I have always loved to travel and have done my fair share prior to having kids. Since then, we have found it to be too expensive to take family vacations on a regular basis. We did a family trip to Aruba, one to Disney World and a couple trips to Florida for beach vacations with the kids, but they were definitely moderately priced and we had some financial help from my parents and in-laws to help take the $$$ sting out of my wallet.

Then....I found FT

FT has truly changed my life for the better since joining the forum about a year and a half ago. Since then here is what I have done with the miles/points which I have accrued:


1. May 2011 - Coach R/T Ticket BOS-AMS = 60K Delta Skymiles + $65 in taxes/fees (Traveled with a friend who had 60K Delta miles of his own so we traveled in coach together.)

2. October 2011 - 8-day all-inclusive vacation to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico for my family of 4, including RT direct flights on JetBlue = All paid for with my 385,000 Capital One Venture Points. All food, drinks for the week included in the AI package. We did spend $550 for an amazing all-day private land/sea tour of Palaya Del Carmen, Tulum, Akumal.

3. April 2012 - 9-day trip to Anna Maria Island, FL for my family of 4 (This place is sooo beautiful). Been thrice before. This trip includes
- 9-Day standard-size SUV rental = 54K Delta Skymiles
- 2 nights at the Hyatt Regency in Sarasota = 24K Hyatt Points
- 6 nights at a house that is 50 yards from an amazing beach and nice pool on Anna Maria Island = My in-laws are paying for our house rental
- 4 R/T tickets on JetBlue direct BOS-TPA = 110K JetBlue points + $90 in taxes/fees

4. December 2012 - 10-day trip to St. Lucia with my wife to celebrate our first 15 years of marriage.
- 2 R/T coach tickets BOS-JFK-UVF on AA metal using British Airways/Avios points = 80K BA/Avios points. I may decide to do a couple of the legs in Business Class, but may not since BA/Avios require FC award points for any 2-class aircraft on AA metal, even if the front of the plane Business and has no FC. Ugh... So, anywhere from 80K-160K BA/Avios points
- 4 nights all-inclusive at Calabash Cove Resort in Gros Islet = 175K AA miles + approx $600 cash
- 5 nights all-inclusive at Jalousie Plantation in Soufriere= 240K AA miles + approx $1000 cash

After all of this my wife and I combined still have over 1 million points/miles in various hotel/airline/credit card programs. I look forward to some future FC travel with my wife and some posh accommodations such as the Hyatt Paris Vendome (Thanks Chase and Hyatt!)

All I can say is...thank you FT!!!!!


How has FT changed YOUR life?