8 countries, 42 nights, a new baby: How we did Europe on points and miles

Some offers on this page are from advertisers who pay us, which may affect which products we write about, but not our recommendations. See our Advertiser Disclosure .

With a recent addition to our family and a generous parental leave policy, I was able to plan a six-week trip to Europe with my family of five, primarily using points and miles from travel credit cards . It gave my wife and me plenty of time to bond with our new son while exploring a collection of beautiful cities across eight different countries.

I knew increasing our family size by one could present some potential issues in Europe (I'm looking at you, European hotel rooms that tend to max out at four or fewer people), but we were still able to figure things out and have a resoundingly successful, though slightly tiring, trip.

Points, miles, and perks used: Choice Privileges: 330,000 points Flying Blue: 232,400 miles Hilton Honors (Diamond): 384,000 points + 3 Free Night Rewards Virgin Atlantic: 100,000 points World of Hyatt (Globalist): 475,000 points

Hilton Honors (Diamond): 384,000 points + 3 Free Night Rewards

World of Hyatt (Globalist): 475,000 points

Approximate cash value of rewards used: $51,264.98

Overall, this trip was slightly longer than our trip to Japan and Korea , and much longer than our all-inclusive visit to Mexico . In total, we visited eight countries, including France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.

Note that the cash value of the rewards is approximate because prices can fluctuate and change, depending on when you check. However, in my experience, the gathered information provides a good, general look at what we may have saved by using credit card rewards rather than paying in cash for most of our flights and lodging.

Of course, I realize I would likely never pay $17,000 for business-class flights to Paris or more than $7,000 for a (relatively) short hotel stay in Cologne, but it's still fun and helpful to compare cash versus reward prices.

3 nights at Home Hotel Havnekontoret (two rooms)

3 nights at Hyatt Regency Mainz (two rooms)

5 nights at Hyatt Regency Cologne (two rooms)

5 nights at Hilton Brussels Grand Place (two rooms)

Which credit cards did we use to travel to Europe?

We didn't actually use American Express credit cards in Europe because they aren't accepted everywhere, but they were essential for planning and booking our trip. Specifically, we used a lot of Amex Membership Rewards points and Hilton Honors points on this trip, all earned from these cards:

We used the Capital One Venture X as one of our main spenders while in Europe, as it doesn't charge foreign transaction fees and has a well-balanced rewards rate for all types of purchases.

We used the Chase Sapphire Preferred as a backup to the Capital One Venture X.

We didn't actually use this on our trip, but the World of Hyatt Credit Card helped us earn Hyatt points and maintain Globalist status, both of which were useful during our stays at Hyatt hotels.

We had no intention of using this on our trip, but it came in handy when none of our Visa cards worked to book a G7 taxi in Paris. This is a Mastercard, and it worked like a charm.

We don't currently have a Citi Strata Premier Card, but both my wife and I used to, and the points we earned previously went toward our Choice Privileges hotel bookings in Scandinavia on this trip.

This isn't a credit card, but we always bring our Charles Schwab debit card with us when traveling internationally because it reimburses foreign ATM fees. We found we didn't need much cash on this trip, but it's always nice to have it just in case.

My strategy for booking flights to Europe using credit card rewards

Our available rewards typically guide my trip plans, and we had plenty of Amex and Chase points to spare. We also knew we wanted to go to Europe, and our closest airports are Salt Lake City (SLC) and Las Vegas (LAS), which led me to consider Air France, KLM, and Virgin Atlantic as direct-flight options to Paris (CDG), Amsterdam (AMS), and London (LHR).

I knew business-class flights to/from Europe were fairly common with Air France-KLM Flying Blue, so I checked flights just about every day until I found a flight to Paris that would fit our schedule and available rewards. I had also found Upper Class flights with Virgin Atlantic from London to get home, but I really wanted to avoid paying $3,000+ in taxes and fees when leaving the U.K., so we opted for Delta economy on the return flight.

With the flights booked, we could build the rest of our itinerary, which is typically how we like to plan out our trips. When the first flight is booked, we can start looking into hotels and (possibly) short or mid-trip flights.

And we ended up with two mid-trip flights. We booked flights from Paris to Copenhagen, then from Bergen to Düsseldorf. We would have preferred to use trains, but it didn't make sense for these parts of the itinerary. We used Flying Blue miles for the Copenhagen flight and then applied our $300 Capital One Travel credit (from the Capital One Venture X) to help pay for the Düsseldorf flight.

My strategy for booking hotels and other lodging in Europe

Once we had our flight to Europe booked, we started planning out our trip itinerary and hotels. We had plenty of Chase points to spare, which meant we (indirectly) had plenty of Hyatt points. We were also sitting on a stack of Choice points.

Originally, we wanted to travel solely around France, spending a lot of time in the countryside with our young kids and generally enjoying castle visits, food, and everything in between. However, the route we had from Paris down to the French Riviera didn't exactly jive with our available rewards, so we eventually nixed that idea and started looking elsewhere.

Our stack of Choice points led us to Scandinavia, an area we have wanted to visit for a while but one we knew would be expensive. Fortunately, Choice points can take you far in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway and can even cover some of your food expenses along the way.

The Home Hotel brand, in particular, provided both breakfast and dinner, which was fantastic in Gothenburg and Bergen.

We used our stack of Hyatt points in France, Germany, and the U.K., and our Hyatt Globalist status got us free breakfast and executive lounge access where available. Unfortunately, a family of five doesn't always meet European occupancy limits, so we had to book multiple rooms at German hotels, which used a lot more points than we'd wanted to.

For our stop in Brussels, we opted to use Hilton points and Free Night Awards at the very conveniently located Hilton Brussels Grand Place. Our Hilton Honors Diamond status got us free breakfast and access to the executive lounge, which was nice. However, again, we had to book two rooms because our family wouldn't fit in just one.

Note that we also had a couple of non-points stays, including three nights in Oslo and three nights at the Efteling theme park in the Netherlands. We had run short of Choice points for Oslo, so we decided to book an Airbnb using accumulated account credit from discounted gift cards we had previously purchased.

Unfortunately, there aren't too many ways to book an Efteling stay using credit card rewards, so we just paid for three nights at the Efteling Wonder Hotel, which was easily one of the highlights of our entire trip. It was a hassle to get there from Cologne with all our luggage, and then another hassle to get to Brussels afterward, but we loved our visit, so it was worth it.

Breakdown of the points and miles we redeemed for this trip

3-night stay (2 rooms) at Home Hotel Havnekontoret

Citi ThankYou Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards transfers

5-night stay (2 rooms) at Hilton Brussels Grand Place

5-night stay at Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile

3-night stay (2 rooms) at Hyatt Regency Mainz

5-night stay (2 rooms) at Hyatt Regency Cologne

Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers and World of Hyatt credit cards

Tips and tricks for visiting Europe as a family of five

Young children often travel for free on public transport in many European cities and countries, so be sure to check whether that's an option to save money on your trip.

You can get around Europe by train, plane, or car. We typically enjoy renting cars so we can travel at our own pace and stop wherever we want, but we had no desire to lug car seats around on this trip, and it was difficult to figure out how to source affordable car seats after arrival.

So, we mostly used trains, which is another of our preferred modes of transportation. We also did a few intra-Europe flights.

Your European itinerary may look a bit different, but just remember that there are various ways to get around, so don't limit yourself. We dealt with the usual number of train delays and a frustrating situation where we almost missed our flight to Copenhagen, but fortunately, everything worked out just fine.

Note: Depending on the popularity of certain train routes, you may need to book tickets and seat reservations early. I made the mistake of waiting to book our seven-hour scenic train ride from Oslo to Bergen, and all the good times were already sold out. This meant we had to adjust our schedule, including rescheduling a fjord cruise.

Everyone has different ways of traveling, and I realize that not everyone has six weeks to spend in Europe. We thought we were spreading ourselves just fine across the trip — when we were really spreading ourselves a bit thin.

For example, our stretch of three nights each in Oslo, Bergen, and Mainz was very fast-paced, especially when you account for little kids, including a literal baby, and long travel days. You only get two full days when you have three nights, so you really want to pack in activities, but you're tired from the traveling you already did to arrive at your new destination.

This can make for long days, which is why we much prefer four- or five-night stays, particularly if we're visiting a major city or destination with plenty to do.

We get free phone data in most countries around the world with our T-Mobile plan, but it's limited to a certain amount of high-speed data per month, after which it slows down a lot. Even after the data slows down, it's still usually good enough for limited web browsing and Google Maps searches. But I just didn't want to deal with slow data, so I bought eSIMs for both my wife and me.

We used two different providers, Ubigi and RedteaGO, and they both worked well throughout the trip, though one sometimes performed better than the other depending on the location.

I think it's worth paying the small price for an eSIM if it's compatible with your phone, especially if your only alternative is the travel data option from your U.S. carrier, which typically costs an arm and a leg.

We used our credit cards for just about everything. We originally got some cash in Paris and brought some pounds from another trip to use in London, but we only needed cash in a few situations.

Specifically, I did have to use cash a few times at laundromats in different countries, though some accepted cards. And there was also an international food event in Oslo one day where you needed either a local payment app or cash to pay for food. Apart from that, we pretty much only used cash so we could get rid of it and wouldn't have to take it home.

Keep in mind that you want a credit card with no foreign transaction fees if you're going to travel abroad. In addition, Visa and Mastercard are typically the most accepted payment networks.

I like to carry both options on me just in case, and this preparation actually worked out almost immediately when I was trying to book a G7 taxi from the Paris airport (CDG) and my Visa cards weren't working, but the one Mastercard in my wallet worked just fine.

My Google Maps is littered with saved playgrounds across Europe because young kids can only do so much walking around fancy buildings and gardens until they get sick of it and just need to play.

As a side note, marking bathrooms around different attractions also helped when nature inevitably called.

Booking a Europe trip on points and miles FAQs

What is the best way to fly to Europe using points and miles?

It depends on where you live and what rewards you have, but major European cities like Dublin, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, and Lisbon have plenty of direct flights and award availability from U.S. cities.

This could include using airline programs such as Aer Lingus, British Airways, Delta, Iberia, KLM-Air France Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic, and others to book your flights. This is especially true if you already have transferable rewards from a credit card program like Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One miles, or Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Is $5,000 enough for two weeks in Europe?

It can be, but it depends entirely on your itinerary and travel preferences. If this is your budget after accounting for flights and lodging, that should be more than enough for both food and attractions in most locations if you aren't splurging. If this includes flights and lodging, you would likely need to be stricter with your daily budget.

What are the cheapest countries to visit in Europe?

Eastern Europe is typically cheaper than Western Europe, so visiting countries like Albania, Serbia, and Romania often yields lower prices for lodging and meals. You can also include more Central European countries like Poland and Hungary, while the traditionally popular countries like France, Italy, and Spain are more expensive, though it depends on where you visit.

How early should I book award flights to Europe?

I recommend booking the flights you want as early as you can. With business-class flights, availability can be sparse, depending on the airline and route, so it's best to book early. For economy awards, you generally have a bit more flexibility with your options.

I've been using credit card rewards for more than 15 years, solely to make my travels more affordable. This crazy hobby, passion, and, eventually, career has been with me since I was a single college student, a new husband, and now, somehow, a dad of three.

I understand that it can be a lot to take in, especially when you're just starting out, but I hope you hang in there because the rewards can be well worth the effort. As long as you approach rewards credit cards with the mindset that you're using them to make purchases you'd make anyway — and you're always going to pay them off before interest accrues — they can be extremely beneficial for both their rewards and credit-building opportunities.

If a few things in the article didn't quite make sense to you, like how I earned Hyatt points by having Chase points, here's another article to add to your reading list: Credit card transfer partners: Unlock better travel rewards with our complete list by issuer and program .

Editorial Disclosure: The information in this article has not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. All opinions belong solely to Yahoo Finance and are not those of any other entity. The details on financial products, including card rates and fees, are accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank's website for the most current information. This site doesn't include all currently available offers. Credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.

How I used credit card perks for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Japan and South Korea

Learn how to plan a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Japan and South Korea using credit card points and miles to save on pricy expenses like flights and hotel stays.

How I used credit card points for an all-inclusive Mexico trip at the Hilton Tulum Riviera Maya Resort

Learn how to use points and miles to book a dream trip to Mexico to stay at an all-inclusive oceanfront resort, including room service, with your entire family.

Best travel credit cards for July 2026: Earn free flights, hotel stays, and more

The right travel credit card can help you earn points toward your next trip with the purchases you make most. These are the best travel cards right now.

Planning your next vacation? Earn rewards, free nights, elite status, and more with these top hotel credit cards.

The best credit cards for vacations (August 2026)

Before leaving on vacation, use this guide to secure the right card for saving on travel expenses.

Use these rewards credit cards to start saving money today. As you make purchases, you'll earn points, miles, or cash back to use toward future spending.