Patricia is in our Facebook community and she shared how her family of 4 spent spring break using points + miles!
We needed a beach getaway, but we wanted it to feel like an actual vacation with our kids (ages 3 and 7). We were traveling at peak time—spring break—so knew we’d need to use points to be able to take a trip. We decided Puerto Rico seemed perfect—a quick direct flight, no time change, no language barrier.
The Flights:
I found direct flights to San Juan on Jet Blue and booked those with points I transferred from our Chase Sapphire Reserve card. The flights for our family of four there and back were about 157,000 points. We got free bags from Jet Blue for being military, and I set Jet Blue as our preferred airline on the Hilton Aspire card, so snacks were reimbursed.
Other Card Benefits:
Our CLEAR membership (reimbursed from Amex), TSA Precheck (included with global entry, which my whole family has for free thanks to Chase Sapphire Reserve reimbursements), and Priority Pass lounge access made travel days much easier. The Uber credits on our Amex Platinum cards helped cover some of the cost of rides to and from the airport and into Old San Juan. We rented a car for two nights. We used our Chase Sapphire Reserve and had the cost reimbursed by the $300/year travel credit.
The Hotel:
I opened an Amex Hilton Aspire card and used the sign up bonus (150,000 points), Hilton points I already had, and points I transferred from our Amex Platinum account (1:2 transfer) to book six nights at the Caribe Hilton in a garden view room. In all, we spent about 300,000 points on six nights. Because it was a reward booking, we did not have to pay resort fees (around $40/day).
At the resort, the Diamond status included with the Hilton Aspire card got us two free continental breakfasts a day, kids under 5 were free, and kids under 9 were half price. Most days, both of my kids were given free meals by our servers. Some days we chose to upgrade to the full buffet for $12/adult. We charged our hotel meals and other costs, such as renting gear for snorkeling, to our room and were reimbursed $250 with the Aspire resort credit.
We had a fabulous trip and would definitely recommend the Caribe Hilton. My son calls it “the happiness hotel” and has requested we go for every break!
Wow! Amazing family trip! We love hearing success stories from our community. If you have a story you would like to share (big or small), feel free to submit one HERE
Don’t forget to check out our beginners guide to learn how to get started planning a trip like this for yourself!
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