Best ways to use 100,000 points

The best ways to use 100,000 points depend largely on the type of rewards currency you have. For example, 100,000 Hilton Honors points may not even be enough for a single night 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, we 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 four

First off, you can use 100,000 points to book four 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, our search yielded the following one-way economy flights from Chicago (ORD) to Paris, France, (CDG) for 22,000 Air France miles plus $96 per person in airline taxes and fees during October 2022.

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.

For example, we found one-way business class flights from Chicago (ORD) to Athens, Greece, (ATH) for 55,000 miles plus $215 in airline taxes and fees. This flight takes place on an Air France Boeing 787-9, which features fully flat-bed seats with a 1-2-1 configuration. This is much better than flying economy for a reasonable number of miles, and having a lie-flat seat will make it much easier to sleep peacefully all night while you move toward your destination.

Spend a week in a boutique hotel

You can also spend a week in a hotel almost anywhere with 100,000 points, provided they’re part of a flexible program like Chase Ultimate Rewards or Amex Membership Rewards.

As an example, consider a search we did for a week-long stay in Budapest, Hungary. Keep in mind that this search was made using a Chase Sapphire Reserve® account, so it reflects the fact Reserve cardholders get 50 percent more value for their points when redeeming for travel.

You could spend seven nights at the Prestige Hotel Budapest, which is centrally located on the Pest side of the city and has a 5-star rating across more than 2,700 reviews on TripAdvisor.

A single night stay will set you back 13,821 points in March of next year with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, so a full week would only cost you 96,747 points.

Spend three nights in a luxury hotel in Paris

Maybe you’re hoping for a luxury hotel stay somewhere fancy and worthy of an Instagram photo shoot. In that case, you could consider booking three nights at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome.

Free nights at this five-star luxury resort can fall between 25,000 points and 53,000 points, depending on when you book. This can be a good deal considering nightly rates at this hotel are almost always higher than 1,000 euros per night.

After quite a bit of searching, we were able to find quite a few dates with rates between 30,000 points to 35,000 points for a one-night award stay.

Spend four or five nights at an all-inclusive resort

Also, remember that you can use various types of points to stay in all-inclusive resorts with various brands. For example, you could stay multiple nights at many all-inclusive properties in Cancun, Mexico, with the World of Hyatt program, including the Breathless Cancun Soul Resort & Spa, the Hyatt Zilara Cancun and Dreams Natura Resort and Spa.

Nightly rates at the Now Emerald Cancun resort with double occupancy even go as low as 18,000 points.

The Marriott Bonvoy program also has a ton of newly added all-inclusive resorts within their brand, including most Royalton properties. That makes them a good option if you have a Marriott credit card or have points to transfer from Amex or Chase Ultimate Rewards.

As an example, you can book an award night at the Royalton Bavaro in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, for as little as 52,000 points with double occupancy.

Fly five people round-trip to the Caribbean

Finally, don’t forget all the different ways you can maximize airline miles for flights almost anywhere. A good example comes from the American Airlines AAdvantage rewards program, which offers various web specials that can be booked to destinations around the globe.

While you’ll have to be flexible with your destinations and dates to find these deals, they’re fairly plentiful to some destinations, including those in the Caribbean.

As an example, we found these round-trip flights from Indianapolis (IND) to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, (PUJ)  for next spring break (in March of 2022) for just 20,000 miles plus $120 per person in taxes and fees.

The bottom line

There are all kinds of ways to get more bang for your buck when it comes to rewards, and that’s true whether you have 100,000 points or 50,000 points to burn. Make sure to look at all your options before you book your next trip, and don’t forget to check all the different ways you can use flexible points. With some research and planning, you can turn 100,000 points into an epic trip you’ll never forget.