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$10k Family Holiday

My family holiday to the country of Georgia and the city Istanbul, Turkey was amazing. We rented a car and drove through a good chunk of the eastern side of Georgia, and set out on foot with 2 young children in Istanbul (not easy!). We stayed at a posh estate and a ranch in the Kakheti wine region, a wooden cabin in the Caucasus Mountains, a 4-star hotel in the beautiful capital city Tbilisi, and at several luxury Marriott hotels in Istanbul

$10,000 Holiday for $1800

I kept a record of all our redemptions and expenses down to the penny – being sure not to miss even the smallest expense, like a bottle of water or a $3 rideshare

  • Points and miles redeemed: 374,558

  • Free night vouchers used: 6 (total value 285,000 points)

  • Total redemption value: $8,308.86

  • Travel credit used: $300

  • Total cash spent: $1,834.20

  • Total cash value: $10,443.06

Note that all hotel bookings were redeemed with points other than Kazbegi Cabins for 3 nights, and that we used Capital One miles to ‘cover travel purchases’ for the taxes and fees related to our flight on Turkish Airlines from Tbilisi to Istanbul (but not the other flights)

16 Night Itinerary

  • 1 night in Tbilisi

  • 1 night near Telavi

  • 1 night next to Sighnaghi

  • 3 nights in Kazbegi

  • 4 nights in Tbilisi

  • 6 nights in Istanbul

Note that we did plan to do 1 night in Bursa, Turkey. After our trip in Georgia and our first night in Istanbul, we decided it was simply to much. Packing and moving to another city via public transportation with kids would have used up a lot of time and energy that we didn’t have. The beauty of booking hotels with points is that you can cancel reservations and make new bookings with very short notice with no penalties

How We Spent Our Points

Singapore Airlines

  • Roundtrip Penang, Malaysia – Singapore – Istanbul, Turkey

  • 2 adults and 1 toddler in economy, and 1 infant on lap

  • 174,000 Krisflyer miles

  • $178.28 taxes and fees

  • $163 infant on lap

  • Cash value $2,684.58

Turkish Airlines

  • One-way Istanbul, Turkey – Tbilisi, Georgia

  • 2 adults and 1 toddler in economy, and 1 infant on lap

  • 24,000 United Airlines MileagePlus miles

  • $95.3 taxes, fees, and infant on lap

  • Cash value $509.08

Holiday Inn Tbilisi

  • Booked 1 night in a King Standard

  • Upgraded to an Executive King thanks to Platinum Status (status via Chase IHG business credit card)

  • 8,000 IHG points

  • Cash value $120

Tsindali Estate by Radisson

  • Booked 1 night with breakfast

  • $321.73 paid on Capital One Travel Portal with $300 travel credit via Venture X credit card

  • 20x points on the remaining $21.73

  • Used Capital One miles to ‘cover travel purchases’ for the remaining $21.73 (2,173 miles)

  • Cash value $321.73

Lost Ridge Inn Ranch & Brewery

  • Booked 1 night with breakfast

  • Booked via Booking.com

  • $153.34 for the stay and 1 dinner, paid for with Venture X

  • 7x points through ‘Capital One Offers’

  • Used Capital One miles to ‘cover travel purchases’ (15,334 miles)

  • Cash value $153.34

Kazbegi Cabins (only accommodation not booked with points)

  • Booked 3 nights in chalet with 2 queen beds

  • Booked via Agoda

  • Cash value $209.98

Holiday Inn Tbilisi

  • Booked 4 nights in a King Standard

  • Upgraded to an Executive King and 4th award night free, thanks to Platinum Status (status via Chase IHG business credit card)

  • 55,000 IHG points

  • Cash value $420

Turkish Airlines

  • One-way Tbilisi, Georgia – Istanbul, Turkey

  • 2 adults and 1 toddler in economy, and 1 infant on lap

  • 24,000 United Airlines MileagePlus miles

  • $114.50 taxes, fees, and infant on lap

  • Used Capital One miles to ‘cover travel purchases’ (11,450 miles)

  • Cash value $530.70

The Westin Istanbul Nisantasi

  • Booked 1 night in a Deluxe King

  • 1 Marriott Bonvoy Free Night Voucher (50k voucher)

  • Cash value $339

The St. Regis Istanbul

  • Booked 4 nights in a Superior King

  • Upgraded to a Deluxe King, thanks to the kindness of the GM

  • 4 Marriott Bonvoy Free Night Vouchers (50k vouchers)

  • 5,000 Marriott Bonvoy points used

  • Gifted free breakfast for 2 days, thanks to the kindness of the GM

  • Cash value $3,000

Sanasaryan Han, Istanbul

  • Booked 1 night in a Deluxe Queen

  • Upgraded to a Grand Deluxe King

  • 1 Marriot Bonvoy Anniversary Free Night Voucher (35k voucher)

  • Cash value $311

Airport Lounge Access

  • Priority Pass thanks to my Capital One Venture X

  • Unlimited access for myself and 2 guests

  • Kids under 6 are free in some lounges, and under 2 in other lounges

  • We visited the Plaza Premium lounge in Penang, several lounges in Singapore in both directions, the LGA lounge in Istanbul twice, and the Primeclass Lounge in Tbilisi

  • Cash value $200+

Rental Car

  • Rental car in Georgia booked via Localrent.com for 6 days

  • Used Capital One miles to ‘cover travel purchases’ (27,702 miles)

  • Cash value $277.02

Public Transportation

  • Used Venture X to pay for all taxis, ridesharing, cable cars, metros, and funicular trains

  • Used Capital One miles to ‘cover travel purchases’ (17,899 miles)

  • Cash value $178.99

Credit Card Welcome Offers

Not including our Marriott free night vouchers, we averaged1.43 cents per point. This includes roughly 50,000 points redeemed at 1 cent per point, using Capital One miles to ‘cover travel purchases.’ All of our points, miles, and free night vouchers were earned through credit card welcome offers – except 108,000 Krisflyer miles from regular credit card spending on our Malaysian Krisflyer credit card (a great deal of that was manufactured spending through loopholes that the Malaysian bank and digital wallets eventually caught on to).

This is a list of the Credit Card Welcome Offers and Benefits that significantly impacted our trip (Note that these are the welcome offers I earned, not necessarily the same as being currently offered)

Capital One Venture X

  • 75,000 mile welcome offer

  • $300 annual travel credit

  • Priority Pass for airport lounge access

  • Ability to use miles to ‘cover travel purchases’ at 1 cent per point (including public transportation and ridesharing)

  • Referral Link https://i.capitalone.com/G1hCfT3qX

Capital One Venture Rewards

Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless

Chase IHG One Rewards Premier Business

Chase Ink Business Cash

For Next Time

No matter how much planning you do, you’ll always have a few things you wish you did differently. You also learn new information that is useful for future trips to the same destinations. Hotels are great pit-stops with young children when you’ve been lugging them around busy city streets for hours, so I did stop at a few just to check them out. Having status with the brand and enquiring about their rooms and regulations makes them keen to offer you free water and sometimes coffee or juice.

Marriott Hotel Tbilisi

I visited this hotel during one of our walks in Tbilisi, and it is absolutely beautiful. You are able to redeem rooms with 2 double beds, which I now know are queen size beds. They have no problem with 4 people in a room, even though the Marriott Bonvoy App states a max occupancy of 2. I will put considerable effort into staying her for my next stay in Tbilisi

Holiday Inn Express Tbilisi

I did not visit this hotel, but I drove by it more than once – the location is far better than the Holiday Inn Tbilisi (although this was an enjoyable walk to and from the main area). I was worried about how stroller friendly Tbilisi would be, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to push a stroller here. This hotel is all downhill to the main area, and a short uphill climb to the Holy Trinity Cathedral. You can redeem rooms with an extra bed, and breakfast is included.

https://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/tbilisi/tbsta/hoteldetail

JW Marriott Istanbul

I originally booked this hotel for 5 nights, but after calling to inquire about staying with 2 adults and 2 children I cancelled. Whomever I spoke to on the phone told me it would not be ok. I visited this hotel, and it is as beautiful as I thought it would be. The location is perfect – close to the Old City without being in it – and the staff are incredibly welcoming and hospitable. Also, I found out that it’s perfectly ok to stay with 2 adults and 2 young children; and that they would have upgraded me to a larger room had I contacted their reservations department. If I go to Istanbul again, I’ll be staying here.

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/istjb-jw-marriott-istanbul-bosphorus/overview/

Bolt, Uber, Taxis, and Private Transfers

  • Bolt in Georgia is fantastic. It’s cheap and the cars are great – Toyota Camrys, Honda Accords, Ford Fusions are the norm

  • Uber Istanbul is a taxi booking service – there are no private drivers. The prices are estimates, and the final price is always 50% higher at minimum. Taxis in Istanbul are very expensive

  • Private transfers booked via Viator are the way to go in Istanbul. I booked one for our arrival, but did not for our departure. I thought I’d save some money/points and take a Uber taxi. The price was the same and the car was subpar