Bavaria Case Study: Points and Miles Free Up Travel Budget for Music, Museums, and Mozartkugeln

When Ms. Optimizer and I take trips, I like to report how the points and miles game fit into our plans and how it benefited us. After all, if I am going to dispense advice about turning credit card spending into free travel, I need to lead by example and show results.

Recently, we took a trip to Bavaria and Austria for some alpine hiking and a bit of culture. In Bavaria, we spent a week hiking around the towns of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Mittenwald. Highlights included taking a cogwheel train and cable car to the top of the Zugspitze, the highest point in Germany, and walking through the Partnach Gorge. We balanced the outdoorsy part of our trip with two nights in Salzburg that included a concert at the Hohensalzburg fortress overlooking the city. (Of course, this included several Mozart pieces, among others.)

A couple of factoids for travel to this area:

• In Bavaria outside of Munich, restaurants and merchants often prefer cash. Of course, I prefer using credit cards as much as possible, but I made the adjustment.
• The alpine towns we visited appear to cater mostly to German tourists (we never ran into other Americans or native English speakers) but, as English is a common second language, we had no communication issues.
• There are several brands of Mozartkugeln (a chocolate containing marzipan, nougat, and pistachio) which can be found throughout Austria. The brands have different claims to fame. The Furst brand are hand made and are the only brand that can describe itself as the “Original Mozartkugeln.” Furst was, in fact, first. The Mirabell brand is the only brand that is allowed to market a perfectly spherical Mozartkugeln. The Reber brand, manufactured in Germany, must market with a hyphenated name (Mozart-Kugeln). There are a couple of other manufacturers. It is probably heresy, but I like the German brand the most.

Naturally, points and miles played a key role in this trip, both for reducing costs and for increasing comfort. We were able to utilize Air France miles, Delta miles, and Hilton points to lower our costs as follows:

• To catch our transatlantic flight, we used 22,800 Delta miles for two, “Comfort Plus” tickets to New York’s JFK airport. With a value of $397 for the tickets, the redemption of 1.7 cents per mile was much better than we normally get on Delta.
• We redeemed 110,00 Air France miles for two, one-way business class tickets from JFK to Munich. With a value of $5055, we got an excellent redemption of 4.6 cents per mile.
• For our return trip to the US, we redeemed 33,000 Air France miles for two, economy class tickets from Munich to Newark. The fair market value of these tickets was $1303 so the redemption worked out to 3.9 cents per mile. (We generally fly economy back to the US since these flights are during the day and we do not need the lie-flat beds in business class. Being wide awake, I used the opportunity to binge on movies!)
• Our only use of hotel points was for a room at the Munich Airport Hilton the night before our return home. We used 45,000 Hilton points for a room that would go for $159. At 0.35 cents per point, this was a so-so redemption.

Overall, the miles and points we utilized for this one trip saved us over $6,900. Additionally, the use of travel rewards credit cards yielded additional benefits that enhanced our trip.

• Because we have one Amex Delta Gold card, we got a 15 percent discount when redeeming miles for the positioning flight to JFK. This card also allowed us to check bags for free.
• Through the Amex Platinum Card, we were able to use the Delta lounge at our departure airport.
• By using the Amex Platinum Card “Hotel Collection” benefit, our room in Salzburg was upgraded to a “junior suite,” we were given $100 of credit to use at the hotel’s rooftop terrace restaurant, and we were able to get a late checkout.
• Our Hilton credit card conveys silver status in the Hilton Honors which entitled us to free breakfast at the Munich airport hotel.
• Using our Priority Pass that we receive with our Amex Platinum cards, we had access to the Air France lounge before leaving Munich (although 6 AM was a bit early to take advantage of the self-serve beer on tap that they offered!!).
• With a United MilesPlus card, we used the two complimentary lounge passes United provides each year to pass the time in Newark airport.
• Finally, we were able to upgrade our seats on our final leg from Newark to our home airport with the airline fee credit offered by the Amex Platinum card.

For this trip to the Alps region, like other trips we have taken in recent years, the well-planned use of miles and points has changed the way that we travel by not only significantly reducing our costs, but also by enhancing our experiences with more comfort and luxury.

Whether you are interested in hiking in Bavaria, listening to “A Little Night Music” on a Salzburg night, sampling Mozartkugeln, checking out Baroque churches, or any other type of travel adventure, we are prepared to design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you that will quickly generate free and reduced cost travel while keeping your annual card fees under control.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.