Follow the deal, not the destination
We utilized an Alaska Airlines sweet spot (45k miles in Business Class from the United States to South America on LATAM) to book flights to Peru back in May. Was Peru on the top of our bucket list? Not necessarily, but we let the deal make the decision for us, over the destination, because we want to see the whole world, so why not cross off the destination that is cheapest and most comfortable to get to?
Deal over Destination
I know this advice isn't for everyone, whether because of personality differences or how much flexibility your schedule allows. However, this is probably the BIGGEST reason why we have been able to travel the way we have the past 4 years or so (think 6-12 trips each year, besides the obvious drop in 2020!): we follow the deal, not the destination.
Whether we are alerted to a great deal from our paid subscription to Thrifty Traveler Premium (not an affiliate link), our free Ashley Gets Around subscription, or we stumble on it ourselves, if we find an insane deal, we book it and ask questions later!
Snagging a deal for a Portugal trip this Fall
Let’s take a look at how this dynamic played out for our upcoming trip to Portugal in October. We were alerted by e-mail from our subscription to Thrifty Traveler Premium that there was widespread availability using the (weird!) sweet spot of redeeming Avianca Lifemiles to fly business class from New York (JFK) - Lisbon on TAP Portugal for only 35k miles and about $50 in taxes (in addition to the $26.70 in taxes/fees shown here, Avianca also charges a $25 booking fee per passenger).
Why do I say weird? It’s weird because it’s over 60k miles for this exact same route in reverse (Lisbon - New York)! So, we knew that if we found availability that worked well with our schedule (i.e. our 7 year old’s Fall Break schedule), we would likely only be booking one leg of the trip and trusting that we would find the return leg at another time.
This was also during a month when American Express was offering a 15% transfer bonus to Avianca, so I knew that the cost for each ticket was actually going to be more like 30k. 30k miles for a lie-flat business class seat across the Atlantic! Is TAP Portugal the swankiest airline in the sky? By no means. But, again, 30k miles for business class across the Atlantic, with availability for our family of 4! So we booked it earlier this year, confident that we would fill in the holes along the way (i.e. positioning flights from Indianapolis to New York, return flights, lodging, etc.) Note: my risk tolerance is fairly high, so I was even willing to do this with only two weeks out before our Peru trip. However, since we were doing this more than 10 months before the Portugal trip, I had zero fears about the rest of the details of the trip coming together. Time was on our side!
A Flying Blue Monthly Promo
Knowing that we needed to book flights for our return from Portugal, I kept my eyes open for potential options. Just a month after booking the steal of a deal with Avianca, in January, I read an article on Frequent Miler (which I read almost everyday!) detailing that month’s Air France/KLM Flying Blue Promo Rewards. That month, Flying Blue was offering 25-50% off certain flights to/from Europe and the U.S.
Look at the deal that I found (Note: in Economy class, which we are ALWAYS okay with for a return flight from Europe, since sleep is not the goal):
Air France/KLM Flying Blue is one of the few airline rewards programs that charges less miles for child award redemptions!
Less than 60k miles for all 4 of us to fly back from Europe! Unreal. Further proof: follow the deal, not the destination! Book an insane deal and be confident that, with enough time, you can fill in the gaps later. Our trip is 3 months away, and we have lodging secured as well, but not our positioning flight to/from New York City. Am I nervous? Not at all. Plenty of time. :)
Conclusion
If you have flexibility in your schedule, and you are not dead-set on a specific location for a trip, the greatest advice I could give you to maximize your points and be more likely to travel in style (i.e. business class seats) is follow the deal, not the destination! When you are alerted to a good deal (whether by us on Instagram, or a paid service like Thrifty Traveler Premium), hop on it and fill in the gaps later!
