Case Study: How Points Paid for Our Engagement Trip to Paris & Rome

When most people hear that I have 11 open credit cards — $55,000 in total limits across the 10 in my name (as of Oct 2026), their first reaction is usually panic. They assume my credit score must be in the gutter or that I’m juggling mountains of debt.

In reality, I have paid $0 in credit card interest since I opened my first card in July 2022. Every single statement is paid in full automatically. Better yet, routing my normal, everyday expenses — groceries, gas, rent/apartment setup costs, insurance, and utilities — through strategic credit card sign-up bonuses (a hobby known as credit card churning) allowed me to fund two big international trips back-to-back:

1. August 2025: my engagement trip to Paris and Rome (this post).
2. May 2026: a 16-day trip across Taiwan, Okinawa, Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo — see the Japan & Taiwan case study.

Here is the breakdown of the cards I opened, the wins along the way, and the real math behind how points and miles cut our travel costs in half.

Phase 1: Building the foundation (2022–2024)

You can’t jump straight into premium travel cards on day one. I started in July 2022 with a Discover it card ($6,000 limit) and a local credit union card. For the first year, my only goal was building a clean history of 100% on-time payments and letting my average age of accounts mature.

By mid-2023, my credit profile was ready for the golden rule of beginner churning: start with Chase.

Chase enforces an unwritten rule called 5/24: if you have opened 5 or more personal credit cards across any bank in the last 24 months, Chase will automatically reject your application. Because Chase points (Ultimate Rewards) are the most valuable points for beginners, I built my Chase core first:

• Chase Freedom Flex & Chase Freedom Unlimited (Aug & Nov 2023): no-annual-fee workhorse cards that earn 1.5x to 5x points on everyday categories.
• Chase Sapphire Preferred (May 2024): the $95/year centerpiece card. Not only did it come with a big sign-up bonus, but it unlocked the ability to transfer all my Chase points 1:1 to airline and hotel partners — most importantly, World of Hyatt.

(The full starter roadmap is in Guide 1.)

Phase 2: Proposing in Paris & exploring Rome (August 2025)

In August 2025, I planned a trip to Paris and Rome: I proposed in Paris before we took the train down into Italy.

August is peak European travel season. Cash prices for round-trip transatlantic flights to Paris and out of Rome in late summer easily run $1,200 to $1,500+ per person, and central European hotels can wreck a budget before you even step foot in a museum.

How we paid for Europe

• The flights (61,000 miles): instead of paying peak summer cash fares, I used 61,000 miles for round-trip award flights to Paris/Rome, paying only the mandatory government taxes and carrier fees.
• The hotels (Chase → World of Hyatt): while most airline and hotel points are worth around 1 cent each, World of Hyatt still uses a fixed award chart where points routinely get you 1.7 to 2.5+ cents per point in value. By transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards 1:1 to Hyatt, we wiped out the biggest lodging expenses of the trip — European city-center hotels.
• What we spent cash on: because our flights and core lodging were heavily subsidized by points, we got to spend our actual cash budget on experiences we’ll remember forever — visiting the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe as newly engaged fiancés, touring the Roman Forum and Arch of Titus, and booking a 3-in-1 fettuccine, ravioli, and tiramisu cooking class near Piazza Navona in Rome.

Takeaways

1. A year of boring, no-fee, on-time payments made the later approvals possible.
2. Chase first, while under 5/24 — the Sapphire Preferred’s Hyatt transfers did the heavy lifting on hotels.
3. Points cover the expensive, fixed costs (flights, hotels) so cash can go to experiences.