People often ask how we afford family travel, especially during expensive school breaks.

I’m a teacher, my husband works a regular office job, and we don’t have an unlimited travel budget.

My goal isn’t to travel for free—it’s to make meaningful family trips possible without stretching our budget. We use travel points and the Southwest Companion Pass to reduce the biggest expenses—flights and hotels—so we can spend more on the experiences that make trips memorable.

For our recent mother-daughter trip to New York City, we flew using the Southwest Companion Pass and booked Hotel 50 Bowery with Hyatt points transferred from Chase Sapphire. Using points for our flights and hotel meant we could spend our budget on Broadway, restaurants, shopping, and experiences instead of airfare and accommodations.

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Quick Trip Snapshot

✈️ Flights: Southwest Companion Pass

🏨 Hotel: Hotel 50 Bowery (23,000 Hyatt points/night)

💳 Cards we used: Chase Sapphire + Capital One Venture X

💰 Biggest savings: Flights + hotel

👩‍👧 Trip: Mother-daughter NYC getaway

Planning your own NYC trip? Read my 3-Day NYC Itinerary for Moms and Teen Girls.

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Our Simple Family Travel Strategy

No complicated travel hacking.

We use travel points for flights and hotels to lower costs for trips we are already planning on taking.

We usually:

✔ Pick the destination first

✔ Use points for transportation or hotels

✔ Pay cash for experiences

As the kids are getting older, I know there are only a certain number of family trips left (I’m not crying, you are). We each have a list of places we really want to go and I’m working through that list, trying to make it as affordable as we can, so most of our budget is able to be spent on food and activities.

One reason we prioritize travel is because we’ve realized these one-on-one trips create some of our favorite family memories. Taking one child at a time completely changed how we experienced New York City together.

➡️ Why Every Parent Should Take a One-on-One Trip With Their Teen

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Using Southwest Companion Pass for Flights to NYC

With the Southwest Companion Pass, one person flies (almost) for free, you just have to pay for taxes and fees. In the US, that’s usually $5.60 each way. To go abroad, the taxes are higher (sometimes closer to $100), but still a huge savings.

Since earning the Southwest Companion Pass in January, we have used it for flights to:

✔ NYC

✔ Costa Rica

✔ Florida

✔ Mexico

II’ll be sharing exactly how we earned our Southwest Companion Pass in a future guide. Sign up for the newsletter at the bottom if you’re interested in having the latest posts emailed to you.

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Booking an NYC Hotel with Hyatt Points Through Chase Sapphire

We stayed at Hotel 50 Bowery, a Hyatt property in Chinatown, using 23,000 Hyatt points per night transferred from our Chase Sapphire card. We earned these Hyatt points through the Chase Sapphire welcome bonus and transferred them directly to Hyatt to book our stay.

Rooms at Hotel 50 Bowery often cost several hundred dollars per night depending on the season, so transferring points gave us excellent value.

Why We Loved Hotel 50 Bowery

We had a great view out of our window. The rooftop had a bar (which we didn’t visit, but looked lively) – we went onto the roof decks and there were 360 degree views of the city.

We wanted to be able to walk. From there we could walk to:

• Chinatown

• Little Italy

• NoLita

• SoHo

• West Village

There were also many subway stations within a few blocks from the hotel, so you could get anywhere easily.

Related: How to Transfer Chase Points to Hyatt

Planning your own NYC trip and not sure if points are the best option for you? Compare hotel prices below to see whether paying cash or using points makes more sense for your travel dates.

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Airport Lounge

We visited the Capital One Lounge in Denver (our home city) before we boarded our flight to New York. We spent a few hours at the LGA Capital One Landing Lounge from chef Jose Andres on our way home.

The Capital One Landing at LaGuardia had great food that you could order to your table, specialty mocktails and a full bar.

We enjoyed lunch, relaxed before our flight, and turned a delayed departure into a much less stressful experience.

We have lounge access because we carry the Capital One Venture X card. For us, it has been worth it simply because we travel several times a year as a family.

Through my Capital One Venture X credit card, I get unlimited access to Capital One lounges and a Priority Pass membership. You can ususally bring in two guests for free to Priority Pass lounges and to bring a guest in Capital One Lounges, it’s $25 for children 17 and younger and $45 for adults.

What We Paid Cash For:

✔ Tickets to Wicked

✔ Food

✔ Shopping in SoHo

✔Souvenirs

✔ Coffee

✔ The Color Factory

This is where we WANT to spend money. Points and travel rewards covered the expensive parts of our trip (flights, hotel, airport food), so we could spend money on other things during our trip without stress.

Why We Don’t Try To Use Points For Everything

I’m not all about travel hacking everything. Although I love using points, I use them for trips that I’m already planning on going on/to destinations I want to visit.

I’d rather use points for:

• Hotels

• Flights

• Transportation

Then we can happily budget to spend money on:

• Markets

• Food

• Broadway

• Shopping

• Experiences

These are the things that make travel more enjoyable for us.

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The Travel Cards That Have Given Our Family the Most Value

I’ve had several people ask which cards we use, so I’ve included my referral links below if you’re interested. As always, make sure it’s a good fit for your own situation. We treat our credit cards like debit cards – we always pay off our cards in full every month and don’t carry a balance (no thank you, credit card debt).

For beginners, the card that has given us the most value is Chase Sapphire because we’ve used those points for hotels in both Paris and New York.

We use the Capital One Venture X card for airport lounge access, welcome points and a $300 annual travel credit.

We earned the companion pass through the Southwest airline card.

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Planning a trip? These are the activities I’d book first:

🚶 Guided walking tours

🎭 Broadway shows

🚢 Statue of Liberty cruises

🍕 Food tours

🏙️ Top of the Rock

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Final Thoughts

Travel doesn’t have to be luxury travel.

It also doesn’t have to be backpacking.

There’s a middle ground.

Points simply make meaningful family trips easier.

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Ready to plan your own affordable family trip?

Start with my 3-Day NYC Itinerary for Moms and Teen Girls, to see exactly how we used these strategies on a real trip, and sign up for the newsletter or check back soon for more beginner-friendly guides to travel points.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Southwest Companion Pass worth it?

Absolutely. It’s one of the biggest reasons we’ve been able to take more family trips while keeping costs down.

Do you have to be an expert to use travel points?

Not at all. We started with one credit card and learned one step at a time.

Which travel card has given you the most value?

For hotel stays, Chase Sapphire has been our favorite because we’ve used those points for hotels in New York City and Paris.

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Related Articles

3-Day NYC Itinerary for Moms and Teen Girls Follow our exact route through New York, including Broadway, SoHo, Central Park, and Little Island.

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More Travel Points Guides

I’m currently building a library of beginner-friendly guides, including:

• How to Earn Southwest Companion Pass

• How to Transfer Chase Points to Hyatt

• Beginner’s Guide to Family Travel Points

• Our Favorite Travel Credit Cards

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Hi, I’m Steph, family travel planner, teacher and mom.

I share practical ways to help families travel more for less, with a focus on trips that create lasting memories with teens

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Ready to plan your own affordable family trip?

Start with my 3-Day NYC Itinerary for Moms and Teen Girls, to see exactly how we used these strategies on a real trip, and sign up for the newsletter or check back soon for more beginner-friendly guides to travel points.

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