Blog

Earlier this year, TPG raised money and awareness for a charity near and dear to our hearts: Rainbow Railroad, an organization dedicated to helping members of the LGBTQI+ community facing persecution in their home countries to relocate. In collaboration with Chase Sapphire, we ran a sweepstakes that saw one lucky reader win a trip worth 1 million Chase Ultimate Rewards points. The grand prize winner also received a one-on-one consultation with Brian Kelly to plan out the trip of a lifetime.

All it took to enter was a $10 donation — and TPG readers responded in a major way.

By the end of our campaign, we’d raised more than $300,000 to support Rainbow Railroad’s work around the world. And one lucky reader was randomly selected to take home the grand prize.

So, how did that lucky winner spend a million Ultimate Rewards points? Keep reading to find out.

A dream honeymoon come true

Points and miles make many dreams a reality, as our winner found out while planning his dream honeymoon. Before winning the grand prize of 1 million Ultimate Rewards points, he’d already been able to redeem rewards to travel around the world as a holder of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card — and he was even able to gift points to his parents for some amazing trips over the years.

But for his honeymoon, he went all-out.

The newlyweds will be traveling to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bali and Singapore on a whirlwind postnuptial adventure. With their points winnings, the couple redeemed for business-class seats on Singapore Airlines as well as a few notable hotel stays. They’re especially excited for a stint at Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Bali. In fact, they said they’ve been dreaming about the view of the forest from the villa pool for years — and these properties are now eligible for earning and redeeming Marriott points.

They also redeemed some of their points for free nights at the Andaz Singapore and the Park Hyatt Tokyo by transferring them to World of Hyatt.

And even though we were only able to select one winner, you don’t need to be a points millionaire to make at least some of these dream redemptions a reality. Cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve allow you to earn incredibly valuable Ultimate Rewards points that can put you that much closer to your own bucket-list trip.

Read more: How to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for maximum value

Bottom line

We’re excited for our winner to take this dream trip, and given what he has booked, we’re confident that it’ll be a special launch into a lifetime of wedded bliss. Of course, this was all possible thanks to his donation — as well as the support of everyone who donated to our campaign to support Rainbow Railroad.

And a special thank-you to the Chase Sapphire team for their incredible generosity with the grand prize. We wouldn’t be able to do this without your help.