I’ve saved thousands of dollars on honeymoon flights with points and miles

After you marry your forever partner, what better way to kick off the next chapter of your life together than with the trip of a lifetime? Whether your dream honeymoon destination is South Beach or the Southern Hemisphere, spending some time with the love of your life right after exchanging vows is a great move.

But, we don’t need to tell you that your dream honeymoon can be expensive. And, if you plan about splashing – and really, what better time to entertain your honeymoon? – the price for your ride can easily run into the thousands of dollars. Between flight, many hotels, transportation, food and more, a honeymoon can be a hefty expense. Thankfully, travel rewards can save you hundreds – if not thousands – on your honeymoon.

I can speak from experience. My husband and I got married last month, and while all the wedding was planned before our big day, we knew we wanted to go somewhere special for our honeymoon. . We have settled in Southeast Asia for an exciting, once in a lifetime trip. And instead of paying for our flights, we book travel rewards to use.

Now that we are back from our honeymoon, we can confirm that our leisure trip was a step in the right direction. In fact, our flights were so great that we didn’t even want to get off the plane. Think of a bed in the sky, the food you will enjoy eating at a beautiful restaurant on the ground and excellent service. Here’s how we booked a $18,584 honeymoon plane ticket for less than $175 – and how, with some effort, flexibility, and homework, you can do it similar.

To kick off our Southeast Asian adventure, we flew from New York to Singapore. With a speed of 9,537 miles and a flight time of 18 hours and 50 minutes, Singapore Airlines’ nonstop flight from New York-Kennedy (JFK) to Singapore (SIN) is currently longest flight in the world.

Since it was our honeymoon, we decided to go business class – especially considering it was a nearly 19 hour journey. While we could have chosen to fly with a stop in Frankfurt along the way (and even potentially fly to Singapore Suites first class on the A380), we flew non-stop. And, after experiencing delicious food, great service, and a comfy bed in the sky, we’re glad we did.

For one-way business class seats on this route, Singapore Airlines charges from $3,600 to nearly $10,000. On the day we flew, the airline charged $6,516 per person for a business seat – that would be $13,032 for both of us. To be clear, it’s way over our budget. Instead, we used travel rewards and pay only $11.20 out of pocket. Yes, you read that right – just over $11 total.

That’s because we chose redeem Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles for flight. A one-way trip between New York and Singapore costs just 99,000 KrisFlyer Singapore miles and $5.60 in taxes and fees in business class, as long as you can find the Saver prize. (Singapore Airlines does not offer Singapore Suites on non-stop flights between New York and Singapore.)

Now, most Americans – myself included – don’t have a bunch of KrisFlyer Singapore miles sitting around. But luckily, these miles are incredibly easy to earn as airlines partner with all of the major US credit card convertible loyalty programs. In other words, you can switch Chase the ultimate reward, Rewards for American Express members, Capital One mile and Citi Thank You Rewards to Singapore Airlines.

I saved a huge amount of American Express Membership Rewards Points from both Platinum Card® from American Express and my American Express® Gold Card. By transferring those points, I had more than enough to cover the 198,000 KrisFlyer miles needed for both me and my husband.

Present, Platinum Amex – card we consider one of the best perks for luxury travel – is offering a welcome bonus of 100,000 bonus points after spending $6,000 in the first six months after opening an account. That welcome bonus offer alone is big enough to get a one-way business class ticket from New York to Singapore.

Meanwhile, Gold Amex The card is currently offering new card members 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first six months after opening an account. If you can secure the welcome bonus offers from both Amex Platinum and Amex Gold, you’ll be able to make a one-way trip to Singapore in business class for you and your new spouse.

Learn more about the American Express Platinum Card.
Learn more about the American Express Gold Card.

Keep in mind that points do not always transfer immediately to Singapore Airlines – it can take up to 48 hours in some cases. So you’ll want to plan ahead if you’re thinking of transferring points to your Singapore account.

How we saved almost $5,400 flying from Thailand to New York in business class

After a few weeks in Southeast Asia, (unfortunately) it was time for us to head back to New York. We ended our honeymoon in Thailand, so when booking, we looked at options from Bangkok (BKK) back to New York (JFK). And, we can find another transaction stealing using travel rewards.

Etihad Airways flies this route with a stop in Abu Dhabi (AUH) en route. The airline charged about $3,000 per person for a one-way business class seat – in fact, on our date of travel, the airline charged $2,776 per person, which would total $5,552 for both of us. Again, this would simply be out of our budget.

We can find business class prizes instead, and since Etihad Airways is a partner with Air Canada, we can redeem Air Canada Aeroplan Points to reduce this flight to a fraction of the cost. Specifically, we exchanged 85,000 Aeroplan points per person – 170,000 points in total – and paid approximately $162 in taxes and fees between the two of us. In other words, we got this $5,552 business class cruise for just $162.

Just like KrisFlyer Singapore miles, it’s super easy to earn Air Canada Aeroplan miles – even if you’ve never set foot on an Air Canada plane. That’s because the Aeroplan program is a delivery partner of Chase the ultimate reward, Rewards for American Express members and Capital One mile. In other words, you can transfer points from any of those three programs to Aeroplan and redeem them for flights with Air Canada – or any of its partners, such as Etihad or dozens of others. .

I used the combination Rewards for American Express members points and Chase the ultimate reward points in exchange for this 170,000 point flight. You can easily get an amount of points for this redemption with the current signup bonus on Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Rewards points are currently 60,000 points after spending $4,000 on the card within the first three months, 25,000 points short, enough to redeem a one-way business class flight from Asia to North America for one person. When you also consider, that Chase Sapphire is preferred is a solid investment beyond the signup bonus – we even consider it the best travel credit card for beginners – picking up cards in addition to all those bonus points is unquestionable.

If you match 60,000 points earned from Chase Sapphire is preferred with 100,000 bonus points earned from the above welcome offer Platinum Amex and switch both to Air Canada Aeroplan, you’ll have nearly enough points for the same redemption we made – when you consider the points earned from the minimum spend requirement per card.

In the end, using travel rewards helped my husband and I afford luxury in the sky on our honeymoon – which would otherwise be unattainable. By revisiting our credit card strategy and getting it right travel credit card in our wallet, we were able to buy two amazing flying experiences for just $173 in our pocket. We could spend our honeymoon budget on great hotels and delicious food during our two week trip – what could be better?

Learn more about the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Looking for a travel credit card? Find out which card was selected by CNN Underscored as our card best travel credit cards in 2022.