Family Travel on Points and Miles: Free Checked Bags, Companion Passes, and Miles Pooling

About this episode

The episode discusses how families can effectively use points and miles for travel, featuring expert tips and the latest travel news.

Learn how families can use points and miles to fly, earn companion passes, and book hotels without paying full price. Before delving into the ins and outs of family travel, hosts Meghan Coyle and Tess Vigeland (filling in for Sally French) break down the latest travel headlines, including an increase in checked bag fees across all four major U.S. airlines, American Airlines stripping elite status perks from basic economy bookings, Rove Miles adding new transfer partners, Virgin Voyages' Brilliant Lady arriving in Los Angeles for West Coast sailings, and Tess's long-awaited — and ultimately successful — effort to get a refund from Iberia Airlines after a delayed flight in Spain. Then, Sally joins Meghan for a discussion with Erin Hurd, points expert and NerdWallet's director of travel, about how families can travel on points without losing their minds. Erin shares tips and tricks on flying babies and toddlers affordably, using family miles pooling programs to combine points across household members, earning companion passes to stretch your travel budget further, and booking hotels strategically when you need connecting rooms or extra space. Card benefits, terms and fees can…

People in this episode

Hosts: Meghan Coyle, Tess Vigeland, Sally French

Guest: Erin Hurd

Topics covered

• family travel
• points and miles
• travel tips
• airline fees
• hotel booking
• companion passes

Keywords

• family travel
• points
• miles pooling
• companion passes
• checked bags
• hotel booking
• travel tips

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NerdWallet, American Airlines, Rove Miles, Virgin Voyages, Iberia Airlines

Products: Delta SkyMiles Gold AmEx, Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus, American Express Platinum

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