I recently wrote about how my travel patterns have changed now that I’ve got a dog, and it boils down to this — for now, I’m only taking trips if it’s a truly special experience (with some carve-outs for much-needed rest and relaxation).
I generally book my travel nine to 11 months out, so that I can use my points to score business class seats or hard-to-get hotels when availability is, generally, at its peak and to protect myself from devaluations. So in May 2024, I booked a roundtrip flight on Air France direct from LAX to Paris for 100,000 Flying Blue miles total.
That said, after getting my puppy in June 2024 and with my new standards for taking trips, I really thought I was going to cancel my May 2025 trip to Europe, which kind of bummed me out. But I mentioned to my friend who lives in London that I had a ticket booked for May and he suggested that we go to Lake Como, and I couldn’t say no to that.
Now, I’ve been to both Paris and Lake Como before, but I was in law school the last time I went to Paris and stayed in a hostel, and when I was in Lake Como it was on a very cheap backpacking trip through Europe (and it was only for kind of cold, rainy night).
But 2025 Josh has entered the chat and below is my itinerary for my upcoming trip, including the number of points used and the current cash rate:
- Roundtrip, direct flight from LAX to CDG on Air France business class — 100,000 Flying Blue miles (currently priced at $7,105)
- Two nights at Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme — 90,000 Hyatt points (currently priced at $2,742)
- Three nights at Grand Hotel Victoria Concept & Spa – Lago di Como, a — 140,000 Hilton Honors points + two free night certificates (one earned with my Hilton Aspire card, the other with the my Hilton Business card) (currently priced at $3,672)
It will be my first time staying at both a Park Hyatt and at an SLH hotel, although I’ll be staying at a different SLH hotel — Hermitage Bay — in November.
I still need to book two additional nights in either Lake Como or Lake Garda, but I’ll probably ask my friend who is coming with to use his points for those nights, though I did throw out the idea of us splitting the cash cost of Grand Hotel Tremezzo.
In any event, I’m so excited for the trip that I decided I’d share the news, particularly since I was able to get such great value with my points and free night certificates. This definitely checks the box of being a trip that’s worth time away from my pup, Marley — although he may not agree.
This will mostly be a hiking trip, so if you know of any good trails around Lake Como, please let me know in the comments!
