How to Fly for Free
Recently, after 4 years working as a dentist with the longest break being for a week, I decided to take some time off and do some traveling. With Kim working as a professional dog walker through Rover.com, it was easy for her to take a break as well and travel with me. we felt it was the right time for planning a mega trip!
Summers in Dallas are HOT! We decided that traveling for the whole summer would be a great way to avoid the heat here and see all sorts of new places as well.
The prospect of planning a mega trip is daunting. We talked about planning it for over a month before starting. I think it took us so long just because of the amount of brain power needed to plan so many flights, accommodations and activities while utilizing our rewards points as much as possible.
We knew there were several things we wanted to do, the list included:
Going to Michigan (my home state) and spending some time there with my family and friends
Going to Florida (where Kim’s family lives) and spending time there
Going to Hawaii
Going to Cuba with some of Kim’s friends for their birthday
Visiting my grandfather in Las Vegas
How to fly for free: Round trip Hawaii
I decided to start with the flights and fill in the accommodations and activities after. My first step was planning the flights to Hawaii. I knew that for most, if not all, the other flights we would use Southwest and our companion pass that we have until the end of the year allowing us both to travel for the price of one! See my explanation of the companion pass and why its so valuable.
For getting to and from Hawaii, my plan was to use my British Airways Avios points that I received from opening up the British Airways Visa card through Chase bank. After opening the card and completing the spending requirements, I received 50,000 British Airways Avios, enough for two round trip tickets to Hawaii from the west coast. For tips and tricks on how to find the best flights that will qualify, see this great explanation. After some searching, I found round trip flights from Seattle to the Big Island staying for 8 nights in mid July.
Total cost for the flights for Kim and I: 50,000 Avios and $20 in taxes. Score!
UPDATE: Check out our adventures in Hawaii here!
Big Island Hawaii
Detroit to Seattle
Next I had to plan for how to get to Seattle. As I knew we would be in Michigan prior to our Hawaii trip, I booked a Southwest flight from Detroit to Seattle for 15,567 pts and used the companion pass to get our second flight free. As I was currently out of Southwest points in my Rapid Rewards account, I transferred enough points from my Chase Ultimate Rewards account (from the 100,000 points I earned from opening the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and completing the minimum spending).
Total cost from Detroit to Seattle for two: 15,567 Southwest points and $11.20 in taxes.
To cruise or not to cruise, that is the question
Kim and I discussed that while we were in Seattle, we have always wanted to do an Alaskan cruise as well. Using vacationstogo.com, we checked the latest fares for all cruises that would work in our time frame. We found several that would work ranging in price from $799-$1300 for a week. The price is still a little high for us and looking at similar cruise departures that are leaving in the next week (last minute) the prices are sometimes as low as $400-$500! We want to take the cruise, but want to get it at the best price possible so we came up with a plan to give us maximum flexibility. We decided to book two flights from Seattle to Florida, one for if we go on the cruise, and one if we don’t. By using Southwest and points, there are no cancellation fees and the points just go back into your account! This allows us to stay flexible and wait for the best price for the cruise. There is always a risk that the cruise will sell out, but that’s a risk we’re willing to take.
We’ve always wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise!
As I searched for flights from Seattle to Ft Lauderdale I found the Southwest flights were EXPENSIVE and would require A LOT of valuable miles. I started searching for other options and found a way to save money AND check off another one of our planned destinations. By flying to Las Vegas and staying a night with my grandfather, we could save 8-10k points vs flying directly to Ft Lauderdale! It took some extra clicks, searching and booking but we ended up booking the following two flight options giving us the option to take the cruise if we want.
Option A (no cruise)
Seattle to Las Vegas 6,215 Southwest points $11.20 in taxes
Las Vegas to Ft Lauderdale 6,081 Southwest points $11.20 in taxes
Option B (we go on Alaskan cruise yay!)
Seattle to Las Vegas 6,215 Southwest points $11.20 in taxes
Las Vegas to Ft Lauderdale 10,032 Southwest points $11.20 in taxes
To have both options available I had to transfer 29,000 points from my Chase Ultimate Rewards account to my Southwest account (again from the 100,000 I earned from the Chase Sapphire Reserve card)
Remember though, we will only be taking one of these options so either 12k or 16k points will go back into my account when we finalize our plans.
UPDATE: We’re going cruising! Check out the slight change to our itinerary!
Cuba!
Next we focused on flights to Cuba. From Ft Lauderdale it’s quite affordable on Southwest! We found round trip flights from Ft Lauderdale to Havana staying 8 nights for only 6,624 points (again using the companion pass perk)! Taxes were a little more per person as we were traveling internationally at $72.06 each. With the current administration recently updating their policies on Cuba, it’s unclear how easy it will be to travel there in the future so we are excited to be able to go while we can!
Total cost round trip to Cuba for two: 6,624 Southwest points and $144.12
Check out our tips for visiting Cuba here!
Havana Cuba
Planning where else to go
Southwest has added multiple international destinations in the last several years and Florida is the best place to start to get to most of them at the cheapest rates. We decided to see what other deals we could find from Ft Lauderdale and after some searching we found a great round trip deal to Belize for only 5,040 points and $77.56 in taxes each! Also, we booked this one as a long weekend trip (Thursday – Monday) so if some of our friends in Florida could get a couple of days off of work and join us they could!
Total cost round trip to Belize City, Belize for two: 5,040 Southwest points and $145.12 in Taxes.
UPDATE: We had an awesome time in Caye Caulker, Belize! Read about it here!
Crystal Caves in Belize, a place we are excited to explore!
Back to Michigan
After returning from Belize, we planned to go back to Michigan for a early September wedding and stick around in Northern Michigan for a few extra weeks and enjoy the late summer weather.
Deck view of my family’s cabin in Northern Michigan
Again using Southwest and the companion pass we found flights from Ft Lauderdale to Detroit for 5,505 points and $5.60 in taxes each and flights from Detroit back to our home base of Dallas a few weeks later for 4,339 points and again $5.60 each in taxes
Total cost for Ft Lauderdale to Detroit for two: 5,505 Southwest points and $11.20 in taxes
Total cost for Detroit to Dallas for two: 4,339 Southwest points and $11.20 in taxes
Finally back to home base!
Finally, the only flight left to book would be our initial departure flight from Dallas to Detroit. Again using Southwest and the companion pass we found a flight for 5,210 Southwest points plus taxes.
Total cost for Dallas to Detroit for two: 5,210 points and $11.20 in taxes
Phew! That was a lot of flights! Final summary with costs for flights is as follows:
Total cost for Dallas to Detroit for two: 5,210 points and $11.20 in taxes
Total cost for Detroit to Seattle for two: 15,567 Southwest points and $11.20 in taxes.
Total cost for Seattle to Hawaii (big island KOA): 50,000 Avios and $20 in taxes
Total cost for Seattle to Las Vegas to Ft Lauderdale:
Option A (no cruise)
Seattle to Las Vegas 6,215 Southwest points $11.20 in taxes
Las Vegas to Ft Lauderdale 6,081 Southwest points $11.20 in taxes
Option B (we go on Alaskan cruise yay!)
Seattle to Las Vegas 6,215 Southwest points $11.20 in taxes
Las Vegas to Ft Lauderdale 10,032 Southwest points $11.20 in taxes
Total cost round trip to Cuba for two: 6,624 Southwest points and $144.12
Total cost round trip to Belize City, Belize for two: 5,040 Southwest points and $145.12 in Taxes.
Total cost for Ft Lauderdale to Detroit for two: 5,505 Southwest points and $11.20 in taxes
Total cost for Detroit to Dallas for two: 4,339 Southwest points and $11.20 in taxes
How to fly for free: Final flight cost for planning a mega trip:
Total Avios: 50,000
Total Southwest points: 54,581 or 58,532 depending on if we take the cruise
Total Cash: $376.44 ($188.22 each)
See our updated itinerary for a full cost breakdown
Check out how we’ll be staying in hotels for 9 nights in 5 cities all for free!
Check out some of the other places we’ve gone!
