Michael's Miles Round-Up

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Happy Friday Reader!

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We spent 9 nights in Switzerland. Here’s the breakdown:

We flew into Zurich and took the train straight to Lucerne when we landed, then Lucerne to Grindelwald, Grindelwald to Zermatt, and from Zermatt into France to continue a bigger Europe trip. But let’s focus on this Switzerland bit.

How much did everything cost?

Flights for the two of us:

Our outbound flight from Boston to Zurich via Frankfurt ran 90,000 Alaska miles plus $198.20 in taxes and fees.

Our return flight FRA-JFK was $351 out of pocket. I used points as well but I’ll share those details next week because there's a larger point I wanted to make with that.

Lodging:

• Lucerne Airbnb: $586 for 2 nights
• Grindelwald hotel: $1,286 for 4 nights ($986 out of pocket thanks to the $300 Venture X travel credit)
• Zermatt Airbnb: $653 for 3 nights

We loved the itinerary by the way. If anything, we maybe wished we added an extra day in Lucerne, because we were still a bit jet lagged that first day.

Running total: $2,774 out of pocket, and all of that was spent before we even arrived (which I think is an important distinction).

Once we got there, our biggest line item by far was trains, gondolas, funiculars, and the like. We spent $1,184 on that, which includes $154 for a Zermatt to France train we bought before the trip, so $1,030 while we were actually there.

Hiking was our main activity, and if you don’t know, getting to a lot of the hikes and villages in the Jungfrau region (the beautiful Swiss mountain village area) means paying to ride a gondola, funicular, or lift to reach the trailheads and peaks, and those aren’t cheap.

There are various Swiss Travel Passes worth looking into to help with this cost. We learned a lot from this YouTube channel for planning and ended up just getting the Swiss Half Fare Card and skipping the other pass options (which is included in that train total).

The next biggest expense was food, at $736 for my wife and me. We saved a lot by eating most of our meals from the grocery store, plus we got free breakfast at our Grindelwald hotel, which helped a ton.

We packed sandwiches, chips, and snacks for nearly every lunch since we were out on hikes anyway, and for dinner we ate a lot of premade meals from the local grocery stores (Coop and Migros).

We weren’t particularly inspired by Swiss cuisine, and we got all the coffee and pastries we wanted, so we didn’t feel like we missed out or deprived ourselves. Plus we wanted to save our food budget for France and Spain 😉.

Then some miscellaneous spending: $74.40 on laundry (we flew with just carry-ons and a backpack each) and $83 on other shopping and entertainment.

So the total for the whole trip came to $4,851.40, and the amount we spent while physically in Switzerland was $1,923.40.

Why didn't we use points to save on lodging?

Well, unfortunately it's not so easy in Switzerland.

Outside of Zurich and Geneva, there are not many points hotel options from the bigger brands like Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, etc. The ones that are available are either really expensive, out of the way, or have poor reviews.

So that's why we landed on Airbnbs and an independent hotel. If you wanted to look at hotel options for yourself, don't forget to look at Accor Live Limitless and Leading Hotels of the World.

We stayed at this Airbnb in Lucerne which was solid for its location and because they had a portable AC unit.

This modest, independent Grindelwald hotel was on the Capital One Travel Portal, and the view from their "balcony Eiger view" rooms was incredible. Free breakfast was nice as well, but there was no AC, and it honestly kind of sucked 😂. But we survived thanks to these ultimate-tourist-looking fans. ​

Then we ended at this Zermatt Airbnb which was fine, it didn't have AC either but we caught cooler days in Zermatt.

Situations like these are when I look more seriously at travel portal options and using some of those hotel credits that come with cards like the Capital One Venture X, Chase Sapphire cards, etc.

Let me know if you have any follow-up questions. I didn't want to ramble too much here!

Learn the framework and strategies I use to book flights for clients and myself with my signature course:

• Air Canada Aeroplan now requires you to hold 35K Status and passengers to be at least 9 years old to book Emirates first class awards; Also, premium economy redemptions are now available to book (>110k ea to DXB). Details.​
• ​Seats.aero launched a Chrome extension for Google Flights comparison similar to PointsPath. You can also trigger the tool to show United/Delta cardholder discounts by going to "Account" and changing your Preferences.
• Singapore Airlines now requires a minimum balance (likely 1,000 miles) to search award availability making it significantly more difficult to search for their award flights.
• Choice Privileges increased Japan award prices for the second time in weeks, with Tokyo properties now requiring up to 30,000 points per night. Details.​
• ​Earn triple United miles on IHG stays through 9/30; non-elite members can reach 6 miles per $1 by switching earning preference.
• Point.me added faster searches (under 20 seconds), multi-city award exploration for premium members, and displays active transfer bonuses in results. However I still wouldn't label it as one of the best award search tools available.
• Qatar Airways is now exempting Gold and Platinum elite members from the new Avios booking restrictions where passengers need an account at least 6 months old. But everyone else is still subject to limitations.
• Capital One has added the ability to see if you're pre-approved for their business cards. Previously only available for personal cards.

Point Sales:

Purchasing points on sale is a way to access travel sweet spots at a cash discount, especially useful for those who can't earn points quickly through credit cards (those living outside of the U.S.) or those who want to fast-track specific luxury redemptions.

I recommend only purchasing points with a redemption in mind, or if you're topping off an account.

Air Canada up to 100% bonus as low as 1.3 cents each, exp 8/12​
American Airlines up to 40% bonus as low as 2.26 cents each, tiered
​JetBlue up to 125% bonus as low as 1.43 cents each, exp 8/9
​Flying Blue up to 80% bonus as low as 1.69 cents each, exp 7/28
​Lufthansa up to 50% bonus as low as 1.39 cents each, exp unk.
​Qatar Airways up to 10% bonus as low as 2.09 cents each, exp unk.
​United Airlines up to 50% discount as low as 1.88 cents each, exp 8/20
​World of Hyatt up to 20% discount as low as 2.17 cents each, exp 7/27

Learn from my mistakes. Here's how/why I got denied for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and how I reversed the decision.

If you're interested in supporting NMT via affiliate links here's how:

​Sign up for Travel Freely with my affiliate link then apply to any card through their CardGenie feature while logged in.

I get a small commission at no cost to you, and it's actually how I'm able to cover Chase, Capital One, and Amex content more freely.

"***" = Different from last week
"**" = Apply through Travel Freely after signing up with my affiliate link.​

Flexible Points Cards:​
-**Chase Sapphire Preferred $95 - 100k, after $5k spend. Ending soon.​
​-Chase Sapphire Reserve $795 - 100k after $6k spend.
-Chase Sapphire Reserve Business $795 - 200k after $30k spend in 6 months
-Chase Freedom Unlimited $0 - 20k/$200 after $500 spend in 3 months
-**Chase Ink Unlimited $0 - 100k points after $8,000 spent in 4 months
-**Chase Ink Cash $0 - 100k points after $8,000 spent in 4 months
- **Chase Ink Business Preferred $95 - 100k points after $8,000 spent in 3 months. (Sign up through Travel Freely)

​
-AMEX Gold $325 has an offer for "as high as" 100k
​-AMEX Business Gold $375 - "as high as" 200k Targeted Offer after $15,000 spent in 3 months. Try copying and pasting link into Private/Incognito browser. ​
​-AMEX Platinum $895 - "as high as" 175k after $12k spend
-AMEX Business Platinum $895 - "as high as 300k" after $20,000 spent in 3 months; Also here's a 200k No Lifetime Language link.
​
-Capital One Venture X $395 - 75k points after $4,000 in 3mo.
-Capital One Venture $95 - 75k after $4,000 in 3mo.
-Capital One Venture Business $95 - 100k after $10k in 3 months.
-Capital One Venture X Business $395 - 150k bonus, after $30,000 in 3 months.
-Capital One Spark Cash $95 - $1000, or 100k if you have a Venture Miles earning card, you can transfer cash into miles.
-Capital One Spark Cash Plus $150 - $2000, or 200k if you have a Venture Miles earning card.
-Capital One Savor $0 - $250 cash back (25k points) after $500 in 3 months
-Citi Strata Elite $595 - 75k points, $595 annual fee
-Citi Strata Premier $95 - 60k points, $95 annual fee

Hotel Cards​
​-Chase Marriott Boundless Card $95 - 125k points + 1 Free Night Certificate (worth 50k points) + $100 in Airline Credits* after $3,000 spent in 3 months. *Get $50 in statement credits semi-annually after spending $250 on eligible airline purchases.

Airline cards:​
- Bank of America Atmos Business $95 - 70k + $99 companion fare after $5000 in first 90 days.
- Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select $99, waived first year - 80K miles after $1K spend in 3 months.

Chicago (ORD) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
Denver (DEN) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Los Angeles (LAX) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
Miami (MIA) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Montreal (YUL) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
New York (JFK) - Europe: Business for 45k Miles
Portland (PDX) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Raleigh/Durham (RDU) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Toronto (YYZ) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles

**Atlanta (ATL) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
**Ottawa (YOW) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles

**These awards are only available for Flying Blue Extra subscribers, this subscription starts at 379 EUR per year.

- Book by the end of July for travel dates up to December 31st, 2026. Includes reversed routing.
(Here's how to book it step by step.)

- Flying Blue Promo Awards are 25% discounted fares offered by KLM & Air France. Offer changes every month, and is released on the first weekday of the month. Above are U.S.-based routes, click here for other international-based deals.

Singapore Krisflyer Spontaneous Escapes

(Deals don't work with reversed routing unless indicated)​
Los Angeles (LAX) - Singapore (SIN)
Singapore (SIN) - Los Angeles (LAX)*
Seattle (SEA) - Singapore (SIN)
Economy - 30.8k | Premium Economy - 55.3k​
*SIN-LAX only available in Economy

Singapore (SIN) - San Francisco (SFO)
San Francisco (SFO) - Singapore (SIN)
Premium Economy - 55.3k

Los Angeles (LAX) - Tokyo-Narita (NRT)
Tokyo-Narita (NRT) - Los Angeles (LAX)*
Premium Economy - 56.35k | Business - 79.8k​
*Business only available LAX-NRT

New York (JFK/EWR) - Singapore (SIN)
Premium Economy - 59.15k​
​

​- Book by the end of July, for travel dates from August 1 - 31st, 2026. See details and blackout dates here.​
​
​Krisflyer Spontaneous Escapes are 30% off last-minute award tickets on Singapore Airlines on specific routes. Offers are typically released on the 15th of every month. Here's how to search on Singapore's website.

American Express:​
​Virgin Atlantic 30% - Ends 7/31​
​
Capital One:​
​EVA Air 30% - Ends 7/31

Chase: ​
​IHG 100% - Ends 7/30

Citi:​
Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) 20% - Ends 8/2

Rove:
​Frontier 25% - Ends 7/31
​Qantas 50% - Ends 8/14

Have a good weekend!
​
​Michael​
​Nurse Michael Travels

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