How I Traveled to Europe 3 Times at 19 for $800

Growing up as a first-generation and low-income Asian American, I didn’t have many opportunities to travel when I was younger. I used to think that attaining my dream vacations to locations such as Paris and Rome would be impossible due to the price tag. However, as I grew older, I learned about the power of credit card points and flight monitoring. All of a sudden, being able to afford trips to Europe became a reality.

Since I turned 19 back in December, I’ve been to Europe three times, and my flights only cost me around $800 out of pocket—here’s how I saved hundreds of dollars and fulfilled my European travel dreams.

January 2025: London

My first international trip as a 19-year-old was to London in January. I flew nonstop round-trip from Boston to London Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic, and I paid $401 for my flight, including taxes and fees. I had started planning this trip a few months earlier, back in October 2024, and as with all trip planning I do, I always start by looking up the cash fares for the flights I want to take on Google Flights. Since I was traveling in winter and the low season in London, I immediately noticed an abundance of affordable flights.

I didn’t use any points or miles to book my flights to and from London for a few reasons. I analyzed the possible point booking routes I could take, such as Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, American Airlines AAdvantage, etc. I compared the cash fare to what it would cost me to book the flights with points, and I came to the conclusion that the cent per point (CPP) value of the point redemptions wasn’t worth it.

$400 is a very affordable price given that I’d be flying round-trip nonstop on Virgin Atlantic, which provides exceptional service. I ended up being lucky enough to fly on an aircraft that was less than a year old, which thoroughly elevated my flying experience and provided me with a great start to my trip in the United Kingdom.

March 2025: Paris and Rome

My friends and I decided that we wanted to go to Europe for spring break. After some thoughtful discussion, we settled on going to Paris and Rome. As usual, I had been eyeing potential flights on Google Flights, and an itinerary that caught my eye was nonstop round-trip flights from Newark to Paris Orly for $300 on French Bee. While my friends paid for their flights out-of-pocket with cash, I booked my flight through Capital One Travel and utilized the cash back I earned from my Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card.

Even though French Bee is a budget airline and was notorious for low-rated reviews on platforms such as Reddit, I actually really enjoyed my experience flying on the airline. I had paid for the lowest fare available, Bee Light, which didn’t include meals. I don’t know if booking through Capital One Travel gave me any hidden perks, but on both flights, I was given free meals, and the food was actually really good for airplane food, in my opinion. I’d definitely fly French Bee again.

For our Rome flights, we booked round-trip flights from Paris to Rome through Vueling, which cost us 76 euros. We all paid with cash, and our travel experiences were largely uneventful (except for when we had to run through Paris Orly to make our flight home back to Newark after flying back from Rome).

May 2025: French Riviera, Vienna, and Florence

I planned my May European trip much later than I usually would, as I began planning the trip less than two months prior in March. I heard that Flying Blue was running promotional fares from Boston, and I decided to check the prices of flights from Boston to multiple European cities that I wanted to visit. After some digging, I came to the conclusion that Marseille would be a good choice for my first destination since it costs the least amount of miles + taxes & fees.

I booked my flight as a combined Air France Train + Air ticket, where I would first fly from Boston to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, and then I’d transfer onto a TGV inOui train from the airport to Marseille Saint-Charles station. The combined plane and train ticket cost me 18,750 miles + $98 in fees, and what was surprising to me was that it was cheaper than flying directly to Paris, which would’ve cost me $132 in fees instead of $98.

I got the miles by transferring my Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, which I had earned from my Chase Ink Business Unlimited® card, which I subsequently transferred to my Chase Sapphire Preferred® card so I could transfer the points to Flying Blue.

To decide my next destination after France, I decided to use Google Flights’ explore feature to see where I could fly next for cheap. Vienna caught my eye, as I could fly there directly from Nice on Wizz Air for only 30 euros one way. I repeated this for my last destination, and I saw that I could fly nonstop from Vienna to Bologna on Ryan Air for about 30 euros as well. I traveled from Bologna to Florence on an Italo high-speed train for 10 euros. I paid for all this intra-Europe travel out of pocket with cash.

I waited until April 1 to book my flight home since I was aware of the upcoming transfer bonus for Bilt Rent Day. I was traveling with my aunt on the trip, and she had Bilt points lying around that she wanted to use. For April Rent Day, Bilt was offering a transfer bonus to Avios. I had scoped around on Avios for any potential flights to book, and what caught my eye was an Iberia itinerary from Bologna to Boston with a layover in Madrid for 24,500 points + $145 in fees. Since my aunt was a Bilt Blue member, she had a 50% transfer bonus to Avios, and we only needed to transfer 17,000 Bilt points per person to book the flight.

Final Remarks

It can be difficult and time-consuming to scrape multiple booking platforms and travel portals, but it is absolutely worth the effort. By researching flight deals, learning how to maximize credit card points, and staying flexible with travel dates and destinations, I’ve been able to take trips I once thought were out of reach.

As a first-generation college student, I used to see European travel as a luxury I couldn’t afford. Now, with a bit of strategy and planning, I’ve been able to turn that dream into a reality multiple times without breaking the bank.

Whether it’s tracking transfer bonuses, booking with budget airlines, or combining train and flight itineraries, there are countless ways to travel affordably. You don’t need a huge budget to see the world—just some curiosity, persistence, and a willingness to learn how the travel points game works.