European Christmas on Points

For the 2025 holidays, we headed to Europe. We used points for our long haul flights and for most nights of this trip. This was one of my absolute favorite trips we took this year. We had amazing weather and some of the best excursions we’ve ever experienced.

Itinerary Overview

Denver to Seattle, Southwest with Southwest Companion Pass

Seattle, 1 night, Hyatt Regency Seattle, using Hyatt category 1-4 free night certificate

Seattle to London, Delta One, booked for 47K points + $244 per person, one way
*Transferred points to Virgin Atlantic, booked Upper class Virgin Atlantic – that flight was cancelled so they put us on Delta One (b/c there is NO way you’ll see Delta One to Europe for 47K points 🙂 )

London, 2 nights, Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill, transferred 70K points to Hyatt to book direct – contacted hotel about larger room to fit 3, they charged us rollaway fee and upgraded us to suite (likely due to Hyatt status)

London to Venice, Wizz Air (no points used)

Venice, 3 nights, Palazzo Keller (no points used)

Train from Venice to Florence (no points used)

Florence, 4 nights, IL Tornabuoni, transferred 140K points to Hyatt to book direct & also applied a suite night upgrade

Florence to Denver, KLM business class, 42K points + $296 per person
*Utilized 20% transfer bonus available at the time

London Over Christmas

If you want holiday cheer, London is your gal 😉 The lights in the city are unbelievable. And London is already one of the most charming cities in the world. Here are the highlights from this trip:

• We pre arranged a private airport transfer from Heathrow with Black Lane. We had a $100 credit to use from the Citi Strata Elite℠. The driver was waiting upon arrival and we were led to a gorgeous black Mercedes sedan. A wonderful, comfortable way to arrive to our hotel. If you have this credit, London is a great place to use it!
• Upon arriving at our hotel around noon, Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill, we were able to access our room immediately. Here’s a tip – the standard rooms you can book on points only allow occupancy of 2. However, they have a King Deluxe room that costs only slightly more than the standard room. So I emailed the hotel directly to let them know I’d booked the standard room, however I needed to fit 3 and I asked if I could pay to upgrade to the King Deluxe room. I was told yes and that I’d just need to pay a rollaway fee. Then when we arrived, we found we were upgraded to their beautiful Regency Suite King:

• This hotel also has a club lounge and we loved the ability to pop in for a soda or an afternoon snack. At night they had desserts and self serve wine & beer. It’s a very large lounge and even during an extremely busy time to visit, we never had an issue finding somewhere to sit
• Our favorite restaurant on this visit was The Ship Tavern. It’s a beautiful pub restaurant with excellent food and service. And we absolutely loved all the Christmas decor. Highly recommend.
• Our favorite thing we did on this trip was seeing Hercule’s on London’s West End. We bought discount tickets the morning of via Official London Theatre.
• Our least favorite thing we did was dinner at Gaucho Restaurant in Covent Garden. They are heavily promoted on Instagram for their over the top holiday decor – but no one mentions most of the seating is in the basement. Oh! And that really great theater menu with great prices? They pulled that for the holidays and replaced with expensive holiday menu (this switch is not mentioned on their site).
• We had unusually warm weather and loved walking around the beautifully decorated streets and seeing the stunning holiday department store displays.

Venice over Christmas

This was my first visit to Venice. People either seem to love it or hate it. We LOVED it. It was magical and enchanting. The holiday lights are minimal. But the piazza’s are all so charming. And I truly don’t need anything other than to stare at the canals. Here are some highlights:

• We pre-arranged a private taxi boat via Motoscafi. The plan was for us to take a boat all the way from the airport to a spot a few minutes walk from the hotel. Unfortunately, we arrived on a windy and rainy day. Motoscafi was fantastic about communication, emailing several times about possible change. We ended up taking a private Mercedes van to the main canal taxi area and then the boat taxi from there (where waters are much more protected).
• We stayed 3 nights (points earning 😉 ) at Palazzo Keller. I absolutely loved our stay. The room was spotless and beautiful. The location is fantastic. And everyone working there was kind.
• Our favorite tour (booked via Viator! Get those extra points!) was Tour of The Real Hidden Venice. We had Tomaso as a guide and we learned so much. Even my 14 year old son thought it was so interesting and loved it. Great way to see areas of Venice you probably wouldn’t have seen.
• Our favorite restaurant was Nevodi. Everything we ate here was fantastic. Make a reservation. Great service too.
• We also did a cooking class (yep, booked via Viator!). The class was enjoyable. And making the tiramisu was interesting, but making the pasta was pretty standard and then they provided the pre-made fillings and sauces so I feel like I didn’t learn much. Enjoyable though? Definitely.
• We didn’t do a gondola ride. My must dos that I loved were the water taxi (we booked one via the hotel for departure to the train station also) and having a “Select” spritz in Piazza San Marco, people watching and taking in the stunning Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica.

Florence over Christmas

My husband and I last visited Venice in spring 2008 as part of our honeymoon. I can not believe it took us 16 years to return! And I have to say, this trip was even better than the first. Here are some highlights:

• We stayed 4 nights at IL Tornabuoni, which is a Hyatt. At the time of booking, it was only 35K points/night. So we used 140K points total and also applied a suite upgrade award to have a room that would fit 3. We arrived around 1:30pm and our room was ready. The suite had 2 queen beds plus a sitting area and a little hallway – very large for Europe.
• I loved this hotel and the location was perfect, but there are 2 things you should be aware of when booking this hotel.
  1. Our stay as Hyatt Globalist only covered breakfast for 2 adults. Maybe it also covers children? I don’t know. But because my son is 14, they charged $45 for his breakfast, which actually ended up being $55 with the dollar conversion and fees. Yes. I’m not kidding. $55. It’s in a beautiful breakfast room with a lovely selection but 100% not worth $55. After the 1st day, we only sent 2 down for breakfast.
  2. Upon checkout, I noticed “Discretionary Service Charge” of 80 Euro. I inquired about this and was told I could remove it if I wanted, but it was tips for the entire hotel staff. We’d already been tipping housekeeping, but I still chose to keep it on. I have never seen this before and felt, in a non tipping country, it was quite the tourist trap.
  3. Yes, I would absolutely still stay at this hotel on points. It’s incredible.
• If you are looking for the most unique, incredible excursion, you absolutely must book “Hunt for truffles in the Tuscan woods“. As a mom of a teen boy, I try to mix in active experiences and this was perfect! The couple that run this are the sweetest you’ll meet. The dogs are amazing. The property is incredible. And the lunch in their home with the truffles you hunted and wine they make – seriously, a pinch me experience!
• Our other favorite excursion was one my husband did on our honeymoon 16 years ago – Tuscany Bike Tours. They take you in a van to the countryside where you then get to ride bikes to take in the most gorgeous scenery. After a day of biking (it’s definitely a good amount of biking!), we had lunch at a family home in Tuscany. The food, wine, guides and other participants were amazing.
• The sandwiches in Florence are out of this world. We did a “sandwich crawl”, ordering 1 sandwich at each shop and all sharing so we could try a few.
  1. Vinaino Fiorenza – best flavor
  2. La Nicchietta in Calimaruzza – very good and amazing price
  3. Antica Porcheitteria Granieri 1916 – flavor was good but our bread was very hard
  It’s really fun to have lunch this way and it made for a fun afternoon.
• The gelato in Florence is also dreamy!! We tried a new one each day and here’s our ranking…
  1. Rivareno Gelato – Caramel with caramelized almonds and salt – WOW!
  2. La Carraia – smooth and creamy
  3. Gelateria Artigianale La Sorbettiera
  4. Barroccino – fantastic affogato with pistachio gelato and pistachio dipped
• On the fence about the food tour we did. It’s rated amazingly high. And we thought the food was all good and unique. But we literally had to go buy food for my son after the tour because he was still hungry. Usually you are so full after a food tour. And also, our guide was sweet but not engaging like some guides are. Stops were way too long and at the end I just wanted it to be over. I wouldn’t personally do this food tour again.
• The BEST wine bar with delicious crostinis. We went twice. It’s tiny and chaotic and fun and delish.
• We did also do the Uffizi Galleries. We booked ahead for one of the last entries of the day. Highly recommend this.

Italy is always a good idea

This was our last trip of 2025. And our THIRD trip to Europe in 2025. I was a bit burnt out from travel when we started this trip, but honestly, it was one of our best of the year. The flights were both really fantastic and all of our hotel stays were wonderful. Between the business class award flights and hotel stays in suites over the holidays, the cash price would have been well over $20k. And not spending much on hotels or airfare meant we could experience some truly incredible excursions that we’ll remember forever.

I hope this post helps you with some ideas for your future trips. Thanks for being here!