Growing up, Europe seemed so out of touch. We traveled a lot – A LOT. Though the majority of our vacations were to see family across the country and typical road trips to the beach (and you truly can’t go wrong with either of those trips). From my home in small town, South Georgia, I guess I didn’t hear of many people leaving the country. College happened and I saw friends with BIG student loans or extremely generous parents begin to travel abroad, but it still wasn’t my time.

Then I learned.

You CAN travel. You CAN travel far. You CAN travel affordably. You CAN do it in a few simple steps.

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First, I recommend opening a card with FLEXIBLE points. Why? Flexible points from Chase, American Express, Citi, and Capital One can be transferred to multiple travel partners. Today, there might be an awesome points deal on United, but by the time you earn your points, the awesome deal might be on Air France! Or Virgin Atlantic! Or Iberia Airlines!

Enter the value of flexible points that have multiple travel partners.

Here are some flexible point earning options:

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (my favorite card!)

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Apply for the card, meet the requirements to earn your welcome offer, and get ready to book your flight!

Second, I recommend using a website like Point.me, roame.travel, or awardtool.com.

Personally, I believe that Point.me is the most user friendly. You get a few free searches or if you’d like to subscribe, use this link for an extra discount!

I love using Point.me because it combs through almost every airline AT THE SAME TIME and shows you the cheapest amount of points or miles you need to reach your destination.

Third, once you identify your airline, go to their website (ie. United.com, virginatlantic.com, airfrance.com) and double check that the itinerary is indeed available. Then you’ll go into your banks travel portal and transfer your points to that airline. Note: Once you transfer, they cannot be changed to any other travel partner, so make sure you double check!!

Lastly, book your flight! Europe, here we come! 

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“For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.”