Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Where 100,000 Points Can Take You: First Class Seats, Five-Star Suites and VIP Upgrades
30 Apr 2025
Explore your options for spending 100,000 credit card points, with tips on redemptions for luxury flights, hotels, and hidden travel perks. What are the best ways to use 100,000 credit card points for travel? How do you transfer points to airlines or hotels to get the most value? Hosts Sally French and Meghan Coyle discuss top redemptions across Chase, AmEx, and Capital One to help you stretch your points for luxury flights, high-end hotels, and memorable experiences. But first, they break down the latest travel headlines, including Bilt Rewards adding Southwest as a transfer partner, Citi devaluing transfer ratios for Emirates Skywards, JetBlue allowing point redemptions for Japan Airlines, Chase Travel now listing cruise itineraries online, and a new Disney World dining deal that lets kids eat free when bundled with resort stays. Then, Benjamin Din, lead travel writer at NerdWallet, joins Sally and Meghan to discuss how to make the most of 100,000 credit card points. They share tips for booking premium cabins on airlines like Lufthansa, ANA, and Virgin Atlantic, scoring great hotel stays with Hyatt and Choice Privileges, and stacking perks like complimentary breakfast, resort credits, and early park access through AmEx’s Fine Hotels & Resorts collection. Whether you’re planning a European getaway, a theme park weekend, or an all-inclusive escape, this episode explores flexible, high-value ways to use your points strategically. Card benefits, terms and fees can change. For the most up-to-date information about cards mentioned in this episode, read our reviews: Citi Strata Premier Review Chase Sapphire Preferred Review Citi AAdvantage Platinum Card Review American Express Platinum Review Resources discussed in this episode: Cruises Now Searchable on Chase’s Travel Portal 11 Things to Do with 100K Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Loews Portofino Bay at Universal Studios: The Best Way To Use The Amex $200 Hotel Credit 5 Best Ways to Use Delta SkyMiles 5 Best Credit Card Points Programs and Who They Partner With In their conversation, the Nerds discuss: best travel credit card redemptions, Chase Ultimate Rewards Hyatt transfer, Capital One transfer partners, American Express fine hotels and resorts, best hotel redemptions with points, using AmEx points for Universal hotels, Lufthansa first class on points, ANA first class with points, best transfer partners for credit card points, Hyatt award chart, Virgin Atlantic upper class points, flying blue promo rewards, Air Canada Aeroplan redemptions, Iberia Avios business class, Choice Privileges points value, hotel points vs flight points, Bilt rewards southwest transfer, Citi Emirates transfer ratio, JetBlue Japan Airlines points, cruises with Chase points, AmEx Platinum hotel perks, vacation rentals with points, Virgin Red vs Virgin Atlantic, British Airways Avios redemptions, Delta SkyMiles deals, redeem points for Europe flights, stackable Disney deals 2026, Universal Studios hotel rewards, Marriott vs Hyatt redemptions, award travel sweet spots, short haul Avios flights, and theme park travel rewards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
Sally, you know those icebreaker questions that are like, what would you do with a million dollars? What if we asked, what would you do with 100,000 points?
That would be way more fitting for our show and fitting Megan to have an icebreaker because we have a guest on our show today. And I am guessing he has some good answers to that icebreaker question.
After the news, we'll be joined by our colleague Benjamin Din. I think he would describe himself as a proud aviation geek. And when it comes to redeeming points, he really knows his stuff.
I have to say, every time I read about his airline redemptions, I'm like, can you please show me your ways, Ben? That's why I asked him to come on the show. Welcome to Smart Travel, a deep dive into the tips, tools, and tactics to maximize your travel dollars. I'm Megan Coyle. And I'm Sally French.
And we're the travel nerds ready to help you plan your next big trip.
We've asked our colleague, Benjamin Din, to join us to talk about what to do with six figures worth of credit card points. But first, the news.
Before we get there, you should drop our usual disclaimer, Sally.
Yes, we will talk about a few credit card companies that are NerdWallet partners in this episode, but that does not influence how we discuss them. The benefits, terms, and fees mentioned were accurate at the time of this posting, but things can change. Some offers may have expired by the time you're listening, so for the latest details, follow the links in the episode description. I do.
And I think the listeners know it, too. Yeah.
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