Maximizing Travel Rewards: Redeeming 2M+ Points for $85K+ in Value

Its the New Year – 2026 and as I look back over the past 12 months, its been a period filled with amazing memories, beautiful destinations, experiences and the most points redemptions I’ve ever made for travel.

Roundtrip Qatar Airwards QSuites: 392K MR Points

I was getting married in December 2024 (explains why I hadn’t published a new article in a while in 2024), so naturally I had to fly to India for the occasion. Luckily, I found two roundtrip QSuite seats on Qatar: one standard redemption at 85K + $203 per person and one 2X flex fare redemption at 170K + $395 per person.

One point to note, I was flying at the busiest time of the year and cash rate for RT business on Qatar was almost $19K for two. Even off-peak, these seats go for at least $12K for two. Economy tickets were almost $3.5K for two.

I had transferred ~400K Amex points to BA back in October to take advantage of a 30% points promo and I had 520K Avios ready to be deployed. I redeemed 510K Avios (~392K Amex MR Points) and paid ~$1200 in taxes to net an effective 4.5CPP value from my points.

Conrad Maldives Rangali Island Overwater Villas: 480K HH Points

I had previously redeemed Hilton points for my parents’ trip to the Maldives and it had been 15 years since I had visited. So I wanted my honeymoon to be a memorable one and I was able to find award availability on both Waldorf Astoria and Conrad for five nights – a rarity on points this close to the peak season.

I really wanted to go to the W.A however the dates overlaped with my wedding and I sadly let it pass, choosing the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island instead. I had been signing up for Hilton credit cards over the summer taking advantage of some amazing points + Free Night Certificate offers. I redeemed 480K HH points (booking four nights and getting a fifth night free) for a sunrise overwater villa which would cost ~$12K if paying out of pocket.

Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos: 120K HH + 2 FNCs

I’ve covered this in an article on its own which you can read here but I redeemed 120K Hilton Honors points and 2 Free Night Certificates for a three night stay in peak season: end of Jan/early Feb.

I’m so glad we got to experience this destination resort as our second honeymoon because now it costs 250K HH points per night – great case for redeeming your points instead of hoarding them. You can still book a night using Hilton’s FNC if you find standard availability.

Memorial weekend flights to Yellowstone: 38K Avios

I had always wanted to visit this beautiful national park and got very lucky to find award availability on Qatar Airways for RT Alaska flights (SEA – Bozeman) for 19K Avios + $20 per person. Cash fare for these was well over $350 per person.

4th July at Lake Tahoe: 69K Hyatt + 25.4K Delta Miles + $300 Venture X Travel Credit

This was another amazing destination on my bucket list for a while and it was slightly more complicated to book touching World of Hyatt, Delta SkyMiles and leveraging the $300 Venture X Annual Travel Credit.

We flew into Sacramento on Delta and redeemed 12.7K Delta miles + $5.6 per person (one way cash fares were ~$150 per person), stayed for 3 nights (23K Hyatt points per night, cash fare ~$450/night) at the Hyatt Regency and flew back to Seattle on Alaska which was covered by the travel credit.

Big Sur during Monterey Car Week: 90K Hyatt

After our last stay in 2024, I really wanted to visit this beautiful all-inclusive property again and with Monterey Car week in August – I got very lucky with availability: 45K Hyatt points per night.

I applied a Guest of Honor certificate and was upgraded to a suite – which I have already reviewed here. The going rate for base rooms was $3250/night and suites were well over $4000/night. Needless to say, this was an amazing redemption at one of the busiest times of the year.

Parents’ Business Class Flights: 341K MR Points

My parents visit me almost every year and I always book roundtrip Qsuites for them using points. This time however, they also wanted to spend some time in London, UK so I split the journey up: One way QSuites for 170K Avios + $500 in taxes and fees (transferred from my MR balance). For their return leg, I book them on Virgin’s Upper class (business) but this was an expensive redemption in terms of the taxes and fees.

I transferred 171K MR points with a 25% bonus to get 213K Virgin Atlantic miles and had to book the legs separately: SEA – LHR (155K miles + $961) and LHR – BLR (58K miles + $1,080). I don’t think I’ve ever paid almost $2K in fees on an award booking but one way cash fares for business were ~$3500 per person. Even if I were to book this custom journey, I was looking at almost $5500 per person.

While I still got about 2.5 CPP value from my points, I would not do this again.

Japan Trip: 130K Atmos miles + 47K Hyatt + 170K MR Points

As a long overdue bucket list country to visit, I had booked my SEA – NRT economy tickets using Hawaiian Miles (now called Atmos rewards) for 35K miles + $5.60 per person (70K miles total) flying in October. We spent three nights in Kyoto and stayed at the best Hyatt Place I’ve ever been to for 24K points. We also spent one night at the Caption in Tokyo for 23K points. Our remaining nights were paid for in cash. After our trip, we flew NRT – BLR on JAL Business for 30K miles per person and the level of service, attention and care onboard blew me away.

After spending two weeks with family in India, we flew back on QSuites that I had booked for 170K Avios + $500 for two. I had transferred Amex MR points at a 1:1 ratio to Qatar for the redemption.

This multi-leg trip would’ve costed me over $10,000 for two.

Thanksgiving at Andaz Maui: 180K Hyatt Points

It had been 3 years since I had been to Maui – covering this trip in one of my most popular articles (How to vacation in Maui for under $50). I always wanted to go back and booked 4 nights at the Andaz Maui for 180K points (transferred from my Chase UR account to Hyatt). While the Regency would’ve been a lot cheaper at 100K points for the stay, I wanted to try a new property while also staying in Wailea. I also applied a Guest of Honor pass for this stay – receiving free breakfast, parking and an ocean facing king room which would’ve costed me $8900 – netting me a ~4.9 CPP.

United Kingdom Trip: 90K Delta miles

Our last trip of the year was flying to London to welcome in the new year. We leveraged the 90K miles bonus earned from a recently opened Delta SkyMiles Gold card and while taxes per person were $200, we actually leveraged the airline credit on both our Amex platinum cards to cover this expense. Cash fare for the same was $1700 for two in economy.

Year End Summary

It’s hard to imagine but I redeemed 2.1M+ points/miles and multiple FNCs in late 2024 and 2025 on travel not just for ourselves as a couple but for my parents too. While I spent over $5000 in taxes and fees – the travel benefits my family and I received was over $85,000 in value netting a 3.75 CPP redemption rate.