Case study · City breakWith proof
Budapest, April 2026
1 flight, 3 nights in 2 hotels, 4 days.
Hungary
Hungary
Short answerBudapest in April 2026: 1 flight and 3 hotel nights for $118 paid, against a documented comparison value of $1,330. We used 12,000 points and miles, 10.1¢ per point on average. Anything paid in cash appears without a comparison value. The comparison value is not money paid out.
Key figures
$118 paid, $1,330 documented comparison value. The 91% difference came from 12,000 points and miles.
Paid
$118
flights, hotels and transfers
Comparison value
$1,330
documented cash value
Difference
91%
$1,212 documented
Points and miles
12,000
10.1¢ per point
At a glance
- Booking classes
- Economy (1)
- Flight numbers
- Outbound flight Airport → Budapest
- Airports
- Budapest (BUD)
- Hotels
- Kimpton BEM, Budapest (2 nights)
- Párisi Udvar Hotel, Budapest (1 night)
Day by day
3 April 2026
AirportBudapest BUDEconomy
- Paid
- $50
- Value
- $237
- points
- 12,000
- per point
- 1.6¢
Kimpton BEM
- Paid
- $68
- Value
- $668
- points
- cash
- per point
- ·
5 April 2026
Párisi Udvar Hotel
- Paid
- $0
- Value
- $425
- points
- cash
- per point
- ·
The whole trip
| Category | Paid | Comparison value | Difference | Points and miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flights (1) | $50 | $237 | $187 79% | 12,000 |
| Hotels (2 stays, 3 nights) | $68 | $1,093 | $1,025 94% | none |
| Total (3 bookings) | $118 | $1,330 | $1,212 91% | 12,000 |
Proof
Excerpts from the booking confirmations, personal data and booking codes made unreadable.
3 records · swipe or use the arrows, click to enlarge3 records · swipe, tap to enlarge
Editorial noteThis case study is our own trip analysis and not tax, legal or financial advice. Award prices, availability and cash prices change all the time.
Terms in this trip
- Award ticket: An award ticket is a flight paid for with miles or points instead of cash; taxes, fees and surcharges almost always still have to be paid in money.
- Award availability: Award availability is the number of seats an airline releases on a given flight for redemption with miles, which is usually far smaller than the number of seats still on sale.
- Cents per point: Cents per point is the measure of a redemption's value: the cash price avoided, minus any co-payment, divided by the number of points spent.
- Free night certificate: A free night certificate is a voucher for one hotel night up to a fixed points ceiling, usually granted once a year as a credit card benefit.
Next step
What would your spending make possible?
In the strategy call, we run the numbers on your spending profile before anything is applied for. Want to see the number first? The calculator shows it in about 30 seconds.
30 minutes · online · no obligation
What we'll cover in the call
- Is a result like this realistic for us?
- How long did it take?
- What was the first step?