Bordeaux Bonus

Have you ever wanted to travel to a place or attend an event, but didn't want to stress about the cost? I certainly have, and most recently, this desire arose when I was invited to a friend’s wedding. Now, there’s no question that weddings are some of life’s most unforgettable moments—the laughter, the dancing, the love—but let’s be honest: they can also be expensive, especially if you need to travel a long distance to get there. This was the situation my fiancé and I found ourselves in when we received an invitation to a dream wedding in Bordeaux, France. My now wife had been asked to be a bridesmaid at one of her best friend’s weddings, and of course, I wanted her to be able to go—heck, I really wanted to go too. However, with our own wedding just a few months away, I started to wonder if it would be financially feasible to travel across the world.

This is when I began thinking outside the box. I was relatively new to credit card points at that time but was determined to figure out how to get us to this wedding for a fraction of the price. After doing some research, I decided to apply for a new credit card that would allow me to transfer a large number of my existing points. I chose the Chase Sapphire Preferred, which pairs incredibly well with my Freedom Unlimited card. The key with these cards is that the Chase Sapphire gives you access to the Ultimate Rewards travel portal, where you can transfer points to the credit card company’s “travel partners.” I’ve mentioned this before, but the process is simple: you earn points on a wide range of cards and then convert them to the desired travel points in the portal.

In our case, I was looking for a good deal to Paris, as that’s where our group of friends planned to begin our adventure. While there are several airlines that fly directly to Paris, one stands out: Air France. Air France is part of the SkyTeam Alliance, a group of airlines that allows you to transfer points between them to better suit your itinerary. Another airline in the alliance is Delta, an airline with which I have achieved Elite Gold status due to an unimaginable number of work trips. What this means is that not only can I transfer points between the two airlines, but my elite status also carries over, giving me all the associated perks you see below.

Perks from Delta to Air France

Now, although I knew which airline would offer the best price to France, I still had work to do to secure the best deal for our flights. I waited until about two months before our October departure to check for Air France’s monthly deals (they offer these regularly). This is a common promotion they run, significantly reducing flight prices, including when paying with points. After coordinating with our group, I plugged in our dates and was lucky enough to find award availability: two seats for 73,500 miles total. Now, you may be thinking something like, “That’s a lot of points,” or “That’s a poor redemption.” Both statements could be accurate, but several factors made this redemption better than it first appeared.

First, this was my first personal international redemption, so I was excited just to figure it all out! Second, point redemptions are much harder to maximize if you don’t have flexible dates. The key is letting the deal find you, not trying to force the deal to fit your rigid plans. Third, and this is a big one, Chase was offering a 25% transfer bonus to Air France, so it only cost me 59,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points instead of 73,500. Less than 30,000 points per person for a round-trip flight to Europe is something I’ll rarely pass up. To dive a little deeper, I mentioned that having flexible dates can make a big difference. The round-trip cash price of each ticket was about $1,650, totaling $3,300 for both of us. We paid only $400 in taxes, achieving a redemption valued at 4.91 cents per point (CPP).

The moral of the story here is that points can offer financial freedom when it comes to travel. There’s little chance my fiancé and I would have been able to spend over $3,000 so close to our own wedding. Points allowed us not only to attend our friend’s wedding but also to create additional memories that will last a lifetime. We went on a wine tour through the vineyards of Bordeaux, dined in front of the Eiffel Tower, wandered the miraculous grounds of Lourdes, and took in the beauty of Versailles.

Are you ready to set your points free and create memories that will last longer than the miles you travel? Whether it’s for a wedding, a vacation, or a special event, I can help you unlock the full potential of your rewards and make your trip more affordable and memorable. Don’t let your points go unused—let’s make the most of them and turn your next adventure into an experience you’ll cherish forever!