We recently got back from our summer trip, and we did a couple of things that saved us some money so that way we can spend more on fun activities 🙂
Multi-Cities Flight Ticket
This summer we went to Japan and Vietnam. Initially, it was just going to be a trip to Vietnam. However, after looking at flights and playing with the dates on Google, we realized that there are direct flights from the Washington D.C. area to Tokyo, and that it didn’t matter if we were immediately connecting to Vietnam on the same day, or staying for a couple days in Tokyo, the ticket cost would be the same.
So, we spent 4 days in Japan before returning to the airport to our final destination, Vietnam.
Credit Card Points for Hotels + Flights
During our time in Vietnam, we mainly stayed with family and friends, but we also took a trip within the trip to explore places we’ve never visited before.
We took a 9-day trip to Northern Vietnam, with 3 of those days being a part of a tour group that we didn’t have to book separate accommodation for.
Our flights from SGN to HAN were $275 or 27,500 miles via Capital One.
For the first 2 days in Northern Vietnam, we stayed for 2 nights in Hanoi’s Old Quarter near Hoan Kiem Lake. Our room also came with a direct view of the lake as well! The total was $257.80 or 20,624 via Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Then we were off on our 3-day tour to visit Ninh Binh and Ha Long Bay!
Returning from the tour, we spent 1 night in Hanoi near West lake. This one was a new 4-star hotel in the area with a 10-minute walk to the lake! During check-in, we were randomly upgraded to a premium suite due to the hotel availability 🙂 It has a lounge area and a long balcony overlooking the streets of Hanoi. It was a nice surprise! The total was $85.26 or 6,820 via Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
The next morning, we were off to Sapa. One of the main reasons why we came to Sapa was for the one–of-a-kind Hôtel de la Coupole – MGallery. It was a luxury resort far-away in the foggy mountains of Vietnam. It reminded me a lot of The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson! The total was $566.16 or 45,292 via Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
For this part of our summer trip, we were able to save $1,184.22 and spent 72,736 Chase Ultimate Rewards points and 27,500 in Capital One miles.
Airport Lounges
When we opened a Capital One Venture X last spring, it came with the Priority Pass lounge access. After a year, we were able to put the pass to use.
We were able to use it 5 times at the following airports: International IAD, International NRT, Domestic SGN, Domestic HAN, and International SGN.
Each lounge access saved us around $20 per person each time from not needing to buy our own drinks and food 😀
Each year into adulthood, we learned a new trick to save money while traveling. Hopefully these can be relatable to some of you!