A Family of 8 Takes on Orlando
Our first points redemption: 8 People go to Orlando
Looking back at our first trip redeemed with points, it’s hard to imagine this was our first try! I still get nervous when I transfer points from Chase, like they’re somehow going to get lost in the internet ether. We live on the East Coast, so Florida is very easy to get to.
We opened a Chase Ink Business Cash card in January (I had the Sapphire Preferred previously but didn’t know what I was doing back then) in order to get our favorite Chase points, called Ultimate Rewards. The Ink Unlimited and Ink Cash Cards are essential to our strategy as they give you more points than most other cards for a $0 annual fee. Plus, they don’t count towards your 5/24 because they don’t pull your personal credit.
We didn’t have any Southwest points at the start, so we transferred 89,000 of our Ultimate Rewards points that we received from the Ink Business welcome offer — it was elevated at 90k at the time — to my Southwest account. This paid for 8 of our round-trip airfare tickets that included our family of 6 plus my in-laws.
Hotel:
We had opened an IHG Premier card in mid-February. This is also a Chase card. We used these IHG points to book two rooms for 4 nights. One of the benefits we love about holding an IHG Premier or Premier Business Card is that you get the 4th night free every time you book. We were blown away that these two rooms were covered with only one credit card welcome offer!
View from our room at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites S Lake Buena Vista
This hotel had two swimming pools with slides and free breakfast, which as a parent, is essential in deciding on a hotel for me! It also has free parking and a fitness center. We booked a two queen bed room and requested a crib for our then 2 year old. The staff was excellent here, and though we only visited SeaWorld and didn’t go to Universal or Disney, these places are only a short drive from this hotel.
It averages 20-24,000k points/night as of February 2025.
Rental Car:
Now if you know us, you know we will try to get a trip as free as possible — that includes a rental car. Unlike now where we save usually over $500 on a rental car for our family, at the start of our free travel journey I didn’t realize I could use points for a rental car. We split this cost with my in-laws, though, so it wasn’t too bad. We took a shuttle from the airport to the rental car place I had booked online. The company was called Easirent. It may have changed since we’ve been there, but I would not recommend it. I’m not sure if they were just busy or what, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience for me as the employees didn’t seem helpful or like they wanted to be there at all.
SUMMARY:
Airfare: 89,000 Southwest points via Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer + $89 in taxes/fees total
Hotel: 65,000 IHG points/room from IHG Premier Personal card. 130,000 points total for 2 rooms, 4 nights
Rental Car: Split cost with in-laws
