Mother’s Day seems to sneak up on us quickly. Why?  Because we’re moms; we celebrate everyone else while our days seem to quickly pass.  Who am I kidding? All holidays sneak up quickly. This year I’m taking an 8 hour surprise drive to my parents’ house to have my babies hand deliver flowers to Grandma (any excuse to see my mom!).

Since my husband won’t be making the trip with us he decided he’d like to take a last minute flight to Chicago, Illinois to surprise his mom also!

Last minute flights can be pricey, and I knew this one wasn’t going to be any different.  After looking up “hacker” style flights (how our family flew to Maui for $33 and Cancun for $90) and not finding flight times that worked with his availability, I knew I was going to have to just suck it up and book him a normal award reservation.

After researching, I found Southwest Airlines offered the best times to meet my husband’s tight schedule.

Total Cost: 41,878 Rapid Rewards points & $11.20 taxes

Disclosure: There are affiliate links below, which means if you purchase I receive small compensation to keep this blog running.  

Note: For experienced travel hackers this is not considered a “good deal” or good use of points and miles, however, I have a very large amount of miles and points “banked”. This was the only availability that worked. Sometimes spending “too many” points or miles on a last minute flight is worth it.

Here’s how I booked it:

Southwest Airlines is a travel partner of Chase.  After finding the exact dates and flight times needed I transferred 42k Chase Ultimate Rewards points earned from using my Chase Sapphire Preferred VISA.  See more about why the RIGHT credit card for travel is so important! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After confirming the points successful transferred to my Southwest Rapid Rewards account I was able to book the reservation!

It’s always fun for me to compare the cash price of the same ticket!  This is what I would have paid if I didn’t use airline miles and points! 

–> We saved $614.26 <–

There ya have it!  This is a how my husband is taking a last minute roundtrip flight to Chicago to see his mom!

Have you had a look at some of my most recent FREE flight & hotel deals and blogging posts?

• Want to LEARN HOW TO FLY FREE? Start Here! 
• I’m still on board to retire by 40 by blogging! 
• 3 Roundtrip Tickets to Maui, Hawaii   Total Cost: $33.60
•  3 Roundtrip Tickets to Chicago, Illinois from Boise, Idaho     Total Cost: $33.60
• 2 One Way Tickets from Cancun, Mexico to Seattle, Washington     Total Cost: $90 
• One Way Ticket from Seattle, Washington    Total Cost: $5.60
•  4 Nights at the 5 Star, Adults Only, All-Inclusive Hyatt Zilara in Cancun, Mexico     Total Cost: FREE

Happy Mother’s Day!
-Serena