A $10,000 Trip to Rome✈️🇮🇹

Krista Brea

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16h • General discussion

One of the reasons I'm opening this community is because travel is a genuine passion of mine.

I'm in my 40s. I have a four-year-old. I work a full-time job. I also run a publishing business on the side.

I'm not a digital nomad.

I'm not constantly flying around the world.

I probably take 4-6 trips per year, which I think is fairly realistic for many working adults.

Tomorrow, I'm heading off on an 8-day solo trip to Rome, and when I started pricing everything out, I realized this trip could have easily cost me over $10,000 if I had paid cash for everything.

Instead, I'm paying a fraction of that.

And no, this isn't one of those "travel influencer" situations where I'm taking 20 flights a year and spending $100,000 on credit cards.

This is a strategy that regular people can build toward.

Could you join this community today and book a $10,000 trip next month? Probably not.

Could you start building points now and be ready for an amazing trip in 2027?

Absolutely.

✈️ The Flight - I'm flying business class to Rome.

The cash value of my round-trip flight is over $7,000.

Why so expensive?

Because it's business class and includes a lie-flat seat for the overnight flight.

Could I have flown economy for around $700?

Sure.

But one of the things I love about points and miles is the ability to enjoy experiences that I would never pay cash for.

I would never spend $7,000 on a plane ticket.

But using points? That's a different story.

🏨 The Hotels - Rome hotels are expensive, especially when you don't book far in advance.

Thankfully, I had built up a healthy balance of Hilton Honors points.

Hilton offers a benefit where if you book four nights with points, you get the fifth night free.

I used that perk to cover five nights at an upscale Hilton property.

I also had a Hilton Free Night Award from one of my Hilton credit cards, which covered another night.

That meant I only had to pay cash for a single night during my entire stay.

Even better:

✅ Hilton statement credit helped offset that cost

✅ I'll earn bonus Hilton points on the paid stay

✅ Most of my accommodations are covered entirely by rewards

If I had paid cash for seven nights in Rome, the hotel costs alone could have easily reached several thousand dollars.

💡 The Real Goal

The point isn't to chase luxury for the sake of luxury.

The point is to use rewards strategically so you can enjoy experiences that might otherwise feel out of reach. Travel hacking isn't about getting everything for free. It's about getting far more value from money you were already going to spend.

If you're new here, don't worry about trying to learn everything at once.

Start building points.

Start learning the basics.

Pick a travel goal.

A year from now, you might be surprised by where those points can take you.

💥 Where would you like to take your next trip to?

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