How to Maximize Your Miles to visit friends and family

I am at the age where most of my close friends live in different states. Thanks to points and miles, I can still see them regularly. A few years ago, one of my dearest friends moved to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The last time I went, I drove. I was planning to drive this time. Then I thought, let’s see how many points flying into the Gulfport airport would be.

I went to point.me and typed in my trip information. It told me the cheapest flights to Gulfport. It was 11,000 flying blue airmiles each way. Want to try Point.me?You can use NOPOINTLEFTBEHIND4 to save big!
→ 4 months free on an annual Standard point.me plan
(That’s over 30% off compared to paying monthly!)

Example of what you see on point.me

This is why you hear me and other points enthusiasts repeatedly say that we like points like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One, and Amex Membership Rewards.

Air France does not fly from Nashville to Gulfport. Delta does. I can use Flying Blue reward (Air France points) to book a Delta ticket for fewer points than going through Delta. When I looked at the Delta website to book an award ticket for the same dates, it would have been 59,000 points, not 22,000. If I had paid for the ticket in cash, it would have been $500.

I had to pay about $30.00 in additional taxes to do it this way. However, I saved 37,000 points.

Things you should know if you do this:

If you have TSA Precheck, Air France does not participate in this program, so it will not ask you for that information when you book your ticket. Instead, you go to the Delta Website, pull up your booking confirmation, and add it there. It’s super easy!

I already had the Flying Blue miles in my account from a cancelled ticket earlier this month. If not, I could have transferred them from my Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, or Capital One accounts. All three are transfer partners with Flying Blue.