150. 2025 Points Year in Review: How We Used Our Points, Chose Programs & Planned 2026 Travel (Part 2)
Point Me To First Class
Devon Gimbel MD
4.9 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 12 January 2026
⏱️ 101 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today we're picking up where we left off last week in our 2025 points recap. In this second part of our year-in-review series, Dr. Andrea Mabry and I continue to break down the travel we actually booked with all those points we earned in 2025.
We're sharing the total value of travel we booked, our average redemption values, and the specific trips we planned—from family vacations to aspirational first class products. We also reveal what we've already booked for 2026, including trips worth over $300,000 combined.
Andrea and I each share how many points we used to book travel in 2025, what that travel was worth, and what we paid out of pocket in taxes and fees. We talk about booking business class for large groups from non-hub airports, navigating award space challenges and disappointments, and the airline products that delivered exceptional value versus the ones that fell flat.
Listen in as we discuss the strategic decisions behind our redemptions and the lessons we're applying to future travel. Whether you're planning your first award trip or refining your approach to premium cabin bookings, this episode offers real numbers, honest takeaways, and strategies you can apply to your own travel.
Get full show notes and transcript: https://pointmetofirstclass.com/2025-points-redemptions-year-in-review-part-2/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Point Me to First Class, the only show for employed professionals, entrepreneurs, and business owners who are looking to optimize their higher than average expenses to travel the world. |
| 0:10.7 | I'm your host, Devin Gimble, and I believe that your expenses are your greatest untapped asset, if you know how to leverage them. |
| 0:17.8 | Ready to dive into the world of credit card points and miles so you can travel more, travel better, and travel often. Let's get started. Welcome back to the podcast, |
| 0:31.4 | everyone. Today, we are picking up where we left off last week in our 2025 points recap, where Andrea and I are opening our |
| 0:38.8 | points wallets and travel plans and comparing how we used points last year and talk about |
| 0:43.6 | what credit cards, points currencies, and loyalty programs were most valuable to us. |
| 0:48.4 | If you miss last week's episode, be sure to go back and check that out. |
| 0:51.8 | That's where we broke down exactly what points we earned |
| 0:54.2 | in 2025, how many points we earned, and how we did it. This week, we're diving in with the |
| 1:00.2 | really fun part. Now that you know how many points we earned last year, today you're going to hear |
| 1:04.1 | about how we use those points, including what travel we booked, our favorite award booking |
| 1:08.6 | programs, and the trips we've already planned out for |
| 1:11.4 | 26, but haven't taken yet. One thing I want to say up front is that how Andrea and I use |
| 1:17.0 | our points are just two out of a billion examples of how points can be used well. Please don't think |
| 1:23.1 | that we're suggesting that anyone else should have the same travel goals as us or use points in an |
| 1:27.8 | identical way. More than anything, use today's episode as inspiration or just plain entertainment |
| 1:33.3 | as we talk about our most memorable points travels over the last year, our highest value |
| 1:38.7 | redemptions, and the points travel we're already booking for 2026. Thank you all for joining us |
| 1:44.1 | again today and thank you, |
| 1:45.4 | Andrea, for coming back to the show. Andrea, before we dive into all of the amazing granular |
| 1:51.9 | details about how many points we use to book what types of travel, all the different things that we |
| 1:57.4 | did with points, both in 2025 and what we have already planned for 26. First, I wanted to ask you, as someone who is truly incredibly skilled at award travel, |
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