This amazing trip would have cost $20,996 if we had paid cash. But, by using points and miles, our travel and lodging expenses were only $1,671 (This just covers the flights and hotels to Spain and back. We had additional expenses for hostels, small hotels and Airbnb’s on the Camino that didn’t have point options).

West (my son) and I also had one night in France and Kate had a week in Ireland (for work). But the trip was primarily in Spain.

The impetus for this trip was wanting to run El Camino de Santiago. If you’ve ever seen the movie The Way or read the book Walking With Sam you know this is one of the great trekking routes of the world. My son, West, would accompany me for the entire 535 miles. Kate joined us on a bike for the last 120 miles to Santiago. It was about a month after I had booked flights for myself and Kate that West decided he would join us. So, he ended up on different flights than us between Los Angeles and Bogota.

We started off with a short positioning flight to Los Angeles. From Los Angeles we flew to Bogota and then flew in lay-flat business class seats to Madrid. We spent two nights in Madrid, then West and I flew to San Sebastian before catching a train and bus to our starting point in St. Jean Pier de Port, France

For the next twenty nights while we were on The Camino, West and I stayed in hostels, small hotels or Airbnb’s that didn’t have point redemption options (Kate joined us for the final week).

After we finished The Camino, the three of us flew to Barcelona. We spent two nights in Barcelona and had a final night in Madrid before flying home.

Our flight home was in lay-flat, business class seats.

THAT SOUNDS GREAT, BUT HOW DID YOU DO IT?

For the short flight from SFO to LAX, Kate and I booked Premium Economy flights on Alaska Airlines. We used 25,000 Alaska miles and paid $11 in taxes. (avoided cost $459). A couple months after Kate and I had booked our flights, West decided to join us. So he ended up with different flights than us between Los Angeles and Bogota. For West’s positioning flight, we had a $78 credit with Alaska, and we paid $71 on top of that.

We earned the Alaska miles through the welcome bonus from a Bank of America Alaska Business Visa card.

From LAX, Kate and I flew on Avianca Airlines to San Salvador and then to Bogota. Then we flew from Bogota to Madrid. We had Premium Economy seats for the first two legs and lay-flat Business class seats for the last leg. For this we used 126,000 Avianca Lifemiles and we paid $45 in taxes and $58 in trip cancellation insurance (with most airlines you don’t need this when booking with miles. But Avianca is an exception).

For West’s flight we used 21,100 Avianca Lifemiles + $38 in taxes and $29 in trip insurance. West also had Premium Economy for the first two legs and Business class for the last leg. If we had paid cash, these tickets would have cost us $5334 (+ $87 for insurance). We earned the Avianca miles by obtaining the welcome bonus from our American Express Business Platinum card. We then transferred Amex points to Avianca.

Once we arrived in Madrid, we spent two nights at the Holiday Inn Express Madrid-Alcorcon. We could have used points but elected to pay cash since it was only $227 for two nights.

After this hotel, we split up. Kate spent one week working in Madrid and another week working in Ireland. West and I caught an Iberia Airlines flight from Madrid to San Sabastian, Spain. This cost us 9,000 Avios points + $55 in taxes. If we had paid cash this would have cost us $118. We earned the Avios points by transferring 9,000 American Express points to Iberia Airlines. We earned the points from our American Express Gold card, mostly through grocery shopping and dining.

For the next twenty nights while we were on El Camino de Santiago, we stayed in hostels, small hotels or Airbnb’s that didn’t have point redemption options.

After that, the three of us got a Vueling flight from Santiago to Barcelona. There were no point redemption options and we paid $438.

We then spent two nights at an Airbnb in Barcelona for which we paid $506 and one more night at an Airbnb in Madrid for which we paid $193.

West left us and joined some friends for six weeks of backpacking in Europe and North Africa.

For the flight home, Kate and I had business class tickets on American Airlines from Madrid to London, London to JFK and JFK to San Francisco. For this we redeemed 115,000 American Airline miles and paid $163 in taxes. We earned these miles by opening a CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard and by using the American Airlines shopping portal.

If we had purchased these flights, they would have cost us $14,540. However, our flight from Madrid to London was on American Airlines’ partner British Airways flight. This flight was delayed an hour which caused us to miss our London to JFK flight. I initially contacted American Airlines to rebook us on a different flight. But I found out that since it was a British Airways “operational event,” British Airways could also rebook us. This worked out better logistically and we were able to get a direct flight from on British Airways partner Virgin Airlines from London to San Francisco.

A note on Virgin Airlines. The service was the best we’ve ever had. But their lay-flat seats aren’t quite as good as United’s or Avianca’s lay-flat seats.