Sounds impossible? I assure you, it’s not.
Ireland has been a to-do on my list ever since my mom and sister returned from the country raving. Since then, my sister had even been back one more time, and when I had the chance to book a $446.60 round trip I just couldn’t pass it up. I even recruited two friends to travel with me.
The Club Carlson devaluation was announced right around the time we were planning hotels for the trip, and that was major motivation to burn some Club Carlson points. I burned 172,000 Club Carlson points (the majority of what I had) for 10 of our 13 nights in Ireland. In addition to splitting lodging costs, traveling with friends brought other costs down, too. We were able to share the cost of taxis and our car rental. Our shared expenses totaled $386.69 per person, in addition to the Club Carlson points that I spent.
| Shared Expenses – 3 People – 14 Days | ||
| Car Rental + Gas | $420.97 | |
| Other Transport | $61.59 | |
| Lodging | $290.82 | 172,000 Club Carlson Points |
| Total | $773.38 | 172,000 Club Carlson Points |
| Per Person | $386.69 | |
We had individual expenses too, but even eating out for every meal, including some pretty nice places (5 meals over $30 each, 2 of which were over $60), we were able to keep our food expenses right around $30 per day, Rachel Ray’s benchmark when eating around the world. Miscellaneous expenses included souvenirs, postcards, small food items, among other things. As fas as activities went — we didn’t miss out on anything. We went Sea Side Cliff Climbing, to Giant’s Causeway, the rope bridge, the Waterford Crystal House, and on the Guinness and Jameson Tours (and I’m sure I’m leaving things out here, too)! Overall, our individual expenses were just under $1,200. Our total expenses per person were about $1575 per person. It’s possible, I tell you! Keep an eye out for good airfare, utilize hotel points when you can, and either travel with friends or make friends while traveling and you can travel almost anywhere on a reasonable budget.
| Individual Expenses – 14 Days | |
| Airfare | $466.60 |
| Activities | $144.58 |
| Food | $471.16 |
| Miscellaneous | $104.58 |
| Total | $1,186.92 |
Wow! How’d you get such cheap airfare without redeeming any points? What airline and airports?
It was a sale fare on American Airlines out of Chicago — in economy, but can’t beat the price!
If you were serious you get that for “free” too with the prestige card
Considering that I have and plan to travel 259 out of the 265 days this year, coving ALL of my travel expenses with credit cards and manufactured spend is not something that is possible. I am lucky that with cheap airfare, hotel points, and frequent flyer miles, I am able to make this a lifestyle one that works for me; but on this scale it’s not free.