Hey, thanks for the response - you might be interested in a recent UR redemption I made: I took a 2-week trip this past May/June (London, Paris, Milan, Florence, and Rome) which I booked in January. The only city I could find a hostel for on the UR portal was in London. For the trip, I spent about 70k UR points and $200(taxes) on flights, and about $500 in cash on hostels.
| City | Departure Date | Departure time | Airline | Booking Method | Miles | Cash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEA to LON | May 24th | 5:50 PM | Virgin Atlantic | Airline | 27500 | $189 |
| LON to PAR | May 28th | 11:50 AM | Air France | UR Portal | 8140 | $15 |
| PAR to MIL | May 31st | 2:45 PM | Air France | UR Portal | 3460 | $15 |
| ROM to SEA | June 7th | 7:00 AM | United | Airline | 30000 | $83 |
| City | Check-in | Check-out | Hostel | Booking Method | Miles | Cash |
| London | May 24th | May 28th | Generator | UR Portal | 5534 | No |
| Paris | May 28th | May 31st | Generator | Hotels.com | No | $151.80 |
| Milan | May 31st | June 1st | Ostello Bello Grande | Orbitz | No | $46.62 |
| Florence | June 1st | June 3rd | Hostel Archi Rossi | Bookings.com | No | $136 |
| Rome | June 3rd | June 7th | Hostel Alessandro Palace and Bar | HostelWorld.com | No | $150 |
| Totals | 74634 | $786.07 |
The next big trip I'm planning is for 3 months next year, split between SEA and Europe. Based on my last trip, I don't think flights will be able to put a sizeable dent in mine (or your 300k) UR, but I might try to speed it along with some high-end hotel redemptions peppered in between hostels.
As of now, I have 300k+ UR, 50k Merrill, 120k SW (plus a CP, which isn't entirely useful to the solo traveler), 60k United, and 30k Alaska points. I just signed up for the Prestige and will earn 75k TYP from that bonus.