How I Saved Over $20K on a Luxury European Vacation

All the Hacks with Chris Hutchins

Chris Hutchins

Business, Education, Investing, Society & Culture, Places & Travel, Self-improvement

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 September 2024

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

#192: Here's how we saved over $20,000 on our recent Europe trip! Learn how to use award flight tools to score affordable business-class tickets, maximize hotel loyalty programs for luxury stays, and find incredible travel deals. We’ll also review highlights from our trip, including top restaurants, airport experiences, Olympic events, and so much more! Link to Full Show Notes: https://chrishutchins.com/save-20k-luxury-europe-trip Partner Deals NetSuite: Free KPI checklist to upgrade your business performance MasterClass: Learn from the world's best with 15% off Bilt Rewards: Earn the most valuable points when you pay rent Fabric: Affordable term life insurance for you and your family AG1: Free 1 year supply of Vitamin D and 5 free travel packs For all the deals, discounts and promo codes from our partners, go to: chrishutchins.com/deals Resources Mentioned Flight Tools Ep #166: Best Tools for Booking Flights with Points & Miles with Greg the Frequent Miler AwardTool ($20 off annual plans with code ALLTHEHACKS) Seats.Aero PointsYeah point.me avianca lifemiles+ Program Direct Flights: FlightConnections Hotel Tools Ep #167: Best Tools for Booking Hotels with Points & Miles with Greg the Frequent Miler Awayz ($10 for ATH listeners and 50% off for ATH members) Rooms.Aero Chris' Airline/Hotel Transfer Partner Spreadsheet Hotels 7Pines: Sardinia | Ibiza Hôtel Martinez Cannes by Hyatt Hyatt Paris Madeleine Hyatt's Tier List Car Rental Tools AutoSlash SIXT Hertz National Restaurants Paris: Arnaud Nicolas Palma: Vandal Places in Mallorca Hotel: Cap Rocat | Sea Club Restaurant Cities: Sóller | Palma de Mallorca Catedral de Mallorca Credit Cards Cards Page American Express® Gold Card Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card ATH Podcast Newsletter Membership Follow & Review on Apple Podcasts Email us for questions, tips, deals and feedback Ep #175: Booking Summer Travel Award Flights (34:35) Ep #184: Chris’ Summer Award Travel Update (06:27) Ep #187: 42 Travel Planning Tips & Tricks from Travel Pro Leigh Rowan Ep #188: My Must-Have Products and Services for Life, Work and More Full Show Notes (00:00) Introduction (03:02) Getting the Best Deal on Our Flights (06:07) How to Book Flights Using Transfer Partners (10:30) Why We Decided Not to Take Our Kids on This Trip (13:34) How We Planned Our 40th Birthday in Europe (17:58) Leveraging Credit Card Welcome Bonuses For Hotel Perks (23:33) How We Booked Our Hotel in Paris (26:39) Booking Our Intra-European Flights (33:12) Renting a Car in Mallorca (34:29) How We Booked Tickets to the Olympics (36:34) The Flight Experience to Paris (43:35) A Review of the Hyatt Paris Madeleine (46:00) Arnaud Nicolas: A Michelin Guide Restaurant (47:11) Our Olympic Experience (53:13) A Review of the Paris-Orly Airport and Transavia Flights (56:20) What It's Like in Mallorca (58:21) Why We Would Give Cap Rocat (Mallorca) a Perfect Score (1:02:11) Bora Bora vs. Mallorca (1:03:57) Things We Did in Mallorca (1:07:41) Quick Review of Condor Airlines (1:13:01) Overall Takeaway on Europe Connect with Chris Newsletter | Membership | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn Editor’s Note: The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

Transcript

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0:00.0	A few weeks ago we took an incredible vacation to Europe that should have cost a fortune,
0:08.0	but instead we saved over $20,000 by dialing in the entire trip and booking most of it with points and I want to walk you through the entire process of planning, booking, and in our case cancelling and then booking again and do it in such detail
0:23.3	that you can learn all the tactics I used
0:25.6	because honestly, this was one of the best trips
0:27.9	we've ever taken, and I would love for you all
0:30.4	to be able to have a similar experience.
0:32.6	After I walk through how we made it all possible,
0:35.2	my wife Amy's going to join me
0:36.7	and we'll do a little recap and review of the entire experience.
0:40.3	If you're new here, I'm Chris Hutchins,
0:42.0	and if you enjoy this episode and want to keep upgrading your life, money, and travel, consider following or subscribing to the show.
0:48.0	And if you want to get the latest deals, news, and other great things I find every single week head on over to Chris
0:54.2	Hutchins.com slash email or click this link and subscribe to my weekly newsletter
0:59.0	also one other thing to share for reasons completely outside of my control, I am no longer able
1:05.1	to mention a certain bank and credit card issuer by name on the podcast, including the names of their
1:10.8	cards and points program.
1:12.8	I'll be able to keep talking about others like Amex, Capital One, City,
1:16.8	built, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and many more,
1:19.5	but there's one large and popular bank.
1:21.4	You've probably already figured out who I'm talking about that I won't
1:24.4	be mentioning by name here but I will do my best to be comprehensive with everything I share so
1:29.5	if you ever hear me talking about a popular bank or credit card issuer, hopefully you know exactly what I mean.
	...

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