Can You Plan Three Honeymoons Around Two Welcome Offers?

Tristan wrote in with a plan he needed a little help with. He and his fiancée are getting married next year, and instead of one big honeymoon, they want to take three one-week trips using only points.

Then a different reader, Emily, wrote to me that same week with a related question: how far out do you start planning, and how do you find a deal when your dates can't move?

(Honeymoons are kind of Daily Drop's origin story, by the way; our founder, Nate, got into points to pay for his. You can read about it in his founder's letter.)

Is It Smart to Use Credit Cards to Pay for a Honeymoon?

It depends on how you use them, so let's get the objections out of the way first, starting with the small one.

"We'd both have to open a card." True, and that's the main framework here. Each of you earns your own welcome offer, which roughly doubles what you have to work with. Approval isn't guaranteed, and each application is based on that person's own credit, of course.

"This sounds complicated." I get it. When I started, transfer partners made my brain hurt. You don't need to learn the whole system for this plan, though. You need one airline program, one hotel credit each, and one way to cover a purchase with miles.

"We don't want to start our marriage in debt." This is the big one, and it's the right instinct. The plan only works if the cards pay for things you were already buying for the wedding and you pay every statement in full. Interest wipes out whatever the miles are worth. If either of you tends to carry a balance, skip this plan; no trip is worth that.

How Many Miles Do Two Venture Card Welcome Offers Get You?

The whole plan runs on two-player mode, which just means you and your partner each open your own card, and each earn your own welcome offer. One household, two bonuses. (We have a whole guide to points and miles in two-player mode if you want the deep dive.)

One catch on those credits: they're for hotels and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel, and they're only good during your first cardholder year. If your wedding is a year out, plan to book at least one of the honeymoon stays early so the credits don't expire on you.

The easiest way to earn those offers is with money you're already spending. Venue deposits, the florist, the photographer, the dress: put them on the cards and pay each statement in full. We walk through exactly how in How to Earn Miles and Points from Your Wedding Expenses.

Once the miles land, you've got two ways to use them. You can transfer them to Capital One's 15+ travel partners, which is where the big flight deals live, or you can use your miles to get reimbursed for travel purchases you've charged to the card, at 1 cent per mile. This plan uses both. 

Three One-Week Honeymoons You Can Book With Those Miles

Here's how I'd split roughly 166,000 miles: one big international week, one domestic week with a short flight, and one drive-to week that runs on the leftovers. Prices below are for two travelers, round-trip, in economy.

Trip 1: A Week in Amsterdam

I picked three different hubs in Daily Drop Pro, since I’m not sure where in the U.S. Tristan lives. I also wasn’t sure of the honeymoon dates, so I picked a three-day window around the most romantic day ever: Valentine’s Day 2027.

The best deal fell between 12,000 and 15,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points per person, each way, depending on your departure airport and whether the flight was on February 14 or 15. Your Capital One miles get you there through Virgin Red.

The taxes and fees on all three options were nearly identical, about $162 per ticket, in Economy Standard (the same seat as a Main Cabin cash fare, which would run you $683).

Even at 15,000 points, our Cents Per Point Calculator calls this an EPIC deal!

A stay at The Manor Amsterdam, booked through Capital One Travel, would run you a total of $507 for five nights. You’d have to get a little creative with how you book it: one of you books three nights, the other books the last two, and your two $300 credits more than cover the $462 due at booking. Then email the hotel and ask them to keep you in the same room for both reservations.

Your out-of-pocket is just the $45 property fee at check-in. (I’d also recommend skipping the hotel’s breakfast offerings; that seems to be the only thing about the property travelers have recently been unimpressed with.)

 You will have used:

• Between 48,000 and 60,000 miles for the flights there and back, plus about $650 in taxes and fees, leaving you 106,000 to 118,000 miles for the next two trips.

• Almost all of your stays credits; you’d have a little under $150 left between the two of you. 

 Trip 2: A Week Out West in Utah

Good news: after Amsterdam, you’ve still got plenty of miles for a SECOND honeymoon, especially if you live near LAX. From Los Angeles, Flying Blue books a nonstop Delta flight to Salt Lake City for just 8,000 miles each way. From Houston, Aeroplan books a nonstop United flight for 15,000.

Two round trip airfares leaving Monday, Feb 22 and returning on Friday, Feb 26, 2027 would run you between 32,000 and 60,000 miles for both of you. If you live near LAX, you’re golden; that’s only 32,000 miles round-trip for two. Even from Houston, at 60,000, you’d still have about 46,000 miles left for Trip 3.

I was going to recommend renting a car and making scenic drives around the red rock parks, and then I realized I’m talking about Utah in February. I 100% now recommend timing this road-trip themed adventure later in the year, just for the sake of safety!

Or lean into winter instead: Park City’s ski resorts are less than an hour from the Salt Lake City airport. 

Trip 3: The No-Passport, No-Boarding-Pass Week

This is the one I'd lobby for. After months of seating charts and chasing RSVPs, the last thing I'd want is a 6 a.m. airport call time.

Pick somewhere within a half-day's drive, book a cabin or beach rental on your Venture Card and then use your leftover miles to get reimbursed for the stay. After trips one and two, you'll have somewhere between 46,000 and 86,000 miles left, which covers $460 to $860 of the rental at 1 cent per mile. 

How Far in Advance Should You Plan a Honeymoon on Points?

Start about 9-12 months before your first trip. That gives you time to open the cards, earn both welcome offers with wedding spending you'd be doing anyway, and search for award seats once airlines open their calendars, which for most programs happens somewhere around 11 months out (our Transfer Partner Cheat Sheet gives all the exact timeframes for all major airlines).

1. 9-12 months out: Each of you applies for your own card. Start routing wedding deposits through them and pay every statement in full.

2. As soon as the welcome offers post: Search award space before you transfer anything. Daily Drop Pro searches dozens of programs at once, so you can see what flights on your dates actually cost in miles. Run the same search on the airline's own site before you transfer; Pro and the airline don't always show the same price.

3. Every month until you book: Re-run your searches in Daily Drop Pro. Award prices move, and a cheaper date can pop up anytime.

4. Book flights first, lodging second: Award seats are the scarce part; hotels and rentals are easier to find. Book stays through Capital One Travel so the $300 credits apply, and do it inside your first cardholder year.

5. Book the drive-to week last: It's the most flexible trip, so let it fill whatever gap is left in your calendar and your miles balance.

If your dates can't move (and honeymoon dates usually can't), add another month or two of cushion so you have more than one shot at the flights you want.

What About One Big Bali Honeymoon?

Emily asked about Bali, flying out of Arkansas, and I want to be blunt: the math is pretty tight these days for the February 2027 dates. (If your honeymoon is farther out, it might get better unless you’re honeymooning during a standard peak travel window like around Thanksgiving.)

The best option I found from her home airports was Aeroplan, one of Capital One’s transfer partners, at 65,000 miles per person, one-way, from Fayetteville or Little Rock. For the two of you, that’s 130,000 miles just to get there, most of both welcome offers, with almost nothing left for hotels or the flight home. Round-trip for two would be 260,000 miles, more than both welcome offers combined.

As you can see from the points calculator, the value is good, not great.

So if Bali is the dream, plan on it being the whole honeymoon. Also plan on needing more than two welcome offers, some flexibility on dates, considering positioning to larger hub airports, or all of the above. Our Bali guide walks through more flight options.

Honeymoon on Points FAQ

Can you pay for a whole honeymoon with points?

You can cover most of it. Points and miles handle flights and part of the lodging well, but taxes, fees, meals, and activities usually come out of pocket. In our plan, two welcome offers cover the flights for two trips, nearly all of one hotel stay, and part of the third trip’s rental.

How many miles do you need for a honeymoon for two?

For a week in Europe, plan on roughly 50,000 to 60,000 miles for two round-trip economy tickets if you catch a deal like the Virgin Atlantic one above; 75,000 to 100,000 is more typical. A domestic trip can run 30,000 to 60,000 for two, depending on the route and dates.

Is it better to take one big honeymoon or a few smaller trips?

Smaller trips stretch your miles further, because short and domestic flights cost far fewer miles than long-haul ones. One big trip makes sense if there's a single bucket-list destination you both want; three smaller trips make sense if you'd rather keep the celebration going all year.

Should both partners open their own card?

If you both qualify, yes. Each of you earns your own welcome offer, which roughly doubles the miles you have to work with. Approval is never guaranteed, and each application is based on that person's own credit.

Do Capital One miles expire?

Capital One miles won't expire for the life of the account, so you can earn them during wedding planning and book later.

Bottom Line

If you're about to spend thousands on a wedding anyway, two Venture Card cards opened in two-player mode can turn that spending into a week in Amsterdam, a week in Utah, and a cozy drive-to week, with most of your cash going to taxes, fees, and a few hotel nights. It's best for couples who pay their cards in full every month and don't mind a little flexibility on dates. If that's you, it's worth doing.

Tristan, Emily: congratulations, and send us a postcard. Ta-da! 💒