Reasons to Use Points and Miles for Holiday Travel

Holidays can be an excellent opportunity to travel, especially if your kids are in school or you have limited vacation time at work. They often represent your best chance to gather with extended family. The downside? Prices tend to surge around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and long weekends like Labor Day.

At TPG, we frequently emphasize the importance of flexibility in your travel plans, which can lead to better deals. However, there are times when holidays are the only viable travel options. Fortunately, points and miles can help you sidestep skyrocketing costs on holiday trips.

Here are some points and miles deals I've uncovered for the upcoming holidays, from the Fourth of July to New Year's. Whether you're after a long weekend escape, budget-friendly visits to distant family, or planning a dream getaway during winter break, these ideas can help you save on holiday travel.

Ring in the Fourth of July with flair

This year, July Fourth lands on a Thursday, making it ideal for a long weekend escape. Unfortunately, many hotels are aware of this and adjust their rates accordingly.

Take a look at Hyatt's boutique hotel in New Orleans, The Eliza Jane. While rates typically start at $230 per night during most July weekends, they soar to over $500 per night during the July Fourth weekend.

However, thanks to World of Hyatt's award chart, you can book award nights starting at just 20,000 points per night. For a room that would normally cost at least $538, this offers a value of 2.7 cents per point — significantly higher than TPG's June 2024 valuation of 1.7 cents for World of Hyatt points.

Marriott Bonvoy, like many hotel loyalty programs, has moved away from its award chart to adopt dynamic pricing, but there are still bargains to be found. For example, you can enjoy three nights at the W Chicago — City Center for a total of 80,000 Bonvoy points — a stay that would normally cost $723. This results in a value of 0.9 cents per point, just above TPG's June 2024 valuation of 0.85 cents for Bonvoy points.

Labor Day Getaways

If you're looking to escape the heat this Labor Day, Air Canada offers affordable award flights from the West Coast to Canada. You can fly from Los Angeles to Calgary (close to Banff National Park) for as little as 25,000 Aeroplan points in business class, which is actually a bit cheaper than economy class.

You could fly back for roughly the same number of points or switch to economy for just 10,000 points, totaling 35,000 points for the trip.

Cash prices for the same route start at $631, providing a strong value of 1.8 cents per point — significantly higher than TPG's June 2024 valuation of 1.5 cents for Aeroplan points.

Air Canada also offers round-trip fares from Calgary for 23,000 Aeroplan points from Denver and 24,000 points from Seattle.

If you’d rather spend the long weekend at the beach, Hawaiian Airlines offers main cabin fares from Los Angeles to Honolulu for 47,500 HawaiianMiles plus $12 in taxes and fees. If your HawaiianMiles balance is low, don’t worry; you can transfer points from American Express Membership Rewards.

Alternatively, you can fly Southwest Airlines from the Bay Area to Lihue on the island of Kauai for about 34,000 Rapid Rewards points and $12 in fees. These round-trip flights start at $485, providing a great value of 1.4 cents per point (TPG values Rapid Rewards points at 1.3 cents each, based on our June 2024 assessments).

Enjoy Thanksgiving with family... or choose to skip it!

Flying on Thanksgiving Day often yields cheaper airfares, but for any other day that week, prices can skyrocket. However, you might find surprisingly good — or at least decent — award rates on the same routes. Given the high cash prices during the holidays, this can lead to excellent value for your points.

For instance, if I wanted to see my family in New York City for Thanksgiving, round-trip economy fares from Denver, where I live, start at $600 with United Airlines, or I could use 25,500 MileagePlus miles.

This translates to a value of 2.4 cents per mile, which is quite favorable since TPG estimates United miles at 1.35 cents each, according to our June 2024 evaluations.

Alternatively, you might opt to skip the family gathering for a mini vacation, as I did in 2022 when I celebrated Thanksgiving on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. This year, I can fly Delta Air Lines from Denver to New Orleans for just 31,000 SkyMiles plus $11 for a round-trip fare. Additionally, if I had a Delta cobranded credit card, I would only need 26,350 miles thanks to Delta's TakeOff 15 program, which offers discounts on award flights for cardholders.

For a flight with cash fares starting at $413, I would receive a value of 1.3 cents per mile, which is slightly higher than TPG's June 2024 estimate of 1.15 cents per SkyMiles. Delta also has comparable award rates to New Orleans from Boston (beginning at 30,500 miles round-trip), Atlanta (starting at 27,000), and Seattle (starting at 32,500).

Christmas abroad

If you're envisioning a European getaway, you can spend Christmas in London for just 38,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles and less than $200 round-trip.

With cash fares starting at $820, this offers a fantastic value of 2.2 cents per mile (in comparison to TPG's June estimate of 1.7 cents each for AAdvantage miles).

For those interested in experiencing Germany's enchanting Christmas markets, United Airlines offers economy tickets to Munich from East Coast cities like New York and Boston for 110,000 MileagePlus miles plus $144 round-trip.

These same economy seats are priced at $1,600 in cash, which translates to a strong value of 1.5 cents per mile.

Celebrating New Year's Eve in New York City

New York City is a top destination for many eager to celebrate the New Year. Unfortunately, hotels capitalize on this demand, causing room rates to soar on December 31.

For example, the Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square is charging an outrageous $558 for a room on New Year's Eve. (The price falls to $245 on January 1 and drops to $138 by January 7). Alternatively, you could secure a room on New Year's Eve for 80,000 Hilton Honors points.

This translates to 0.7 cents per point, which is a solid value for Hilton points, considering TPG values them at 0.6 cents each, based on our June 2024 assessments.

The Hyatt Place New York City / Times Square shows a similar trend, with prices jumping from about $300 to $563 on New Year's Eve. However, if you opt for an award stay, you'll only need to spend 23,000 points that night, providing you with a fantastic value of 2.4 cents per point.

Top credit cards for booking holiday travel

If you find yourself needing to pay cash for any part of your holiday travel, optimize your spending by choosing a credit card that offers bonus points or miles for travel expenses. The cards listed below provide valuable transferable points or miles, earning at least 2 points or miles per dollar on travel-related purchases, with some even including trip insurance. Here are some of our top picks for travel credit cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®
• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
• The Platinum Card® from American Express
• Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card (see rates and fees)

Final thoughts

Points and miles can be incredibly useful when faced with high holiday travel costs. As cash fares tend to surge during this time, but award prices often remain stable, you can uncover some excellent deals and maximize the value of your points and miles.

Just remember to start planning your holiday travels early, and always explore various options before making a reservation to secure the best rates. If you do need to pay cash, make sure to use a travel credit card to enhance your rewards.