How to Pull Kids Out of School and Travel on Points
Most parents assume big family trips have to happen during summer break. Nick Reyes of Frequent Miler took a different path. He and his wife pulled their kids out of school for three months, homeschooled while traveling, and used points and miles to build a trip through the Bahamas, French Polynesia, and Europe.
If you’ve ever looked at award prices during school holidays and thought, “There has to be a better way,” there is. Nick’s story shows how temporary homeschooling can work, and why Avianca LifeMiles still matters for family travelers even after recent changes.
Why this family chose travel over the school calendar
Nick and his wife loved travel long before they had kids. Early on, they traveled on a shoestring budget. Then they found points and miles while planning a round-the-world honeymoon, and that changed everything. After a year of learning and another year of collecting rewards, they spent four months flying in premium cabins and staying in hotels they never would have paid cash for.
That hobby later became a career. Nick joined Frequent Miler more than nine years ago, and family travel stayed part of the plan.
The idea of taking kids out of school had been in the background for years. He once read about a family of teachers who taught their children on a long bike trip through the Americas. What held him back was a common assumption: homeschooling had to be an all-year commitment. Once he learned that temporary homeschooling was allowed in New York, the idea became much more realistic.
Three months felt like the right size. It was long enough to make the trip meaningful, but short enough to keep it manageable. It also meant the kids still spent most of the year with their regular teachers. That middle ground is what made the plan feel possible.
How temporary homeschooling worked on the road
Nick’s experience was in New York, so rules can differ elsewhere. Still, the process was much simpler than many parents would expect.
In his case, temporary homeschooling started with a letter of intent and a one-page instruction plan.
The steps were straightforward:
- Contact the school office and ask who handles homeschool communication.
- Submit a letter of intent to homeschool, at least a couple of weeks ahead.
- File the IHIP, which is a short outline of what your child will study.
- Meet with teachers early and ask what topics or worksheets their class will cover.
- Keep a simple daily log of lessons and activities.
- Email the school before returning so reenrollment is already in motion.
The IHIP sounded intimidating, but it wasn’t. Nick described it as a one-page document with bullet points. For physical education, that included walking, swimming, biking, hiking, snorkeling, and ice skating. For science, it included topics like volcano formation in French Polynesia and fossil learning at the La Brea Tar Pits.
His teachers went beyond what was required and shared class materials so the kids could stay roughly in step with classmates. That support made reenrollment easy.
Daily schoolwork also took less time than many people think. Most days started with breakfast, then one to two hours of school in the room. After that, the family would head out. Sometimes they finished extra work while waiting for dinner or during airport lounge time.
Travel filled in the rest. Atlantis in the Bahamas turned into a science lesson because the aquarium sparked questions about sea life. Los Angeles gave the kids a hands-on visit to the La Brea Tar Pits, which they already knew from an educational app. In French Polynesia, snorkeling became biology class. Music, food, language, and play with local kids became part of the lesson too.
How the family booked a three-month trip with points and miles
The trip started in the Bahamas, partly because Nick had a free Atlantis stay tied to Caesars Diamond status. It also helped finish JetBlue’s “25 for 25” promotion. By completing 25 JetBlue destinations, his kids earned Mosaic 1 status for 25 years. For children that young, that could mean extra-legroom seats well into adulthood.
From there, the family went to Los Angeles for the La Brea Tar Pits, then on to French Polynesia. They used Alaska miles to fly Air Tahiti Nui in business class, Hilton points for Moorea, and Marriott points for Bora Bora. After Thanksgiving back on the East Coast, they headed to Europe for Christmas markets in Cologne and Strasbourg, plus time in Rovaniemi, Finland, at Santa Claus Holiday Village. Nick’s mother-in-law joined that part of the trip.
The bigger lesson was how he booked it. He didn’t wait until every piece was lined up. He grabbed the return from Papeete to Seattle first because award space opened. Then he set alerts for the outbound flight and booked hotels that could be canceled later. He even held backup economy seats in case business class never appeared.
That flexibility matters even more with kids. Nick said flat-bed business class made overnight flights easier because each child had space to sleep without climbing over everyone else. And when travel falls apart, flexible awards can save the trip budget. On a separate Fiji trip, one child got sick on the way to the airport, and the whole trip had to be canceled. Because the bookings were award tickets with easy cancellation, the family didn’t lose money.
If you want another example of family award strategy at scale, check out our episode on how to book premium seats for families.
Final thoughts
The best part of Nick Reyes’ story isn’t the business-class seats or the hotel redemptions. It’s the idea that family travel doesn’t have to wait for a school break, and it doesn’t have to look like school either.
With clear communication, simple paperwork, and flexible award bookings, a trip can become science class, history class, language practice, and family memory all at once. For parents who already collect points and miles, that opens up a much bigger calendar.
