Quito Turismo will participate at the National Geographic Traveller Food Festival 2024, an event organised by the prestigious international magazine of the same name.
13.07.2024 - 11:26 / cntraveler.com
With tickets to US dates of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour selling at sky-high prices, you may have wondered if it would just be cheaper to go to Europe this summer to catch a show. The answer to that question is yes, especially if you have points and miles to spend.
Earlier this summer, I noticed Eras ticket prices in Madrid plunged below $200 before taxes and fees on StubHub. I knew I had to pounce. With some diligent flight award searching, I was able to fly to Spain in business class, see an epic concert, and stay the night in a comfortable and well-located hotel for a grand total of just over $500—far less than I would have had to spend to travel and see the show when it returns to the United States in October.
I’ve already visited Madrid on previous trips, so I chose to spend the rest of my time abroad in Mallorca, which conveniently presented me with another great option to use miles to get home. And while the trip was a quick whirlwind at just four days long, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.
Here’s a look at how I got to see Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour in Europe by putting it all together with points and miles—and if you take some of these points and miles how-tos to heart, you too could soon be flying to Europe in “Style.”
Because my date was off-peak, I snagged a business-class ticket to Madrid on Iberia for 62,500 Avios instead of the usual 75,000.
My travel began in Minneapolis, where I was attending a family wedding. While it wasn’t difficult to find reasonably priced, one-way economy award tickets from Minneapolis to Madrid in the 30,000-mile range, I was hoping to fly business class overnight. Unfortunately, those options were quite pricier at more than 200,000 miles.
Instead of settling for economy, I pivoted my search and began looking for flights out of Chicago O’Hare, a nearby—and much larger—airport. Ultimately, I was able to find business class availability from Chicago to Madrid with a connection in Dublin on Aer Lingus, and I booked it through British Airways. Savvy travelers can do this because both airlines are partners and you can book travel on one by using the points—called Avios—you have with the other.
Because my date was off-peak, I snagged a ticket for 62,500 Avios instead of the usual 75,000. To book, I transferred the points over to British Airways from my American Express Platinum Card. (Amex also transfers to Aer Lingus itself, but there was no difference in what the two airlines were offering in price, and my Amex and BA accounts were already previously linked.)
At that point, all that was left to do was find a quick flight that would get me from Minneapolis to Chicago with enough time to make the flight to Madrid. Because economy-class tickets were cheap at
Quito Turismo will participate at the National Geographic Traveller Food Festival 2024, an event organised by the prestigious international magazine of the same name.
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At TPG, one of our main missions is to teach our readers how to use points and miles to secure dream trips they otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford. Often, we don't hear about the trips that our readers end up taking, but every now and again, we're gifted with tales of special experiences.
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