Bringing Grandma with Us to Cancun
One of my favorite parts of traveling as a family of six is figuring out how to bring more people along without blowing our budget. This time, that meant getting my mom to Cancun with us—using points instead of cash 🙌
Here’s exactly how we did it, and why this was a quietly amazing redemption.
The Quick Snapshot
Points Used: 20,000 Capital One miles
Transfer Partner: Qantas
Transfer Bonus: 20% (20k → 24k Qantas points)
Flight: Round-trip from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Cancun
Cash Price: $711
Taxes Paid: $166
Value: 2.72 cents per point
Not bad at all for points that were just sitting in our account.
Why This Redemption Was Perfect for Our Family
When traveling with kids (ours are 12, 10, 7, and 5), help from grandparents isn’t just nice—it’s game-changing. Having our mom join us in Cancun meant:
Extra hands with the kids
Built-in family time
Zero extra airfare cost out of pocket (beyond taxes)
Using points made it an easy “yes” instead of a budget debate.
The Capital One → Qantas Transfer Hack
Capital One miles are super flexible, but the real magic happens when there’s a transfer bonus.
In this case:
We transferred 20,000 Capital One miles
Capital One was running a 20% bonus to Qantas
That gave us 24,000 Qantas points
That was exactly what we needed for a round-trip ticket.
This is such a good example of why I don’t rush to redeem points the second I earn them—waiting for the right bonus can stretch your miles way further.
Booking the Flight
We used those 24,000 Qantas points to book a single round-trip ticket from DFW to Cancun.
Cash price at booking: $711
Out-of-pocket cost: $166 in taxes
Points saved: 20,000 Capital One miles
That comes out to 2.72 cents per point, which is excellent for an economy flight—especially on a route we were already flying as a family.
Why I Love This Kind of Redemption
This wasn’t about flying business class or chasing a headline-grabbing cents-per-point number.
This was about:
Reducing real cash expenses
Making a family trip better
Using points to solve a real-life problem
And honestly? Those are often the best redemptions.
Final Thoughts
If you’re sitting on Capital One miles, don’t overlook transfer partners like Qantas—especially when bonuses pop up. Even a “small” stash of points can turn into a meaningful win.
In our case, 20,000 points helped bring Grandma to Cancun 🌴
And that’s a memory worth far more than $711.
If you want more family-friendly points strategies like this, stick around—I’ve got plenty more where this came from.