If you follow Award Magic on Instagram you probably have seen some amazing examples of my honeymoon this past summer. What you may not know is the nitty gritty detail of how we booked it. You see, when you go from engagement to wedding in a bit over six months, there is not much time to plan a honeymoon. In fact, the only things we had booked before we left were:
- Our return flight (Singapore Airlines from Frankfurt to JFK)
- Our departure flight (Japan Airlines from Seattle to Tokyo-Narita)
- A seven night stay in the Maldives (although we had not chosen a start date yet)
Whether you want the flexibility to ‘book as you go’ or like to have everything planned in advance, you are going to need points and miles to get you there. Here are some things we did (and you can do, too) to make sure you are ready:
Sign up for new credit cards
Credit card sign up bonuses are incredibly lucrative. On average they offer between 60-80,000 points after spending about $3000 in three months. I have seen some cards offer as high as 190,000 points! As long as you are paying off your entire bill by the due date, you could sign up for a few new cards and be in a good position to use the points later.
Maximize category bonuses
Maybe your caterer is a local restaurant and accepts credit cards for payment. Or you plan on buying flowers at a supermarket. Make sure the card you are using has a larger multiplier on dining purchases. For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred gets 3x the points when dining out. Or, if you are able to pay off the bill on the first of the month, the Bilt Rewards Mastercard will give you 4x the points. There are many of these category bonuses that could help you earn more points.
Use Rakuten to earn Membership Rewards points
If you have an American Express card to earn points you can use Rakuten to add to that balance once per quarter. Instead of earning cash back, you can earn Membership Rewards points that could be transferred to a variety of airlines or hotels. Simply switch your settings and add the google chrome extension to maximize purchases you were already going to make.
