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We spent 3 weeks in Europe for our honeymoon and saved $45,000. See how we got to travel for nearly free on our honeymoon here. Below we will talk about the highlights of this incredible money-saving trip. We will break down all of the costs, points and what we would have spent followed by how we pulled it off.
France
We spent 11 days in France including 2 days in Normandy, 5 days in Paris, 3 days at Disneyland Paris and 1 day in Paris by CDG airport. We flew into Paris from Boston on
Air France business class for 231,000 points $471 taxes and fees. This flight would have cost $10,966 if we paid cash for the same business class seats. You can see our review of this flight here.
Once we arrived in Paris we rented a car from the airport to take to Normandy. This rental car was 13,620 points and would have cost $170.25. We rented the car with Sixt and drove 3 hours to the Cliffs of Etretat. We explored the cliffs which I highly recommend and then drove 2 hours to Normandy. In Normandy, we stayed at Hotel Le Mulberry Arromanches Normandy for 2,900 points which would have cost $70. You can find our review of this hotel here.
The following morning we explored the beaches and drove to Memorail De Cae, a war museum. Not an ideal activity for a honeymoon but my husband wanted to go. I was pleasantly surprised at how cool this experience was. If you are in the area I recommend experiencing this museum. After the museum, we drove 2 hours to the Palace of Versailles. I highly recommend this experience. Versailles has so much to offer including golf cart rentals, bike rentals, little train rides, row boats and so much more. Following Versailles, we returned our rental car and took the metro tour hotel. We spent 5 nights at the Hilton Paris Opera. This hotel was 320,000 points for 4 nights plus a 5th night free. The total cost for five nights would have been $3,101.19 if we paid cash. You can find our review of the Hilton Paris Opera here.
Following our 5 days in Paris we spent 3 days at Disneyland Paris and then 1 night at Hyatt House Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. This one night cost us 8,000 points but would have cost $103. You can find our review of the Hyatt House CDG here. Our last redemption in France was our flight to Italy. We flew Air France HOP from Paris to Verona for 40,000 points and $178.40 in taxes and fees. This flight would have cost $856.00 if we paid cash. You can find our review of Air France Hop here.
In total, we paid $649.40 and 615,520 points. If we had paid cash for all our France redemptions we would have paid $15,266.44. In total, we saved $14,617.04.
Italy
When arriving in Italy we spent some time sightseeing in various locations on our way to Florence. Once in Florence, we spent the day going to museums and gardens. We stayed 1 night in Florence at the Hilton Florence Metropole. This stay cost 40,000 points but would have cost $145 if we paid cash. You can find our review of the Hilton Florence here. From Florence, we traveled to Gressetto where we rented a car for 5,497 points. This rental would have cost $68.72 if we paid cash.
Our next redemption was in Rome where we stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton Rome Monti for 5 nights. The cost of this stay was 240,000 points for 4 nights plus a 5th night free. If we paid cash all 5 nights would have cost $3434.40. To read our review of this stay please click here. Our final redemption in Italy was our ITA Airways flight from Rome to London. This flight cost 74,000 points and $186.40 in taxes and fees. The total for this flight would have cost $513.80 if we paid cash. To see our review of ITA airways click here.
In total, we paid $186.40 and 358,497 points. If we had paid cash for all our Italy redemptions we would have paid $4,161.92. In total, we saved $3,975.52.
England
After arriving in London we rented a car for 9,720 points. This rental would have cost $243.21 without points. We drove 4 hours to Stonehenge and back. While it was a lot of time driving it was well worth the trip. Upon arriving back in London we spent two days at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane. This stay cost 170,000 points and would have cost $1194.90 if we paid cash. Check out our review of the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane here. Our final redemption was our return flight from London to Boston. This United Airways business class flight cost 310,000 miles and $672.40 in taxes and fees. This flight would have cost $21,326 if we paid cash. To see a review of our United business class flight click here.
In total, we paid $672.40 and 489,720 points. If we had paid cash for all our London redemptions we would have paid $22,764.11. In total, we saved $22,091.71.
Credit Card Points and Miles
As promised the final topic is how we were able to get $45,000 of travel for nearly free. We accomplished this by leveraging welcome bonuses and booking out trip using points and miles. Below is a list of the cards we opened. You can click here for more information or click on the name of each card apply.
- Chase Sapphire Preferred – 80,000 points after spending $4,000 in 3 months. This card has a $95 annual fee and a 10,000 referral bonus.
- Chase Ink Business Preferred – 100,000 points after spending $8,000 in 3 months. This card has a $95 annual fee and a 20,000 referral bonus.
- American Express Hilton Honors – 100,000 points after spending 2,000 in 3 months. This card has no annual fee and a 20,000 referral bonus.
- Chase United MileagePlus Explorer – 50,000 miles after spending $3,000 in 3 months. This card has a $95 annual fee waived for the first year and a 10,000 referral bonus.
- Chase United Business – 75,000 miles after spending $5,000 in 3 months. This card has a $99 annual fee waived for the first year and a 10,000 referral bonus.
- Chase United Getaway – 30,000 miles after spending 1,000 in 3 months. This card has no annual fee and a 10,000 referral bonus.
- Chase Ink Business Unlimited – 75,000 points after spending $6,000 in 3 months. This card has no annual fee and a 20,000 referral bonus.
We spent $380 on credit card fees, earning 960,000 points from welcome offers alone. After factoring in the points received from the purchases to meet minimum spend requirements, we had well over 1,000,000 points.
Final notes / bottom line
We spent $1,508.20 in taxes and fees and $380 in credit card fees. That is a total of $1,888.20 and 1,463,737 points for $42,192.47 in travel expenses. In total, we saved $40,304.27 on 3 weeks in Europe. We were able to accomplish this all because we opened credit cards and used them to pay for things we were already purchasing. If you would like to see the full post on our honeymoon click here. To learn more about points and miles and how you can redeem them to travel for nearly free click here.