This Mother-and-Son Booked Flights to Europe Worth More Than $10,000 All On Points-Here's How

"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.""

"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."

"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."

Pam celebrated her 60th birthday with a first trip to Europe in business class with lie-flat seats. Andrew booked the trip using airline points and award searches. The duo keeps an annual summer travel tradition and Pam had previously visited 47 states plus Canada and Mexico but never crossed the Atlantic. Andrew discovered business-class award availability on a new American Airlines flight from Chicago O'Hare to Naples and booked that outbound for 55,000 Alaska Airlines miles per person. The return date proved more difficult, so Andrew used the point.me service to search across programs for the best award return options.

Read at Travel + Leisure