Sure I’ll use my free night awards to book some fancy hotels or opt to book international business class flights to keep my knee happy (well only if they’re saver points bookings!) but the true power of points and miles for me lies in the ability to experience things that would otherwise seem impossible to do.

Like what you ask? How about a spontaneous and last minute trip that is booked less than 48 hours before I step aboard my international flight.

Oh and it also happens to be another sport-related wanderlist experience and this time it’s for World Cup 26. Which honestly had been completely out of reach when the eye watering ticket prices were first dropped along with the matching sky high hotel rates!

But life has a way of surprising us, doesn’t it? After being able to attend Paris2024, I have seen that demand can be a lot weaker than predicted for big sporting events and saw how that played out again for this World Cup with hotels opening up rooms bookable on points. Luckily I have a ton of points and miles and would not need to pay high cash prices for flights. And then the most important piece of the puzzle fell into place when I located multiple matches within my price range.

The big question then wasn’t IF I was going but when and where. Let’s dive in and see exactly how I was able to channel Seneca’s wisdom ie how luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

FULL TRIP STATS

FLIGHTS

Everything falling into place for this trip started with United Airlines having saver awards for their nonstop flights from Denver to Vancouver – not only for me but also for dates that allowed my friend to join me! Neither one of us would have considered doing the trip if we had to pay with cash but it was an easy call to make especially since we were both able to take advantage of cardmember savings (and yes, I am the best and worst friend to have)

Additional $ savings came from being able to choose Economy Plus seats (based on my friend’s elite status) + gratis Premier Access for both flights + free standard seat booking through United + free WiFi via T-Mobile

Here’s why I love flexible points: I was able to quickly transfer 27K points from Chase Ultimate Reward to United that went through instantly and I didn’t miss out on my preferred flight times/dates at the saver fare rate.

Beautiful tip: Understanding and looking at airline alliance partners can often yield lower award flights but did not in this case. United Saver Award rates are lower than Air Canada for this route (based on distance) and did not show up under Singapore Airlines. If either of those airlines had cheaper award flights, I could have easily transferred over points from Chase or Amex as I have done in the past!

HOTELS

I ended up splitting up my trip into stays at two different hotels. It was a five minute walk between the two hotels and I typically live out of my duffel bag when traveling so this wasn’t a big deal for me. The slight inconvenience was outweighed by being able to be able to use one of the benefits that comes along with my Chase Sapphire Reserve card plus using less points than staying at the Hyatt the entire time but still get elite qualifying nights and be able to use points for Hyatt.

Hyatt Regency Vancouver

Spend: 50K World of Hyatt points +$30 CAD (~$21 USD) (Housekeeping cash tip) / CASH VALUE: $1047.41 / Additional Savings: Upgrade to Higher floor , city view room + Regency Club Access (Upgrade due to World of Hyatt Globalist status - also included in other sections for savings: Complimentary breakfast + canapes at Regency Club)

Why I Chose This Hotel: There are two Hyatts in the downtown Vancouver area (literally a block from each other!) so location wise no difference between the two. However I didn’t want to spend an extra 20K points to stay two nights at the Hyatt Alberni.

The Stay: I ended up staying at the same hotel as the Egyptian team which was a cool bonus but lol was also why there were no suites available when I was there. I appreciated the early check-in at 11 AM and the choice to either get into a high floor, quiet room immediately (knowing my preferences is such a nice thing for me) or I could wait for a balcony room. I opted for the former since I wouldn’t be in the room much and it was easier to just get in then and head out on the town. Another unexpected bonus was that the hotel just re-opened their Regency Club that week (relocated now to the 2nd floor).

Fairmount Vancouver Waterfront

Spend: 40K Chase Points+ $5.25 & $30 CAD (~$21 USD) (Housekeeping cash tip) / CASH VALUE: $1058.80 / Additional Savings: One of two annual $250 Chase Sapphire Reserve Edit Booking Credits + Edit Perks (also included in other sections - free brekkie for 2 daily + $100 property credit/stay + room upgrade + early/late check in/out (not needed but was offered) + welcome amenity)

Why I Chose This Hotel: There are three Fairmounts in the downtown Vancouver area and two were close in cash price but only this hotel had the 2x point boost and with the $250 credit from my Sapphire Reserve, I could use 40,000 Chase points (vs transferring those over and booking the Hyatt Regency for two additional nights).

The Stay: The Edit booking comes with hotel perks that are very similar to having high elite status with a hotel so I was upgraded to a Harbor view room and had daily breakfast for two that was included in the stay. We used the $100 property credit for in-room dining after coming back late from the match and being out & mimosas at brekkie. I wish I would have been able to take advantage of free bike rentals to spend some time in Stanley Park!

See the helpful notes for more information re my Fairmount Stay and what I wish I had known before I booked!

FOOD

Spend: $135.48 / Savings of $403.08 on meals + drinks from a variety of sources. Free brekkie at all both hotels plus Regency Club Access with drinks/snacks during the day and light happy hour in the evening & $100 property credit for Fairmount & Lounge Access via Chase Sapphire Reserve

A lot of what I ate will be covered in more details in the Hyatt Regency and Fairmount reviews and my trip overview posts.

Not a surprise since I was with Liz that we ended up at Din Tai Fung or that we got the famous xiao long bao along with many other dishes! Some of the other delights that I had were the BBQ pork poutine fries (at BC Place) and the sushi tacos from Taco Nori (seriously they were so good that I had three of the spicy salmon and one spicy tuna). Still in search of some good ice cream as the couple of places and flavors I tried were just okay.

TRANSPORTATION

Spend: $30.36 – Public Transportation in Vancouver via Sky Trains, buses and seabuses / No Applicable Savings but it was very affordable, reliable and easy to use public transit here!

ACTIVITIES

Spend: $571.90 – World Cup Tickets + $5 for cash tip on walking tour / Savings of $108 Chase Sapphire Reserve $50 Stubhub credit (rest had been used earlier) + Viator rewards for walking tour and Flyover experience

I was in town not just for the match as one of my favorite things about football is how it is a communal experience in many places around the globe. Vancouver proved to be very similar to what I have experienced throughout Europe when I have been traveling there during Eurocup (and as advertised as this was one of the few times I actually researched things before taking a trip!). There were a lot of places to watch the World Cup for free around the city including the FIFA Fan Festival, Granville Island Watch party and little spots I would find walking around. I loved being able to meet people and make friends and watch some great matches!

The main event ended up being better than I could have imagined. This was one of the more affordable matches but I knew that it had the potential for a good game. Luckily Belgium tied earlier that day so both New Zealand and Egypt came in with some serious intensity wanting to be the first team in the group to record a win. The atmosphere was incredible but the match was even better and so thrilled that we got to be there for a historic win.

MISCELLANEOUS

Spend: $42.85 Souvenirs: Worldcup Pin and Keychain and matchday clear bag

HELPFUL NOTES

Loyalty pays: Travel hacking for me does include loyalty program elite status and WoH Globalist has been great for me. But I am an equal opportunist when it comes to loyalty programs…

Learn the ins and outs of loyalty programs: Trust me I understand how learning all these things about points and miles can be daunting and then adding in loyalty programs (and a number of them) can seem overwhelming but it can really pay off.

Listen I am still making mistakes even after doing this for decades now! Case in point, I already had an Accor ALL account (lol due to the Bilt Status Match last year) and remembered to attach it to my reservation so yayyy I was able to reach Silver Status that doesn’t expire until 12/31/2027! But I didn’t do any research or even download the app so I ended up missing out some extra miles and XP by not connecting my ALL account to Flying Blue until today!

But ya live and learn (and give yourself a lot of grace) as things are always changing in the points and miles space (and in life).

SUMMARY

So one of my biggest pet peeves when people are talking about redeeming miles and points is when others chime in with saying how that’s not a great redemption as they get X per point on their business class flights. But here’s the thing – can you really count a cash value if you were never going to fly business class if you had to pay that amount in cash?

Honestly, my stance is it’s all good if you at least redeem above 1 cent per point which is what you would get if you just redeemed your points for cashback! Award travel is simply being able to travel for better, cheaper and/or more often so if you are able to do any of these things, you are doing it right =)

And even better when you can travel AND do those things that we had told ourselves were only “once in a lifetime opportunities” but now are so much more attainable with miles and points!

Lol I joke all the time about how my entire life is about travel and money hacking but it isn’t far from the truth. Now I am thinking of what bank bonuses I can do to justify trying to replicate this again

I spent $886 TOTAL for a 5 day trip to Vancouver including getting to watch Egypt win its first ever World Cup match as they go on to (hopefully, likely) win their group and move on to the knockout stage. Talk about life being unexpected and beautiful

And that’s the beauty and power of travel hacking….are you starting to believe me yet?