I’ve been gearing up for a trip to Richmond, Virginia for a couple months now and people are like ummm why are you going to RICHMOND?! In short, I’m meeting up with my biz besties for a girls trip.

But it’s so much more than that. 

Back in March 2024, I finally joined a coaching group I’d been eyeing for YEARS called Digital Sales Growth Community (DSGC). Our fearless leader Colleen’s (@noshamesalesgame) guidance has been nothing short of transformative for my business. Every week we meet for Office Hours where we get to ask questions, “try on” business ideas and get like-minded community support. These women have cheered me on, seen me fail and get back up and have listened to me cry more times than I’d like to admit.

And a special group have become what I lovingly call my biz besties. We’re a mosaic of different kinds of entrepreneurs — social sellers, author, budget & finance, digital creators and me, the points +miles girl. Our group chat goes way beyond business, although we support each other in that, too. We talk about the hard stuff and the good stuff and man do they make me laugh! And up until this trip, I’d only ever met one of them in person LOL

So this trip is special to me because I wouldn’t have been able to afford it if it hadn’t been for points + miles.

This was my first time redeeming points for a flight. I’m not much of a bougie traveler (yet) so I stuck with Southwest’s basic fare. Southwest is a transfer partner with Chase so I found my flight and transferred the number of Ultimate Rewards needed (the transfer was instant for me) and paid $11.20 in taxes and fees and redeemed 17,000 points for a flight that would’ve otherwise cost me $263.37. 

My flight left bright and early so instead of making my husband and kids wake up at 3am to drive 90 minutes to the airport so they could turn around and start their day at school didn’t feel like a good idea. So I booked an easy hotel with a complimentary airport shuttle for the night before for only 8,000 points saving me another $100.

In Richmond, we stayed at the Aloft West Short Pump (a Marriott property) that I booked through my Chase portal! It was a total of 27,444 points for two nights instead of 77,500 points booking directly on the Marriott website. I could’ve gotten a Hyatt down the road for much less but between convenience and FOMO, I rolled with the Aloft. I also used my $50 hotel credit that I get by being a Chase Sapphire Preferred card holder. So instead of paying $393.05, I paid $0!

The hotel was in a great location. We were within walking distance from many restaurants, shops and salons. It was a funky-ish hotel with colorful decor and modern embellishments. My view was a parking garage but hey, it was fine. I’m actually really happy that I decided to stay there.

The first night we were there, we were invited to our coaches home where we were welcomed with the most beautiful charcuterie board I’ve ever seen. We were definitely well fed.

Honestly we did a lot of eating, sitting, walking and yapping…oh and laughing. We sat for so long at breakfast the morning we were all together that we got up and said, “welp, should we walk over to get some lunch?” So we did! I had bought a few snacks from ALDI before I left for the trip so I didn’t need a whole lot aside from that. I did walk to Whole Foods for a couple protein shakes and to be honest they were terrible so $7 not well spent.

Something that really bugs me about the points + miles world is that people emphasize their “nearly free travel” but never disclose how much they spent on everything else. Travel is never 100% free (I wish) and I want to make sure that I’m transparent about that as I share with you all about my travels. So here’s the breakdown of my trip:

• Food: $119.88 + $7.07 on protein shakes
• Uber: $20 (shared two rides but one friend wouldn’t let me pay her back soooo)
• Total: $146.95

I ALMOST got a tattoo that would’ve cost me about $100 but ultimately decided against it. It wasn’t an absolute without a doubt yes and I just felt like it was the right choice to save the money. I was considering getting a fine line hummingbird tattoo to commemorate my good friends that I love so much. Maybe someday…

I flew back home (MSP) the day before our 11th wedding anniversary so I booked us at the Hyatt Regency in Bloomington for just 8,000 points saving us $152. Jourdan checked in with the kids a few hours before my flight landed and got some dinner before picking me up at the airport (I was delayed about an hour). 

This hotel was ok. I was a bit underwhelmed if I’m being honest. There was a strong fragrance smell on the first floor where the lobby was that made me feel like I was immediately fighting a headache. Unfortunately, we didn’t stay very long because our daughter ended up having a bit of an accident in the hotel gym the next morning and we decided to head home to get her checked out at urgent care. She’s totally ok by the way, just a little banged up. Lesson learned!

In total, including the two nights at the front and back of the trip, I redeemed 60,444 points and saved $908.42 at 1.5 cents per point! What a freaking gift this “hobby” is. 

Have you ever been to Richmond? It was beautiful weather and I’d love to go back when the colors change!