168. A $111k Family Trip to Japan for $1,660: How It Started
Point Me To First Class
Devon Gimbel MD
4.9 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 18 May 2026
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Have you ever been tempted to completely change your vacation plans because of an irresistible points deal?
That's exactly what happened when Japan Airlines did a random first class award dump last April. I couldn't resist jumping on the opportunity to book our family of four in first class to Tokyo - even though it meant splitting us across two different flights and completely scrapping our original Mexico plans.
For the first time in this podcast's history, my husband Brandon joins me at the mic to recap our spring break trip to Japan with our two kids. In part one of this two-part series, Brandon and I walk through how this accidental trip came together, what it was like flying Japan Airlines first class as a family, our stay at the newly renovated Park Hyatt Tokyo, and the reality of traveling with kids in Japan - from the Pokémon Cafe to nearly missing the bullet train to Kyoto.
This is an honest, unfiltered look at what goes right and what goes wrong even with advanced planning, as we cover the flight drama, the Tokyo highlights, and everything that happened before we made it to Kyoto.
Get full show notes and transcript: https://pointmetofirstclass.com/japan-family-trip-recap-part-1
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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, |
| 0:31.3 | everyone. Like many families who travel, we're mostly bound by our kids' school schedule for when |
| 0:36.8 | we can take longer trips. |
| 0:38.6 | And that usually looks like one week in March for spring break, two weeks in December for winter break, |
| 0:43.4 | and a bit more freedom in the summer. The past few years, we have leaned heavily on points to make |
| 0:48.2 | our spring break travel aspirations a reality, with our points funding trips to Paris, |
| 0:53.1 | Costa Rica, and Hawaii, just the last few |
| 0:55.6 | years alone. But this year, our points outdid themselves by funding an unforgettable visit to Japan. |
| 1:02.1 | And I want to share exactly what we booked, how many points it cost, and what it was really |
| 1:07.0 | like traveling with two kids to Japan. But I'm not going to be doing this Japan spring break |
| 1:12.3 | recap all by myself. No, for the first time in this podcast history, I convinced my partner, |
| 1:18.8 | my P2 in life and points, my husband, Dr. Mr. Point Me to First Class, Brandon, to join me at the |
| 1:24.9 | mic. If you've ever wondered what it actually sounds like when a |
| 1:28.2 | point's obsessive and a perfectly typical human being plan a vacation together, today is your |
| 1:33.3 | lucky day. Brandon is an excellent travel partner. He has great opinions and he has approximately |
| 1:38.8 | zero interest in the points and mileside of how any of this comes together. For some reason that I don't entirely |
| 1:44.9 | understand, he just does not love to spend his free time reading about airline alliances and |
| 1:49.7 | award transfer partners. But this balance is what makes us work. And what I hope is going to make |
| 1:54.4 | this conversation really fun for you to listen to. Today, we're covering how this trip came together |
| 1:59.3 | because it was actually completely accidental. |
... |
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