While Mexico was not a points and miles trip, I will cover it in this blog because this trip was the embodiment of why travel is so important to me. I started my points and miles journey in August of 2022 by opening the best starter card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It has a $4,000 minimum spend in 3 months. Prior to learning about traveling on points, my husband and I had been discussing taking the kids to Mexico as our first ever family trip so that our kids could see where their roots lie. So now that I knew about traveling on points and minimum spends, I decided to continue with our plans and charge the cost of this trip to my Sapphire card. What’s better than using the cost of one trip to get another free trip!? So while technically this trip wasn’t a points and miles trip, it still is a points trip in my book because it helped us meet almost 50% of the $4,000 minimum spend.
The Cost of this Trip:
We did not have to book a hotel because we were lucky enough to have a place to stay with our family. My husband’s grandmother has a house that could fit all of us so we were in luck. To be honest, this was a major reason we were going on this specific trip as our first family trip, because it would be cost efficient due to not having to pay for multiple rooms to fit our family of 6.
For flights we paid $1,638 roundtrip for all 6 of us. Since we live in Southern California, we drove to Tijuana, Mexico and caught our flight from there so it would be even cheaper. We flew Volaris, a budget airline, and it was a pleasant experience.
For everything else we saved $1,200 to take with us and that was enough money to last us the almost 2 weeks we were out there. This covered food, excursions, entertainment, and souvenirs.
This brought our grand total for this trip to Mexico for a family of 6 to $2,838.
Points on this Trip:
$1,638 of the cost of this trip helped us meet almost 50% of our minimum spend on the Chase Sapphire card so we could get the welcome bonus of 60,000 points. We booked these flights through Expedia. Any travel related purchases made through the Sapphire card earns 2x the points for every dollar spent, so we earned 3,276 Chase points from this trip for future travel.
While we were out there, I used my Sapphire Card anywhere I could to help us earn more points because it has no foreign transaction fees. Always do your research on which of your credit cards have no foreign transaction fees and use those as much as possible on your international trips to give yourself an extra boost of points. We visited a very small town, so I would always ask in a shop if they accepted American credit cards. Some would say no, but some did. We would make it a point to go to those stores that did accept it during the almost 2 weeks we were there. Groceries earned 1x point per dollar and we would buy groceries a lot. Dining earns 3x the points per dollar spent so I would use it when they would accept American credit cards, but it was very rare. I believe I only used it once for dining on pizza.
While I was there I also scanned my receipts on the Fetch Rewards app. Foreign receipts are still accepted by the app so scan away! I use the Fetch Rewards app to earn free Southwest Gift Cards. These cards are then used to help pay taxes on points flights I book, giving us a truly free flight. If you do not have Fetch yet, you’ll find my referral link in Linktree located in the top right corner of this page.
The Trip:
This trip was so truly special in that it allowed me show my daughters so much.
First of all, it allowed me to show them their roots. My oldest daughter used to emphasize when she was little that she’s not Mexican, she’s American. I would always try to explain to her that she is American by birth, but that her roots lie in Mexico. I never want my children to forget the beauty of our Mexican culture and why we in this family act the way that we act and have the customs we have. Taking them to Mexico allowed me to show them how differently their grandparents grew up and how that shaped them as people and their mentality, which they then have passed on to us. In our household we emphasize hard work, being humble, and being grateful for what we have. On this trip they were able to see the poverty in which some live, the happiness people experience despite not having much, how people are willing to share what little food they have because we always feed our friends and family no matter what, and the joy of getting together often to share some laughs.
Having my daughters see and experience this allowed me to have a discussion with my two oldest daughters and explain to them that their grandparents came from these humble beginnings. While there is beauty in this life, they left it behind to give their future family a better life than this. They left behind their family and friends, made a dangerous journey, arrived in a country with very little education and no knowledge of the language, endured negative treatment because they were unwanted as immigrants, and worked the lowest paying jobs so that their children could have a better life than the poverty in which they grew up. They gave their children a home to live in with food on the table daily. All they asked of us as kids was to get a good education and be successful in life. I’m happy to say my siblings and I all accomplished that for our parents. Now, it is up to the next generation to honor their grandparents’ struggles and also get a good education that will lead them to a path of success. I don’t know about my middle daughter who is 11 years old, but I saw what I’ve always been saying click in my 14 year old’s mind.
On a lighter note, it also taught them a completely different lifestyle in which people live. The house for one, had open windows with no screens and they had to learn to be one with all the bugs and lizards that crawl into the house. When visiting other family members, they saw that some homes are simply cinder block walls with a dirt floor. They learned what it was like to have to go outside of the house to use the bathroom. If you haven’t been to Mexico, when you see a giant bucket full of water and a toilet, that means you are using a bucket full of water poured into the toilet quickly to flush. My daughter had to come get me because she used the bathroom and didn’t know how to flush. She learned though, I’m happy to say. They also learned how to take a shower with a big tub of water and a cup.
The biggest transition for them was what is called The Pila. This is an all in one “sink” made of cement that is located outside. You fill up the cement square with the water hose and leave the water there for whenever you need it. You use a cup to scoop water and use it to wash your hands after using the restroom, wash your dishes, and rinse your clothes before going to hang it up on the line. The washing of their clothes was another interesting experience to them. There was no washing machine, instead there was laundry detergent, a bucket, and a broom stick with a 2 liter bottle attached to the end of it to move the clothes around in the bucket full of soapy water. Once you have satisfactorily cleaned your clothes, you take it to the pila and rinse it with clean water and then go hang it on the line. My kids did their own laundry (they have to learn) and I’m happy to report they enjoyed the experience.
They also learned that the locals burn their trash every night outside because there is no trash collection. My youngest girls had a blast throwing things into the fire every night and watching it get bigger. The biggest lifestyle change they experienced was not having internet or television. My oldest had her phone but spotty reception, so all the girls had to learn to use their imagination and anything around them to entertain themselves. They would go in the small inflatable pool, play with some toys I bought them, go pick fruit off the trees, bird watch, draw, read books, play in the dirt, play made up games with each other, and we would go nightly to the plaza to have them play on the playground.
They were exposed to eating lots of different foods. I have the rule in the household that you eat what is in front of you and be grateful for it. Most items were things they’ve had before at home, but some were completely new and they ate it with no complaints. I believe it is important to make kids try everything so they don’t grow up to be picky. Being picky will result in them missing out on life experiences, and i don’t want that for them.
Lastly, my kids saw many new things and places. We took day trips to different towns like Tecuala, Acaponeta, and San Blas. They swam in the warmest water on the beach of Novillero. They searched for seashells and built sand castles they were extremely proud of. We took a tour of crocodile swamp in a boat.
Other posts will not be as heavy into my feelings and what we did. This one is because this is THE trip my children needed. Travel is a great teacher for kids, and in this case it taught my kids to connect to their roots. I believe it is important for every child to be taken to where their ancestors came from. It is important to show kids how differently others live. Through this blog I hope you learn how to use points and miles to take memorable trips that will change your children for the better.
