How Many Points Did I Use for Travel in 2025?
Returning to Machu Picchu with my sister and a friend made my second visit feel completely different from the first.
At the beginning of 2025, I had no idea what kind of travel year was ahead of me. Egypt was the big trip on my mind—the bucket-list family trip I’d been thinking about for years. Beyond that, I certainly wasn’t expecting the year to include everything from a birthday weekend in Cancún to five weeks traveling solo through South America.
Nearly every trip also gave me somewhere I wanted to return to. I loved Mexico City and would go back without hesitation. I even enjoyed Cancún, as touristy as it may be. London was love at first sight, while Paris has slowly won me over. Switzerland was every bit as beautiful—and expensive—as I’d imagined, and a chilly spring visit only made me want to return in warmer weather to hike, explore the lakes and spend more time outdoors.
Peru will always have a place in my travels, too. And don’t worry: despite 2025 marking my second trip to Machu Picchu, I’d gladly sign up for a third. Or a fourth.
Then came the biggest adventure of the year: five weeks traveling solo through South America. It was my longest trip yet, my first true solo trip and an experience that would eventually help inspire this blog. By the end of 2025, I’d traveled considerably farther—and more often—than January me ever could have predicted.
Which raises a question I hadn’t thought to ask until now: how many points did I use to make all of that happen?
Despite how much I think about points before individual bookings, I’d never added up an entire year of redemptions. And 2025 wasn’t about one giant aspirational redemption or covering every trip entirely with points. I used airline miles, hotel points, free-night certificates, travel credits and plenty of cash, whatever made the most sense.
So this isn’t an exercise in calculating the theoretical value of every point I redeemed. It’s a look at what those points and benefits actually helped me do during one very unexpected year of travel.
Chichén Itzá gave us exactly the kind of adventure beyond the beach we wanted from our Cancún weekend.
Cancún: Starting the Year Somewhere Warm
Apparently starting the year with a warm-weather escape has become something of a tradition. I did it in 2025, managed it again in 2026 without really meaning to, so we’ll see what I come up with for 2027.
Some of the best trips start with the simplest ideas: it’s your birthday, let’s go somewhere warm. My cousin’s birthday was a perfectly good excuse for a long weekend away, and somehow Cancún entered the conversation. None of us had been, so why not? Her one requirement was doing something beyond spending the entire weekend at the beach. We booked an easy day trip to Chichén Itzá, where we explored the ruins, swam in a cenote and stopped in Valladolid on the way back.
For the flights, we went with Spirit nonstop from Philadelphia. Sometimes the easiest option really is a budget airline, and for a relatively short direct flight, I have no complaints. We used a combination of points and cash to keep the cost down without making a simple weekend trip unnecessarily complicated.
Since we’d spend an entire day away from Cancún, paying a premium for an all-inclusive didn’t make much sense. Instead, we stayed at the Canopy by Hilton Cancún La Isla through American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts. It was modern and comfortable, with a rooftop pool and hot tub and a convenient location. Armed with the Hilton Gold status that came with my card, it was also the first Hilton stay that made this longtime Marriott loyalist start questioning her allegiances.
Between the Fine Hotels + Resorts credit, included benefits and splitting the room three ways, the stay was surprisingly affordable. It was a good reminder that points aren’t the only credit-card benefit that can make a trip more affordable. Sometimes a hotel credit, elite status and a few useful perks can do plenty of the work.
The breakdown: 3 nights | ~13,700 points + ~$537 cash + $200 hotel credit
Zurich became our base for the final stretch of a Europe trip that looked very different from the one we’d originally planned.
London, Paris & Zurich: The Marathon Trip Without a Marathon
Once upon a time, I said I would never run a marathon. Fast-forward to 2025 and I had four marathon medals proving I apparently shouldn’t be trusted when I say things like that. One of the friends I’d met through running had become one of my favorite travel companions, and after eventually running a marathon together, naturally our next idea was to plan a trip around another one: the Paris Marathon.
There was just one minor problem. We booked our flights before we’d registered for the race. Or started training. Eventually, we did neither. But we still had flights to London, so the marathon trip simply became a Europe trip, and I can’t say I was particularly upset about it.
If there’s an opportunity to pass through London, I’ll take it, so we spent a day there before taking the Eurostar to Paris. My friend’s brother lives there, and since we’d both visited before, there was no pressure to race through the major sights. Instead, we wandered different neighborhoods, ate our way around the city and took a day trip to Château de Fontainebleau. Eventually the question became: where could we go that neither of us had visited before?
Enter Zurich.
We also somehow convinced my sister that flying to Europe for four days made perfect sense. She joined us in Switzerland, where Zurich became our base for exploring somewhere completely new, including day trips to Lucerne and Liechtenstein. What started as a trip built around a marathon we never ran had turned into familiar favorites and a completely new corner of Europe.
The points side was considerably more intentional. Virgin Atlantic remains one of the first programs I check when I’m trying to get to Europe, and a reasonably priced premium economy award doesn’t necessarily feel like much of a splurge. I found a seat to London for just 16,500 Virgin points, although Virgin’s taxes and fees mean I still compare the total cost before transferring anything. For the flight home, I couldn’t find a redemption that worked with our itinerary, so I paid cash.
Zurich was where another credit-card strategy paid off. Three 50,000-point Marriott free-night certificates from a new card lined up perfectly with our stay at the Renaissance Zurich Tower Hotel. They covered our first three nights, and I used another 45,000 Marriott points for the fourth. I already knew where I wanted to go, and benefits I already had made an otherwise expensive destination considerably easier to justify.
The breakdown: 10 nights | 61,500 points + ~$1,176 cash + three Marriott free-night certificates
Back in Cusco for the second time, Plaza de Armas was once again the place we kept finding our way back to.
Peru: Returning to Cusco for a Bucket-List Trip
Machu Picchu is a bucket-list trip for plenty of travelers, but this was actually my second time in Cusco, and I was every bit as excited as the first. This time my sister and one of our favorite travel friends were coming along, and it would be our friend’s first trip to Peru. I already knew how much I loved Cusco, but getting to watch someone experience it for the first time was priceless. I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone who visits Cusco and doesn’t come away loving it.
After two short days in Lima, we headed to Cusco to explore the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Rainbow Mountain, the latter a first for both my sister and me. And if you think Cusco has prepared you for altitude, Rainbow Mountain will quickly humble you. At more than 16,000 feet above sea level, it’s a very different experience.
The trip also gave me my first experience with Lima’s new international airport. By pure coincidence, we were flying home right as operations moved from the old airport to the new one, which meant seeing the brand-new terminal—and then promptly sprinting through it trying to catch our flight. Quite the introduction to an airport I would become considerably more familiar with the following year.
The points side was one of the easiest bookings of the year, and sadly, one I wouldn’t be able to replicate later. At the time, LATAM flights were still bookable with Alaska miles, and I used just 17,500 miles each way between New York and Lima. At that price, I’d book that flight every day. Fast-forward to just three weeks ago, when getting home from Peru required piecing together awards through Panama City and Miami using two different programs. I definitely didn’t appreciate how easy I had it in 2025.
Splitting our accommodations three ways also kept my share of seven nights under $300. There was no elaborate strategy here, just a great flight redemption paired with affordable accommodations. Keeping those two major expenses low gave us more room to splurge elsewhere, including booking four days of activities with a local travel agency rather than piecing everything together ourselves.
The breakdown: 7 nights | 35,000 points + $439 cash
Mexico City surprised me with just how much history, culture and exploring I could fit into a four-night trip.
Mexico City: A Long Weekend Close to Home
Mexico City was proof that a great trip didn’t need to involve weeks away from home. I used a long holiday weekend for a four-night solo trip and my first visit to the city, and I was surprised by just how much there was to do. The amount of green space caught me off guard, as did the seemingly endless number of museums, and with entrance fees generally so affordable, it was easy to convince myself I needed to visit just one more. Exploring Chapultepec Park and making my way up to Chapultepec Castle was one of my favorite afternoons.
This was also one of the simplest points trips of the year. I used 23,000 Virgin Atlantic miles round-trip for my flights and another 30,500 points for four nights at the Hyatt Regency Mexico City, leaving only a small cash portion for the two biggest expenses. There wasn’t much strategy required, and that’s part of what I like about it. Sometimes points can simply make a long weekend somewhere new surprisingly inexpensive.
The breakdown: 4 nights | 53,500 points + $321 cash
Seeing the pyramids and the Sphinx in person made a trip that had lived on my bucket list for years suddenly feel very real.
Egypt & Jordan: Finally Taking the Bucket-List Trip
This was our big family trip of the year and one I’d always assumed might live on the bucket list forever. Egypt was somewhere I knew I wanted to visit, but the distance felt like the first barrier and the cost like the second. Then I started looking at flights. Round-trip tickets from New York to Cairo were about $820 each, less than the roughly $900 we’d paid to fly from New York to Rome the previous year during peak season. Suddenly, Egypt didn’t feel nearly as financially out of reach.
If there’s anything I took away from planning this trip, it’s to start with one piece of the bucket-list trip you’ve convinced yourself is too difficult or expensive. Look at the flights. Check some hotels. See what an itinerary might actually cost. You may discover it’s much more achievable than you imagined. We loved seeing the pyramids in Cairo, exploring the temples of Luxor and finally making it to Petra, and both Egypt and Jordan left me feeling like we’d barely scratched the surface.
The flights also gave us an opportunity to be strategic about how we paid for the trip. With four tickets to purchase, I had my sister open a new travel card so she could start building her own points balance. We booked through the card’s travel portal, earning additional points while putting a significant dent in the welcome bonus spending requirement.
For the hotels, I started by researching where we actually wanted to stay, rather than simply looking for somewhere to use points. Marriott Mena House stood out in Cairo, Le Méridien Cairo Airport made our early flights easier, and Hilton had resort properties in Luxor and along the Dead Sea that fit our itinerary. Once I knew what I wanted to book, I opened two hotel credit cards several months before the trip. Their welcome bonuses helped us cover two rooms at properties I’d already decided we wanted to stay in.
The breakdown: 10 nights | ~279,500 points + ~$1,803 cash
Seeing icebergs drifting across Lago Argentino was one of those moments that made five weeks of solo travel feel completely worth it.
South America: The Trip That Started Everything
At five weeks, this was the longest trip I’d ever taken and, more importantly, my first true solo trip. I traveled through Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia—all first-time countries for me—with a few nights in Lima along the way to visit family. I was already in South America; how could I pass up the opportunity?
Trying to summarize each country wouldn’t come close to doing the experience justice. What mattered more was everything I discovered along the way. Solo travel wasn’t nearly as scary as I’d imagined. I genuinely enjoyed my own company. Five weeks somehow flew by. And, perhaps most surprisingly, I discovered a few extrovert tendencies despite how strongly I may deny them. Walking tours gave me an easy way to meet people and stay social while still having the freedom to spend most of the trip on my own.
I didn’t know it at the time, but this was also the trip that would eventually inspire Travel Breakdown. It gave me five weeks’ worth of experiences, mistakes, logistics, opinions and questions, the exact things I’d eventually want to write about here.
For a trip this long, points helped keep flights and hotels surprisingly manageable. But just as important was building the trip as a point-to-point itinerary from the beginning. I generally worked my way from south to north, using relatively short flights and avoiding unnecessary backtracking while eventually putting myself in a better position for an affordable flight home.
I redeemed miles for most of those flights and used hotel points in Montevideo and Santiago, while an Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts credit helped in Quito. Elsewhere, affordable cash rates often made more sense than points. When I finally added everything together, I was surprised by how little I’d spent on flights and accommodations for more than a month of travel.
The breakdown: 29 nights | 191,250 points + $2,397 cash + $300 hotel credit
2025 Travel by the Numbers
When I finally added everything together, my first reaction was mostly: I had that many points?
Across these trips, I used more than 600,000 points and miles toward flights and accommodations. But the split is important. A significant portion came from hotel points—particularly for our two-room family trip through Egypt and Jordan—while airline miles helped cover everything from quick trips to Mexico and Peru to my five-week journey through South America.
- Flight points & miles: ~227,950
- Hotel points: ~406,500
- Total points & miles: ~634,450
- Cash spent on flights: ~$2,825
- Cash spent on accommodations: ~$3,847
- Total cash: ~$6,672
- Nights traveled: 63
- Free-night certificates: 3 Marriott certificates
- Hotel credits: $500 in Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts credits
For shared trips, these totals reflect my portion wherever I could separate it. I also purchased some hotel points during the year, but because I no longer have complete records of those purchases, that cost isn’t included here.
Looking at 634,450 points and miles as one number sounds enormous. But hotel points and airline miles aren’t interchangeable, and hundreds of thousands of hotel points can disappear surprisingly quickly when you’re booking multiple rooms for a family trip.
More importantly, those points weren’t sitting in an account waiting for some hypothetical perfect redemption. They helped pay for 63 nights of travel, from a long weekend in Cancún to five weeks traveling solo through South America.
Was It Worth It?
Absolutely.
Not every redemption was spectacular. I paid cash when award options didn’t work, used hotel credits when they made more sense than points and sometimes left a benefit on the table because maximizing it would have meant changing the trip. There were also plenty of affordable hotels where using points simply wasn’t necessary.
I was still learning how to truly redeem miles, too. I’d spent so long focused on earning points that using them effectively was an entirely different skill. Throughout 2025, I became more comfortable shifting between programs, learning airline partners, finding sweet spots and recognizing when a redemption was actually worth making. There are definitely things I’d book differently knowing what I know now, but that’s part of learning.
And if there’s one thing 2025 taught me, it’s this: the goal isn’t to use points perfectly. It’s to use them.
At the beginning of the year, I couldn’t have predicted most of the trips ahead of me. By the end, those points had become family trips, weekends with friends, return visits to places I love, completely new countries and my first five-week solo adventure.
I’ll take that over a giant points balance any day.
Continue Reading
Want to see more of the trips behind the numbers?
- Using Points for Hotels Instead of Flights: My Egypt and Jordan Strategy — How I used hotel points and credit-card bonuses to make our bucket-list family trip more affordable.
- Why I Used a Local Agency for Machu Picchu—Twice — Why I chose to leave the complicated logistics to someone else on both of my Machu Picchu trips.
- What to Do in Buenos Aires: A Realistic First Visit — The first stop on my five-week solo journey through South America and the beginning of my biggest adventure of 2025.
- El Calafate Was My Introduction to Patagonia—Now I Want More — My first taste of Patagonia, from Perito Moreno Glacier to the landscapes that convinced me I need to go back.