NYC Case Study: Points and Miles Free Up Travel Budget for Museums, Bagels, and Pastrami

Frank McBride • February 12, 2025

Points and miles greatly reduced the cost of a visit to the Big Apple

When Ms. Optimizer and I take trips, I like to report on how the travel rewards game fit into our plans and how we benefited from it. 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 actual results.

At the end of last year, we took a trip to New York City to visit family, see some museums, and take in the tree at Rockefeller Center and other holiday decorations in Manhattan. Our hotel was close to Grand Central Terminal, where we could catch a commuter train to Connecticut to visit family and friends. The hotel was also located a short walk from the Museum of Modern Art and close to the bus lines that ran to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum.

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

For our flights to and from JFK, we used 30,400 Delta miles for two round trips. With a value of $436 for the tickets, this worked out to a redemption of 1.4 cents per mile which is solid for a Delta redemption.
For our hotel, we used 145,000 World of Hyatt points for a five-night stay at the Grayson Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. With a total cash rate of $3608 for those nights, we got a return of 2.5 cents per point, another solid redemption.

Overall, the miles and points we utilized for this one trip saved us over $4,000. 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 round-trip tickets 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 as well as for our return trip from JFK.
Our Chase Hyatt card includes “Discoverist” status which allowed us to check in early upon arrival.
We used Uber so we were able to take advantage of a monthly Uber credit that comes with the Amex Platinum card.
For this trip to the Big Apple, like other trips we have taken in recent years, the well-planned use of miles and points played a significant role in our travel by not only saving us thousands of dollars, but also by enhancing our experiences with more comfort and convenience.

Whether you are interested in checking out some of the greatest museums in the world, hunting down the perfect bagel or pastrami sandwich, shopping til you drop, 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.

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