Travel Hacking 2025: The Real Numbers Behind Our Adventures

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I love data. Fitbit stats, banking transactions, attendance rates on my learning sessions at work. I like knowing the hard facts to make data-driven decisions instead of relying on gut feelings.

So when someone asked me if I had ever calculated how much free travel we’d gotten through credit card points and home exchange, I stopped in my tracks: how come I have never once tracked or calculated this data?!?!

I am kicking myself for not doing this sooner. The best time to start is yesterday; the next best time to start is NOW.

So as part of my 2025 travel roundup, I’m going to give you some hard facts and financial data. Ready? Let’s go!

The High-Level Win: A 1,138% ROI

When I finally sat down with my spreadsheets, the “win” was even bigger than I imagined. In 2025, our total out-of-pocket investment for travel hacking was $389. This included $239 in credit card annual fees and $150 for our Home Exchange membership.

In return, we realized a staggering $4,817 in total value.

This total value is split between $3,653 in free travel (stays and rentals we didn’t have to pay cash for) and $1,164 in pure cash back or statement credits.

That is a 1,138%. return on investment. Swoon! 😍

Home Exchange Value

Technically, not only did we get to stay in places for free, we also earned future travel value by hosting folks in our home while we were on other trips. Woo!

Type	Location	Nights	Points Used	Points Earned	$$ Value	Notes
Non-Recip	(hosted)	7	0	700	—
Non-Recip	Bourbon Trail, KY	3	867	0	$600	Price is for cheap Hotels, not Airbnb or nice hotels
Non-Recip	(hosted)	2		400	—
Non-Recip	Haines City, FL	5	1,015	0	$800	Average cost of AirBNBs in the area

Credit Card Freebies vs Value

A full list of all of the points redemptions we enjoyed this year.

What we did	Brand	Points	Cash Back	$$ Value	Reason
JW Marriott Nashville	Marriott	90,000		$550.00	Charlotte friendaversary
Residence Inn by Marriott Huntsville	Marriott	13500		$135.00	Huntsville Overnight with boys
Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Nashville Near Vanderbilt	Marriott	0		$150.00	FREE NIGHT up to 35K pts: Boundless Anniversary (Justin’s Solo Night)
Courtyard by Marriott Atlanta McDonough x1 night	Marriott	21000		$100.00	Driving home from Spring Break
Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Tifton x1 night	Marriott	0		$100.00	Last year’s FREE NIGHT up to 35K pts: Boundless Anniversary (driving down Spring Break)
Holiday Inn Paducah Riverfront	IHG	0		$175.00	Parents getaway (Feb) – REWARD NIGHT
Holiday Inn Express Memphis Medical Center Midtown	IHG	41000		$130.00	Memphis NBA Trip with Pau (Room 1)
Holiday Inn Express Memphis Medical Center Midtown	Chase Points	29175		$130.00	Memphis NBA Trip with Pau (Room 2)
Cash Deposit from old acquired Chase Points	Chase	97436	$974.36		Cash deposit – old points redemption
Cash back Redeemed	Amex	18994	$189.94		Cash back against statement
Enterprise Rental Car for 7 nights via Chase Rewards	Chase	35,220		$483.34	South Dakota / Iowa trip
Thrifty Rental Car for 4 nights via Chase Rewards	Chase	28,332		$300	Yoga Retreat (We only have one car, so I had to rent one)

Trip Costs

To keep our data clean, I like to separate Trip Specific costs (plane tickets, hotel fees, rental cars) from Everyday costs (groceries, dining out). We have to eat and buy toothpaste whether we are in Nashville or New York or Nairobi, so I don’t count those as “travel” expenses, but I do track them in their respective categories on our annual expense tracker.  

Here is how the actual trips shook out this year:

Legoland Florida (March) – The Family Road Trip

We spent 5 nights in Florida for Skyler’s early birthday present, plus two hotel nights to and from our destination (just to break up the drive). I have two separate posts about this trip – the 5 reasons you’ve gotta visit Legoland Florida! And a total cost breakdown of the entire thing!!!

• Trip Specific Cost: $608.63, including $20 in hotel fees, $139.16 in gas, and $449.77 in entertainment costs (which includes our 2-day tickets to Legoland). It does not include the exorbitant amount we spent on food and drink during those 8 days lol.

• The Data Win: We used a Home Exchange for 5 nights in Haines City (an $800 value) and cashed in Marriott points for our driving days, including a free night certificate that saved us another $100. By driving and points-hacking the hotels, we kept the actual “travel” low.

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The Yoga Retreat (April) – Mama’s Solo Reset

Back in April, I headed to Boone, NC for a 4-night yoga retreat as a belated 40th birthday treat to myself. It was literally the most peaceful and centering experience of my life. Om.

• Trip Specific Cost: $1,809.53. Pricey? Very. Worth it? Absolutely.
  
• The Data Win: While the retreat itself was a cash splurge, I used Chase Points to cover the car rental. The $96.82 is taxes/fees plus gas. What’s that entertainment price you ask? I treated myself to a few spa treatments while I was at the retreat. #treatyoself

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The Bourbon Trail (June) – Adult Long Weekend in KY with friends

We did 4 days exploring the distilleries and history of Kentucky with our besties at one of the cooooooolest home exchange houses we’ve ever stayed in. (It had a full size bocce ball court!)

• Trip Specific Cost: We kept this extremely low by driving our own car.
  
• The Data Win: We secured a Home Exchange in Shelbyville for 3 nights, which provided a $600 value compared to local hotels.

My initial budgeting (for a Marriott hotel in downtown Louisville): 

That’s when I asked our friends how they’d feel about trying a home exchange. I couldn’t guarantee it, but I could at least ask. And so I did… and it worked out beautifully. It also allowed my husband to increase his whiskey budget for the trip :-p 

Final costs of the trip: 

We came in pretty close to the initial guesstimates, which included 5 distilleries (including 3 tours and 4 tastings), 1 museum tour, 2 breweries, 3 lunches and 3 dinners out (or takeout), plus lots of purchased booze to take home. You can find all other details of that trip here. 

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South Dakota & Iowa (July) – The Family Reunion

Our 7-day summertime trek to visit family, including a few days in Harrisburg (SD) and a few days by Lake Okoboji (IA). You can read all details of this trip here.

• Trip Specific Cost: $963.00.
  
• The Data Win: This was mostly airfare to Sioux Falls ($909). We saved on everything else by staying with family (THANK YOU!!!!!!) and using points for the transit.

This trip went way over budget because we ended up buying too many groceries for our time by the lake and treated our hosts for meals and alcohol as much as we could. We also bought tickets to Arnold’s Park for several of the kids and a few souvenirs. Alas.

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Chicago Work Trips

I have to mention 13 nights I spent in my favorite city, Chicago, spread across five different trips for work. While these weren’t “family fun” trips, they were a total win because I got to spend nearly two weeks in a city I love – all on my company’s dime. 😉 Hey, oh!

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The “Mini-Escapes” (Point Redemptions)

Beyond our big trips for the year, we used our points to sneak in several overnight adventuress that cost us very little in the long run but that brought great value and joy to all of us:

• Parents’ Paducah Getaway: A totally free night at the Holiday Inn Riverfront ($175 value) using an IHG reward night so Justin and I could have a night away. This trip cost $319.63 including gas, meals and drinks.
• Justin’s Solo Night Out: A $150 value stay at a midtown hotel in late summer. Periodically, we give each other ‘solo’ nights where one of us stays at a hotel (usually redeeming a free reward night) and one of us stays home in a quiet house to do whatever we like. I joined Justin for the afternoon so we could enjoy the small but functional pool before heading home for my own solo night (where I sang a bunch of Broadway karaoke and watched movie trailers before bed). He took his own booze to the hotel, but took himself out for a fancy dinner on the town for a grand total of $80.71.
• JW Marriott Nashville: A $550 value stay for my 20 year “friendaversary” with Charlotte. We felt fancy! This special occasion cost $206.96 including meals and drinks downtown and by the pool, train fare, and taxes/fees for the otherwise free hotel room
• Memphis NBA Trip: I stacked IHG and Chase points to cover 2 hotel rooms ($260 in value) for my mom, me, Justin, Skyler and Pau so our exchange student could see his favorite basketball team. It was everyone’s first NBA game! This trip cost $481.78, which included road trip food, many snacks and drinks at the game, dinner for five at Rendezvous BBQ, lunch for five at Wahlburgers, bowling and a trip up to the lookout of the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid, and souvenirs in Arkansas. My mom helped cover some other costs along the way (she was the 5th person).
• Huntsville Overnight: I used Marriott points for a 1-bedroom hotel room with a separate living room (a $135 value) for me and the boys so we could let Pau see another state and visit the NASA Space Center. My dad, who went with us, generously covered most of the other costs of this trip, so we had a nominal $76.91 on souvenirs and a Bucce’s stop.

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The “Pure Cash” Cherry on Top 

While the free hotel nights and home exchanges make for the best stories, I can’t overlook the $1,164.30 in cash back and statement credits we earned this year. Woohoo!!!!

The heavy hitter here was a $974.36 cash deposit from my Chase points when I closed one card and cashed in the associated points (they no longer let you transfer the points to travel partners, so the cash served us better in this instance.) Having nearly a thousand dollars hit our spending account covered some of those “Everyday” splurges, like treating family to dinners in South Dakota or that extra-generous whiskey budget Justin enjoyed on the Bourbon Trail. 😉 

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Our Credit Card Benefits

In case anyone is interested, here is a full list of all of our credit cards and associated rewards. 

	IHG	Marriott	BOFA Travel	Chase Freedom Unlimited	Amex Blue Cash Preferred
Yearly Fee	$49	$95	$0	$0	$95
Brand	5x IHG® Hotels & Resorts	6x Marriott	—	—	—
Travel	1x	2x	1000 pts = $10 cash back for travel purchases	1.5% cash back	1% cash back
Gas	2x	3x (up to $6k)	1.5x	1.5% cash back	3% cash back
Groceries	2x	3x (up to $6k)	1.5x	1.5% cash back	6% cash back (up to $6k then 1%)
Dining	2x	3x (up to $6k)	1.5x	3% cash back on dining	1% cash back
Pharmacy	1x	2x	1.5x	3% cash back on drugstores	1% cash back
All Other	1x	2x	1.5x	1.5% cash back	1% cash back
Loyalty Partners	IHG	Marriott	Cash Back for travel purchases	—	—
Other	Free Night up to 40k points.Elite Status	Free night up to 35k points.	1.5x	—	—
Welcome Bonus	—	—	—	—	$250 back after $3,000 spend in 6 months.

Many people ask how I keep them all straight or know when to use which card. I *can’t* keep them all straight… so I made myself a cheat sheet that I laminated and tuck inside my wallet. I check it every time I make a purchase. 🤣

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If you’re interested in trying one of these cards, use my referral links!

• IHG One Rewards
• Chase Freedom Unlimited
• Marriott Bonvoy
• Amex Blue Cash Preferred

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The Data-Driven Conclusion 

Going into 2025 with a tight travel budget and big financial goals on our horizon, I was worried it would feel boring, that we wouldn’t have any fun. Looking at these numbers, though, says the opposite. Tracking and calculating these numbers made me realize just how much adventure we were able to pack into this year, even with a smaller-than-usual budget. I will definitely put more effort into tracking and calculating these numbers for 2026 throughout the year.

By being intentional with our $389 investment in memberships and fees, we unlocked $3,653 in free travel that we otherwise would have had to pay for in cash or simply skipped! 

Travel hacking allowed me to justify a $1,800 solo yoga retreat while still keeping our family’s total trip-specific travel spend for the year under budget and at a level that keeps our future goals intact. We didn’t just travel more; we traveled better, and shared experiences with our exchange student and our family that are, quite literally, priceless. <3

Do you enjoy travel hacking? Where did you go this year? What was your favorite travel hack of 2025? Send me all of your travel hacking tips and tricks!!!