here's the point: travel hacking 101
- Danie Waddell-Cranford
- Dec 22, 2025
- 10 min read
If there's one thing people know about me, it's my love for taking (and planning!) a trip. And if there's one question people ask me about our travels, it's how we afford it.
Contrary to what some might believe, we are not secretly wealthy, nor are we in immense debt. Thankfully our strategy is simple and much more accessible.
I learned everything I know about travel hacking through the Points Talk Squad Facebook group. I had heard about points travel from TikTok, from full-time travel bloggers, from a friend or two, but it all felt like information overload. There were so many rules and so many details to keep track of -- I figured there was no way the benefits could be worth the effort.
Plus, if I'm honest, credit cards scared me. If you don't have cash in hand to pay for something, you can't afford it. And if you have the cash, you don't need credit. That was my philosophy, and I was sticking to it.
Thankfully I came across Debt Free Mom on Instagram and learned the art of using your credit card like a debit card (among lots of other things -- Carly is a budgeting genius). It's actually possible to reap the benefits of credit spending without the dreaded interest.
So we started small with a card from Southwest Airlines. We've frequented Southwest's route from Birmingham to Orlando since our honeymoon hooked us on Disney World, so I knew we'd use any and all Southwest points we could earn. I've been hooked from there.
While it does take effort and a bit of a learning curve, travel hacking has been been a gamechanger for us this year. We've been able to make so many memories and see more places than I would have ever imagined without points travel.
So consider this my Spotify Wrapped of our 2025 travels. I've included most all of the points redemptions and the cards we used to earn them so you can replicate if you feel so inclined. I know travel feels out of reach for so many; I want to help people realize it's more accessible than you might think.
January
Austin and I took a parents-only trip to the Universal Cheerleading Association College Nationals in January 2024 and had the best time, so I knew I wanted to head back this year. Lucky for us, UCA competitions are in none other than Walt Disney World, so we got to combine the excitement of an Alabama Coed Cheer national championship win (Roll Tide!) with the magic of our favorite place.
We redeemed 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for our very first travel hacking redemption. It was also our first experience staying off-property at Disney, and, honestly, we weren't impressed. Our location was still great -- a short walk to Disney Springs meant we still had easy access to Disney's bus system -- but the perks began and ended there. After an... interesting encounter with hotel staff, we elected to leave a night early and head to our go-to: Disney's Pop Century. We would have left even earlier if there had been rooms available at a reasonable price. I vowed to do some more detailed research into hotels before our redeeming any future stays.
As for flights, we cashed in our first flight with Southwest's Companion Pass. With the help of our initial Southwest Rapid Rewards card anniversary points, our frequent Southwest flights, and a new Rapid Rewards Performance Business Card at just the right time of year, we earned Companion Pass on Austin's account through the end of 2026. This means Austin is able to bring along a free passenger on each flight he books. When our family of three travels, we only pay for two flights. When it's just Austin and me, we only pay for one. Let's all hope and pray Southwest doesn't put this perk on the chopping block next.
Sign-up Bonus: 90,000 points in Dec. 2024
Sign-up Bonus: 80,000 points in Dec. 2024
These are our personal referral links!
February
I love a birthday trip, especially to my favorite city.
When Mary Kate Morrissey announced her run at the Gershwin would be up in March, I knew just what I wanted for my birthday gift. We planned a quick Valentine's weekend to New York City with our new Companion Pass, booked tickets to see Wicked (our first Broadway show!), and a stay at Hotel Alameda, the sweetest little spot right off The High Line. The whole weekend cost us a combined 50,000 points through Southwest and Chase, plus the price of Wicked tickets. The perfect birthday if you ask me!
Sign-up Bonus: 60,000 points in Feb. 2025
These are our personal referral links!
March
When we first purchased Disney World annual passes in 2023, we decided to get our money's worth. If you're going to spend that much on theme park tickets, you might as well make sure you're enjoying it as much as possible. Pair that with the passholder discounts for Disney resorts, merchandise, and food -- we're taking advantage of it all.
What makes being a passholder even better is when the perfect opportunity comes along and you're able to jump on it. A former coworker posted about an available stay she had through her Disney Vacation Club membership: four nights at Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Jambo House at a very discounted rate. For just slightly more than what we'd typically spend to stay at Pop Century, we'd be waking up to the views of giraffes, zebras, and all sorts of wildlife just outside our window.
Yes, please!
While that purchase wasn't one we could redeem with points, I was able to put the cost on our newest card to fulfill another sign-up bonus. This is where I really appreciated being able to use the indirect benefits of travel hacking. Sending the money from our checking account would have booked the trip just the same, but using a credit card for the same amount (though there was an extra charge for using the card on Venmo) meant I was able to earn points for a future trip while paying for this one.
Points also allowed me the flexibility to head straight from Florida to Vermont for my friend's baby shower. I will say, heading from humid Orlando to a spring snowstorm just miles from the Canadian border was a shock to my body, but I'm so grateful I was able to be in both places. Without travel hacking, I would have had to choose one trip over another, missing out on lovely memories either way.
Sign-up Bonus: 100,000 points in March 2025
These are our personal referral links!
April
We squeezed in another weekend trip to WDW, this time for Easter.
This trip also wasn't directly redeemable by points, but it did give us our first experience with the Pay Yourself Back feature. Both Chase and Capital One offer options to use your points to pay for certain charges on your cards. In this instance, our booking at Disney's Pop Century coded as a travel charge (resort stays and packages code as travel, but standalone ticket purchases code as entertainment, FYI) so we were able to "pay ourselves back" with our Capital One miles.
Between our annual passes, the indirect points purchase, and Austin's Southwest Companion Pass, we paid nothing for our trip aside from minimal spending at the parks. For a little over 60,000 points total, we'll take it.
Sign-up Bonus: 60,000 points in April 2025 for Austin
+ 10,000 referral points for Danielle.
These are our personal referral links!
May
My sister's college graduation in Georgia happened to fall on the same weekend as my friend's 30th birthday in Baltimore. Thanks to Southwest points and the Chase Travel portal, I was able to celebrate with my sister that morning, drive an hour to Atlanta, and catch a flight to Baltimore to surprise my friend for her birthday.
When life threw another friend a devastating curveball, I was able to use points to travel back to Baltimore the very next weekend to be close to her. I'm thankful for the fun trips travel hacking affords us, sure, but I'm most grateful for this. Three of my best friends live 750 miles or more away. Without points travel, seeing them at all, much less when the unexpected happens, would be much more difficult.
Chase World of Hyatt
Sign-up Bonus: 30,000 points in May 2025
(This is the only card I question why I opened it. But all points are useful!)
June
Our daughter's third birthday was coming in July, so we decided we ought to squeeze one last trip out of Disney's "free before 3" rule. With some points under our belt, we decided why not head to the West Coast to check out Disneyland for the first time?
We booked a (gorgeous! spacious!) room at Hyatt House - Anaheim for 114,483 points, just a 15-minute walk from Disneyland's entry gate. It was heaven.
June in Disney World can be miserable (we know firsthand from our summer 2024 trip), but June in Anaheim was lovely. I barely broke a sweat walking around the parks midday. Keely forced us to ride Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage more times than we could count, we tried all the most recommended Disneyland snacks, and I fell in love with Storybook Land Canal Boats.
I highly recommend flying into John Wayne/Orange County (SNA) as opposed to LAX or other nearby airports. It was a smooth 20-minute ride from SNA to our hotel, and I love nothing more than a small, easy-to-navigate airport. For the three of us, we spent 33,000 points on flights from Birmingham to SNA -- thanks, Companion Pass!
July
My bestie in Vermont had her baby in May, so Keely and I took a trip to meet our newest, littlest pal.
Austin's Companion Pass only qualifies if he flies, and he wasn't able to join us on this trip. I cannot express how much I hated using the same amount of points for two flights that I could use for three. That's how I know travel hacking has altered my brain -- I want every dollar and every point to be maximized. You can bet your bottom dollar that I'm working toward a Companion Pass of my own as we speak.
Keely and I had the best time enjoying Vermont's temperate summer weather (we wore jackets on the Fourth of July... Alabama could never) and soaking up all the time with our friends. And for 21,141 Southwest points, we'd do it over and over again.
Sign-up Bonus: 75,000 points in August 2025 for Austin
+ 20,000 referral points for Danielle
These are our personal referral links!
September
The biggest downfall to our love for travel is that it's more like an obsession.
After July and August with no trips as a family of three, we were itching to take off somewhere. With Disney World annual passes in hand and a stellar flight sale on Southwest (14,000 points for all three of us!), we booked a trip to Orlando. And since we'd be there on a Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party night, we might as well tack that on, too, right?
Bo Peep and her sheep made the most of their quick Disney weekend: trick-or-treating in Magic Kingdom, park-hopping all around Disney property, and of course stopping into Gideon's Bakehouse for a slice of red velvet cake (worth every penny and every minute in line).
October
Austin and I don't do presents for birthdays or Christmas or anniversaries; we'd rather book a trip, if you can believe it.
When Leslie Odom, Jr. announced he'd return to the Richard Rogers as Aaron Burr this fall, I texted Austin and let him know I found the perfect plans for our anniversary. I found a cozy Airbnb in Harlem, booked yet another Southwest flight, and decided if we were going to see Leslie Odom, Jr. in Hamilton, I wanted to actually see Leslie Odom, Jr.
This is yet another instance in which points completely changed the way we travel. When we saw our first show in February, I booked the cheapest tickets in the highest seat. I have zero complaints about our experience at Wicked, but because we had extra points to "pay myself back," I decided to splurge on eighth row seats for Hamilton. No one will ever convince me that I didn't lock eyes with Leslie during "Wait for It." That was only possible because of points.
Austin and I also snuck in some extra time with our Pennsylvania friends who popped up to enjoy NYC with us. The six of us spent the third Saturday in October yelling and singing at an Alabama-themed bar as the Tide beat Tennessee, just as God intended.
November
The pandemic cancelled at least three different international trips for me (which is such a privilege to say in the first place). My plan was to get to Europe before Austin and I had children, but Keely showed up in 2022 before Austin even had his passport.
Once I got the hang of points travel, I knew I wanted a big trip. Disneyland was major. Our New York trip to see Leslie Odom, Jr. was insane. But I wanted to cross an ocean, people.
My most well-traveled friend sent me a link to Virgin Atlantic Airlines, letting me know that they had an incredible sale going on. By the time I clicked off the link, I booked three roundtrip, direct flights from Atlanta to London Heathrow for 45,000 total. That is absolutely unbeatable.
I researched hotels through the Chase Travel and Capital One Travel portals, worked on potential itineraries, and landed on the perfect plan. Five days in London, five days in Edinburgh for a combined 135,000 points in hotel stays. We spent our Thanksgiving soaking up the Christmas lights and gorgeous views of the United Kingdom and loving every second of it. International travel with a toddler is exhausting, but it is so worth the effort (especially for Edinburgh -- one of my favorite destinations to date).
Sign-up Bonus: 85,000 points in Nov. 2025
These are our personal referral links!
So, if you weren't keeping count, we opened up nine new credit cards between the two of us for a grand total of 640,000 points in sign-up bonuses, not including referral points or any additional points earned. We've already used some of those points to set up our 2026 travel plans that still don't feel quite real to me.
I turn 30 in February and will be spending the weekend celebrating in Disney World with some of my best friends, which is a dream trip in itself. Just a few weeks ago we found some excellent flight deals that led us to book a trip to Disneyland Paris. I genuinely can't even believe I'm saying that.
We plan to return to California this summer to celebrate Keely's fourth birthday in Disneyland. And after being successfully influenced by a stranger on TikTok, we'll be sailing on the Disney Wish this October for Halloween on the High Seas. Most all of these trips have been or will be booked using credit cards points we already have, are currently earning, or plan to earn with the next cards in our line up.
If you had told me any of this just a year or two ago, I would have been in shock. I fell in love with travel on my very first flight to New York City in 2015, and I've been dreaming of more and more travel since. I never would have expected I could do it so affordably. Here's to travel hacking my way through 2026 -- I hope you earn some extra points this year, too!
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