.
American Express Platinum Card (we have two of these in our household)
2 $200 credits on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection to be booked by the end of 2022: There are two The Hotel Collection properties in Ottawa that I might be able to use one of these credits at - Fairmont Château Laurier and Andaz Ottawa ByWard Market. In order to get The Hotel Collection benefits I will need to book two nights, which will probably mean some cash or points out of pocket after the $200 credit applies. For the second credit, I might use it for another staycation like I did this year, perhaps at The Ritz Carlton Tysons Corner or Park Hyatt Washington. It also might be helpful for a stop on a road trip somewhere like Hotel Ivy or Chicago Athletic Association.
2 $200 Airline Fee Credits to use by the end of the year: I typically use these for baggage fees or seat upgrades. Last year I did not take full advantage of these credits, so I plan to do much better this year!
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card
$250 Hilton Resort Credit to use by May: Honestly I am not sure that I’ll be able to take advantage of this one given that my son will be born next month and I’m not sure when we will be ready to travel with him. If we do, we will go somewhere close, like the Hilton Ocean City Oceanfront Suites or the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
$250 Hilton Resort Credit to use between May 2022 and May 2023: While not super exciting, the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Lancaster is nearby and could be convenient on a road trip. I could also see us stopping by the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center at some point.
$250 Airline Incidental Fee Credit by the end of 2022: As mentioned above, I will probably use these for baggage fees or seat upgrades.
American Express Delta Platinum Business
Free domestic economy companion certificate to use by January 2023: I don’t have a clear plan for this one yet.
Chase Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Priority Card (we have two of these in our household)
2 $75 Southwest annual travel credits - one to use by December 2022 and one to use by January 2023: I will combine this with a travel credit that I have to use by October for a domestic trip, likely to see family or friends domestically.
Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature
$121 companion pass to use by July: This is another one that’s going to be hard to use. It will be most helpful for a trip to the west coast, but I doubt that trip will fit into our plans before July.
$300 Annual Travel Credit to use between March 2022 and March 2023: This one I can usually get without trying. If I have any travel expenses to pay for in cash, I will put it on this card to maximize the benefit.
Hotel Loyalty Benefits
I have free night awards at hotels that come from either credit card sign up bonuses and annual rewards or from reaching a certain number of stays last year.
Hyatt
Three Category 1 - 4 free nights to use by May, November, and December: We were planning to use the first one at the Hotel Revival Baltimore last weekend, but canceled due to Omicron. There are a few local category 1 - 4 properties that we might book at to use that first one since we don’t plan to travel before May. A few properties I’m considering for the others: Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay and Andaz Ottawa.
Three club access awards to use by February 2023: Since I have Globalist status, these are not really useful to me and I’m not sure I’ll be able to use them.
IHG
Two free nights (up to 40,000 points) that need to be used by the end of 2022 This can be hard to plan for because rooms are constantly fluctuating in their points cost, but some ideas I have are: Even Hotel Pittsburgh and Holiday Inn Express & Suites Mebane.
Hilton
One free night to use by the end of 2022: The Hilton nights are a lot more flexible than the other hotel programs because they can be used at any Hilton hotel, as long as there are standard rooms available. Last year I used this one at the Embassy Suites Rockford when visiting family, and I’d definitely go back if we are able to visit family again this year. If not, I might use this one for a staycation at the Conrad DC, or the Hampton Inn & Suites Tahoe-Truckee for a ski vacation.
Marriott
Free Night (up to 35,000 points) to use by November: I am going to need an airport hotel when I visit Edinburgh, so it looks like the Moxy Edinburgh Airport might be a good option here.
Free night (up to 85,000 points) to use by October: We could use this for a quick one night trip to the St. Regis New York, W New York Union Square, or New York Edition. We could also do something more local, like a night at the St. Regis DC.
Points
Credit Card Points
American Express Membership Rewards: 271,574 - I am considering using about half of these points to cover flights for our trip to Mexico. I will probably save the rest for 2023 travel - I’d love to be able to use them to go on an international trip to Europe or Asia!
Chase Ultimate Rewards: 32,447 - I recently cashed out many of my Ultimate Rewards using the Pay Yourself Back feature, which was helpful to have cash on hand but I do slightly regret. I plan on holding on to the rest to transfer to Hyatt this year, mostly for a stay at the Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen resort.
Capital One Rewards Miles: 18,546 - This will soon be a balance closer to 120,000. I plan to save these to cover travel expenses that need to be booked with cash. Although that’s not the highest value way to use these points, it will offset any purchases that we need to make in cash this year.
Airline Points
Alaska: 98,047 - I may use some of these for a trip to the west coast, but I will probably save most of them for a future international trip.
Delta: 11,867 - This isn’t many points, I’ll likely need to add to the pot if I want to use them. If so, I can transfer points over from American Express Membership Rewards to top up my balance.
United: 59,989 - I may use these to help with our trip to Mexico.
Southwest: 25,964 - Again, this isn’t a lot of points, so I don’t have a defined plan for them. If I decide to use them and want to top up the balance, I can transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards (if I have any left after my planned Hyatt redemptions this year).
Hotel Points
Hyatt: 33,831 - I plan on saving all of these for our trip to the Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen resort.
Hilton: 60,626 - I will probably use these to supplement my free weekend night. One night at the Hampton Inn & Suites Tahoe-Truckee in December costs 55,000 points so I could use these plus my free night to get two nights there.
Marriott: 190,473 - To totally splurge, I could book two nights at the Ritz Carlton Lake Tahoe. More likely, I’ll use these at a property like the SpringHill Suites Truckee.
IHG: 89,436 - Last year, I stayed at the Kimpton Alton Hotel in San Francisco using IHG points. I could book 1 - 2 nights again there if I don’t have the Hyatt points to book the Hotel Kabuki.
2022 Trips Planned
Wow, that was a lot. With this many points, benefits, and certificates in different programs it requires quite a bit of planning to use them all. I will admit, in the last few years I have not fully used them all to my advantage because I didn’t keep great track of the moving parts. I intend to do much better in 2022 with this plan! To recap, here’s how I currently plan to get as much free travel as possible this year:
Scotland trip for 1 person
Flights: Already booked via United points.
Hotel: Free night at Moxy Edinburgh Airport + 2 nights at a local hotel not part of a major chain (I’ll look into seeing if I can use my Capital One travel portal credit for this one, otherwise I have a hotels.com gift card that I can use). I’ll also bring my Marriott card to pay for any incidentals at the hotel and use the rest of my annual credit.
Ottawa trip for 2 people
Flights: I could transfer American Express Membership Rewards or Capital One Rewards Miles to Air Canada to book flights through them, or I may use the Capital One $300 travel credit by booking through their portal.
Hotel: We will probably use a couple Hyatt free nights to book the Andaz Ottawa or use the $200 Amex The Hotel Collection credit to book Fairmont Château Laurier or Andaz Ottawa ByWard Market plus get some additional benefits.
Cancun trip for 9 people
Flights: I am considering using a mix of United, Delta, and Air Canada points, as well as using cash to cover part of this.
Hotel: We plan to stay at the Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen. We will use all of our existing Hyatt and Ultimate Rewards points for this, as well as sign up for another Chase Ink Business Unlimited card to get the bonus. I also just applied for the Bilt card to earn points on rent, which can be transferred to Hyatt. We will probably also use cash to cover a portion of the rooms as well.
Midwest trip for 3 people
Flights: It’s likely that we would drive for this trip, but if we fly, we have a Southwest travel credit that we need to use, along with those $75 travel credits from the Southwest Priority cards.
Hotel: This trip would probably include mostly staying with family and less hotel stays, but I did identify a few good options for free night certificates and credit card benefits at: Embassy Suites Rockford, Even Hotel Pittsburgh, Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center, Hotel Ivy or Chicago Athletic Association.
Car Rental: We typically book with National Car Rental using our Emerald status provided by the Amex Platinum card. We don’t currently have any free nights available, but we could potentially book through the Capital One travel portal to utilize the $300 credit.
Weekend Trips for 2 or 3 people
Flights aren’t needed here!
The Ritz Carlton Tysons Corner or Park Hyatt Washington to use the Amex FHR credit
Hilton Ocean City Oceanfront Suites, Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront, or DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Lancaster to use the Hilton resort credit
Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay to use one or two of our Hyatt free nights
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Mebane on a trip to see family and use an IHG free night or two
Conrad DC to use the Hilton free weekend night
Potentially a local Airbnb stay to use our Capital One vacation rental credit
Northern California trip for 3 people
Flights: This would be a good use of the Alaska Airlines or Delta companion certificate.
Hotel: This trip is very tentative, so I’m not sure exactly where we would try to go if we made it work. A few ideas:
San Francisco - Kimpton Alton Hotel or Hotel Kabuki
Lake Tahoe - Hampton Inn & Suites Tahoe-Truckee, Ritz Carlton Lake Tahoe, or SpringHill Suites Truckee
Car Rental: Similar to above, we’d probably book through National and just try to get the lowest cash price. We could put the purchase on the Capital One Venture X to wipe out the purchase with points, but will likely put it on our Amex Platinum Card to take advantage of the car rental insurance we get there.
Tools I Used to Make this List
As you can see, keeping track of my points and credit card rewards is no easy feat. While some people prefer to use their own spreadsheets, here are the apps that I use to keep myself on track:
Travel Freely - You can manually input your credit cards into the Travel Freely app. The app will remind you each year when you have an annual fee coming up and when you’re ready to apply for your next card. Its CardGenie feature also suggests cards that you might want to sign up for next.
Awardwallet - You can link your award programs to this app and it will keep track of your balances in each program. This helps you keep track of everything in one place. One downside - some airlines have blocked the app from accessing their sites, so the process of tracking points from those airlines is a little bit more involved. For first time users, here is a free upgrade code: free-pawfnl
Asana - This isn’t a travel specific app, but it’s where I keep track of all my to-dos including reminders to use free nights, certificates, etc.
While this is looking to be a relatively light travel year for my family, I’m excited about the trips I have planned and the ones that might get planned! Based on this review, it looks like I’ll be able to cover around 80% of our travel with points and card benefits rather than paying cash. That feels pretty good to me! Maybe I’ll get to 100% in 2023?
Have you planned your 2022 travel yet? Make sure not to wait until the last minute so you can maximize your benefits and rewards!
