My husband and I had wanted to visit Italy for years, and our 10th anniversary gave us the perfect reason to finally make it happen. We planned our Italy itinerary on points and miles, settling on a 16-day adventure in seven Italian cities around late August to early September 2024. While we wanted to celebrate with an unforgettable trip, we also needed to stick to a realistic budget—balancing smart savings with well-placed splurges to enhance our experience.
How We Used Points and Miles to Save on Our Italy Trip
We strategically combined points, miles, and money (cash or credit). Months before the trip, I focused on earning as many transferable points as possible to offset major expenses like flights and accommodations. This approach allowed us to splurge on what mattered most—upgrading our travel experiences and enjoying activities or destinations we might have otherwise skipped.
We made intentional decisions about when to use points and when to pay out of pocket. For flights and luxury hotels, redeeming points helped minimize out-of-pocket costs. On the other hand, we chose to pay for unique experiences, local stays, and dining, knowing these moments would make our trip unforgettable.
Here’s How We Balanced Luxury and Budget on Our Italy Trip: The Full Cost Breakdown in Points, Miles, and Cash
16-Day Italy Itinerary Overview
(I know it looks like there is some backtracking, but that was done due to train routes and actually saved us travel time)
We stayed in the following cities, in this order:
- Milan (fly in)
- Bologna
- Parma
- Lerici
- Lucca
- Florence
- Rome (fly out)
How We Booked Flights to Italy with Points and Miles
(Values Per Person)
FIRST: Raleigh (RDU) to NYC (JFK) positioning flight First Class on Delta, booked through Delta
Points used: 27,500 Delta Points (earned via Delta)
Cash (taxes and fees): $5.50
SECOND: NYC (JFK) to Milan (MXP) on Emirates business class (lie flat)
This is THE flight I was most excited about on their A380-800. It did not disappoint!
Points used: 87,000 points transferred into Emirates and booked via Emirates
Cash (taxes and fees): $105.50
THIRD: Rome (FCO) to Raleigh (RDU) with a layover in NYC (JFK). Booked through Virgin Atlantic.
- FCO to JFK flown on ITA Airways Business Class (lie flat)
- JFK to RDU flown on Delta First Class
Points used: 92,500 points transferred to and booked via Virgin Atlantic.
Cash (taxes and fees): $64.85
Flights Total Points per person: 207,000
Flights Total cash per person (taxes and fees): $175.85
Lounges
Additionally, with our tickets, we visited the following lounges for free:
- Emirates Lounge in JFK
- ITA lounge in FCO
Total price for access, food, and drinks while in the lounges: FREE
Hotels in Italy with Points & Miles
1. Milan IHG Crowne Plaza (one night)
Points used for one night: 22,000 transferred from Chase to IHG with a 60% transfer bonus (normally 35,000)
2. Rome Hilton Rome Cavalieri, a Waldorf Astoria Hotel (two nights)
Points used for two nights: 160,000 (earned and redeemed via Hilton)
3. NYC Hyatt Regency JFK Airport at Resorts World New York (one night
Points used for one night: 15,000 (points transferred from Chase to Hyatt)
Note: we only had to book this room as our returning flight from JFK to RDU was delayed until the next day and there were no other flights we could reasonably make.
Total Points used on Hotels: 197,000
Total cash spent on points hotels: $0
Best Hotels in Italy Worth Paying Cash For
Both of these hotels were absolutely worth the expense for us for a trip like this, but SPECIFICALLY because of the rooms we chose. The rooms we chose were the best rooms in the hotel and both offered incredible views.
1. Lerici Doria Park Hotel: Deluxe Golfo Dei Poeti Room, breakfast included option, two nights (includes a huge private terrace with jacuzzi and lounge chairs. The hotel set up a table and arranged a moonlight dinner)
Cash used for 2 nights: $716.15 (652 Euros)
2. Florence Santa Croce B&B: 1 King bed with Balcony-no breakfast option, 3 nights
Cash used for 3 nights: $958 (850.50 Euros)
Total cash spent on hotels (5 nights): $1674.15
Affordable Italy Vacation Rentals Worth Booking
These vacation rentals, booked via Airbnb, gave us the opportunity to stay in places where point options were either limited or unavailable. As a result, we chose to pay cash, allowing us to explore smaller, more remote cities that added unique charm to our itinerary.
1. Bologna AirBNB two nights
Cash used for two nights: $317.86
2. Parma AirBNB for two nights
Cash used for two nights: $312.40
3. Lucca AirBNB for two nights
Cash used for two nights: $383.01
Total cash used for AirBNBs (6 nights): $1,013. 27
Train Travel in Italy: Cost and Booking Tips
TrenItalia and Italo Economy/Ordinary and First Class tickets
Cash used per person: $111.73 ($223.46 total)
| Train route | Train Brand | Cabin | Price for 2 (Dollars) |
| Milan Centrale to Bologna Centrale | Italo | Economy | $60.62 |
| Bologna to Parma | TrenItalia Intercity | Economy – 2ª CLASSE EASY | $23.68 |
| Parma to La Spezia | TrenItalia Regional | ORDINARIA – 2ª CLASSE | $25.75 |
| La Spezia to Lucca | TrenItalia RIntercity and Regional | BASE – 1ª CLASSE PLUS | $32.37 |
| Lucca to Florence | TrenItalia | ORDINARIA – 2ª CLASSE | $18.25 |
| Florence to Rome | Italo | Economy | $62.79 |
| TOTAL | $223.46 |
Top Italy Experiences Worth Paying For
1. Bologna Three Hour Cooking class (with full lunch) booked through Cesarine here.
Cash used pp: $162.59
2. Bologna Clock Tower Visit (Torre dell’Orologio) self-guided panoramic views of Bologna (purchased at the door)
Cash used pp: !0 Euros (approx $11)
3. Parma Caseificio Ugolotti authentic Parmesano Reggiano factory tour, booked via their website here.
Cash used pp: $43.60
4. Tuscany Vineyard tour and full lunch and wine tasting at Tenuta Casanova, booked via their website here.
Cash used pp: $73.44 (plus much more on gifts to send home, but we won’t include that here)
We rented a car for the day to get here, but we used our Capital One Venture X travel credit and paid $0 out of pocket. Bonus: we took our time, driving back through the Tuscan countryside and stopped shortly in Volterra to get in some steps, espresso, and treats in the hilltop town. See our driving route below.
5. We had planned to get Rome Colosseum tickets, booking directly from the Colosseum site when they were released, but were so exhausted by the end of our trip, we skipped this.
Cash used pp: $0
Total Cash per person spent on booked experiences: $290.63
Final Cost Breakdown: Italy Trip with Points, Miles & Cash
So how did we fare after all was said and done? I’ll show you! For this 16-day trip for two people, the flights, accommodations, trains, and experiences could have cost us almost $22,000. Instead, we paid $3,843.84! I will take that as a win for balancing luxury and a reasonable budget. Of course, we still had food and shopping costs, but they didn’t feel like a burden when we had already saved so much!
| Italy 16 Days, Two People | Points PP | Points Total | Cash PP | Cash Total | Cash Value if we had paid full price |
| Flights | 207,000 | 414,000 | $175.85 | $351.70 | $16,598.80 |
| Accommodations | |||||
| Hotels | 197,000 | $1,674 | $3,353 | ||
| AirBNBs | 0 | $1,013.27 | $1,013.27 | ||
| Trains | $111.73 | $223.46 | $223.46 | ||
| Experiences | $290.63 | $581.26 | $713.65 | ||
| Total | 611,000 | $3,843.84 | $21,902.33 |
Have you booked a perfectly balanced trip mixing money savings and extraordinary experiences? If so, I’d love to hear about it!
