Going to Florida with points

Are you tired of the cold? Like any snowbird, why not schedule a weekend break in the south? Find out how to travel with points and miles in Florida and the activities you could do there!

There are diverse flight options to get to Florida. Indeed, several companies serve Miami and its region. Because you should not forget that several airports are located in the Miami area, which can save you money.

Our favourite website to find flight options in a given area is flightconnections.com. You can adjust the departure and arrival radius to include or exclude certain airports.

Thus, when searching, we can include Montreal and Plattsburgh at the origin, and Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach at the destination. The tool then gives you all possible routes.

• Air Canada: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach
• American Airlines: Miami
• Air Transat: Fort Lauderdale
• Sunwing: Fort Lauderdale
• WestJet: Fort Lauderdale

• Allegiant: Fort Lauderdale
• Spirit Airlines: Fort Lauderdale

Round-trip ticket prices can quickly climb to over $1,000, depending on the period of the year!

To save money, several conditions must be met:

• be flexible on dates;
• Use a combination of two rewards programs, such as Air Canada Aeroplan points, and British Airways Executive Club Avios miles for travel on American Airlines to maximize your chances of saving on tickets or redeem your points on spending with Westjet or Sunwing;
• Arrive at one airport (Miami) and leave from another (Fort Lauderdale). The goal is to maximize your chances of finding available bonuses in this trendy destination.

If you do not find availability on all or part of your journey, you can pay with your credit card.

But you could save money here by using one of your cards with “travel points”: these points can be used to book your airline ticket(BMO Rewards points, for example) or be applied directly to your travel expenses(Scene+ points, for example).

For more information on the best credit cards today, visit this page.

• To earn Aeroplan Points, we recommend you visit our Aeroplan credit card ranking. Here you will find the cards with the best welcome bonuses.
• To get (British Airways Executive Club) miles, one of the best cards will be the American Express Cobalt^® Card, with which you can apply your points to the expense.

You can search for availability with the points of your different hotel programs depending on the card you have subscribed to. If you don’t have one yet, check out this page to learn about the different cards and bonuses available: Marriott Bonvoy, Best Western and Accor Group.

Let’s take the example of the Marriott group. The choice is vast, and you can get a value of more than 11 cents a point, depending on the hotel.

The Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program is one of the best known and offers a wide range of quality rooms compared to other groups.

To earn Marriott Bonvoy points directly, you can sign up for one of two American Express cards:

You will find hotels for all budgets with the points. Here are our suggestions for hotels with Marriott Bonvoy points:

In short, as you can see, a simple $120 contribution to the Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card can save you several hundred U.S. dollars, no matter the destination!

Do not hesitate to consult our reports of hotels located in Florida and visited by our team to make your choice:

Florida is naturally known for its long stretches of white sand and its mildest climate in winter. You can run, bike or stroll along the beaches with ice cream.

Miami is a city known for its Art Deco architecture. We come here to stroll along Ocean Drive, eat Cuban food in Little Havana and relax in one of the trendy bars. Be sure to take a trip to the Everglades to visit an alligator farm. Several places of interest are to be visited, such as the Vizcaya Gardens, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Wolfsonian or the Miami Children’s Museum.

If you like street art, you can visit the city looking for murals.

The atmosphere in Fort Lauderdale is quieter. You can store at the boutiques on Las Olas Boulevard, go golfing, fishing or take a boat ride.

For a good time with your family in Orlando, we recommend visiting Walt Disney World, Universal Studios or the Kennedy Space Center. Read our Orlando, Florida Guide to Sightseeing and Attractions.

Finally, Fort Myers, Naples and Tampa on the west side of Florida are equally enjoyable for a family vacation. The beaches are beautiful and many activities for children (amusement park, aquarium, zoo) and adults (golf, shopping, cruises, museums, etc.)!

There are many possibilities, and there is bound to be an excellent opportunity to use your points and miles to lower your travel bill!

One rule, however, is flexibility on dates and destinations. Because I must admit, on some destinations, it is rare to find the perfect round trip on the February weekend that everyone is aiming for…!

But by maintaining flexibility and a good understanding of your overall loyalty programs, you can certainly achieve a winning combination to save several hundred dollars.