Organisational Summary of Our Family Round-the-World Trip

Our 444-day family trip around the world took 56 flights, 9 visas and an exit fee, 33 rental vehicles and 181 places to stay, all planned in six months. Here is how we organised it, what each item cost in Canadian dollars, and how credit card points paid for 86 hotel nights, airport lounges and more.

This article is Part 2 of 3 of our world-trip report:

• Part 1: Key highlights of a wonderful family trip around the world
• Part 2: Organisational summary of our round-the-world trip (you are here)
• Part 3: Financial report on our family trip around the world

How We Planned a 444-Day Trip in 6 Months

An itinerary as dense as ours cannot be improvised. Without proper planning, our expenses could have soared quickly and forced us to come home sooner than expected.

Between the day in November 2017 when we decided to leave and our departure in May 2018, we gave ourselves 6 months of planning. That winter went by at a crazy speed!

We were already travel geeks before this trip. I have always planned our trips in a very organised, methodical way. For a 5-week trip, for example, I would schedule mandatory and optional activities to the hour, estimate driving times from the distances to cover, design an itinerary for each city, and even use Google Street View to scout parking spots. Planning is a pleasure for me: it lets me start travelling before I have even left! Organising this world tour was therefore never a chore.

Once we had chosen the places to visit and the itinerary, all I had left to do was book flights, rental cars and hotels. With experience, I have become efficient enough that planning 15 days in Sri Lanka (places to visit, itinerary, car and all hotel bookings) takes me just 2 hours and 30 minutes.

To see how we built the route, read how we decided on our itinerary.

Flights: 56 Segments Around the World

Before leaving in May 2018, I had already booked the first 41 flights, which took us as far as Japan in April 2019. The rest is history: we ended the trip with 56 flight segments, 50 to destinations and 6 connections. Here is the full list. All amounts are in Canadian dollars.

#	Departure city	Arrival city	Airline	Total cost (CAD)	Cost per person (CAD)	Distance (km)	Cent (CAD) per km
1	Montreal, Canada	Reykjavik, Iceland	Wow Air	1019.64	254.91	3737	6.82
2	Reykjavik, Iceland	London, UK	EasyJet	258.56	64.64	1890	3.42
3	London, UK	Basel, Switzerland	Ryanair	90.53	22.63	742	3.05
4	Basel, Switzerland	Berlin, Germany	EasyJet	123.67	30.92	684	4.52
5	Berlin, Germany	Sofia, Bulgaria	Ryanair	234.10	58.53	1306	4.48
6	Istanbul, Turkey	Nicosia, Cyprus	Turkish Airlines	156.36	39.09	736	5.31
7	Larnaca, Cyprus	Beirut, Lebanon	Cobalt Air	188.52	47.13	208	22.66
8	Beirut, Lebanon	Larnaca, Cyprus	Cobalt Air	188.52	47.13	208	22.66
9	Larnaca, Cyprus	Athens, Greece	Cobalt Air	240.76	60.19	932	6.46
10	Chania, Greece	Paphos, Cyprus	Ryanair	200.71	50.18	765	6.56
11	Paphos, Cyprus	Tel Aviv, Israel	Ryanair	244.38	61.10	374	16.34
12	Amman, Jordan	Abu Dhabi, UAE	Etihad Airways	594.00	149.00	2000	7.43
13	Abu Dhabi, UAE	New Delhi, India	Etihad Airways	678.00	169.00	2281	7.43
14	Jaipur, India	Bangkok, Thailand	Air Asia	449.76	112.44	2948	3.81
15	Bangkok, Thailand	Chiang Mai, Thailand	Air Asia	153.86	38.47	565	6.81
16	Chiang Rai, Thailand	Bangkok, Thailand	Air Asia	88.82	22.21	673	3.30
17	Bangkok, Thailand	Phuket, Thailand	Air Asia	94.66	23.67	689	3.43
18	Phuket, Thailand	Bangkok, Thailand	Air Asia	72.56	18.14	689	2.63
19	Bangkok, Thailand	Yangon, Myanmar	Air Asia	185.35	46.34	583	7.95
20	Yangon, Myanmar	Bangkok, Thailand	Air Asia	258.18	64.55	583	11.07
21	Bangkok, Thailand	Siem Reap, Cambodia	Air Asia	155.44	38.86	351	11.07
22	Siem Reap, Cambodia	Bangkok, Thailand	Air Asia	170.62	42.66	351	12.15
23	Bangkok, Thailand	Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam	Air Asia	185.35	46.34	741	6.25
24	Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Air Asia	183.55	45.89	1046	4.39
25	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Colombo, Sri Lanka	Air Asia	238.06	59.52	2469	2.41
26	Colombo, Sri Lanka	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Air Asia	401.53	100.38	2469	4.07
27	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Manila, Philippines	Cebu Pacific	410.00	102.59	2488	4.12
28	Manila, Philippines	Puerto Princesa, Philippines	Cebu Pacific	95.91	23.98	582	4.12
29	Coron, Philippines	Cebu, Philippines	Philippine Airlines	177.88	44.47	469	9.48
30	Cebu, Philippines	Singapore	Scoot	205.72	51.43	2423	2.12
31	Singapore	Melbourne, Australia	Scoot	511.44	127.86	6024	2.12
32	Melbourne, Australia	Alice Springs, Australia	Qantas	105.76	26.44	1857	1.42
33	Alice Springs, Australia	Sydney, Australia	Qantas	122.24	30.56	2021	1.51
34	Sydney, Australia	Gold Coast, Australia	Tiger Air	208.56	52.14	678	7.69
35	Gold Coast, Australia	Auckland, New Zealand	Air New Zealand	789.20	197.30	2219	8.89
36	Auckland, New Zealand	Christchurch, New Zealand	Jetstar Airways	205.00	51.25	745	6.88
37	Christchurch, New Zealand	Auckland, New Zealand	Fiji Airways	198.79	49.70	745	6.67
38	Auckland, New Zealand	Nadi, Fiji	Fiji Airways	573.44	143.36	2149	6.67
39	Nadi, Fiji	Port Vila, Vanuatu	Fiji Airways	675.50	168.88	968	17.45
40	Port Vila, Vanuatu	Nadi, Fiji	Fiji Airways	230.48	57.62	968	5.95
41	Nadi, Fiji	Tokyo, Japan	Fiji Airways	1689.30	422.33	7095	5.95
42	Tokyo, Japan	Osaka, Japan	Japan Airlines	19.64	4.91	405	1.21
43	Osaka, Japan	Taipei, Taiwan	Jetstar	474.38	118.60	1703	6.96
44	Taipei, Taiwan	Hong Kong, China	Hong Kong Airlines	540.60	135.15	807	16.75
45	Macau, China	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Air Asia	260.59	65.15	2502	2.60
46	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Kuching, Malaysia	Malindo Air	143.22	35.81	970	3.69
47	Kuching, Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Malindo Air	143.22	35.81	970	3.69
48	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Denpasar, Indonesia	Air Asia	185.56	46.39	1961	2.37
49	Denpasar, Indonesia	Singapore	Air Asia	190.62	47.66	1668	2.86
50	Singapore	Berlin, Germany	Scoot	1222.30	305.58	9938	3.07
51	Berlin, Germany	Basel, Switzerland	EasyJet	211.14	52.79	689	7.66
52	Dole, France	Marrakech, Morocco	Ryanair	327.28	81.82	2063	3.97
53	Marrakech, Morocco	Milan, Italy	EasyJet	128.55	32.14	2126	1.51
54	Milan, Italy	Madrid, Spain	EasyJet	172.46	43.12	1151	3.75
55	Madrid, Spain	Paris, France	EasyJet	210.33	52.58	1063	4.95
56	Paris, France	Montreal, Canada	Level	1392.37	348.09	5541	6.28
	Total			18676.96	4669.24	95008

2026 update: Several airlines in this table no longer fly under these names. Cobalt Air stopped flying in October 2018 (AP), WOW air in March 2019 (ABC News) and Tigerair Australia in 2020 (ABC News). Level France, the Paris-based unit that flew us home, shut down in 2020 (FlightGlobal), and Malindo Air has flown as Batik Air Malaysia since 2022 (The Star).

As you may have noticed, we mostly flew short distances. That kept us fresh for the rest of the day, especially since we usually went to airport lounges, where we could eat as much as we wanted before our flights.

The Melbourne–Alice Springs, Alice Springs–Sydney and Tokyo–Osaka segments were paid with Avios points, plus 26.44, 30.56 and 4.91 CAD per person respectively.

Flight Statistics: Cost and Distance

Amounts were paid in Canadian dollars. US-dollar equivalents use the exchange rate of October 4, 2019: 1 USD = 1.3309 CAD.

Cost:

• Number of flight segments: 56, compared with 14 on average for a “normal” round-the-world trip;
• Number of low-cost flights: 40, or 71% of all flights;
• Total cost for 4 people: 18,676.96 CAD (14,033.33 USD);
• Cost per person: 4,669.24 CAD (3,508.33 USD), while a round-the-world ticket cost 4000 USD per person on average at the time;
• Average cost per flight segment: 83.38 CAD (62.65 USD);
• Cheapest flight: 18.14 CAD (13.63 USD) per person, between Phuket and Bangkok;
• Most expensive flight (prorated to the distance flown): 422.33 CAD (317.33 USD) per person, to reach Japan from Fiji in time for the cherry blossoms.

Distance:

• Total distance flown: 95008 km, 2.37 times the circumference of the Earth;
• Longest flight: 9938 km, between Singapore and Berlin (Germany);
• Shortest flight: 208 km, between Larnaca (Cyprus) and Beirut (Lebanon);
• Average flight distance: 1697 km;
• Median flight distance: 970 km.

Cost per distance:

• Average cost per kilometre: 0.049 CAD;
• Most expensive flights per kilometre (not low-cost flights):
  • 0.226 CAD/km between Larnaca (Cyprus) and Beirut (Lebanon);
  • 0.175 CAD/km between Nadi (Fiji) and Port Vila (Vanuatu);
  • 0.167 CAD/km between Taipei (Taiwan) and Hong Kong.
• Cheapest flights per kilometre (excluding flights paid with Avios points):
  • 0.015 CAD/km between Marrakesh (Morocco) and Milan (Italy);
  • 0.021 CAD/km between Cebu (Philippines) and Melbourne (Australia);
  • 0.024 CAD/km between Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Bali (Indonesia).

Why Our Flights Cost So Little

1. The total cost of our 56 flights is very low. The trick is to travel with carry-on bags only.
2. The most surprising figure may be this one: we had zero flight delays. It is less surprising than it looks, since we mostly flew with reputable low-cost airlines. Their business model is to beat the competition on price by streamlining every process, and punctuality is one of their priorities.
3. The total could have been even lower. But the cheapest fares would have meant departures too early in the morning or too late at night. We also avoided airlines with a bad reputation, which could have meant delays and fatigue.
4. Travelling with carry-on luggage only means we never had to check bags, which saves a lot on low-cost flights.
5. Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Vanuatu were more “expensive” destinations and pushed the total up a little. No regrets: we went there to see friends!
6. I am all the more satisfied with these fares because we travelled almost always in high season, since our itinerary was designed around the weather.

For more, see my method for finding cheap flights and what we packed in our carry-on bags.

Visas: 9 Visas and One Exit Fee

We needed 9 visas plus an exit permit to leave Israel. Most applications were easy to do online. The exception was Cambodia, where we got the visa on arrival. Since my parents were born in Cambodia, I already had Cambodian permanent residence, and Mateo and Luka obtained it free of charge by filiation. Only Jessica had to pay the Cambodian visa fee.

Country	Cost of Visa per Person	Total Cost (CAD)
Turkey	60 USD	322.00
Israel (Exit Fee)	100 ILS	148.47
Jordan (Jordan Pass)	80 JOD (free for kids)	293.60
Oman (Entry Fee)	85 OMR	123.78
India	80 USD	440.72
Myanmar	50 USD	260.00
Cambodia	30 USD	54.00
Vietnam	25 USD	135.00
Sri Lanka	35 USD (free for kids)	94.50
Australia	18 AUD	70.23
Total		1942.30

2026 update: Canadian citizens no longer need a tourist visa for Türkiye (stays of up to 90 days in a 180-day period) or Oman (stays of up to 14 days), according to the Government of Canada (Türkiye, Oman). Rules change often: check the current requirements for your passport before you go.

Car Rentals: 33 Vehicles in 40 Countries

Almost everywhere, the car was our favourite way to get around. It gave us the flexibility and freedom to go wherever we wanted.

• 33 rented vehicles, including:
  • 3 campers, in Reykjavik (Iceland), Christchurch (New Zealand) and Alice Springs (Australia);
  • 2 cars with a private driver, in India and Myanmar;
• 14 vehicles driven on the left side of the road;
• 50,000 km of driving on asphalt, concrete, gravel and dirt roads;
• 285 days with a rental vehicle (2/3 of the time);
• Total cost of car rentals: 13,696.02 CAD (10,290.80 USD).

Rental city	Company	Rented vehicle	Nb of days	Cost (CAD)	Cost per day (CAD)
Reykjavik, Iceland	Camper Rental Iceland	Camper 5 Manual	9	2462.64	273.63
London, UK	Hertz	Renault Captur	11	286.50	26.05
Mulhouse, France	Hertz	Renault Grand Scenic	27	949.50	35.17
Berlin, Germany	Hertz	Opel Corsa	30	797.97	26.60
Istanbul, Turkey	Budget	Fiat Linea	14	350.33	25.02
Beirut, Lebanon	Avis	Kia Picanto	7	214.84	30.69
Athens, Greece	Sixt	Renault Clio	5	159.59	31.92
Mykonos, Greece	Anemos Mykonos Rent a Car	Suzuki Celerio	2	97.10	48.55
Naxos, Greece	Karabatsis	Volkswagen Up	1	45.90	45.90
Santorini, Greece	Santorini Rent a Car	Kia Picanto	3	153.00	51.00
Heraklion, Greece	The Best Cars	Fiat Panda	3	153.00	51.00
Paphos, Cyprus	Economy Rent-a-car	Renault Clio	4	167.75	41.94
Jerusalem, Palestine	Hertz	Chevrolet Traverse	3	240.79	80.26
Aqaba, Jordan	Avis	Kia Picanto	7	271.40	38.77
Abu Dhabi, UAE	Budget	Toyota Yaris	14	461.81	32.99
Delhi, India	Private Driver	Toyota Innova	15	1308.30	87.22
Phuket, Thailand	Best Rent a Car	Toyota Vios	10	334.68	33.47
Yangon, Myanmar	Private Driver	Suzuki Ciaz	8	975.00	121.87
Colombo, Sri Lanka	Car Booking Sri Lanka	Suzuki Wagon R	15	475.33	31.69
Bohol, Philippines	Bohol Selfdrive Car Rental	Toyota Vios	2	76.00	38.00
Melbourne, Australia	East Coast Car Rental	Hyundai Accent	2	84.83	42.42
Alice Springs, Australia	Apollo Camper	Endeavour Camper	3	430.92	143.64
Sydney, Australia	Hertz	Suzuki Swift	3	197.57	65.86
Gold Coast, Australia	Jucy	Toyota Corolla	3	85.63	28.54
Auckland, New Zealand	Hertz	Nissan X-Trail	4	223.56	55.89
Christchurch, New Zealand	Jucy Campervan	Jucy Compass	7	781.33	111.62
Nadi, Fiji	Coastal Rental Cars	Toyota Prius	6	285.00	47.50
Kuching, Malaysia	Guesthouse	Compact	1	22.67	22.67
Bali, Indonesia	CV Bali Car Rental Co.	Compact	12	229.43	19.12
Marrakech, Morocco	Hertz	Fiat Panda	14	403.95	28.85
Marrakech, Morocco	Sixt	Dacia Dokker	5	151.16	30.23
Milan, Italy	Hertz	Renault Clio	14	361.80	25.84
Madrid, Spain	Hertz	Fiat 500	21	456.73	21.75
Total			285	13696.02

I drove in 40 of the 50 countries on our trip. The 10 where I did not drive were Bulgaria, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Gibraltar. The most difficult and dangerous country I drove in was, without a doubt, Lebanon (I tell the story in the country article). People had advised me not to drive in Jordan, Sri Lanka and Bali, but after Lebanon, driving there was child’s play!

I am also proud to report an almost perfect driving record, with a single ticket in Wales (the GPS sent me down a restricted lane).

We were surprised by how many countries drive on the left. It was the case in nearly a third of the countries we visited: England, Wales, Cyprus, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

Leaving aside the 3 campers and the 2 rentals with a driver, our 3 most expensive rentals were:

• Jerusalem, 80.26 CAD (60.31 USD) per day;
• Sydney, 65.86 CAD (49.49 USD) per day;
• Auckland, 55.89 CAD (41.99 USD) per day.

Our 3 cheapest rentals were:

• Bali, 19.12 CAD (14.37 USD) per day;
• Madrid, 21.75 CAD (16.34 USD) per day;
• Kuching, 22.67 CAD (17.03 USD) per day.

Accommodation: 181 Places in 444 Nights

Over 444 nights, we slept in 181 different places, an average of 2.47 nights per place:

• 78 nights in 39 Marriott hotels, paid with points;
• 8 nights in 3 Best Western hotels, paid with points;
• 110 nights in 46 hotels booked on Booking.com;
• 60 nights in 24 hotels booked on Agoda;
• 50 nights in 24 hotels booked on Hotels.com;
• 69 nights in 23 apartments booked on Airbnb;
• 5 nights in 3 hotels booked on other websites;
• 20 nights in 3 campers (Iceland, Australia and New Zealand);
• 38 nights with hosts (friends and relatives);
• 6 nights in transit (plane and bus).

Or, by payment method:

• 314 nights paid in cash;
• 86 nights paid with points;
• 44 free nights.

Accommodation cost a total of 19,537.94 CAD (14,680.25 USD), an average of 44.00 CAD (33.06 USD) per night. Counting only the 314 paid nights, the average was 62.22 CAD (46.75 USD) per night.

Our 5 most expensive places to stay (per night):

• 224.00 CAD (168.31 USD): the desert camp in Erg Chebbi, Morocco;
• 180.65 CAD (135.74 USD): a night under the stars in Little Petra, Jordan;
• 166.33 CAD (124.98 USD): a hotel in the new city of Jerusalem, Israel;
• 155.98 CAD (117.20 USD): a Marriott hotel paid in cash in Portsmouth, England;
• 145.45 CAD (109.29 USD): a hotel in Mykonos, Greece.

Our 2 most expensive nights were in the 2 places with the least comfort.

And the 5 cheapest (per night):

• 19.08 CAD (14.34 USD): a hotel at Inle Lake, Myanmar;
• 20.40 CAD (15.33 USD): a guesthouse in Chiang Mai, Thailand;
• 21.16 CAD (15.90 USD): a guesthouse in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia;
• 26.24 CAD (19.72 USD): a guesthouse in Kuching, Borneo, Malaysia;
• 30.00 CAD (22.54 USD): a guesthouse in Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines.

Breakfast was included at the 3 cheapest places.

How to Choose a Hotel Without Regrets

I usually do not recommend the hotels where we stay, for several reasons:

1. We all have different standards: city or countryside, luxury hotel or hostel, alone, as a couple or as a family, with or without breakfast, air conditioning, pool, parking or a view, etc.
2. A hotel that suits us will not necessarily suit you.
3. One opinion is worth less than several dozen.

So to avoid bad surprises, here is how I recommend looking for a hotel:

1. On Booking or Agoda, search for hotels in a given place with the criteria you want.
2. Filter to keep only hotels with the best guest ratings, i.e. above 8/10 or 4/5.
3. Sort by price, from lowest to highest.
4. Go through the hotels in order and pick the first one that suits you, skipping any with fewer than a dozen recent reviews.

Following this method, we almost never had a bad experience. I say “almost” because once, in New Delhi, we had an unpleasant stay even though I had followed it. When I booked, the hotel had 11 very positive reviews, but the most recent one was a few years old; I only realised it afterwards. I will spare you the details, but remember: reviews must be numerous, and above all recent!

Photos: 152,000 Shutter Clicks

You may not suspect it, but I took an excessive number of pictures. “Excessive” is the right word: my camera fired no less than 152,000 times, an average of 342 times a day!

Here is the ranking of shutter clicks per day by country:

• Portugal: 660 per day;
• Australia: 536 per day;
• Spain: 481 per day;
• Italy: 477 per day;
• Myanmar: 442 per day;
• Japan: 440 per day;
• Hong Kong and Macau: 414 per day;
• Turkey: 414 per day.

And at the bottom of the list:

• Fiji: 180 per day;
• Taiwan: 150 per day;
• Vietnam: 220 per day;
• Iceland: 220 per day.

Seeing Iceland and Fiji at the bottom shows that the number of shots is not proportional to the beauty of a place. Still subjects such as landscapes simply need fewer shots than moving ones.

Note that I am counting shutter clicks, not keepers. As a photography enthusiast, I always take at least two pictures of a scene, in case one is blurry. Normally I keep only a third of my photos, edit half of those, then post a third of the edited ones on Facebook. In other words, of the 152,000 clicks, I kept 50,000, edited 25,000 (56 per day) and showed you only 8500.

As a bonus, here are the days I took the most pictures:

• 1310 in Granada, the day we visited the Alhambra;
• 1280 in Sydney, the day we took the ferry across Sydney Harbour;
• 1150 in Bako National Park, on the island of Borneo, the day we saw proboscis monkeys;
• 980 in Cappadocia, the day of our hot air balloon ride;
• 920 in the sand dunes of Erg Chebbi.

Travel Hacking: 1.4 Million Points

How We Earned the Points

When we decided to go around the world in November 2017, we gave ourselves 6 months to prepare, which seemed very reasonable. While I was telling my chiropractor about our project, he introduced me to travel hacking: collecting points through credit card sign-up bonuses, then using them to travel. I set out to learn as much as I could about it. Once I realised its enormous potential, I regretted having only 6 months left.

So I did everything I could to earn as many points as possible, and the strategy paid off! Between Jessica and me, we took out no fewer than 16 credit cards. The table below shows how.

Date	Name of the Card	Holder	Points earned	Fees (CAD)
Dec 2017	American Express Marriott Bonvoy	Poly	64500	120
Dec 2017	American Express Marriott Bonvoy	Jessica	79500	120
Jan 2018	American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business	Poly	79500	150
Jan 2018	American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business	Jessica	79500	150
Jan 2018	Mastercard MBNA Best Western	Poly	20000	0
Jan 2018	Mastercard MBNA Best Western	Jessica	20000	0
Feb 2018	Mastercard BMO World Elite	Poly	45000	0
Feb 2018	American Express Gold Business	Poly	45000	0
Feb 2018	American Express Gold Business	Jessica	55000	0
Mar 2018	American Express Platinum Business	Poly	91250	499
Mar 2018	American Express Platinum Business	Jessica	106250	499
Mar 2018	Scotia Passport Visa Infinite	Poly	26000	0
Apr 2018	RBC Avion Visa Infinite	Poly	25000	0
Apr 2018	RBC Avion Visa Infinite	Jessica	25000	0
Sep 2018	American Express Platinum Personal	Poly	78750	699
Oct 2018	American Express Platinum Personal	Jessica	78750	699
Dec 2018	American Express Marriott Bonvoy (Annual renewal)	Poly	35000	120
Dec 2018	American Express Marriott Bonvoy (Annual renewal)	Jessica	35000	120
Jan 2019	American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business (Annual renewal)	Poly	35000	150
Jan 2019	American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business (Annual renewal)	Jessica	35000	150
			Total cost	3476

A few notes on this table:

• We took out 14 credit cards between December 2017 and April 2018 (5 months), aiming to collect as many hotel points as possible;
• We applied for 2 American Express Platinum cards during the trip to keep our airport lounge access until the end;
• We kept all 4 American Express Marriott Bonvoy cards at their annual renewal to get 4 free-night certificates worth 35000 points each, which paid for the best rooms of the whole trip during its second half.

2026 update: The MBNA Best Western Mastercard no longer exists in Canada: it closed to new applicants in November 2022, and existing cards were cancelled or converted on September 12, 2023 (Rewards Canada).

Points earned from credit card sign-up bonuses:

• Marriott Bonvoy points: 443 000;
• American Express points: 455 000;
• Best Western points: 40,000;
• BMO points: 45000;
• RBC points: 50000;
• Scotia points: 26000.

We also earned points throughout the trip through referrals, rewards, everyday spending and various other circumstances:

• Marriott Bonvoy points: 183 000;
• American Express points: 55 000;
• Best Western points: 60,000;
• Scotia points: 46 000.

In the end, we accumulated 1,403,000 points, and the credit card fees came to a “staggering” 3,476.00 CAD (2,611.77 USD). But wait until you see the value we got out of them!

How We Spent the Points

Points earned strategically must be spent strategically to get the most value out of them. My goal was to keep travel costs to a minimum while giving us as much comfort as possible. I had identified 5 areas where our points could pay off:

1. Sleep as many nights as possible in luxury hotels;
2. Reduce the cost of flights;
3. Use airport lounges;
4. Reduce foreign exchange fees;
5. Earn travel credits.

Here they are, one by one.

Strategy 1: Sleep as Many Nights as Possible in Luxury Hotels

This was our number one goal, and we went all in. For every country we planned to visit, I searched among the 30 brands of the Marriott International group for the hotels that required the fewest Bonvoy points while offering the most value. To a lesser extent, I did the same with Best Western hotels.

We did very well: 86 free nights in Bonvoy and Best Western hotels, worth a total of 22,616.10 CAD (16,993.09 USD).

Marriott Bonvoy hotels

American Express Membership Rewards points could be converted to Marriott Bonvoy points at a rate of 1200 Bonvoy points per 1000 Amex points. A real bargain!

At the start of the trip, the American Express Platinum card gave us Bonvoy Gold status, which meant room upgrades and breakfast in almost every hotel of the chain. When the free breakfast was dropped for Gold members during the trip, we had to wait until we reached Bonvoy Platinum status (50 nights) to get breakfast again, along with near-guaranteed upgrades to the best suites and lounge access in some hotels, where we could help ourselves to snacks and drinks.

The table below lists the Bonvoy hotels where we stayed: 78 nights for 870,000 Bonvoy points, worth 18,806.30 CAD (14,130.51 USD).

City	Name of Hotel	# of Nights	Points req. / night	Points spent	Value (CAD)	Value per point (cent)
Frankfurt, Germany	Courtyard Wiesbaden-Nordenstadt	2	10000	20000	337.60	1.69
Vienna, Austria	Courtyard Vienna Schoenbrunn	3	15000	45000	540.80	1.20
Brno, Czech Republic	Courtyard Brno	1	10000	10000	2940	2.94
Istanbul, Turkey	Istanbul Marriott Hotel Asia	5	8000	40000	835.20	2.09
Izmir, Turkey	Renaissance Izmir Hotel	2	10000	20000	347.20	1.74
Cappadocia, Turkey	The House Hotel Cappadocia	2	9000	18000	541.28	3.01
Ankara, Turkey	JW Marriott Hotel Ankara	2	10000	20000	1064.00	5.32
Istanbul, Turkey	Istanbul Marriott Hotel Asia	2	10000	20000	281.60	1.41
Abu Dhabi, UAE	Le Méridien Abu Dhabi	1	12000	12000	268.00	2.23
Abu Dhabi, UAE	The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi Grand Hotel	1	35000	35000	421.00	1.20
Dubai, UAE	Element Me’aisam, Dubai	5	10000	50000	1616.00	3.23
Al Ain, UAE	Aloft Al Ain	2	7500	15000	195.00	1.30
Abu Dhabi, UAE	Courtyard World Trade Center, Abu Dhabi	2	12500	25000	408.00	1.63
Agra, India	ITC Mughal, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Agra	1	12500	12500	270.00	2.16
Jodhpur, India	Fairfield by Marriott Jodhpur	2	7500	15000	365.00	2.43
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Element Kuala Lumpur	2	7500	15000	224.00	1.49
Nadi, Fiji	Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay	2	35000	70000	2000.00	2.86
Taipei, Taiwan	Aloft Taipei Beitou	5	6000	30000	915.00	3.05
Taichung, Taiwan	Fairfield by Marriott Taichung	2	7500	15000	299.00	1.99
Taipei, Taiwan	Aloft Taipei Beitou	1	7500	7500	180.00	2.40
Hong Kong	Courtyard Hong Kong Sha Tin	10	10000	100000	2433.00	2.43
Macau	JW Marriott Hotel Macau	1	35000	35000	550.00	1.57
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Element Kuala Lumpur	4	7500	30000	542.00	1.81
Desaru, Malaysia	The Westin Desaru Coast Resort	2	12500	25000	572.00	2.29
Fes, Morocco	Fes Marriott Hotel Jnan Palace	1	17500	17500	321.00	1.83
Marrakech, Morocco	Le Méridien N’Fis	2	12500	25000	860.00	3.44
Vicenza, Italy	AC Hotel Vicenza	2	7500	15000	222.00	1.48
Madrid, Spain	AC Hotel San Sebastian de los Reyes	1	7500	7500	213.12	2.84
Valencia, Spain	AC Hotel Valencia	2	7500	15000	405.00	2.70
Murcia, Spain	AC Hotel Murcia	1	7500	7500	111.00	1.48
Gibraltar, Spain	AC Hotel La Linea	2	7500	15000	318.00	2.12
Sevilla, Spain	AC Hotel Sevilla Forum	2	12500	25000	267.00	1.07
Madrid, Spain	AC Hotel San Sebastian de los Reyes	1	7500	7500	84.00	1.12
Paris, France	Renaissance Paris La Defense Hotel	1	25000	25000	505.50	2.02
Montreal, Canada	Montreal Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel	1	25000	25000	362.00	1.45
Total		78		870000	18806.30	2.16

2026 update: Marriott Bonvoy dropped its award chart on March 29, 2022. The number of points per night now varies by hotel and date, so the “points required per night” above (and the category-based estimate further down) reflect 2019 pricing (Upgraded Points).

Best Western hotels

Thanks to Best Western’s status match programme, our Marriott Gold and then Platinum statuses successively earned us Diamond and Diamond Select status at Best Western, with a host of perks!

The table below lists the Best Western hotels where we stayed: 8 nights for 100,000 Best Western points, worth 3,809.80 CAD (2,862.57 USD).

City	Name of Hotel	# of Nights	Points req. / night	Points spent	Value (CAD)	Value per point (cent)
Salzburg, Austria	Amedia Art Salzburg	2	20000	40000	2884.80	7.21
Kuta, Bali	Best Western Kuta Beach	3	8000	24000	410.00	1.71
Ubud, Bali	Best Western Premier Agung Resort Ubud	3	12000	36000	515.00	1.43
Total		8		100000	3809.80	3.81

Strategy 2: Reduce the Cost of Flights

In my preliminary evaluations, I had concluded that spending points on flights was generally not worth it compared with buying low-cost tickets. Over our whole itinerary, I found only these 3 flight segments where airline points made the most sense:

• Melbourne–Alice Springs: 10000 Avios points + 26.44 CAD (19.87 USD) per person;
• Alice Springs–Sydney: 10000 Avios points + 30.56 CAD (22.96 USD) per person;
• Tokyo–Osaka: 4500 Avios points + 4.91 CAD (3.69 USD) per person.

To book these tickets, we needed 98,000 Avios points in the British Airways Executive Club programme. I simply made the following conversions:

• 50 000 RBC Avion points for 50 000 Avios points;
• 48 000 American Express points for 48 000 Avios points.

2026 update: On April 1, 2025, the British Airways Executive Club was renamed The British Airways Club; it still uses Avios (Prince of Travel).

In total, we saved 2,779.36 CAD (2,088.33 USD) on these flights. The details:

Departure City	Arrival City	Airline	Cost in points	Monetary costs (CAD)	Value (CAD)	Savings realized (CAD)
Melbourne, Australia	Alice Springs, Australia	Qantas	40000	105.76	1239.5	1133.74
Alice Springs, Australia	Sydney, Australia	Qantas	40000	122.24	1239.5	1117.26
Tokyo, Japan	Osaka, Japan	Japan Airlines	18000	19.64	548.00	528.36
Total			98000	247.64	3027.00	2779.36

Strategy 3: Use Airport Lounges

Airport lounges gave us many happy moments over our 56 flights! If you have never been to one, picture us eating and drinking as much as we liked, taking a shower, reading international newspapers and even getting a massage (in Thailand only)! Before a flight, I often used the lounge’s fast Wi-Fi to work on my articles or share our latest adventures on Facebook. Once again, this perk came from our American Express Platinum cards, which gave us unlimited access to Priority Pass lounges around the world.

We saved a lot of money this way, given how expensive airport restaurants are! In total, we visited 55 lounges and 6 airport restaurants, usually before boarding, but often after landing too.

At 32 USD per individual entry, I value this benefit at 10,150.40 CAD (7,626.72 USD) for our 61 visits, using a rate of 1.30 CAD per USD.

Strategy 4: Reduce Foreign Exchange Fees

If you have read my article on using credit cards when travelling, you know we relied on a single credit card for the whole trip: the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite. We used it for all purchases and ATM withdrawals abroad, although we carried other cards for emergencies. At the time, it was the only Canadian card that was accepted everywhere and charged no foreign conversion fees, while all the others charged 2.5%. Since we put 82,600 CAD on it to cover almost all our travel expenses, it saved us no less than 2,065.00 CAD (1,551.58 USD).

Strategy 5: Earn Travel Credits

Some credit card programmes do not allow conversions to airline or hotel points, so I applied those points as travel credits instead:

• Scotia points: the 25,000 bonus points and 47,000 points earned from spending during the trip gave us 720 CAD in credit on our travel expenses, applied to the credit card account;
• BMO points: the 45,000 bonus points were converted into 300 CAD of travel credit;
• Our two American Express Platinum cards each gave us 200 CAD of travel credit, for a total of 400 CAD.

In total, we received 1,420.00 CAD (1,066.95 USD) in travel credits.

What Our Points Were Worth in Total

We collected points and we spent them. But at the end of the trip, we still had 242,900 Bonvoy points left, enough at the time for 48 nights in category 1 hotels in low season! At the average value of 2.16 cents per point we got during the trip, I estimate these remaining points at 5,246.00 CAD (3,941.69 USD). They will force us to take another vacation. Isn’t that great?

In summary, here is the value of all our points:

• Marriott and Best Western hotels: 22,616.10 CAD (16,993.09 USD);
• Avios flights: 2,779.36 CAD (2,088.33 USD);
• Airport lounges: 10,150.40 CAD (7,626.72 USD);
• Foreign exchange fees saved: 2,065.00 CAD (1,551.58 USD);
• Travel credits (Scotia, BMO, Amex Platinum): 1,420.00 CAD (1,066.95 USD);
• Bonvoy points left at the end of the trip: 5,246.00 CAD (3,941.69 USD).

The total value of our credit card benefits comes to 44,276.86 CAD (33,268.36 USD).

For an initial “investment” of 3,276.00 CAD (2,461.49 USD), that is like a 1352% return.

Now imagine if we had had more time to collect points before leaving!

It feels like a dream, doesn’t it? But you could do it too.

Travel hacking may seem complex, but it can be very rewarding. You too can start applying for credit cards and potentially travel for free, year after year. To learn more, read the articles in which I laid the foundations of my points strategy, and contact me if you have any questions: Travel Hacking 101 and Travel Hacking 102. Unfortunately, travel hacking is not accessible to everyone: only residents of Canada and the United States can really benefit from it.

Conclusion of Part 2

I believe that careful travel planning greatly reduces risks, stress and, above all, costs. That is how we like to travel: making the most of every day at a reasonable cost.

To finish on a high note, and if my figures have not knocked you out yet, read Part 3, the financial report of our world trip. It lists all our expenses by country and by category, with observations, analysis and a comparison with the budget I had estimated before we left.

The other parts of our world-trip report:

• Part 1: Key highlights of a wonderful family trip around the world
• Part 2: Organisational summary of our round-the-world trip
• Part 3: Financial report on our family trip around the world