Using Points and Miles to Fund a Global Street-Food Crawl in 2026

Fed up with tracking dozens of vendor pages and a shrinking budget? Use points and miles to taste more cities on a single trip in 2026.

If your biggest travel pain points are: (1) finding reliable street-food spots, (2) stretching a tight travel budget, and (3) chaining multiple cities into one seamless crawl — this guide is for you. Below you'll get a step-by-step playbook for planning a multi-city street-food trip using points and miles, with 2026 trends, advanced booking hacks, and two sample itineraries you can copy and tweak.

The short version — what you can do this year

In 2026 travel rewards are at their most usable in years: flexible bank currencies are stronger than ever, transfer bonuses returned in late 2025, and several carriers launched new point-friendly routes between food hubs. That means you can realistically stitch together a 3–6 city street-food crawl and cover most flights and midrange hotels largely with points — freeing your cash for market eats.

• Book flights with award search combos: mix direct award redemptions, cash + points, and low-cost positioning flights.
• Use transferable points: Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou and Marriott remain the backbone for flexibility.
• Stretch each point: prioritize short-haul premium seats and economy for overnight moves; use stopovers/open-jaw to save.

2026 reward-travel trends you need to plan around

Late 2025 and early 2026 changed the rewards landscape in ways that help multi-city crawls — if you plan with awareness.

• More transfer bonuses and partnerships: After a lull, banks offered several targeted transfer bonuses in Q4 2025; expect sporadic boosts again in 2026. That makes flexible points more valuable for award bookings.
• Dynamic pricing remains standard: Many airlines continue to mix fixed award charts with dynamic pricing. You won't always find the