I need to go to Italy within the next 3 years, including but not limited to Venice. I currently have 100k UR points. Can someone make me a plan to get the rest of what I need to get flights and hotel paid for?
united is better than aa for getting to europe. always good to have some aa too, though. you only need a few more ur's to get there, if you book well. use the stopover, it's super easy to book with united. 120k ua shouldn't be that hard to find. wait for a booking sale and you can sometimes get 20-25% off that.
choice has some decent hotels in italy with very low redemptions. if you travel for work, pick up some choice points just for that (they're garbage except for cheap european hotels). don't get a card for them not worth it.
the ihg 80k might be worth it. the hyatt 2 nights might be worth it. just be careful with your 10 card limit.
if you need to use money as well as points/nights, use the points/nights in venice and pay money in most other cities. venice is crazy expensive compared to most italian lodging (which is cheap).