Traveling with friends is one of the most amazing ways to see the world. But before you book that girls’ or guys’ trip, you need to plan where you want to go, where you plan to stay, and how you want to travel — and if you’re looking to do more for less, using points and miles can significantly offset your expenses.
Here are our favorite tips and tricks for using travel rewards to get the best deal, cut costs, and boost your budget ahead of your next trip.
Table of contents
Figure out where you want to go
Before putting down your credit card on that flight to Fiji, you’ll need to have an honest conversation with your group of girls or guys and come to an agreement on the basics.
- Budget: How much does everyone feel comfortable paying for flights, accommodation, and activities? What level of luxury — or basic comfort — does everyone need to be happy?
- Time: How much vacation time do you want to dedicate to the trip?
- Distance: How far are you willing to travel to reach your destination?
- Activities: What are you interested in doing once you get there? What aren’t you interested in doing? How much time do you want to spend together vs going off on your own?
Once you’ve worked out the type of experience your group wants to have, delve into the budget question in greater detail.
Do you want to spend as little as possible or go all out? If you have limited time, hope to travel during peak season, or prefer to fly in business class, you might need to spend a little more. If you’re looking to keep your expenses lower, a domestic or more affordable Caribbean destination probably makes more sense.
Best destinations for a girls’ or guys’ weekend from the US
The best spots for a girls’ or guys’ weekend depend on your travel preferences, but in general, the Caribbean, Central America, Hawaii, and Europe are popular choices from major U.S. gateways.
Think: lounging at an all-inclusive in St. Lucia, Jamaica, or Turks and Caicos; surfing in Costa Rica or off the North Shore of Oahu; hiking in Montana or Utah; or exploring the sights and sounds of London, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, or Amsterdam.
Plan ahead to score deals
Proper preparation is the key to finding the best rates on luxury fares, rental cars, accommodations, activities, and more, so you’ll want to plan ahead to ensure that your girls’ and guys’ trips go off without a hitch. Suppose you’re looking at a long weekend getaway for Labor Day, for instance. In that case, it’s advisable to start doing your research and making reservations well before the summer — that way, you’ll secure the best deals and avoid any last-minute hassles.
In general, cash flight prices rise drastically about three weeks before a domestic flight and two months before an international flight. When it comes to booking with points, on the other hand, the best fares are typically found far in advance (close to a year) or on much shorter notice (within two weeks of departure).
Book flights and hotels with points and miles
Depending on the airline or hotel brand, booking flights and hotel stays with points and miles, such as Marriott Bonvoy points and United miles, can really reduce the total cost of your girls’ or guys’ trip.
With credit card points and miles, you can book first- or business-class flights and accommodation through the card issuer’s travel portal, directly from the airline or hotel brand, or by transferring them to various loyalty programs. It’s a great way to make your travel rewards work for you.
Consider pooling your points
If a member of your group needs help covering a flight or hotel stay, pooling your points and miles could be the answer. A feature offered by many airline and hotel rewards programs, points pooling allows you to combine your travel rewards with those of other members.
This is an easy solution if one person in your traveling party has lots of miles or points or if several of you have smaller amounts of the same currency. By pooling your resources, you can increase your collective balance and have more options when booking flights and hotels.
Most major airlines participate in points pooling, including:
- Air Canada
- Air France-KLM
- British Airways
- Frontier Airlines
- Spirit Airlines
- United Airlines
Earn miles on activities
You can earn rewards on activities when using cash-back or rewards cards.
Most airline and hotel brands’ loyalty programs, like Delta SkyMiles and Alaska MileagePlan, have online shops that make earning points simple — you’ll earn bonus miles or points when you go through these portals instead of buying directly from the merchant. You can also get cash-back rewards on purchases made on many of the major credit-card issuers’ platforms.
One of the best examples is Chase Travel, where you can earn points on activities and travel purchases, such as flights, hotels, and car rentals. You can even double-dip on those buys, meaning there’s the potential to earn two different kinds of rewards on the same transaction — bonus points or miles if you use an eligible Chase card to book your travel, and cash back (or a statement credit) if you book it through the Chase Portal.
Open a new credit card
Thanks to often-generous incentives to open a new account, signing up for a credit card can be a great way to optimize your trip — especially if you charge your travel expenses to the new card and use any perks earned to cover those costs.
Premium credit cards, including the Platinum Card from American Express, the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and the Capital One Venture X Card, offer sizable welcome bonuses. They do come with certain conditions, however; typically, you’ll need to meet a minimum spending requirement and pay an annual fee. (The exact amount and value of the miles or points earned varies, depending on the credit card issuer’s terms and conditions.)
Many premium cards also offer travel benefits that come in handy for a girls’ or guys’ trip, such as elite status with airlines and hotels, lounge access at the airport, and the ability to either book through the loyalty program’s portal or transfer points to its major airline and hotel partners. You’ll also earn points and bonus points on every dollar spent on everyday purchases and travel.
Using point.me to book a girls’ or guys’ trip
Booking a girls’ or guys’ trip with points and miles can be a hassle, but point.me makes the process a breeze. For this example, we’ll be looking at economy seats for a group of five travelers during the month of November, though you can also search for business class.
Using our Explore tool, you can filter potential destinations by activity and preference, whether you’re interested in high-energy adventures, engaging with local culture, focusing on food and wine, or chilling on the beach.
We selected “Food & Wine,” which showed us two options: the Bordeaux region of France and San Francisco, both of which have bustling culinary scenes.
Clicking on the destination will show you a sample route and the rough number of points you’ll need for an award ticket. You’ll then click through to see the actual award availability.
You can sort by the lowest to highest number of points required and toggle to filter by airline, number of stops, flight times, and loyalty programs.
You’ll then see a window with our recommended options.
Select your deal, and on the final page you can either book your award flight yourself or review other options from point.me. We highly recommend our concierge service for all your booking needs!
Frequently asked questions about booking a friends trip with points
Can I use my frequent flyer miles to book flights for someone else?
Yes, you can use your frequent flyer miles on airfare for someone else — you’ll simply book the flight in their name and pay with your miles.
Should I share my points and miles with a traveling companion when booking a girls’ or guys’ trip?
Gifting your points and miles to a traveling companion can be a good option if they don’t have enough rewards in their bank for a complimentary flight or hotel stay. Just be sure to check the fine print before going ahead with the transfer — different loyalty programs charge different fees, and if you want to avoid paying more than you have to, it might make more sense to book on their behalf instead of transferring the points to them.
How can I maximize my points and miles to offset the cost of a girls’ or guys’ trip?
To offset the cost of a girls’ or guys’ trip — and get the best value from your travel rewards — you’ll want to travel on non-peak dates, pool your points to find amazing award seats, and take advantage of credit-card and partner transfer bonuses to earn points and miles.
Getting started on point.me
Rather than sifting through 10 different websites and 20 different airline programs to figure out award travel, point.me does the work for you. All you need is your dates, your airports, and who’s traveling and where, and our real-time search and booking engine handles the rest. Try it for free today.
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