By Captain And Clark, on October 20, 2014

Dream trip: Cashing in Expedia+ rewards points

We have found ourselves in the middle of one major Expedia giveaway. The best part? There are going to be six—I repeat, SIX—winners. One lucky grand prize winner will walk away with 1 million Expedia+ rewards points, while five runner-ups will receive 100,000 of their own Expedia+ rewards points to spend. 

As bloggers for the Expedia Viewfinder, we are not eligible for this ridiculous prize, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fantasize about how we would put those points to good use.

What would we do with all those Expedia+ rewards points? We’re glad you asked.

Let’s pretend for a minute that we won the 1 million points (a prize valued at up to US$14,000). Aside from making it rain Expedia+ rewards points, we would use our prize to book the trip of a lifetime.

If there’s one place that’s been on our bucket list for years, and it’s Antarctica. It’s a continent that is hard to get to, and even tougher to explore. We gladly would cash in all of our Expedia+ rewards points to hop on a Holland America cruise that would take us around Patagonia and on to Antarctica.

Just check out the itinerary we found. On it, we would get to visit seven different ports in Chile, two in Argentina, another two in Uruguay, and a port on the Falkland islands. In addition, we would cruise around Cape Horn and through the Antarctic Peninsula with a brief stop at Palmer Station? Does it get any better than that? We think not. We’d be SOLD.

A stunning shot of Croatia’s Plitvice National Park

If we wanted to stay closer to land, another way to use 1 million Expedia+ rewards points would be to head to one of our favorite destinations: Croatia. Our points easily could get us to Croatia by plane. We would put the remainder of our points to good use by booking accommodations at one the many VIP access properties.

Once we got to Croatia, we wouldn’t just kick around in one city. Instead, this kind of vacation would call for a road trip. We would hightail it from Zagreb to the beautiful town of Opatija, stopping along the way to take in the sheer beauty of Plitvice National Park. If we timed our visit correctly, we could move along to Istria for the annual truffle festival. We would stuff ourselves silly with all things truffle before heading to the majestic town of Split.

Once arriving in Split, we would wander the ancient walls of Diocletian’s Palace and hope to spot the filming of a Game of Thrones episode or two. The last time we were there we missed seeing Daenerys Targaryen (the character played by beautiful actor, Emilia Clarke) by two days.

Viewfinder Tip: The best use of Expedia+ rewards points is to choose to stay at VIP access properties, where your points go almost twice as far.

Our Croatian road trip would end with us back in Zagreb, where we would partake in a fair amount of revelry and merriment (i.e. food and drink) before setting off for home. 

You’re probably wondering what you need to do to be entered to win this glorious prize. Well, in order to be eligible to win, all you need to do is book a package (hotel and airfare), a standalone hotel stay, or a cruise vacation with your valid MasterCard before November 10. You also have to register for Expedia+ rewards (if you aren’t a member already).

By the way, if (or should we say, “when”?) you win, you don’t have to use all of your Expedia+ rewards points at once. If you want to spread your points over three different trips, that’s completely up to you. Also, we should mention that if you do win, you’re more than welcome to take us with you on your trip. We’re great at carrying luggage! For more information about the contest and the terms and conditions click here

What would you do with 1 million Expedia+ rewards points?