How Award Travel For Families Works

What if Your Family Could Travel For Nearly Free with Points? It’s Possible with Award Travel!

What Is Award Travel? No, it’s NOT a scam!

When I first meet someone and tell them what I do to travel so affordably with my family, they always ask, “What is award travel?”

Simply put, award travel is when you exchange points or miles for nearly free airfare or hotel stays.

How award travel works is when you exchange those points or miles for flights or hotel stays. Sometimes, you need to pay taxes or fees, and this always applies to airline tickets. When I use the term “nearly free,” that is why, because yes, there is still a cost attached, but it is a lot less than paying full price!

I would rather pay $5.60 for a flight, would you? Let’s get you some nearly free flights for your kids!

Award travel is legit, and I thought it was too good to be true, too! I get it! I was in your shoes! My goal behind Travel Momma Co. is to teach you how award travel works so you can save money, travel more, and learn the responsible way to do it.

Learning how to travel using points and miles can be done responsibly, and I will show you how!

How Credit Card Travel Rewards Actually Work

Traveling with the family can cost a lot more than a couple’s trip. Using credit card travel rewards is one of the best ways to earn points for family travel. By learning how to use award travel for families, you can learn how to get free flights for your kids, cutting your budget in a big way.

Now, when I say credit cards, people always get scared and say, “NO WAY!” Just wait a minute and hear a different perspective that maybe you hadn’t thought about before.

I am not saying spend more to get a vacation. I fully believe in living within your means and earning points from your everyday spending. We are working smarter with credit cards. I teach more in detail about how to do this in my EBOOK (MILES AND POINTS FOR BEGINNERS)

Credit Card Dos and Don’ts with Award Travel

Ways You Earn Points for Award Travel

• Welcome or Sign Up bonuses- These are given to you when you open a new credit card, and you have a certain time period where you need to reach a minimum spend (remember, just use normal spending). Once the minimum spend is met, you earn the welcome bonus.
• Everyday Spending- Earn points with every dollar you spend on groceries, gas, bills, doctors’ visits, etc
• Referrals- When you refer your spouse or friends, many cards give you a referral bonus. As an affiliate of many of these card companies, I earn a small commission, so thank you in advance for using the best offers page to grab your card, because this supports Travel Momma Co.

What Can You Use Points and Miles for?

There are a variety of ways you can use points and miles to redeem for free travel. It’s not just a ticket here or there; we are talking big travel award travel.

• Flights– Book a family trip with miles, so you are only paying taxes and fees on flights. When our family flies Southwest Airlines, we pay $44.80 round-trip for a family of four. My kids actually fly free and don’t require points when we fly Southwest because my husband and I both have the Southwest companion pass.
• Hotels and Resorts- You can book hotels from your value hotel to a luxury all-inclusive resort. Our Jamaica all-inclusive resort should have cost us over $3,000, but instead of $0, we used points to book our stay.
• Theme Park Tickets– Book family travel with miles, even when it comes to theme park tickets like Disney World or Disneyland! Who knew you could use points to cover the cost! Learn how with my FREE Ticket Slasher guide.
• Airbnbs and other house rentals– Need more space for a bigger family? No worries, you can use points and miles to cover those costs too!
• Car Rentals- Getting from place to place has never been cheaper. You can use points to cover your rental cars while you travel, or even use travel credits with certain credit cards to cover the cost.

You can learn to use your points and miles in so many ways that work for you. I teach you all the strategies, and you decide which ones to implement to achieve your family travel dreams. Get started today with my free starter kit to get you organized and learn the foundational skills for success.

Using Miles for Family Vacations

Hawaii Family Vacation Using Points and Miles

One of our vacations this last year was to Hawaii! This was the first time taking our kids, and I couldn’t believe this was just one of the family trips on points we went on that year. I’m going to show you how we saved thousands of dollars on this one family vacation using points and miles.

• Flights– Denver to Hawaii would have been $846 a person, and with a family of four, that would cost us $3,384! Instead, we learned how to earn the Southwest Companion pass, allowing both our kids to fly for free on miles; we just had to cover the taxes/fees. Total cost $44.80
• Hotel– We booked 5 nights and used our points from our favorite bank (Chase) and paid $0 for the whole stay. With World of Hyatt, they cover fees when booking award travel. Making this an award travel success story saved us another $2,000 on hotel stays.
• Food and Car Rental– We paid cash for food and our car rental. Since we’ve already saved over $5,000, we have flights and hotel covered, which makes the family vacation a lot more affordable for us!

You can get started with my free starter kit or jump into the full Points and Miles 101 ebook to learn everything you need to start traveling for nearly free. We have learned how to make budget travel with kids and credit cards work for us and our family travel plans. I would love to show you how.

How to Get Started with Award Travel as a Beginner Family

Here at Travel Momma, you will learn simple point strategies for parents because let’s be honest, you have a lot on your plate already, raising kiddos. Award travel doesn’t have to be hard to learn, but there are some foundational things you need to know to set you up for long-term success.

I created two materials for any family wanting to learn about travel rewards for beginners.

1. Points and Miles For Family Fun: Your Starter Kit to More Family Vacations

This guide walks you through how to set up a strong foundation for your award travel journey. From learning a new way to see and understand credit cards, ways to keep you organized and less stressed, and the basics of how points work. Don’t forget to grab your starter kit today!

2. Points and Miles 101: Everything You Need to Learn Travel On Points

This kit is loaded with content to help you start learning the strategies now, and it won’t take you years to earn that first nearly free vacation.

• Learn to save on flights, hotels, all-inclusive resorts, and theme park tickets
• Go at your own pace and start at a pace that is comfortable for you and your family
• Keep your credit score high and out of credit card debt while earning the travel benefits
• Guidance on how to find great travel deals that stretch your miles even farther
• Tools and tips to help keep you organized and successful along the way

More Travel Resources:

• How Everyday Spending Can Earn You Free Family Vacations
• The Player 2 Strategy Explained: Double Your Family Points