Key takeaways
- It’s possible to earn 100,000 points quickly with a single credit card sign-up bonus, but you could also cobble together a few bonuses to create a six-figure stash of points or miles.
- Either way, the best ways to spend 100,000 points still depend on your travel goals. Maybe you’re angling for an all-inclusive resort stay or an international flight in a lie-flat business seat
- both strategies can work.
- Generally speaking, you can get more value from airline miles when booking a premium cabin over other types of travel points. However, there are plenty of ways to maximize miles for economy flights or hotel points for a fun trip.
The best ways to use 100,000 points depend largely on the type of rewards currency you have and how much your points or miles are worth. For example, 100,000 Hilton Honors points may not even be enough for a single night’s stay in one of their top-tier hotels. But the same amount of Chase Ultimate Rewards points or Amex Membership Rewards points can be worth $2,000 (and potentially more) in travel if transferred to the right partner for a high-value redemption.
With that in mind, I set out to answer a few simple questions. What is the best way to use 100k Amex points? What is the best use of 100k Chase points? And how can someone get a ton of value out of 100,000 airline miles?
If you have 100,000 points burning a hole in your pocket, read on to learn six awesome ways you can redeem them.
Book cheap economy flights to Europe for a family of five
First off, you can use 100,000 points to book five one-way flights to Europe, but only if you use the right program. My favorite airline loyalty program for this purpose is the Air France / Flying Blue program, which just happens to be one of the best ways to use 100,000 Chase points, as well as a partner of the American Express Membership Rewards program and Capital One miles.
You’ll need to be flexible if you want to find economy award flights at the lowest possible rate, but they’re absolutely out there. For example, my search yielded the following one-way economy flights from Chicago (ORD) to Paris (CDG) for 20,000 Air France miles plus $97.20 per person in airline taxes and fees.
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Pay for two business class flights in a lie-flat seat
If you’re looking for the best way to spend 100,000 American Express points for business class airfare, the Air France / Flying Blue program has some pretty good options in that realm, too. You’ll have to do some digging to find destinations and dates with the lowest possible rates, but they’re definitely out there.
