Spring Break 2025: Unveiling the UP Team’s Travel Plans

Now is the perfect time to lock in your spring break getaway, with more cheap flight deals available than ever before. If you haven’t planned anything just yet and are seeking vacation inspiration, our team has plenty of exciting trips up our sleeves — and, of course, we used points and miles to help cut costs.

Fortunately, spring is one of our favorite seasons to travel, and this year, many of us have decided to swap sandy beaches in the Caribbean for scenic nature escapes or long weekends in Europe. But no matter the destination, most of us are looking forward to taking a well-earned break with friends and family.

Here’s a look at our team’s spring travel plans for 2025.

Christine Krzyszton, Senior Finance Contributor

In April, I am headed to Croatia to spend a few days in Dubrovnik. Then, I’ll head up to Zagreb. I have a few free Marriott hotel night certificates, earned on my various Marriott credit cards, so I’ll stay a couple of nights at Sheraton Dubrovnik Rivera for that purpose.

I’ll also have a few nights paid with cash at the Sheraton Zagreb as the rate is favorable — and the nights will count for double elite-qualifying nights with the current Marriott Bonvoy promotion.

The first week of May, a friend and I are flying from Oslo to Bangkok on an inexpensive business-class fare I booked with Membership Rewards points from The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, which even gives me a 35% points rebate — up to 1 million points back annually when purchasing qualifying flights using Pay with Points through AmexTravel.com when traveling with a preselected preferred airline or flying in a premium cabin with any airline.

I’m redeeming 12,000 Choice Privileges points per night for our Oslo hotel, the Comfort Hotel Grand Central. I moved over 6,000 Citi ThankYou Points earned on my Citi Strata Premier℠ Card to receive 12,000 Choice Privileges points for each night’s booking since the transfer ratio is 1:2.

James Larounis, Senior Content Contributor

This spring, I have various travel plans around California. I’m headed to Palm Springs to see the BNP Paribas Open in March. I booked a stay at the Grand Hyatt Indian Wells for 23,000 World of Hyatt points per night, which is a steal when it costs over $1,200 due to demand.

For Easter, I have a trip planned to Santa Barbara and will stay at the Mar Monte Hotel, which is another Hyatt property that I love.

After that, I’m going to San Francisco for a concert and booked a night at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco — all of which will help me requalify for elite status!

Hot Tip:

As you can see from this article, World of Hyatt is one of our favorite loyalty programs — and for good reason. You can earn World of Hyatt points instantly by transferring at a 1:1 ratio from Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards.

Juan Ruiz, Senior Editor and Writer

This spring break, my family and I are excited to head to Utah to explore some iconic national parks. We’ve never been to Utah, so we’re really looking forward to enjoying the beautiful mountain views and embracing nature.

When looking for flights between our home in South Florida and Salt Lake City (SLC), I noticed there weren’t many direct flight options. Available options were very expensive with cash, and the points and miles rates weren’t all that favorable either.

Since I had to decide between flying Delta Air Lines or American Airlines, I booked the cheapest direct flight in economy from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Salt Lake City, which was with Delta. However, rather than using Delta SkyMiles, I redeemed 22,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points per person as they are much easier to earn. Virgin Atlantic is one of a few airline programs that partners with all major transferable point programs: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Wells Fargo Rewards.

Once we arrive in Utah, we’re excited to settle in for 3 nights at the brand-new Grand Hyatt Deer Valley, which just opened last fall! I managed to book it for 29,000 World of Hyatt points per night and used a Suite Upgrade Award to upgrade to a 1-bedroom suite with 2 double beds.

After that, we’ll enjoy a lovely 3-hour scenic drive from Deer Valley to Moab by car, where we’ll spend another 3 nights at the Hoodoo Moab, Curio Collection by Hilton. I’ve heard it’s one of the best hotels in Moab, and I was lucky enough to book it for 80,000 Hilton Honors points per night. The hotel is perfectly situated just a quick drive away from 2 of Utah’s incredible national parks, Arches and Canyonlands.

To conclude the trip, we’re departing from Grand Junction, Colorado (GJT), on our return journey, as it is actually the closest major commercial airport to Moab, rather than backtracking to Salt Lake City. I booked 5 business-class tickets from Grand Junction Airport (GJC) to Phoenix (PHX) using Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles for just 9,000 miles per person one-way. From there, I will connect home to Miami (MIA) on an American Airlines flight, which cost me 12,500 Alaska miles per person — less than what American Airlines was charging for the same flight.

Katie Seemann, Travel Partnerships Manager

I’m losing my World of Hyatt Globalist benefits at the end of February, so I wanted to get in 1 last stay before I drop to Explorist. My family and I are headed to Park Hyatt St. Kitts, and I was able to use a Suite Upgrade Award on our room.

Even better, I had Guest of Honor awards to give to my mom and my mother-in-law so they can both enjoy the free breakfast benefit with us during the trip. We’re all looking forward to relaxing in some warm weather.

Next, my husband and I are headed to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where I will be checking out 3 different Marriott resorts to see how they stack up. Stay tuned for reviews of each property coming soon!

Keri Stooksbury, Editor-in-Chief

As an expat living in Qatar, having transient friends is part of the lifestyle. While it’s always sad to say goodbye when someone leaves, my network of couches to crash on now stretches across the globe. So when my best friend moved to Perth, Australia, I seized the opportunity to plan a visit over spring break.

Because my spring break falls over the Muslim Eid holiday, celebrating the end of Ramadan, cash prices and award availability were at peak rates. Thanks to a points.me search, I was able to identify a direct Qatar Airways flight from Doha (DOH) to Perth (PER) in economy using 35,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles. This award was 12,500 miles cheaper than booking with Qatar Airways Privilege Club.

Because I had never redeemed miles with Alaska before, I transferred Amex Membership Rewards points to Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles and then further transferred those to Alaska (our guide to Hawaiian to Alaska miles transfers can walk you through it!). I was 2,000 miles short of the redemption and easily purchased miles to top up my new account.

For my return flight, I’m booked in economy directly with Qatar for 70,000 Avios —- that’s right, double what my initial flight cost. While spending 105,000 total miles on 1 round-trip flight hurts my balance sheet, the high cash prices of over $2,000 make this a pretty decent economy redemption.

Lori Zaino, Senior Writer

Over Easter, my husband, preschooler, and I are flying from our home base in Madrid (MAD) to Fuerteventura (FUE), one of Spain’s Canary Islands. For the 3-hour journey, I redeemed 16,500 Iberia Avios per person for a round-trip ticket.

Since flights to this island can be expensive — often around $600 per person during peak times — using points feels particularly valuable. Plus, I appreciate the flexibility of transferring them from Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards at a 1:1 ratio.

Originally, we wanted to stay at my favorite hotel, Sheraton Fuerteventura Beach, part of Marriott Bonvoy, but rates were super expensive this time of year. Instead, I opted for the H10 Tindaya in Costa Calma, which has a giant pirate ship swimming pool for kids and rooms with sea views.

I had booked a 2-room ocean view suite at the all-inclusive resort back in October. Then, with a Black Friday promo code, I rebooked our room in late November, saving nearly $1,000 total on the rate! I stayed at this property once before, but the resort was nearly empty during the pandemic. This time, it’ll likely be full.

We’ll rent a car at our favorite rental company, PlusCar, which offers amazing rates (and even free car seats for kids), which is a local brand in the Canary Islands.

Michael Park, Senior Editor & Content Contributor

We’re going to Portland, Oregon, for the first time to stay with friends at their seaside vacation place. While there, we’ll rent a car from National to explore the surrounding area.

I didn’t have many miles to use for this trip, though what I booked will benefit my next vacation. I booked United Airlines tickets from Newark (EWR) to Portland (PDX) and back to New York (LGA), paying with The Platinum Card^® from American Express and booking through AmexTravel.com.

Not only does this earn us 5x points on flights (up to $500,000 per calendar year on these purchases, then 1x points), but it also helped me meet the spending requirements of a retention offer, boosting my bonus points even further.

Ryan Smith, News Managing Editor

Even though we don’t have kids and aren’t in school, we definitely planned a trip around spring break — more like trying to plan it to avoid spring break travelers at our destination and evade the crowds.

We are flying to St. George (SGU) in Southern Utah and then renting a car for 8 days to travel around several national parks in early April. We’ll move hotels every 2 nights as we make a giant circle that extends as far as Arches National Park and Moab, but we’ll also see Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, and others.

This will also include our first-ever stay at an Under Canvas property. They’re available through the Mr & Mrs Smith portfolio via Hyatt, and a recent promotion for double elite night credits will make this stay even more rewarding.

Stella Shon, Senior Features Editor

My boyfriend and I are huge baseball fans, even though we root for rival teams (I’m an LA Dodgers fan, and he’s a Boston Red Sox fan). While we’ll be missing spring training in Phoenix this year, we surprised my boyfriend’s dad with tickets to opening weekend at Fenway Park in Boston for his 60th birthday.

Of course, securing tickets was just the beginning. We also had to plan our travel. Last fall, I convinced my boyfriend to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card while it was still offering a limited-time welcome offer: 60,000 bonus points plus a one-time $300 Chase Travel credit (this offer is no longer available).

We transferred 30,000 of those points to book 2 nights at the Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor, which is conveniently close to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). Since Boston is pretty small and well-connected by public transit, getting to Fenway for the game will be a breeze.

For flights, my boyfriend used his Chase Travel credit to cover nearly his entire round-trip fare on Delta Air Lines. I booked my ticket on the same flight using SkyMiles and will link our itineraries since I’m a Platinum Medallion member, ensuring we get free Comfort+ seats together.

Hot Tip:

A single welcome bonus was enough to offset many of our travel costs for this weekend getaway. Check out our guide to the best welcome offers available to new applicants on various rewards credit cards.

Final Thoughts

Our spring break plans vary from extended trips to quick weekend escapes. Regardless of the destination, we always consider the points strategy, aimed at maximizing our rewards to get the best value when earning and redeeming.