My goal is to get my family (5 or 6 of us) to Europe and save money or improve the travel conditions for the parents. Kids can fly coach.
So maybe this doesn't work the way I think it does anymore. I used to travel a lot. I'm close to a million miler on American and could have made it if my travel was more consistent with them over the years. I have not been in a heavy travel role for about 15 years. 20 years ago I used my points on American for 2 first round trip class seats to Kona and my hotel points for a week free at a Hilton resort (This is what my wife expects). So if no amount of Chase "miles" or points is going to get me a good deal then so I just find the best cash back card.
I have an American Citi-Advantage card and about 38,000 miles in my account now which is good for one coach round trip in May 2026. Am I better off trying to build up enough miles for a couple tickets (5 or 6 people traveling) or to get enough to upgrade my wife and I to better seats?
I have some time and plenty of credit card expenses to earn points but just need to figure it out. We could get my wife another AAdvantage card which comes with 50,000 points, no annual fee the first year.