How we’ll be judging the 100K Vacay challenge

The 100K Vacay travels are about to begin, with Greg’s benchmark trip set to start on September 25th. We’ll be leaning on all of you for a piece of the judging process, so pay attention! In this post, I’ll break down how this annual challenge will be judged.

What is the 100K Vacay challenge? This fall, Nick, Stephen, and Tim have each picked a different transferable points currency they think can compete with Greg’s 100K Chase Ultimate Rewards points, each trying to beat Greg’s 100K Vacay with one of their own. In the end, we’ll find out who can book the most amazing 100K point vacation!

Greg and I judge who had the best 100K Vacay

Greg and I will be the official judges of this challenge, comparing Nick, Stephen, and Tim’s trips to Greg’s benchmark trip, awarding points based on the following primary standards. (Of course, we love acronyms, so here are the general targets we’ll be assessing to see how each competitor is making WAVES in the competition. 😛 )

• WOW (Destination wow!)
• Applicability
• Value for your specific points
• Extra bonuses (outlined later in this post)
• Style

Using these primary goals as guideposts, we’ll decide which competitor had the best 100K Vacay.

Readers vote on the winner vs Greg

Once Greg and I have selected the competitor we think had the best 100K Vacay, you, the readers, will be responsible for deciding whether or not that winner beat Greg’s benchmark trip.

That’s the high-level overview. Now, let’s dig a little deeper into the specifics Greg and I will be looking for as we score the competitors.

Our scoring Scale

Because our competitors are trying to beat Greg The Frequent Miler at his own game, so to speak, we’ve structured the points to reflect not only whether or not they’ve succeeded at a particular goal, but how they compare to Greg.

For example:

• 0 points – The traveler did not meet this target as well as Greg
• 1 point – The traveler met this target at least as well as Greg
• 2 points – The traveler met this target better than Greg
• 3 points – The traveler met this target better than everyone

(To make sure each subcategory is weighted according to our notion of its importance, sometimes this scale will use higher increments of 2 or 3.)

Our scoring categories

Our WAVES acronym is pretty broad, so we’ve created different subcategories inspired by these broad goals. (Up until this post was published, our competitors did not know about any of these more specific targets.)

Destination WOW! (18 possible points)

• Location Location Location (3 possible points)
  Did this traveler find a way to use points to position themselves in particularly scenic, awesome, and ideally located accommodations?
• Adventure (3 possible points)
  Did this traveler include an activity that was exciting or pushed them outside of their comfort zone?
• Relaxation (3 possible points)
  Did this traveler take advantage of the luxury side of points and miles in a way that helped them relax?
• Food (3 possible points)
  Did this traveler find a way to engage with the local cuisine in an interesting way?
• Local Exposure (3 possible points)
  Did this traveler include activities that gave them a glimpse into the local culture of their destination? This could be anything from cooking classes to chit chats with locals. (Or something we haven’t even thought of yet!)
• Out-of-the-Box Ideas (3 possible points)
  Did this traveler do something that surprised us, and maybe gave us a good idea for our own future travels?

Applicability (18 possible points)

• Replicability (9 possible points)
  Is the traveler’s use of points reasonably repeatable by others?
• Applicability (9 possible points)
  Is the traveler’s use of points applicable to most of our audience? (e.g. do you have to have a specific card to make it work? Do you need elite status? Do you need to start from a specific location? Do you need to be able to travel without luggage? These would detract from applicability.)

Value (18 possible points)

• Dollar Value (6 possible points)
  How much would this trip have cost if booked with cash? (The traveler will earn as follows: Less valuable than Greg’s trip by >$300 = 0 points, at least within $300 of Greg’s value = 3 points, $300+ more valuable than Greg’s trip = 6 points.)
• Frugality (6 possible points)
  Once we factor in the value of rebates, points earned, etc, what was the NET cost for the whole trip? The lower the better. (Scoring for this metric will go as follows: The traveler spent more than Greg = 0, the traveler spent within $100 of Greg = 2 points, the traveler spent less than Greg = 4 points, the traveler spent less than everyone = 6 points).
• Pro Behavior (6 possible points)
  Did this traveler highlight any tricks of the miles and points trade that go a level deeper than simply redeeming the first award found? (But remember, even pro tricks should maintain the primary standard of replicability.)

Extras (18 possible points)

• Budget (7 possible points)
  Did the traveler stay within the 100K / $1K budget? (Traveler will score 7 points for passing and -7 for failing.)
• Proper Lodging for 3 nights (7 possible points)
  Did the traveler spend at least 3 nights in proper lodging (with a bed, etc)? (This will be scored as follows: Fewer than 3 nights = -7 points, 3 nights = 4 points, 4 nights = 5 points, 5 nights = 6 points, 6 nights = 7points)
• Check-in attendance (3 possible points)
  Did the traveler make it to all of the live check-ins (or at least within a 10 minute grace period)? (Travler will receive 1 point for each check-in attended, and -3 points for each check-in missed.)
• Secret Destination Points (1 possible point)
  Did this traveler end up in one of the secret destinations Carrie pre-determined as being extra bonus-point-worthy? (Just 1 bonus point for this one.)

Style (18 possible points)

• Luxury flights (6 possible points)
  Were the flights comfortable and luxurious?
• Luxury accommodations (6 possible points)
  Was the lodging comfortable and luxurious?
• Other points-driven luxury (6 possible points)
  Were there other luxury experiences (lounges, massages, etc.) that were made possible thanks to a good use of points & miles?

Live Check-Ins and scoring updates

There will be 3 live check-ins you’ll want to watch to keep updated with each competitor’s progress.

• Wed 10/1, 9 PM ET: Challenge kick-off livestream on YouTube where we’ll review Greg’s trip (and present the most impressive moments that our competitors will have to try and match or beat), interview contestants, and answer audience questions.
• Sat Oct 4, 6 PM ET: Mid-challenge live check-in on YouTube where we’ll do some live, mid-challenge scoring. We won’t score each individual category at this point yet, since travelers may be at different stages of their trips, but rather we’ll see who’s spent the fewest points per night of their travel so far, who’s spent the least cash per night so far, and who’s achieving the most style so far. Each contestant will be ranked on these primary targets, earning bonus points for their ranks. This will give viewers an idea of how everyone’s doing so far.
• Wed 10/8, 9 PM ET: Final challenge livestream where we will assess how each traveler did on all of the individual scoring categories, tally up all these scores in combination with the bonus points earned at the mid-challenge check-in, and crown the challenge winner!

We will update each competitor’s score cards after the Oct 4th check-in and again after the Oct 8th final check-in, including them here in this post as well as on our 100K Vacay page here.

And don’t forget, after all of our scoring is finished, we’ll be counting on you to vote on how our selected winner did in their effort to beat Greg’s benchmark trip. That means you will want to pay close attention to Greg’s benchmark trip, starting September 25th. You can find regular updates here on the blog, on our YouTube channel, and on our Instagram as well. (We’re counting on you!)

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.