How We Booked Ireland on Points

We recently returned from spending 10 days in Ireland. We went with our best friends and left our combined nine children at home. As much as I love traveling with our kids, it’s definitely easier and cheaper without them! Another way we made it cheaper? Points, of course! Here’s a breakdown of how we booked our trip, our itinerary, and what we did along the way.

Itinerary

We spent a total of eight nights in Ireland.

• Two in Dublin
• One in Killarney
• Two in Galway
• One in Belfast
• Two in Dublin (again)

If we were to do it again, we would probably spend another night in Galway and take away one of our final nights in Dublin. We felt like two full days was enough time in Dublin, and we didn’t have as much time as we wanted in and around Galway.

We rented a car the morning we left Dublin to drive around the rest of the island. We rented the car through Chase Travel™ using our Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card so that we were covered with primary rental car insurance.

A car is necessary if you want to explore more of the island, which I highly recommend because it’s gorgeous. We did a clockwise loop around the whole island, including Northern Ireland. We could have easily spent more time in all of the places we went!

Flights to Ireland

We booked flights from our home airport in central California (FAT) to DUB on American Airlines for 60,000 points roundtrip, with a layover at DFW both ways (hello, Capital One Lounge). Taxes were just $5.60, but we chose to upgrade to Main Cabin Extra (and chose bulkhead seats) for $300 per person.

To earn the points, we each opened a Citi® / AAdvantage Business World Elite™ Mastercard for 65,000 points, which was enough to cover our roundtrip tickets. We booked flights the day the schedule opened 11 months in advance. So we booked our departing flight first, then booked our returning flight about a week later. We each booked them from our own AA accounts since we had earned the points separately, then I contacted AA and asked them to link our reservations.

Hotels in Ireland

We used a mixture of points to book our hotels for the trip.

• For three of our four nights in Dublin, we transferred Ultimate Rewards from Chase to Hyatt to stay at Hyatt Centric The Liberties Dublin. We earned these points from the Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card, then combined them with our Sapphire Preferred to transfer them to Hyatt.
• For the fourth night in Dublin, I used a free night certificate earned from my World of Hyatt Credit Card. I booked this night separately, then contacted Hyatt and asked them to link the reservations.
• Our night in Killarney was at an Airbnb that our friends paid for in exchange for me covering a few of their hotel nights with my points. The Airbnb wasn’t great, but thankfully, it was just a place to sleep before getting on the road again.
• Our two nights in Galway were at a Small Luxury Hotels property called Glenlo Abbey and Estate. When we booked it, SLH properties were part of Hyatt, so we transferred points from Chase to Hyatt. Unfortunately, SLH properties are now part of Hilton, which means they cost more per night. However, you can transfer points from American Express to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio, meaning every 1,000 Amex points become 2,000 Hilton points. You can check out this article for more information about Amex cards.
• In Belfast, we stayed at the Crowne Plaza Belfast using IHG points. There are two cards that earn IHG points – the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card and the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card. Both are great options with high welcome offers and solid benefits.

Activities around Ireland

Here are the things we did and places we saw during our trip.

DUBLIN

• Dublin Castle – I highly recommend the guided tour, but tickets can only be purchased in person on the day of. They sell out, so I recommend getting there right when they open at 9:45 a.m.
• Trinity College and Book of Kells – I also recommend the guided tour for this. I would have been a little disappointed if we’d only purchased the Books of Kells tickets.
• Guinness Factory Tour
• Jameson Distillery cocktail-making class
• Afternoon tea at the Shelbourne Hotel
• Drinks at Brazen Head – the oldest pub in Ireland
• Rick Steves’ walking tour of Dublin – available for free in the Rick Steves Audio Europe app

CORK/KILLARNEY AREA

• Blarney Castle and Blarney Stone – we spent multiple hours here. The grounds are gorgeous. We didn’t wait to kiss the Blarney Stone because the line was very long.
• Walk around Kinsale – a coastal town with adorable shops and restaurants. FYI, most things are closed on Mondays. We learned this the hard way.
• Killarney National Park – Visit Torc Waterfall and Ladies View

GALWAY

• Kylemore Abbey – this was one of our favorite stops on the trip. The grounds are stunning and so peaceful.
• Connemara National Park
• Cliffs of Moher – buy tickets ahead of time for a small discount.

BELFAST AREA

• Giant’s Causeway – purchase tickets there. The ticket price includes parking and a guided tour.
• Dunluce Castle
• Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and island
• Game of Thrones Studio Tour – I would only recommend this if you are a huge fan of the show and really enjoy seeing sets, costumes, etc.
• St. George’s Market
• Cathedral Quarter

Restaurants throughout Ireland

We ate SO MUCH good food on this trip. We are major foodies and prioritize finding great places to eat. We had a few reservations in Dublin for dinner, but otherwise, we just looked at Google reviews and found things near wherever we were.

Here are some of the places we ate that we loved the most. This is definitely not an exhaustive list. There are many, many excellent options, especially in Dublin.

DUBLIN

• The Cheeky Piglet
• Taste
• Las Tapas de Lola (reservations)
• Spitalfields (reservations)
• Bull & Castle (reservations)

GALWAY

• The Pullman at Glenlo Abbey (reservations)

BELFAST

• Blend & Batch

Wrapping Up

We had a wonderful time on our trip. Ireland is full of stunning landscapes, lots of culture, and very friendly people. And of course, it’s even sweeter when you use points to save thousands on your trip!