Painterly travel-poster illustration of a links golf coastline at dawn, a lone flagstick in the foreground and a small prop plane trailing a faint contrail high overhead.

Golf trips, points travel,
and the golf talk in between.

Fairways and Miles plans the round and the flight in the same breath: where to play, and how to get there on points.

Explore Golf Destinations Points Strategy

Where you play the round is half the trip. How you get there is the other half.

Lived it, not researched it

Trip reports

The golf and the getting there, from trips we actually took.

Trip Report

Two Winters in Palm Springs: The Course Worth Repeating

2026 was the third year in a row the group came back to Palm Springs, my second trip there. Five courses across two visits, two repeats, and only one course ever called the favorite. Plus the miles side: what the flights, the house, and the car actually cost.

Where to next

Destinations worth the flight

Four places we'd build a trip around, picked for the golf and the getting there.

Painterly travel-poster illustration of dune-top links golf on the Oregon coast at golden hour.

Bandon, OregonDune-top links where the Pacific plays the back nine.

Painterly travel-poster illustration of a desert golf course with saguaro cacti.

Scottsdale, ArizonaDesert fairways, red-rock light, a swing built for dry heat.

Painterly travel-poster illustration of a stone bridge on a coastal Scottish links course.

Coastal ScotlandStone bridges, salt wind, and golf that started here.

Painterly travel-poster illustration of a Texas prairie golf course at sunset.

Dallas–Fort WorthTexas prairie fairways and a sunset that argues for extra holes.

From the notebook

Latest dispatches

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Does Your Credit Card Actually Cover a Damaged Golf Bag?

Your card's baggage coverage sounds like $2,000 to $3,000 per trip, until golf clubs get classified as 'sporting equipment' and the real number drops to a few hundred dollars. Here's what each layer actually owes you, and in what order.

Points & Miles · 2026-10-05

Streamsong Resort: Three Courses on an Old Phosphate Mine, and Why That's the Point

No single architect, no bundled stay-and-play rate, and a landscape that exists because the ground used to be a Florida phosphate mine. Here's how to actually plan a Streamsong trip instead of assuming it works like Bandon or Pinehurst.

Golf Destinations · 2026-10-05

Marriott's Stay for 5 vs. Hilton's 5th Night Free: Which Golf-Trip Discount Is Actually Easier to Use

Both programs give you a free night on a longer points stay. One hands it to every member automatically. The other gates it behind elite status you might not have yet. Here's how the two benefits actually differ for a golf trip.

Points Strategy for Golf Trips · 2026-09-28

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