Some gifts come wrapped in ribbon or a bow, but for Pam Brodsky, the latest birthday present from her son included Champagne, mimosas, and hot towels. “My mom said she birthed me and paid for me for 18 years,” laughed Andrew Brodsky, a 29-year-old consultant who lives in New York City. “Now that I’m an adult with a real-person income, I owed her a fun trip for her 60th birthday.”

The ask from Andrew’s mom was simple and delightfully specific: to visit Europe for the first time, with a lie-flat seat to get there and back.

Andrew and Pam are a seasoned mother-son travel duo. Since the former’s college graduation, they’ve made a tradition of annual summer adventures. One year, it was a Taylor Swift concert in Los Angeles. Another time, it was a road trip from Seattle to the family ranch in Arkansas. In fact, Pam herself is no novice traveler—she’s visited 47 states, gone on multiple cross-country drives, and experienced plenty of domestic flights, as well as a few to Canada and Mexico.

Until this past summer, she had never crossed the Atlantic. Here’s how Andrew made it happen—in swanky business class, and all on points. 

By the Numbers

• The destination: Naples, Italy; Rome, Italy; Barcelona, Spain

• Total flight cost: ~$10,000 for two, round-trip tickets in business class to Europe (Chicago to Naples on American, and Barcelona to New York on Delta)

• Points breakdown: 110,000 Alaska Airlines miles + 120,000 Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles

How They Booked It

In the spring, Andrew was scrolling through Instagram when he caught wind of business-class award availability on an American Airlines one-way route from Chicago O’Hare (ORD) to Naples, Italy (NAP). At the time, this was a new flight route. Award seats are typically rare in the peak summer period, so he pounced, using that find as the trip’s backbone for the rest of the itinerary. To book, Andrew used 55,000 Alaska Airlines miles per person.

Alaska Airlines, a member of the Oneworld alliance with American Airlines, may price award seats lower than American, if you were to book directly. It’s worth checking if you’re trying to fly on an American flight.

The first flight booked was just in one direction, from the U.S. to Europe. The return was trickier. Andrew and Pam were set on a specific date to come back to the U.S, which makes award hunting much more challenging. Nevertheless, Andrew leveraged a service called point.me, which runs searches across major airline programs to find the lowest price possible. (Think of it like Google Flights, but specifically for points redemptions.)

Eventually, Andrew saw something interesting: Delta Air Lines business-class seats from Barcelona (BCN) to New York (JFK), bookable through Flying Blue, the frequent flyer program of Air France and KLM. (While it was possible to book this flight directly through Delta, the cost in miles was much higher.)

Andrew booked this offering for 60,000 Flying Blue miles per person. To complete the booking, he moved Capital One miles to Flying Blue. Flying Blue is a transfer partner of the major credit card currencies, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Rewards.

To transfer, you must enter your Flying Blue account information—or join for free if you do not already have an account—in the respective credit card travel page. All points are then transferred instantly at a one-to-one ratio.

What the Experience Was Like

There’s a special kind of joy in giving someone their first stamp in a new continent—especially when you can pair the milestone with a lie-flat seat, too. By letting the award availability lead the trip planning, Andrew delivered a 60th-birthday trip that was indulgent and memorable for his mom.

The result wasn’t just a passport expansion for Pam with Italy and Spain; it was a full expectation reset. The pair landed in Naples fresh after a full night’s sleep on the flight over—so much so that they were immediately able to set out on a day trip to the ruins of Pompeii.

Pam now knows the joys of a smooth flight on a long-haul aircraft, and how good a pre-departure mimosa tastes when you’re not counting the minutes to pushback. “The hot towels they brought around at the very beginning were amazing,” she said, still delighted. But really it was the privacy and space of the lie-flat seat that made the journey so special.

“We loved our time on the ground, of course, too, from gelato in Capri, to the Trevi Fountain in Rome, and the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona,” Pam said. The duo purchased train tickets within Europe in cash, which delivered the cinematic experience Pam had wanted: the countryside flickering by, espresso at the station as they arrived into Rome.

Of course, quick travel from Rome to Barcelona takes a little more than a bullet train ride. For that, they relied on a short flight with ITA across the Tyrrhenian Sea. “I booked us in economy from Rome to Barcelona; I figured it was a good time to remind my mom how most people travel and how lucky she is to have me,” Andrew said.

Points & Miles Tips for Travelers

Being flexible is the key to finding flight deals redeemable through points and miles. “Things get a lot easier if you can move your trip by a few days or even consider a different European gateway,” Andrew said. He didn’t wedge Italy into an existing plan; he let the award availability become the plan.

Leveraging the right tools can also help. If you have specific dates or must return on a given day, a paid tool like point.me can “save a ton of headache and a ton of money” by surfacing award programs you might overlook.

As for future trips? Pam’s already sold. “If you’re going to travel that long,” she said, “be comfortable and enjoy it.” Points and miles, deployed thoughtfully, make the experience less of a splurge and more of a strategy. And if you ask Andrew, it’s the best birthday present a son can give.

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