All Points Lead To Ireland

We had been bitten by the travel bug.  Our trip to Thailand was beyond our wildest dreams.  We had experienced air travel on an international carrier, luxury accommodations, and cultural experiences we will never forget.  Like all novice travelers, we vowed to return to such an amazing location.  As we considered our future travels, however, we began to realize how much of the world we had yet to see. So, we made a list; a “wish” list, and one we never dreamed we would conquer, but rather a list from which to narrow down and choose our future travel destinations.  From the list, we decided what was most practical, economical, and from this point forward, where we could travel using points.  We had a travel plan.  Now we needed a plan to maximize our earning and spending for loyalty points.

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The biggest jaw-dropping memory from our Thailand trip was learning that the hotel we enjoyed (for free!) was $1,700.00 per night.  It’s the reason we only stayed four nights, but it was also, by far, the nicest hotel we had ever stayed at.  Conrad is part of the Hilton family.  We had been “Hilton Honors” members for years, but had never contemplated how to maximize points, at least not with a focus on staying at high-end international properties. Upon returning to the US, I began researching how to earn points faster.  Also, aside from charity auctions, I needed to know if there were ways to get more of these “certificates” for free nights.  I found the answer to both questions in the Amex Gold To jump on this train, however, I had to violate the second rule of credit cards my father had taught me! (Sorry dad!)  I was going to sign up for a credit card that had, gasp, an annual fee.  With so many free credit cards out there, why on earth would a person pay for a credit card?  For starters, there was the signup bonus: 1 free night reward certificate (I knew they existed!) and 80,000 Hilton Honors points, which, in effect, were nearly worth another free night.  Doing basic math - something else my father was instrumental in teaching me - I quickly deduced that two free hotel nights were worth more than the $95 annual fee.  I’ve kept this card over the years and will soon share how I’m able to maximize earning.  For now, however, I had the tool I needed to stay at another impeccable Hilton property - for free.

(PS: For those that are curious, Dad’s rule #1 is to never, or almost never, carry a credit card balance.  As you follow us along this journey, I strongly encourage you to be mindful of rule #1.)

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The hotel, however, was only half the battle.  How were we going to get to our next international destination?  Is it possible to fly in the “front of the plane” without winning the lottery?  I did some research on airline points and the quickest way to accumulate.  Having just experienced an international carrier (and also because we did not want to be handcuffed to one airline), I rejected the US-based airline credit cards. Ultimately, we settled on Chase Sapphire Preferred for the mixture of the signup bonus and earning categories, but mainly for the 1:1 transfer capabilities with approximately eleven airlines.  I was fortunate enough to get a sizable signup bonus and began saving points immediately.  (The current sign up bonus is 60,000 points!!!)  This card also comes with a $95 annual fee, but when you see the redemption below, you might agree with me that it is well worth it.  It took a little while to save up. (I didn’t learn signup bonus tricks until later.)  Once we had the points, we decided to book our next trip!

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Booking reward airfare can seem tricky, but once you learn a few secrets, it can be a fun challenge!  While many carriers will travel to dozens (if not hundreds) of destinations around the world, a carrier’s hub city is one place where deals (and points redemptions) are found.  Ireland was on our list.  Aer Lingus, the largest airline in Ireland, and with its hub in Dublin, flies all over the world including approximately twelve (12) flights direct to the USA.  

Flights, especially reward flights, are not always available from your “home” airport, however.  If you are looking to score special “saver” award tickets (tickets redeemed for a lower amount of points), you will almost certainly be looking to airports a little farther from home.  In this instance, I found round trip airfare from the USA to Dublin for 100,000 points each for business class tickets on Aer Lingus, plus $99.72 in taxes. The catch?  We had to get to Washington D.C.  Political jokes aside, a quick visit to  United.com , and I had booked us an economy round trip ticket from our home airport to D.C. for less than $200 each.  After all, we did not need a business class seat when making the 2.5 hour trip to IAD.  This redemption saved a ton of money, as the cash price for an Aer Lingus business class ticket ranges between $3,000 - $4,000.

If you are familiar with the Chase Sapphire card, you might be wondering how this point redemption was possible, since Aer Lingus was not, at the time, a transfer partner with Ultimate Rewards. To make this point redemption, I capitalized on the Star Alliance network - comprising 15 airlines worldwide.  I transferred my Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to United Airlines, and used United Airlines points to book the Aer Lingus flight.  It was now possible to see how Chase Sapphire Ultimate Reward Points did not just open up free flights on its eleven transfer partners, but rather on an extended network of alliance partners - a huge difference! 

So, there you have it.  Flexibility in leaving the USA from an airport different from your home airport and leveraging airline alliances to transfer Ultimate Rewards Points to the airline that sells the cheapest reward ticket.  Easy as pie… albeit a bake-from-scratch pie with no precise recipe.  That said, it is the beginnings of a tried and true method that, with a little patience and a whole lot of persistence, has yielded incredible point redemptions.  All stories to come in future articles! 

As for this trip, and as you might imagine, our first experience in business class was life changing.  When we arrived in D.C., we learned that we could go to the Aer Lingus lounge.  (Actually, it was the British Airways lounge, but Aer Lingus business class passengers are welcome inside).  For the first time, we weren’t scrambling for a “quick hamburger” and scouring for two seats together near the gate. The lounge had free champagne and multiple (healthy) food options.  When we boarded the plane, the front of the plane, we were greeted by a team of separate flight attendants who would assist only the business class passengers.  We had a great dinner, maybe another glass of champagne, and then put the seat into its lay-flat position for the duration of the transcontinental flight to catch some z’s before our early morning arrival.

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Because of our sign up bonus with the Hilton Amex, right out of the gate, we had one free-night certificate and nearly enough points to book the Conrad in Dublin, Ireland for at least one additional night.  Since we also wanted to explore western Ireland on this quick trip across the pond, we elected to stay in Dublin for two nights before continuing our journey.  Another great perk of the Amex Gold is the automatic Hilton Honors Gold status that you receive, just for being a card member.  This perk entitles you to automatic room upgrade (subject to availability), and most critically - at least for my travel crew - free breakfast.  One of my wife’s favorite experiences on our travels has been enjoying the local cuisine at breakfast.  She’d be the first to tell you that these high end hotels do not disappoint!  (PS - breakfast at these hotels can be an eye-popping $50 a head, so while you can travel cheaper with a box of poptarts, a “free” breakfast at these properties is not inconsequential.)

In total, we stayed at this property for free (including breakfast!) - almost exclusively using the signup bonus certificate and points.  The Conrad in Dublin was nice, albeit not two-bedroom-suite-on-the-side-of-a-cliff nice.  It was in the heart of Dublin, walking distance to many of the sights, pubs, and on/off bus.  Because of our business class air travel, we arrived, ready to roll, at 5am.  The Conrad’s hospitality and concierge team were instrumental in setting up excursions, including our favorite excursion to the outskirts of town to the Merry Ploughboy Pub for a dinner and show. Additionally, the Conrad team assisted us in recommending restaurants and even in helping me get my rental car.  Yes, rental car in a foreign country.  Yikes.  

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We could have stayed longer, but certainly felt like we had experienced Dublin.  One thing we vowed to “check off” in Ireland was to visit and see a castle.  Since we were flying for free and staying at the Conrad Dublin for free, we decided to splurge on our western Ireland accommodations. It was a bit of a surprise for the wife, but our last two nights in Ireland were spent sleeping at Ashford Castle.  Normally, we are not ones to spend $500/night on a hotel room.  However, the flight was free, our first two nights in Dublin were free, so I thought, “what the heck,” and averaged out the cost of the castle across the whole trip to justify the expense.  

Ashford castle is as magical as it sounds.  We golfed, enjoyed a boat excursion on Lake Corrib, experienced falconry, and of course, explored the castle.  After feeling like royalty for two short nights, we returned to Dublin and made our way back to the USA.  

Whether you use points to go on trips you could otherwise not afford, use points to reduce the cost of the overall trip (allowing you to splurge elsewhere), or some combination of the two, an amazing adventure awaits.  For us, our adventure to Ireland, complete with a splurge on staying in a castle, was complete.  While it would take us some time to save up our points again, we knew this was not the last trip.  In fact, we got that list back out and began dreaming of the next destination…

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