After spending final Christmas in Europe, my husband and I made a decision to get a particular reward for our moms this yr: a festive journey to Germany’s legendary Christmas markets. What higher option to spend high quality household time than by consuming our method via stall after stall of conventional German treats, like marzipan and stollen, whereas getting tipsy on scorching gluhwein (mulled wine) beneath the glow of 1000’s of fairy lights?
(Simply kidding. It is unimaginable to get tipsy on gluhwein as a result of it is served in tiny, lovely boot-shaped mugs.)
Our moms, in fact, liked the concept. They dwell throughout the nation and do not at all times get to see us over the vacations; plus, they do not get to journey fairly often, and one among them has by no means even gone abroad.
However they’re each residing on tight budgets as they plan for retirement, they usually could not afford to spend every week or extra in European motels through the peak vacation season — nor might we afford to pay for all 4 individuals. Fortunately, factors and miles saved us 1000’s of {dollars} on flights, lodging and transportation so we might share the magic of the German vacation season with two of our favourite individuals.
Airfare
In the event you and your loved ones (or buddies) dwell shut collectively, reserving airfare with factors should not be too laborious — assuming you all gather the identical currencies, particularly ones that mean you can pool your factors and miles.
In the event you and your family members are scattered across the nation, you’ve gotten a few choices. You may ebook separate flights and meet at your vacation spot, or have some individuals ebook a positioning flight to the others’ location so you’ll be able to all journey collectively.
Our little household is unfold throughout three cities: My husband and I dwell close to Denver Worldwide Airport (DEN), whereas our mothers dwell close to the smaller Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) in North Carolina and Bradley Worldwide Airport (BDL) in Hartford, Connecticut.
We thought of having our mothers fly to Denver in order that we might all journey to Germany collectively, since DEN provides direct flights to a number of German cities. Nonetheless, many of the direct choices are on United Airways, and neither of our mothers had United MileagePlus miles obtainable. My mother had entry to round half one million Delta SkyMiles (amassed over a long time of my dad flying Delta Air Strains for work), whereas my mother-in-law had round $1,000 in cash-back rewards on her Capital One Quicksilver Money Rewards Credit score Card.
Our mission? To search out flights from three completely different airports, with three several types of rewards, that arrived in Germany on the identical day (and ideally across the similar time).
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In the end, this is the place we — forgive the pun — landed:
- My husband and I used United miles (and Chase Final Rewards factors transferred to United) to ebook a United flight from DEN to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and a Lufthansa flight from Munich Airport (MUC) to DEN. Whole value: 80,000 miles (we saved 30% by having a United bank card, which supplies entry to award reductions) plus $196 per particular person.
- Utilizing my dad’s hoard of Delta miles, my mother splurged on Consolation+ seats for her flights from AVL to FRA and MUC to AVL, each of which join at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport (ATL). Whole value: 136,800 miles (she saved 15%* robotically together with her Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Specific Card) plus roughly $152.
- My mother-in-law discovered Delta flights from BDL to FRA and MUC to BDL that additionally related in Atlanta — permitting her and my mother to journey collectively on their transatlantic flights. Whole value: $1,449 for a important cabin seat. She used her cash-back rewards to offset roughly $1,000 of the associated fee, and we upgraded her to Consolation+ as our Christmas reward.
Reserving flights from completely different airports with completely different rewards was difficult, nevertheless it helped that we began our search early (seven to eight months upfront) and stored our dates and vacation spot cities versatile.
Germany has a number of giant airports, providing a wide range of choices for flights. Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin are good locations to begin your search, however you may additionally think about Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Stuttgart, which have direct flights to pick U.S. cities. And remember that many different European locations host fabulous vacation markets as properly.
European Christmas markets sometimes open in mid-to-late November and stay open till late December, providing a large journey window. Simply understand that most German Christmas markets shut for the season Dec. 23 or 24. We realized this too late, after reserving our flights between Christmas and New Yr’s — however fortunately, as a result of we hadn’t booked fundamental economic system tickets, we had been capable of reschedule our flights for gratis.
*Cardmembers save 15% when reserving Delta flights with miles via delta.com and the Fly Delta app.
Associated: Find out how to fly to Europe utilizing factors and miles
Lodging
Though we thought of sharing a trip rental, my household opted to ebook a number of lodge rooms so that we might every have our personal area to retreat to after an extended day of togetherness. This may most likely value greater than a single Airbnb, nevertheless it was price it to us — in any case, we wished to nonetheless love one another on the finish of the journey.
So, we looked for moderately priced motels and used factors the place doable to offset the associated fee.
We’ll begin our nine-night journey with two nights on the lately opened Kimpton Predominant Frankfurt, which I will be reviewing for TPG. My mother used the cash-back rewards from her U.S. Financial institution FlexPerks® Journey Rewards Visa Signature® Card to cowl her keep, whereas my mother-in-law paid money (524 euros complete, or about $607).
The data for the U.S. Financial institution FlexPerks Journey Rewards Visa Signature Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
Subsequent, we’ll spend three nights on the Class 4 Hyatt Regency Cologne, the place fundamental rooms value 247 euros ($286) or 15,000 World of Hyatt factors on our dates. That comes out to an above-average worth of 1.9 cents per Hyatt level.
My mother had lately added the Chase Sapphire Most well-liked® Card (see charges and charges) to her pockets, incomes a giant pile of Chase factors from the welcome bonus (and giving me 10,000 factors as a referral bonus). After I confirmed her how simple it’s to switch Chase factors, she arrange a World of Hyatt account and transferred 45,000 factors to ebook her keep.
I had collected loads of Chase factors as properly, so I used them to ebook my very own room and my mother-in-law’s. I used the annual free evening certificates from my World of Hyatt Credit score Card (see charges and charges) to cowl one evening and redeemed a mixture of 75,000 Chase and Hyatt factors for the remaining.
Since Hyatt does not cost taxes or charges on award stays, we paid nothing out of pocket.
We’ll spherical out our journey with 4 nights in Munich. The capital of Bavaria has loads of factors motels, however few are conveniently situated across the central Christmas markets. We opted for an impartial lodge known as Keep Kooook Munchen Metropolis, which supplied a central location, cheap charges and full kitchens. (I like a lodge with a kitchen.)
Even higher, Keep Kooook was obtainable on Capital One Journey, the place I can earn 10 miles per greenback spent with my Capital One Enterprise X Rewards Credit score Card. I booked my room and my mother-in-law’s for $656 every, incomes over 13,000 miles within the course of. My mother booked her room on Accommodations.com, and since she clicked via the Rakuten purchasing portal, she’ll earn some money again on the finish of her keep.
Exploring Christmas markets on factors is comparatively simple in bigger European cities, the place you may discover loads of factors lodge choices. Some lodge applications — together with IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt — allow you to switch factors to family and friends, permitting you to mix your rewards. However, if one among you has all of the factors, you’ll be able to often ebook stays for others with your personal factors.
Nonetheless, in the event you’d slightly discover Christmas markets in smaller cities or keep at boutique properties, you may think about leveraging cash-back rewards to save cash. You too can redeem factors via bank card journey portals to ebook impartial motels — or, in the event you pay with money, to earn bonus rewards on the acquisition.
Associated: I not often keep at main lodge chains — this is how I maximize my reward journey anyway
Transportation
In the event you’re hoping to hit a number of Christmas markets (and perhaps different sights), there are a number of methods to plan your itinerary. You may hire a automotive and discover the countryside, hitting markets in numerous cities alongside the best way. Or you would base your self in a single huge metropolis, which may have a number of markets to select from, and take day journeys to close by cities and sights.
For our journey, we determined to go to three cities and take Germany’s glorious practice system in between.
Since we solely wanted two long-distance practice tickets, it made sense to buy them a la carte from Deutsche Bahn’s web site (the place you may discover the perfect costs). Tickets are priced dynamically primarily based on elements like time of day, practice station and demand, and it can save you vital cash by shopping for your tickets upfront. We opted for direct itineraries, which value a bit of extra, however saved by selecting cheaper stations and departure occasions. We paid roughly $150 per particular person in complete for our tickets, together with the senior reductions for our moms.
In the event you’ll be touring by practice for not less than three days (consecutive or not), chances are you’ll need to think about a rail move, which begins at $265 per grownup for 3 nonconsecutive days in a month. You’ll be able to test a la carte practice ticket costs and rail move costs to find out which makes probably the most sense.
We additionally booked a rental automotive for in the future in Munich as a result of I used to be decided to go to Neuschwanstein Fort — the inspiration behind Disneyland’s Sleeping Magnificence Fort — roughly a two-hour drive exterior town. We thought of reserving a full-day bus tour to the fort, however the rental automotive was less expensive than 4 tickets, and we might choose it up very near our lodge. I booked the automotive for $163 via Capital One Journey with my Enterprise X’s journey credit score, so I did not need to pay a dime.
There are methods to ebook rental automobiles with factors and miles, and you’ll leverage cash-back journey rewards to cowl public transportation prices. Or, in the event you’d slightly pay money, make sure to use one of many greatest playing cards for common journey purchases.
One other (albeit costlier) choice is a Christmas market river cruise.
Associated: Finest European routes the place you need to take a practice as an alternative of a aircraft
Backside line
Touring together with your prolonged household — or a gaggle of buddies — may be uniquely rewarding, and factors and miles may also help make it occur.
For my husband and me, it was a option to share our love of journey with our moms, who could not have afforded this magical journey with out the assistance of factors and miles. And now that they’ve dipped their toes into the world of journey rewards (and realized the worth of transferable factors), they’re excited to unlock future journeys.
All instructed, the 4 of us saved round $8,000 with a mixture of airline miles, lodge factors, free evening certificates and bank card rewards. Our nine-day journey to Germany throughout peak vacation season value a grand complete of $1,042 per particular person — leaving loads of room in our budgets for Christmas market snacks and souvenirs.
In the event you want me, I will be on the gluhwein stall.
