[Edited: 9/10/2024: Please note that card offers do fluctuate from time to time.  Some offers may have changed.]

I recently booked a trip for our family to Manchester, UK.  We have been wanting to visit London, and our plan is to take the train from Manchester into London, after landing.  Now finding award availability to the UK for the five of us (baby will also need a ticket next year) is no easy feat – not to mention, having accumulated a good enough stash of points ahead of time to get us there.  But lucky for us, my husband had just the card, earned a great stash of points, and now we had just enough points to get the five of us to the UK during spring break of 2023.

Our oldest daughter has been wanting to visit London – and frankly speaking, so have I!  Last winter my husband had gotten the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card when the offer was at 100,000 points.  (The current offer is at 75,000 points.)  After meeting the minimum spend, and earning the introductory bonus offer points of 100,000, earning an additional 100,000 points through referrals, and points from usage – we had just over 227,000 Capital One Venture points to spare.  I did some initial research, asked other travel content creator buddies, and finally decided that this would be the best route.

Up until July 5, Singapore Airlines had an award deal from Houston, Texas (IAH) to Manchester, UK (MAN) where you could fly one way for 22,500 points/45,000 points round trip.  Another content creator had shared this deal, having used this route previously and using it again this year to fly her family to Europe.  (This is why you follow other travel content creators and award travelers because there’s always room to learn and grow!)  Here’s the difference:  She is out of Houston, but I’m out of Dallas.  But after searching for award availability, I knew nothing was going to beat this deal.  

I transferred 225,000 points from my husband’s Capital One Venture X card to his KrisFlyer account – Singapore Airlines Award Program.  Now because the card is in his name, the KrisFlyer account had to be in his name too, as the names on both accounts have to match at the time of transfer.  Making an award account online with an airline is simple and free.  Singapore Airlines is an airline partner of Capital One, and all transfers take place at a 1:1 ratio.  We know that our points and miles are valuable when it comes to travel rewards, but you get the most value when you transfer them to respective airline/hotel partners and redeem for flights or hotel stays.  Using my points to book in Capital One’s travel portal would not have gotten me such a deal!

The offer on Singapore Airlines is currently back at 25,000 points one way from IAH to MAN – which isn’t bad, but we all love when such points deals come around and we can save our points by needing less/per person for certain routes.  I’ve heard even their economy class is nice, and they are family friendly – and I’m overall excited to try a new airline to Europe with the family.  Oh, in all the excitement I forgot to mention the best part!  The total cost in taxes for the five of us was just under $500.  That beats flying British Airways for sure, whose taxes and fees are just ridiculous and would have cost us more than that, per person!

Transferring to airline/hotel partners can seem overwhelming, and sometimes not so straightforward – but in this case it was pretty simple and instant.  It’s definitely not too early to start thinking about travel for 2023 if you haven’t already.  The sooner you book award redemptions, the more availability you will find.  And the larger your party is, the more time you should allow – as award availability in general, especially as of late, can sometimes be hard to find.  

We still have to figure out how we will get to Houston.  Maybe we’ll use points from my husband’s Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card to fly our favorite airline – Southwest Airlines – or maybe drive out first thing in the morning to Houston since our flight heads out in the evening.  Doing the latter will save us the hassle of having to find a hotel (in Houston) the night prior to our flight – I mean who wants to unpack for just a night?  Regardless, our main route is booked, and we have time to figure out the remaining logistics.  Plan early, plan ahead, and book through airline/hotel partners as that is where you will almost always find the best value for your points and miles!