Testimonial: A 2-month mini round-the-world on points

Through a series of testimonials from our readers, Milesopedia presents what you can achieve with credit cards and loyalty programs.

Here’s Sylvie and her partner Louis’ plan for a two-month mini round-the-world trip. In a single trip, they visited Western Canada, Japan, Vietnam and Portugal!

Sylvie’s Testimonial – Who are you?

I’m 65 and I’ve been reading Milesopedia for four years now.

When traveling with my partner, we like Airbnb accommodation for the comfort and proximity to more local neighborhoods. We like to walk and use public transport. Since we’re quite active during the day, in the evening we relax over a home-cooked supper.

The Marriot Bonvoy hotel option is new to us. Honestly, it allowed us to take short breaks in these very comfortable hotels during our stay in Vietnam. The other days were spent in hotels with basic comforts, so these short breaks were worthwhile.

For the past three years, we’ve been traveling with just one carry-on and a small 30-liter backpack.

Sylvie’s Testimonial – Your travel project with points : 2 months around the world

Our original idea was to go skiing in Japan. Eventually, given the winter there and all the sightseeing we wanted to do, the trip turned into a mini round the world in the fall. Then we decided that if we were going to go to Japan, we might as well take a trip to Vietnam!

In planning our itinerary, we had the option of retracing our steps with a flight from Vietnam across the Pacific to Montreal. However, we decided to end this trip by circling the globe, heading back west and stopping off in Portugal. Our mini round-the-world was taking shape!

The very attractive option of Aeroplan stopovers for just 5,000 extra points made this itinerary much easier.

Our final itinerary was :

In Lisbon, we chose an Airbnb in the Belém district to take a break before making our way back. We took the opportunity to visit several museums. Everything is within walking distance in this neighborhood, which we loved!

Transportation

All our flights have been booked with Aeroplan points on Air Canada and partners. We took full advantage of the 5,000 points Aeroplan stopovers, both on the outbound and inbound legs. In this way, we were able to make a 29-day “stopover” in Japan on our way to Vietnam. On the way back, we made this stopover in Lisbon for five days.

Here is a summary of our reservations for two people:

To travel business class on the Vancouver-Osaka segment, we used a total of 22 eUpgrade credits for the two of us. These credits were earned through Aeroplan Elite 25K status.

Transportation savings

With a total of 306,400 Aeroplan points, a Buddy Pass and 22 eUpgrade credits, we saved a very impressive $22,926 on flights for our mini round-the-world! Points can be used to pay for business-class flights, which are very expensive when paying cash.

Accommodation

For accommodations, we used a combination of Marriott Bonvoy, Best Western and AIR MILES points for our reservations:

Savings on accommodation

By paying with points for 10 nights at the hotel, we saved a total of $2,572.

Activities and other

The Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon offered half-board for US$15 per day per person to Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite members. Breakfasts, dinners and alcoholic beverages were included in the package. Our status allowed us to save $180 on meals.

Then we used flexible reward points to reimburse various travel expenses:

Savings on activities and other expenses

In the end, we saved $1,130 on meals and miscellaneous expenses with our points.

Sylvie’s Testimonial – Credit cards used

I accumulated the points with my partner over a period of about two years. We alternate card applications according to our expenses and the promotions on offer. As is often written on Milesopedia, this is a marathon, not a sprint!

The benefits

With our credit cards, we will enjoy additional benefits such as :

Tips for collecting more points

I use a few strategies that allow me to accumulate more points on a daily basis:

Summary

All told, we’ve saved a whopping $26,628! Here is a breakdown of the amounts saved by category during our two-month mini round-the-world:

Our points portfolio is diversified and we used six different loyalty programs for this big trip:

The final word

The best card in my wallet is undoubtedly the American Express Cobalt^MD Card. However, as it is not accepted everywhere, I supplement with the TD^MD Aeroplan^MD Visa Infinite* Card and the National Bank World Elite Mastercard^®.

In addition, I think it’s imperative for frequent travelers to have a card with no foreign currency conversion fees (like the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite +* Card) to save 2.5% on all transactions.

I’m now planning my next trips. Thanks Milesopedia!

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