It was midnight in Vietnam, and I was sitting on the airport floor, frantically searching for a last-minute flight home on my phone. I had arrived at the airport about 10 minutes prior, only to discover that my Qatar Airways flight back to the U.S. via Doha had been canceled due to the U.S.-Israel airstrikes on Iran. The Qatar staff couldn't help anyone rebook because the entire system had crashed. The airport was packed with people just like me using the very slow cell service to find a new route home.
Flight prices kept increasing whenever I refreshed a page, but I comforted myself with the knowledge that I had some Chase points to help lessen the financial blow. I ended up booking a last-minute itinerary using a combination of credit card points, annual credits and cash, and the experience taught me why it's worth keeping a stash of travel points for emergencies.
In between buying the flight and going on the trip, I moved to New York City. So, I also bought a one-way American Airlines flight from Boston to New York City for $133.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on The Points Guy Articles.
