How I booked my honeymoon to Greece using credit card points
Are you wanting to plan a luxurious and romantic honeymoon, but the cost doesn’t fit into your wedding budget? Are you already spending thousands of dollars on your wedding and don’t think you will be able to afford a honeymoon? I didn’t think I would be able to afford a lavish honeymoon either, until I learned about credit card points and miles.
In this post I am going to break down how you can strategically use your credit card points on money that you are already spending for your big day. By utilizing my credit card points I was able to book a 10 day luxurious honeymoon to Greece for A LOT less. Whether you want to go to Greece, Hawaii, or Mexico you can use this guide to save thousands of dollars on your honeymoon!
Open a travel credit card
As soon as you get engaged (or even before) open a travel credit card. I would recommend starting off with the Chase Sapphire Preferred. You will be able to use the points earned on this card to book hotels or flights. Once you sign up for the card, you will need to spend a certain amount of money to earn the sign on bonus. For example, you have to spend $4,000 in 3 months to earn 60,000 points. These sign on bonuses change from time to time and sometimes have increased offers.
Other travel credit cards that are great for earning free flights include the American Express Gold Card, the Citi Premier Card, and the Capitol One Venture X. All of these credit cards earn transferrable points. Unlike fixed-value points or cashback rewards, transferrable points offer flexibility and value by allowing cardholders to transfer their points to a variety of airline or hotel loyalty programs for a higher value.
Chances are you may already have one of these credit cards and are not sure how to maximize the value of the points. Typically, you can get more value for your points by transferring your points out to transfer partners instead of using them in the portal. I will show you how I do this in this post.
How am I going to hit the sign up bonus?
When planning a wedding, there are a TON of expenses that you are going to be shelling out cash for. The DJ, flowers, photographer the list goes on and on. You will put these large expenses on your new travel credit card to hit the minimum spend to earn the sign up bonus.
Before you book a vendor you can ask if you are able to pay with a credit card. Not all will say yes, but the majority of mine did! The only place I was not allowed to use a credit card was for our venue. But I put all of my other vendor payments on a credit card and earned a lot of points this way. I was able to rack up a lot of credit card points this way (which made spending thousands of dollars a little less painful).
I spent the money and earned the sign on bonus now what?
Now, you can refer your fiance to the same credit card if you still have more wedding expenses (which you probably will). When you refer your partner to the card, you will earn a referral bonus! Yay more points! After your fiance gets the credit card you can put more wedding payments on their card to earn the sign up bonus. Then, you will be able to combine your points via the Chase app and have double the points to use on your honeymoon!
If you begin this process early enough, you will be able to have enough time to accrue a good stash of points that you can use toward booking a luxurious honeymoon. Now I will share how I booked my honeymoon to Greece using credit card points.
Planning my honeymoon to Greece
Ever since I was a young girl I always dreamt of a romantic and adventurous honeymoon to the Greek Islands. When I got engaged in 2022, I was determined to make my dream become a reality. However, like most brides these days did not have an extra 10K in my wedding budget for a lavish honeymoon. I knew from the start that I would use credit card points to make this trip happen.
Flights
Flights to Europe can be extremely expensive these days. When I learned how to use my credit card points to save money on flights I began to save so much money and traveled more for less!
For our honeymoon, I really wanted to do something special and see if I could book business class seats for our long flight to Athens.I searched for our flights on point.me. I searched flights from JFK-ATH in business class and found availability on AirFrance. We each transferred around 65,000 points from Amex to AirFrance to book these flights each way (plus the cost of the taxes and fees). Business class for $300 isn’t so bad? How did we do this? We had both opened up the American Express Gold Card, and used the sign on bonus with these flights in mind. In addition to the sign up bonus, this credit card gets 4X points at grocery stores, which just happens to be where my husband and I spend the most money. Read more about how to transfer credit card points to earn free flights here.
When I began planning the islands that we would go to I based our itinerary solely off of where I could use my credit card points to stay at a luxury resort for free. My husband and I had been saving a stash of Chase Ultimate Rewards Points from opening up the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card for our hotels. I knew that I would be using my Ultimate Reward points to transfer to Hyatt. I searched all of the Hyatt hotels including their partnership with Small Luxury Hotels to plan which islands I would be staying at. You can search all of the Hyatt hotels including their parters on the “Explore” feature on the World of Hyatt website.
Athens
As I booked my honeymoon to Greece, I knew I wanted to start off in Athens before heading out to the islands. From the iconic landmarks of antiquity to the bustling streets adorned with charming cafes and vibrant street art, Athens offers a captivating experience for travelers seeking to immerse themselves in its timeless charm.
When searching for hotels to stay in Athens I originally came across the Grand Hyatt Athens. Unfortunately it was unavailable for our dates. So, I had to use cash to stay at the Niche Hotel Athens for $250 a night for two nights. I booked this hotel because of the great reviews it had online and the rooftop views of the Acropolis. Overall, it wasn’t anything special. But it was a comfortable stay and a short cab ride away from the main attractions in Athens. After two scorching hot days in Athens we were ready for the beach!
Milos
Now off to our first island, Milos! When I began to plan our honeymoon to Greece using credit card points, I searched the World of Hyatt website to see what hotels were available on the Greek islands. Most people often think of Santorini or Mykonos, but during July those hotels using points were all booked. Also, I knew that they would be extremely crowded in peak season. We found Domes White Coast Milos on the WOH website. It is an SLH property which is a partner of Hyatt. We did a little bit of research about the island of Milos, and we figured it would be the perfect first stop of the trip.
Milos is a true hidden gem in the Aegean Sea, offering travelers a chance to discover the beauty and charm of a traditional Greek island without the crowds. Whether you’re seeking relaxation, adventure, or cultural experiences, you’ll find it all and more on the enchanting island of Milos. During peak summer season, my husband and I were looking for a quiet and romantic place to relax without the crowds.
How I booked it
I booked four nights at Domes White Coast Milos for 29K points a night. This hotel is currently charging $825 A NIGHT in July. That is $2,475 we saved (or never would have paid) just because we used our chase points. Not a bad redemption! Learn how to transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to World of Hyatt here.
Our stay at Domes White Coast Milos was a dream! We had a private pool with the perfect ocean view, outstanding service and incredible food. Our stay in Milos was our favorite part of our entire trip and it was everything we were hoping for. Read about our three day Milos itinerary here!
Ferry to Paros
After four incredible days in Milos, we were off to our next island Paros! We took the ferry from Milos to Paros. We booked our tickets on Ferryhopper about two weeks in advance. I booked the SeaJet ferry that took us to Milos in one hour and 45 minutes.
As I was doing research for our trip, I read a lot about how bumpy the ferry rides were. I get nauseous easily and I decided to pay extra to book the “business class” seats on the ferry (which was just the upper level). These tickets cost us 95 euros each, which we paid ahead of time when we booked the ferry. Unfortunately there is no option to book the ferries using credit card points. BUT we saved so much money on the hotels and flights that we did not mind.
Paying extra for the top level seats paid off because it was a VERY bumpy ride ending in most people reaching for their barf bags! I would highly recommend to not eat anything prior to taking the ferry. Even on the top level, I was feeling sick. I did sleep most of the ride which helped!
Paros
When we arrived in Paros, we immediately noticed how different it was from Milos. Milos is a smaller, less crowded island and Paros was hustling and bustling with people! We were grateful that we had secured a ride transfer from our hotel in advance to pick us up from the ferry. We would recommend this because the port was packed with people!! The hotel was about 40 minutes from the port, so we were happy to have a comfortable and spacious ride.
For the second part of our Greece island hopping adventure, we stayed at Summer Senses Luxury Resort in Paros. I booked four nights at this resort for 29K points a night. This hotel is currently charging $450 a night in the peak season. Credit points again saved us $1800 on this luxury stay! This resort was a lot bigger than the hotel in Milos. We absolutely loved exploring this vibrant and lively island. Read more about our luxury stay in Paros here.
Flights home
Unfortunately after ten relaxing days in the sun, it was time for us to head back to reality. As sad as we were that our trip of a lifetime was coming to an end, we knew we had one more thing to look forward to..
We flew back to New York on business class once again! I booked this by transferring our American Express points to Air France and only had to pay for the taxes and fees. We used point.me to search for flights using points. We use this search engine frequently to find the best value for our points for flights. I pay for the monthly subscription and would highly recommend it! Learn more about how to use credit card points to book your flights here.
This time around we got one of the newer and more updated planes. We were spoiled with the champagne and fancy meals and we soaked up ever second!
Our Honeymoon to Greece was a trip of a lifetime! This trip would not have been possible without the use of credit card points! Booking your honeymoon to Greece using credit card points is a savvy way to make your dream trip more affordable without compromising on luxury! By strategically leveraging your points and taking advantage of travel partners and benefits, you can embark on a romantic adventure that exceeds your expectations. Cheers to a magical honeymoon filled with love, laughter, and unforgettable experiences in Greece!
Let me know how you have used your credit card points to take your bucket list trips!
