Epic Eurotrip
A Recap of My Epic Eurotrip (All Expenses Paid for with Points) Vacation
Intro
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve gotten back from my EPIC Eurotrip.
I took some time to reflect on the trip and it’s a bit crazy how routine these epic trips are getting.
As always, I didn’t spend a penny out of pocket on Uber, airport food/drinks, hotel, meals, plane tickets, and more.
The coolest part of this trip was, we got to stay with family/friends in each city, so we didn’t even have to use points for a hotel!
Bordeaux, France
I have a relative living in Bordeaux, France, and as a wine lover, I had to go!
One thing you’ll quickly realize in this game is that there’s no escaping it…It follows you everywhere.
The downtown was your classic French city. A more modern area, an old town…French bistros where you can sit on the sidewalk and enjoy a croissant and an espresso or a nice glass of wine.
I’ve gone to France a few times now, and I definitely prefer other destinations (South of France in particular), but if you’re a wine lover, you’ll still have a good time here as wine is a main attraction.
Le Bar à Vin
If you’re in Bordeaux and drink wine, this place in an absolute must! They have sidewalk seating, but the inside is beautiful and a great place to relax after a long day of sightseeing.
The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable and all wines were incredibly inexpensive compared to the States…
BTW those two glasses in the bottom picture were considered a “half pour” so they only cost about 4 Euros each!
Cent 33
My wife and daughter were TKO’ed from jet lag, and went to sleep early one of the nights. I was on my own for dinner, and explored what Bordeaux had to offer.
To no surprise, Bordeaux had a ton of Michelin rated restaurants…But this one was shockingly affordable compared to Napa, NYC, Miami, DC, etc…
I decided to splurge a little bit and went with the 8 course food and wine pairing…
I figured why not? As I would simply use Chase PYB to negate the charge and effectively get the entire meal for free.
This meal changed my whole approach to travel. It was that good!
I now am hoping to use Chase points at one Michelin restaurant in each city that I visit, as this was one of the highlights of the entire trip.
Saint-Émilion, France
By Chensiyuan - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50056915
Not my picture up top as I didn’t really get any good shots worth sharing. Needless to say, it was cool to explore the wine country, which was about an hour away from the city. We just visited one winery, where we had a brief tour and then tasting, which cost about $9 Euros per person.
We only had two days in Bordeaux, and I felt like we made the most of them, and I didn’t really feel like we missed out on anything.
If I went back?
I’d probably stick to the city, enjoy the nice restaurants, and definitely go back to Le Bar à Vin!
Annecy, France
Wow.
Just wow.
This is an absolutely jaw dropping city and was one of the coolest places I’ve ever visited.
This place looked fake.
Dubbed Venice of the Alps, Annecy, France is surrounded by large mountains with Europe’s cleanest lake in the middle. The lake water is a Caribbean turquoise and you can rent a boat, swim, do water sports etc.
If you come in the winter, you’re a stones throw away from some of the best skiing on the planet (just 40 minutes from Chamonix).
This is an outdoor lover’s paradise.
We hiked the Alps, swam in Lake Annecy, biked around the entire lake, and enjoyed every minute of it.
The lake has a sand beach which was great for our 3yo daughter and a nice place to swim.
Excellent food in downtown as well.
Le Clos Des Sens
After hiking, swimming, and fun in the sun, I had to use some points for some fine dining again.
Le Clos Des Sens is a 3 star Michelin restaurant that is one of the best restaurants in the world.
The service alone was a performance and everything was spectacular.
This restaurant didn’t serve meat, but nonetheless blew my socks off.
The Booking Process
We’ve developed a rule when it comes to family vacations.
If we need to pay out of pocket we don’t go.
***Spoiler Alert*** We go on a s***ton of vacations and max out our PTO on mostly international trips
Very straight forward here. My wife insisted on not flying first class as my daughter would mostly sit on her lap anyway.
The booking process was extremely simple.
I used money from cashback portals for Uber to and from the airports.
I used Chase points all of the flights, as I’ve been earning a ton with multiple Chase Ink Cash’s…
Since we were flying econonmy, I simply used the Chase Travel Portal to book the flights for better value.
We stayed with friends/family the entire time, so didn’t even have to burn any points!
General Thoughts and Closing Remarks
First off, the two Michelin restaurants changed my perspective on this entire game.
As a self-proclaimed foodie, I’m going to continue to prioritize amazing restaurants when I travel…
It’s ironic…
Travelling so much has allowed me to build relationships which has led to staying with friends for free, and getting to see a foreign country through the eyes of a local.
None of the above is meant as a flex in any way…It simply serves to show what’s possible if you learn this game…
None of the above is anything crazy…In fact, it should be extremely doable for all members of this group. Some of the best highlights were free: just walking around the cities, hiking, swimming, etc.
If you have any questions about redeeming Chase points for things like fancy Michelin Star restauarants, I can definitely write a step-by-step guide detailing how to do so.
We’ll have another live Q&A within the next week or two for all Slack members to any questions to ensure they are on a path to success.
Good luck!
Disclaimer: None of this is to be deemed legal or financial advice of any kind.
could this work for ppl who are not in the US? no SSN. But have us LLC and ITIN?
Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing.