The whole purpose of our blog is to showcase our travels, and how we achieve them. This short post is no exception. With miles and points the world is open to anyone. This is how we’re flying to Tahiti in business class with miles and points.
We’re also posting this now because the transfer bonus used to book these flights ends Sept 1, so if you’ve got the miles it’s a great time to plan a trip.
The Anniversary
Now that we have a baby, we’ve decided to make it a priority to take a trip just the two of us every year. This year, we celebrated our anniversary with an incredible trip to Cuba. As I started planning for next year’s anniversary, I knew it was time to treat ourselves to business class. Fortunately, with miles and points, this goal is more achievable than you might think.
The Plan
Flying business class comes with one catch—you often need to book either a year in advance when airlines release award availability or wait until the last minute when they’re trying to fill seats. With our anniversary just behind us, I began searching for options for next year. Using PointsYeah, I started exploring destinations that have been on our radar, and French Polynesia quickly rose to the top.
As you can see, LAX to Papeete in business class costs 68,400 Qantas points. But, Capital One transfers to Qantas and, at the time of writing, there’s currently a 20% transfer bonus bringing the cost down to just 57,000 points + $122.80. For a ticket that costs $3651, this is incredible. Want to learn more about what miles and points are worth?
This was exactly what we were looking for, so we transferred the points and locked in two lie-flat seats to Tahiti. As soon as they release availability for the return flight, we’ll do the same. Even if you’re flying economy, these flights are only 27,000 miles each way with the current transfer bonus—still an incredible deal if you’ve got Capital One miles.
Your Turn
Seems pretty straightforward, right? Getting great value from your miles and points doesn’t have to be complicated. Once you learn to navigate search tools and transfer partners, a world of possibilities opens up. With this approach, you can fly to almost any destination you dream of. We used the same strategy for our trip to Japan and continue to apply it to all of our travels.
So, what are you waiting for?
Have any questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out!
Additional
Right now the Capital One Venture card is offering a sign-on bonus of 75,000 points plus $250 in travel credits. If you sign up and earn the bonus (you’ll also get 8,000 points from spending) you’d have 83,000 points. If you refer someone, like your spouse, you’d get an additional 20,000 and they’d get 83,000. That’s a total of 186,000 points.
Transfering is almost always a better way to use your miles and points. Had we tried to book this through the portal, or by erasing the travel purchase, it would cost 365,100 points per person, a ridiculous number.