Travel

Babymoon 2: Barcelona and Costa Brava

In summer 2022, I spent 10 days traveling through Spain with my husband to celebrate our babymoon for our second child, whose code name is “DD” (short for “didi” in Chinese, which means little brother). We were able to travel hack our trip and realize thousands of dollars in free travel! For those of you unfamiliar with travel hacking, it is the process of using loyalty points, miles, and credit card points and perks, to bring down the cost of travel. I always recommend that you travel hack responsibly and only do so when you are able to spend with your credit card like a debit card. This blog post shares how we did it.

Summary of our key hacks:

Flights – $350 in taxes + (41,750 British Airways Avios + 50k AmEx points). Retail Value: $3,550
We flew American Airlines premium economy from New York to Barcelona, then Level Airlines (a Spanish Low Cost Carrier that is part of Iberia Airlines) premium economy back from Barcelona. This is a bit of an obscure hack, because British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia Airlines, and Level are all part of the same parent company, which is why Avios are interchangeable.

Furthermore, Mr. Save My Cents has One World Emerald status, which is the highest tier within One World, so we were able to access the American Flagship lounge and priority check-in at JFK. Through our Priority Pass, we had access to the Mira VIP Lounge in Barcelona.

Lodging – $159 cash spent, $411 in credits and 205K Hilton points

  • 3 nights in Girona = $295.71 | $95.71 in cash + $200 CapOne credit
  • 1 night in Andorra (Airbnb but actually a hotel) = $75 CapOne credit
  • 1 night in Olot = $96 CapOne credit
  • 1 night at Montserrat Hotel Abat = $104 | $40 OpenTable credit, $64 in cash
  • 4 nights in Barcelona, Alexandra Hotel, a Curio / Hilton hotel = $825 worth at booking | 205k Hilton points

Car Rental – $560 paid with a corporate Hertz booking. Retail value: $1200
We rented a car for 7 days total on this trip.

Our Day by Day Itinerary and non-Travel Hacked Costs

Day One
Fly day from JFK to BCN
Transportation: $22 for the train to the airport

Lounging at the American Airlines flagship lounge at JFK

American Airlines premium economy – a large pillow and blanket

Surprisingly decent food

Day Two
Drive from Barcelona to Girona
Food: $72 which includes groceries from Lidl (so fun to visit), some gelato, Boba tea at Bencha and dinner for the two of us
Transportation: $2 for parking

Jaw dropping low prices for smoked salmon / lox at Lidl

Girona is very beautiful at sunset

A beautiful morning in central Girona from our airbnb

Day Three
Sightseeing: $25 in admission fees which includes the Girona Jewish Museum and Dali Pubol House
Food: $275 in which $258 of this total was our fine dining experience at Divinum
Transportation: $67 on gas and parking

The narrow staircases of the Jewish quarter in Girona

Our fancy dinner at Divinum

Day Four
Sightseeing: $17 for the Arab Baths and the Girona Cathedral
Food: $47 including dinner for two at Blanc
Transport: $5 for parking
Misc: $6 for some supplies

Arab baths in Girona

The medieval town of Besalu, a highlight of our Costa Brava trip

Day Five
For the next few days we had split itineraries
Shang:

  • Food: $20
  • Transport: $9 on a RenFe train ticket from Girona to Barcelona
  • Sightseeing: $3
  • Misc: $15 for a new swim cover up

Finally, air conditioning in Barcelona!

Hubby:

  • Food: $35
  • Sightseeing: $62
  • Transportation: $93 on gas, tolls and parking
  • Lodging: $2 for a hotel tax

Day Six
Shang:

A tapas meal is not complete without patatas bravas, at Bodega la Puntual

Hubby:

  • Food: $35
  • Sightseeing: $9
  • Transportation: $69 on gas, tolls and parking
  • Lodging: $1 for a hotel tax

Day Seven
Shang:

Sagrada Familia

Sant Pau

Sant Pau

Hubby:

  • Food: $30
  • Transportation: $18 on parking

Then we met together to drive to Montserrat

Sunrise from Montserrat is breathtaking

Day Eight
We saw sunrise at Montserrat and its museum, then drove back to Barcelona with a stop at Manresa

Fancy opening to our lunch

 

Lunch entree 1

 

Lunch entree 2, at Cau de L’ateneu

Food: $120 including a fine dining lunch at Cau de l’Ateneu and dinner for two at Vi Ni Tus (which we discovered had the identical menu as Cerveseria Catalana)
Sightseeing: $36 to visit a The Museum of Montserrat and the Manresa Basilica
Transportation: $113 on gas, parking and a taxi after dropping our car off at the airport
Lodging: $1 for a hotel tax

Day Nine
Food: $140 including more fine dining Pau Claris
Sightseeing: $25 to visit Palau Guell
Transportation: $16 on bus and Metro tickets

Palau Guell

Beautiful lighting at Palau Guell

Day Ten
We finished up our trip in Barcelona and headed back to New York
Food: $18
Sightseeing: $124 (Casa Mila, Casa Battlo)
Transportation: $106 for a taxi to the Barcelona airport and one home
Lodging: $18 for a hotel tax

Free breakfast every day at Alexandra Hotel

Casa Mila

Summary:
Overall we spent about $1,862 on our dining, sightseeing and transportation while in Spain and another $1,070 in cash ahead of traveling for our flights, lodging and car rental. See below for a full breakdown

Total Cash Outlay: $2932 or ~$1465 per person

Total value that was travel hacked: $5,426, or $2,713 per person

Total value of trip: $8,358, or $4,179 per person

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