From snowy markets to sleeper trains: How I’m spending Christmas in Europe using points and miles

When TPG Senior Writer Ben Smithson alerted me to the Air France-KLM Flying Blue Promotional Rewards Auction for July – flights from Denver International Airport (DEN) to Europe starting at 15,000 Flying Blue miles round-trip – I was happy. Specials like this are very rare, but most of them are from the East Coast or West Coast, and I’m based in Colorado. I thought about booking flight reservations to take advantage of past deals, but the cost and hassle just wasn’t worth it.

Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to fly non-stop from Denver to Europe for only 30,000 miles round trip later this year. But since my partner and I were already planning – and paying for – our wedding and honeymoon in October, we decided we’d only book a trip if we could get it all (including airfare and accommodation) for free using points and miles. Here’s how we did it.

Related: Why you should use points and miles to book vacation travel

Booking Air France flights rewards you with Capital One miles

Flying Blue’s July promo awards not only included flights to and from our destination, Denver International Airport (DEN), but also included several destinations in Europe. We have selected cities in France, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Norway and more.

We ultimately narrowed down the list based on which dates worked best for us and which cities had the most hotel options we could book with our Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt points. We also considered European train routes because we knew we wanted to check a night train off our bucket list.

We settled on a flight to Prague a few days before Christmas and flew from Brussels a week later. We’ll spend three days exploring Prague’s magical Christmas markets, then take the European Sleeper to Brussels and finish our trip with two days in the Belgian capital. As a fan of Agatha Christie, I was very excited to explore Brussels, home of one of my favorite fictional characters: detective Hercule Poirot.

Our flights from DEN to Prague cost 15,000 Flying Blue miles plus $116 in taxes and fees, and our flights from Brussels to DEN cost 15,000 miles and $182 — a total of -30,000 and $298 per person.

Our tickets are standard economy, meaning you will each receive a free checked bag, carry-on and personal items. Interestingly, our flight home from Brussels is one of Air France’s combined flight and train tickets, which means we will depart Brussels South/Midi Train Station (ZYR) and take a train to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) for our flight to DEN.

I am not an Air France-KLM frequent flyer, and my Flying Blue account holds 0 miles. No problem — I collect Chase Ultimate Rewards points and Capital One miles, both of which are transfer partners with Flying Blue.

Chase has a wide selection of transfer partners that I often use, such as United Airlines MileagePlus, Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt. I have a hard time using my Capital One miles because they don’t transfer to many of my favorite programs. So, I decided to use Capital One miles for this release because I’m unlikely to get any other use for them.

I had just over 60,000 miles in my Capital One account, so I happily transferred this to Flying Blue and saved my Chase points for future use. I spent a total of 60,000 miles and $596 on two round-trip flights to Europe – not bad for tickets that would have cost about $3,200 total. I ended up getting a rate of about 4.3 cents per mile, which is significantly higher than TPG’s October 2024 average of 1.3 cents for Flying Blue miles and 1.85 cents for Capital One miles.

Related: The complete guide to Capital One’s airline and hotel transfer partners

Book a top Prague hotel with Hyatt points

As a loyal Hyatt member with the Hyatt World Credit Card, I checked out my Hyatt lodging options in various European cities before booking our flights. One of the reasons we chose Prague was that it had two well-reviewed Hyatt properties near the city center.

I could get great value for my World of Hyatt points at the Lindner Hotel Prague Castle in Phase 1, where basic rooms cost $140 or 6,000 points per night on our dates. This would provide an excellent value of 2.3 cents per point, well above TPG’s October 2024 average of 1.7 cents per World of Hyatt point, indicating that Tier 1 Hyatt hotels are a great way to get the most value for your points.

But the Lindner Hotel was not as central as we had hoped. Since we only had a few days to explore Prague and we were going to visit in the coldest month of the year, I was willing to spend the extra points on a more comfortable place. We ended up booking three nights at the Andaz Prague 6th Floor, a fast hotel within easy walking distance of everything from the train station to the Christmas markets, for a total of 83,000 points. Since the cash rate was $1,266, we got a value of 1.53 cents per point – on the low side for Hyatt points. However, it was the best option for our needs and still saved us over $1,000.

I had almost 50,000 Hyatt points saved up for recent stays and spend on my World of Hyatt credit card; I transferred the rest to my Chase Ultimate Rewards account. Since World of Hyatt doesn’t charge taxes or fees on award stays, I didn’t have to pay a dime out of pocket.

Related: World of Hyatt Credit Card Review: One of the most valuable hotel cards

Book a historic Brussels hotel with free Marriott night vouchers

My boyfriend had recently added the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card to his wallet, and the welcome bonus at the time included three free night certificates for up to 50,000 Bonvoy points each (gift no longer available), which burned a hole in his pocket. . Since Brussels had many Marriott properties to choose from, she decided to use her two-night vouchers to cover our two nights in Brussels.

We chose the Dominican, Brussels, a member of Marriott’s Design Hotels collection that began as a monastery in 1465 and now offers luxury accommodation in the heart of the city. Reward averages on our dates were 46,000 points per night, allowing us to almost max out our free flight certificates. Since cash rates were around $580 in those days, that welcome bonus saved us over $1,100 – and we still have another free night to use on our next trip.

Unlike World of Hyatt, Marriott Bonvoy does charge additional fees for award stays, but these were minimal. Our total cost for a two-night stay was 8.50 euros, or just under $10 at the time of writing.

Related: The best Marriott hotels in the world

Other expenses

The biggest expense of our Christmas trip was the European Sleeper train, which cost about $465 on a private carrier for two. We booked it with our Chase Sapphire Preferred® card because it earns 2 points per dollar spent on travel, has no international transaction fees, and includes travel insurance. We’ll arrive in Brussels in true “kill on the Orient Express” style (though hopefully without the killing part) and earn some bonus points while we’re at it.

I’m thinking of booking a guided bike tour of Prague through Hyatt’s Find Experiences platform, where I can earn 4 points per dollar spent with my World of Hyatt Credit Card. And if we eat any meals at our hotels, we will pay with my World of Hyatt card or my boyfriend’s Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card, which earns 6 points per dollar spent on Marriott purchases.

On all other meals, the Chase Sapphire Preferred will give us 3 points per dollar spent. For activities, souvenirs and other purchases that don’t fall into any of the bonus spend categories, I’ll use my Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card because it earns 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase and has no foreign transaction fees (see rates and fees).

Related: The best cards for trip cancellation and interruption insurance

Bottom line

Sometimes, you already have a dream destination in mind and points and miles can help you get there for less — like when my boyfriend and I planned our lemur-iffic honeymoon in Madagascar using rewards. Sometimes, when you get a great deal using points and miles, it can encourage you to visit an unexpected destination or try a new experience. Either way, staying flexible in your travel plans can help you get the most value from your points.