Family Travel on Points: Tips, Tricks and Tactics with Nick Reyes

All the Hacks: Money, Points & Life

Chris Hutchins

Business, Education, Investing, Society & Culture, Places & Travel, Self-improvement

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2025

⏱️ 89 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

#252: Chris and Nick share strategies to make family travel affordable and stress-free with points and miles. They cover how to find multiple award seats, book business class for families, and their best tips for traveling with kids, from managing jet lag and delays to finding family-friendly hotels, must-have travel gear, and more. Nick Reyes is a writer at Frequent Miler and co-host of the Frequent Miler On The Air podcast. He is an avid traveler who's been to 60+ countries and loves collecting points and miles. Link to Full Show Notes: https://chrishutchins.com/family-travel-nick-reyes Partner Deals Upwork: Free job posting to find, hire, and pay top freelance talent Copilot Money: Free 2 months access to my favorite personal finance app with code HACKS2 DeleteMe: 20% off removing your personal info from the web Mercury: Help your business grow with simplified finances Daffy: Free $25 to give to the charity of your choice For all the deals, discounts and promo codes from our partners, go to: chrishutchins.com/deals Resources Mentioned Nick Reyes: Frequent Miler | X | Podcast A $50,000+ family trip to Europe, booked with miles and points Kids in business class: Saving miles on child award tickets Guide to Airline Companion Tickets How to book Hyatt suites How to book Vacasa Vacation Rentals with Wyndham points Booking Cottages.com via Wyndham Rewards Nick’s 2025 casino status strategy for free cruises Grand Hotel Victoria on Lake Como ZIPAIR RideSafer Travel Vest Mobile Passport Control (MPC) HotelTonight AutoSlash ABCmouse Travel Strollers: Babyzen Yoyo | gb Pockit ATH Podcast Ep #166: Best Award Search Tools for Booking Flights with Points & Miles Ep #167: Best Tools for Booking Hotels with Points & Miles Leave a review: Apple Podcasts | Spotify Email for questions, hacks, deals, and feedback: [email protected] Full Show Notes (00:00) Introduction (00:58) What People Get Wrong About Families Traveling Using Points (02:53) Nick's Luxury Family Trip to Europe with Points (06:30) Things to Consider When Booking Multiple Award Seats (09:45) Booking Award Seats in Economy vs. Premium Economy (13:55) Flying in Business Class with Kids (17:55) Splitting Up the Family in Different Award Flights (20:29) Buying Extra Economy Seats for More Space (23:27) Prioritizing Sleep on International Flights (28:43) Nick's Approach to Jet Lag (30:47) Airline Discounts for Kids (33:41) How Lap Infant Pricing Works (36:36) The Best Airlines for Traveling with Kids (39:08) Pooling Airline Miles with Children (41:50) Leveraging Companion Passes/Fares for Family Travel (45:06) Using Carry-On Vs. Checking Bags with Kids (46:19) Accessories for Traveling with Young Kids (50:28) Managing Delays and Other Irregularities When Traveling with Kids (53:16) Why Lounge Access Is a Game Changer (55:05) Fast Tracking Airport Entry with Kids (57:11) Tactics Nick Uses to Book Hotels Internationally for His Family (01:01:08) Booking Rooms with Points vs. Cash (01:04:07) Emailing Your Hotel for an Upgrade (01:05:44) Benefit of Having Kids Clubs at Hotels and Resorts (01:07:53) Tips and Tricks to Book Vacation Rentals (01:09:54) Transportation Tips When Traveling with Kids (01:12:55) How Cruises Changed Nick's Travel Game (01:17:31) Other Family Travel Tips & Tricks (01:20:40) Planning Activities Around Your Kids' Interests (01:23:07) Unusual Must-Haves for Trips with Kids (01:25:22) Top Kid-Friendly Travel Destinations (01:27:42) Where to Find Nick & His Work Connect with Chris Newsletter | Membership | X | Instagram | LinkedIn Editor’s Note: The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Booking travel with points for just one person is hard enough, but what if you want to book four, five, or even eight seats?
0:06.6	Or what if you're coordinating around school breaks, holiday travel, or trying to book those seats in business or first class?
0:13.3	It can feel nearly impossible. But today's guest, Nick Reyes, proves that with the right strategy, most of this absolutely is possible.
0:22.2	You may know him from the frequent miler, but he's also one of the best when it comes to award
0:26.4	travel and especially family travel, having booked countless trips for his family of four
0:31.7	and even a recent amazing luxury trip to Europe on points for eight people.
0:39.4	Today we'll cover how to actually find multiple award seats, tools that make the searches way easier, booking strategies to save you
0:45.2	thousands, so many different tricks for travel with family and kids and a lot more. I'm Chris Hutchins.
0:52.1	If you enjoy this episode and you want to keep upgrading your
0:54.8	money, points, and life, click follow or subscribe. Nick, you've traveled a world with your
1:00.1	family, mostly on points, which most people think is impossible. What do they all get wrong?
1:05.3	You have to kind of adjust the way of thinking about things. And instead of picking a specific
1:09.8	spot we want to go, I'm much
1:11.7	more open to different experiences. I just want the kids to get different experiences. And so I often
1:16.7	plan trips based on where there's availability to get to, or at least getting to a general
1:22.8	area that I would like to. And I try to keep my planning as open as possible in that regard, both in terms of the location
1:30.1	and the specific dates.
1:31.5	It's really hard if you say, I want to go to Paris on July 16th.
1:34.6	But if you think, I want to go to Europe sometime in the summer, it's a lot easier to find
1:38.5	the availability you need.
1:39.9	And then really, it does require some time mastering the different programs.
1:43.6	But there's so many great
	...

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