Going to Paris for $64.50 - Saving with Sofi

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Yes, you read that right! I purchased two one-way tickets from Chicago to Paris and only paid $64.50 for each ($129 total), when the original flight was $844 dollars ($1,688 total). I’m going to be breaking down how this is possible, what I did and how you can do the same thing! Or if you want to watch this blog post in Instagram Reel form here it is!

Disclaimer: As you may know I’m currently on a one year mini-retirement so this is a one-way ticket! If you need a round trip ticket, you would have paid another $64.50 bringing the total to $129 for one. Which is still an awesome deal!

In this example I use a Chase transfer partner to redeem my points. If you want to read more about how exactly points work and all the options you have, read that blog post first! This is essential to how to use transfer partners to redeem credit card points for travel.

Also if you want to follow my travel adventures, find me on Instagram here.

Quick note: Sign up for my email list to get access to my FREE resource library! Additionally, track your financial progress with my Ultimate Wealth Planner! This is the exact spreadsheet I use to track my finances and you can use it too!

Table of Contents

Step 1: Have a Travel Rewards Credit Card

This wouldn’t have been possible without a travel rewards credit card. I personally have three, the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the Capital One Venture Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless.

If you’re looking for a travel card to start out with, my recommendation would be the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Although I don’t have this card myself, if I was going to start over with my credit card journey this would 100% be my first choice.

The reason you need a travel rewards card is because these credit cards allow you to earn points. These points are then redeemable for travel!

So having a travel credit card with points and ready to go is the first step!

Step 2: Searching for Flights

Once you have your travel credit card and know where you want to go, start looking up flights! Using google flights or Skyscanner you can see all the airlines flying and compare departure/ arrival times.

Once you have a general idea of who is flying you can cross reference flights with the travel partners your credit card offers.

I personally was using my Chase Sapphire Reserve so I opted to take AirFrance because they are a chase travel partner, here is a link to all the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel partners.

Step 3: Make an Account and Search using Miles

Once you figure out which airline you’d like to fly with, go to that website specifically and make an account if you don’t have one already! When you make an account, you can search for flights based on miles instead of dollars. This simply means instead of seeing a dollar value you’ll see an amount of miles needed.

Once you’ve found the flight you want, you can see exactly how many miles you need to purchase that flight. Jot that number down so you remember it!

Step 4: Transferring your Miles

Now you know which flight you want and how many miles are needed for it. You need to get those miles over from your credit card account to your airline account.

This might be slightly different depending on which credit card you’re using but it should be about the same process. I’ll walk through how to transfer points in the Chase app.

Open your Chase Banking mobile app
Click into the credit card you’ll be using
Scroll down to “Rewards and benefits”
Click on “See rewards details & redeem”
Click “More”
Click “Transfer your points”
Scroll through until you find the airline you need (in my case AirFrance)
Click “Transfer points”
Enter your account information (log in)
Enter the number of miles you need
Click “submit”

The miles are transferred instantaneously! To watch a video of my doing this, check out this reel!

Step 5: Book the Flight

Because the miles are transferred instantaneously, when you return back to your selected airlines webpage your miles will already show up in your account! You can then book your flight!

The $64.50 comes from taxes and fees which are not covered by the miles used.

That’s all you need to fly to Europe for $64.50!

Final Thoughts

The credit card points game is kind of intimidating, however figuring it out to be able to go to Europe for so much cheaper is well worth it! Check out this post for a more detailed explanation about the different ways to use your rewards points.

Where are you planning to travel with your points?

If you want an awesome Travel Budget to track how much you spend on your vacations check out the one I use at The Budget Empire. If you want it for free, it’s in my resource library! Which you can access by signing up for my email list!

Comments

Tracey says

June 10, 2022 at 8:20 pm

Thanks for all the info! Love watching and reading about your mini-retirement! Question: in step 2, I don’t see the link to the Chase UR travel partners?

- Sofi says
  
  June 10, 2022 at 10:37 pm
  
  Hi Tracey! I’m so glad you enjoy it!! You are so right I didn’t add the link, thank you for calling me out! It should be updated and good to go now!! But here it is again: link!