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Pay with Miles, Investing, and Credit Cards

We’re planning a big family vacation for next summer. Scott, me, the kids, and my parents are all headed to Seattle for a friend’s wedding. We decided to make a week out of it and make it a vacation.

Gone are the days when Scott and I could book 2 tickets on Northwest with our miles in under 10 minutes. Have you ever tried to coordinate booking 7 plane tickets using frequent flier miles from 2 different accounts for 4 tickets, getting reasonable prices for the remaining tickets, getting good flight times for traveling with 3 kids ages 3 and under, and getting decent seating for traveling with a lap baby? Don’t forget to throw in the Delta/Northwest merger of our frequent flier miles, and all of a sudden, booking the flight got really complicated.

Pay with Miles

Luckily, I discovered Delta’s “Pay with Miles” program. While the conversion ratio isn’t that great, it looks like a cheaper option than using miles outright for the dates we need. You need to have one of the American Express Delta cards to use the Pay with Miles program:

We each applied for a card, since you get 25,000 bonus SkyMiles after the first purchase (good for $500 off with the Pay with Miles program for 2 cards). After we get our new cards, even after paying the annual fee, it should make booking our trip much easier… and cheaper!

Investing

Credit Cards

By the Numbers

And More!