Top Travel on Points

Sharing tips, tricks and strategies for maximizing your travel using points!

Loyalty Programs

JW Marriott Indianapolis Downtown

By Leave a Comment

Just a few weeks after staying one night at the Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown Union Station, I was back in Indianapolis for another one night stay. This time I accompanied my wife, Annie, who had to go to Indianapolis for a work meeting. All of her coworkers booked rooms at the JW Marriott Indianapolis Downtown, so she did as well. I absolutely loved this high-rise luxury hotel, which is the tallest hotel in the state of Indiana.

A view of the JW Marriott Indianapolis from the steps of the Indiana Government Center.

Having just completed stays at both the Crowne Plaza and JW Marriott, it’s hard not to compare the two. However, it’s not fair to do that because the Crowne Plaza brand is not intended to be as luxurious as JW Marriott’s. Room rates will surely be higher at the JW Marriott than at the Crowne Plaza, but I think it’s worth it given how nice the JW Marriott is.

In This Post

Location

The JW Marriott, circled in blue, is located kitty corner to the Convention Center.

Indianapolis has made itself into one of the top convention cities in the United States. The downtown area is setup perfectly with numerous hotels and restaurants to cater to the convention crowds.

The JW Marriott Indianapolis Downtown is the most luxurious of the five connected hotels that comprise the Marriott IndyPlace. This unique setup of hotels is located adjacent to the Indiana Convention Center and just 15 minutes from the Indianapolis International Airport.

In addition to the JW Marriott, IndyPlace includes a Marriott, a Courtyard, a Springhill Suites and a Fairfield Inn & Suites. This group of hotels is just steps from Victory Field, home to Indianapolis’ minor league baseball team and White River State Park. It’s also a short walk to Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.

Parking

As is common in many cities, parking is quite expensive. There are two options for hotel parking — valet and self parking. The valet, with in/out privileges, costs $55 per night while self parking is available for $50 per night.

Lobby

The modern lobby is quite large and had four desks that could each accommodate two check-ins at a time. With over 1,000 rooms and conventions and meetings happening all the time, there’s no doubt it was designed to handle big crowds. We checked in in the evening, so it was not very busy, but there were several staff members available to check us in. All of the employees we encountered during our stay were very friendly and well-trained to assist guests any way they can.

The lobby of the JW Marriott Indianapolis

To the right of the lobby is a big lounge area with a small bar and an Italian restaurant. The elevator banks and a grab and go nook are also down this way.

To the left of the lobby is the sports bar and an escalator to the second floor.

The lobby lounge (left) and lounge bar (right).

The Room

The view from the elevator bank on floor 33.

Our room was located on the 33rd floor, which is the top floor of the hotel. The elevators are surprisingly fast for such a large hotel, no doubt helped by having two different elevator banks. One bank goes up to floor 22, while the other services floors 23 to 33. Upon exiting the elevators, we were treated to a very nice view of the White River and the state park, including the TCU Amphitheater.

The carpeting and walls in the elevator bank and hallway were clean and modern, just the way I like it.

I’ve always loved the look of city skylines and being on the 33rd floor gave us a great view of downtown Indianapolis.

The view from our hotel window at night.

The modern and clean decor continued into the room itself. It has everything you need, including a king bed, a work area, smart TV and a coffee station with refrigerator. Plus, as you’d expect with a newer hotel, there were plenty of outlets and USB ports.

I worked in the room for half a day and found the desk to be very comfortable. The only negative was with the TV. The room’s WiFi must’ve been weak because the TV kept freezing every 10-15 seconds. We usually keep the TV on while we fall asleep, so the freezing became very annoying very quickly.

The Bathroom

The feel of the bathroom was no different than the rest of the hotel. It was very clean and showed no signs of wear and tear. The shower was the highlight, as it had two body jets in addition to the main nozzle.

Hotel Amenities

Dining

There are two dining options located on either side of the hotel lobby.

OP Italian

OP Italian offers fresh made pasta, seafood, Neapolitan pizzas and many other Italian comfort foods. Just outside of the restaurant entrance is a small bar that faces the lobby lounge. This bar is quieter and more low-key than the sports bar on the other side.

High Velocity

High Velocity has over 60 high definition TVs and offers classic American fare in a laid-back atmosphere. After putting away our luggage in the room, we headed down for a drink at the bar. The restaurant itself is huge and the bar is smack dab in the middle.

The bar at High Velocity (Photo courtesy Marriott Hotels)

The bar area is pretty cool, but we didn’t love the positioning of the overhead TVs. Our Chicago Bears were playing the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football, but if we stared at the TVs too long, our necks would hurt. They’re just too high and too close to be able to watch comfortably for a long periods of time. There are TVs everywhere, though, so you can always find another spot that’s more comfortable.

Starbucks

There’s a Starbucks located on the 2nd floor by the entrance to the convention center skywalk. While it was as busy as you might expect the next morning, they did a good job of keeping the line moving.

Starbucks on Floor 2 of the JW Marriott Indianapolis (Photo courtesy Marriott Hotels)

Fitness Center

The 24-hour fitness center is located on the 2nd floor and has everything you could ask for. It features free weights, weight machines, treadmills, stair climbers, elliptical machines and exercise bikes, including Pelotons.

The fitness center is enormous by hotel standards.

Bottom Line

I really enjoyed this hotel and would definitely stay there again. It has everything you’d want in a homebase during a meeting or convention. It’s modern and clean with an inviting atmosphere and customer-focused staff. It also has two great dining options, two separate bars and a nice sized lounge. It’s also a great location for non-business trips too, with easy access to Lucas Oil Stadium and other nearby attractions.

Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown Union Station

By Leave a Comment

My father-in-law has been a train aficionado his entire life. So when I came across online pictures of a “train hotel” in Indianapolis, I thought it could be a fun thing to experience. Living in the Chicago area, Indianapolis is only a little more than 3 hours away by car. So my wife, her parents and I drove down to Indianapolis to stay one night at the Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown Union Station — a.k.a. “The Train Hotel”.

Photo courtesy of IHG

In This Post

History

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the hotel was originally the first “Union Station” built in the United States in 1888. When train travel was at its peak, over 200 trains a day came through Indianapolis’ Union Station. The tracks moved famous passengers like former presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

After falling into disrepair in the 1970s, the city revitalized the building in 1986. That year it re-opened as a mall called the Festival Market Place, containing restaurants, shops and clubs. Then in 1996, it became the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Today, the current railroad station sits adjacent to the hotel, with trains passing through on a regular schedule. From time to time you can hear the muffled sounds and feel the subtle vibrations of the trains as they roll through.

Guests are greeted by a variety of “ghost statues” throughout the hotel.

While the hotel seems a bit dated, it’s kind of by design. There are life-sized “ghost statues” located throughout the hotel, which bring guests back to a time when train stations were the hub of travel. Some of the nostalgic ghosts we found included a valet, sailor, paperboy and three boys trying to jump onto a train car.

Location

The Crowne Plaza, circled in blue, is the closest, full-service hotel to the football stadium.

Indianapolis has made itself into one of the top convention cities in the United States. The downtown area is setup perfectly with numerous hotels and restaurants to cater to the convention crowds.

The Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown is located next door to the Indiana Convention Center and is directly connected to it via a skywalk. In addition, Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, can be accessed via the convention center’s climate-controlled connecting walkway.

Parking

There are two options for hotel parking as there is no complimentary self-parking. The hotel has a valet with in/out privileges for a rate of $45 per night. The other options is to park in the Pan Am Plaza self-park garage, located adjacent to hotel front drive, which costs $28 a day.

Lobby

The lobby is fairly large and contains several more “ghost statues” to continue setting the atmosphere. Checking in took a matter of minutes and the employees at the front desk were friendly. If interested, ask for a pamphlet that goes into detail on the history of the building.

Main Lobby

Walking further into the hotel, behind the front desk, we were immediately greeted with the enormous steel beams of the lobby atrium. These beautiful beams and overall industrial theme further enhance the hotel’s ambiance.

Atrium Lobby

The Room

The hotel offers 273 guest rooms but what makes it truly unique are the 26 authentic Pullman train car rooms. Still set on their original tracks, the 13 train cars each house two guest rooms named and decorated after famous personalities from the 1900s.

We wanted the full experience, so we booked Pullman train car rooms.

The two trains, one green and one blue, sit on opposite ends of the hotel’s second floor.

To access our room, we literally had to climb aboard!

As you might expect, the train car rooms are narrow. However, it was only really noticeable when walking past the bed towards the bathroom. I kind of felt as if I had to turn sideways a bit to get by. Otherwise it’s a very standard room with a king bed, seating area, coffee counter, refrigerator, and closet. 

We were pleasantly surprised that inside, the room looks just like a “normal” hotel room.

The small bathroom is located on the other side of the bed. While the door at the very end of the room connects to the train car’s other guest room.

The Bathroom

Unfortunately the bathroom did not meet our expectations and is in need of a facelift. It’s tiny, which is understandable, considering the narrowness of the train car. And although it had everything you’d need, including a shower/tub, single sink, and toilet, it felt pretty cramped. Finally, there was several areas where paint was peeling off the ceiling. This was even more pronounced in my in-laws’ bathroom.

While the size of the bathroom can’t be changed, a new coat of paint would certainly help.

Hotel Amenities

Dining

We didn’t eat at the hotel but it does have two restaurants on-site. 123 West Restaurant and Taggart’s Lounge serve classic American fusion cuisine.

Event and Meeting Space

The hotel has over 55,000 square feet of event and meeting space. The largest is the Grand Hall, which can fit up to 800 people. It seems to be a popular place for weddings and we even saw a wedding ceremony in progress while we were exploring the hotel.

The ambiance outside of the Grand Hall continues the journey back in time. A century ago, half a million people would’ve rushed through here to board one of the 200 steam trains.

Pool

There’s an on-site pool with daily swimming hours between 9am and 10pm. The pool is located on the first floor at one end of the lobby atrium. I’d imagine that the rooms surrounding the pool could be pretty noisy, so it might be worth asking for a room away from this area.

Fitness Center

The 24-hour fitness center is located just off the hotels’ main lobby. It features weights, mats, exercise balls and cardio equipment, each with iPhone/MP3 player ports and individual TVs.

Bottom Line

Overall, staying one night at “The Train Hotel” proved to be a fun experience. The hotel is certainly a one-of-a-kind place that really leans into setting the 1900s atmosphere. The industrial beams, the “ghost statues”, the Pullman train car rooms and even the rumblings of current trains, all enhance the guest experience.

There are plenty of photo ops at the Crowne Plaza Indianapolis.

Even with all of those positive aspects, I probably wouldn’t here stay again. The hotel is definitely dated, partly by design but also because it needs a facelift. If I find myself in Indianapolis again, I’d look for something newer like the JW Marriott or one of the other Marriott hotels located in the Marriott IndyPlace complex.

All that being said, the Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown Union Station is unique, so I would recommend staying here if you never have before. That’s especially true for people who’d really appreciate the train car rooms like families with small children, train enthusiasts and lovers of American history.

Saving Money on a Trip to College Park

By Leave a Comment

Our niece, Sophie, is currently a sophomore at the University of Maryland. We were unable to visit her during the 2021-2022 school year, so it was a priority to find a weekend to see her during this school year. As luck would have it the first weekend of November worked for everyone, so it was time to book the trip. Annie’s mother hasn’t had a chance to visit Sophie either, so she’s joining us as well. We’re taking the day off work on Friday to travel to College Park and we’ll return home on Sunday afternoon. We’re all very excited to see Sophie and her university!

Even though I didn’t use any points or miles for this trip, keep reading to see how I saved more than $500 on airfare and hotel costs.

In This Post

Airfare

There are always plenty of daily flights options between Chicago and Washington D.C. Both United Airlines and American Airlines had seats available for $159 or 13,500 miles each way. If I went the miles route, I’d get a value of around 1.1 cents per mile ($159/13,500). Since I try to get at least 1.4 cents per mile value when redeeming miles on those airlines, I decided to pay cash instead. The tie breaker on who to book with came down to my American AAdvantage Gold Status. Just a few days before booking, I earned status, so it was a no-brainer to go with American.

Chicago to Washington D.C.

Even though I paid for the flights with cash, I still found a way to save money. American Airlines had basic economy tickets available in addition to their regular main cabin tickets. These tickets are more restrictive than main cabin tickets in the following ways:

  • No changes are allowed
  • You have to pay to check bags
  • You have to board in the last boarding group

In exchange for those restrictions, the fee for these tickets is cheaper than for main cabin tickets. In this case, a ticket in basic economy was $60 cheaper.

Consider the tradeoffs when booking a basic economy ticket.

The only restriction I had to consider is the “no changes allowed” restriction. Because I’m a Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select cardholder, I get free checked bags and Group 5 boarding. And now that I have Gold Elite status with the airline, I board with Group 4.

Note: There are several AAdvantage credit cards that get you free checked bags and preferred boarding, like the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®, the AAdvantage® Aviator® Business Mastercard and the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® card.

We’re taking a bit of chance if something does come up, but the plan is to take this trip no matter what. I also prepaid for the hotel in order to save some money, so I went with the basic economy ticket as well. With the basic economy savings (equal to $120), the tickets came to $514 in total.

Booking basic economy tickets saved me $120!

To save even more money, I used $300 worth of gift cards earned through MyPoints.com against the cost of the airfare.

MyPoints

MyPoints is similar to other shopping portals which give you points or miles if you start your purchase from their website. However, it’s unique in that they have even more ways to earn points, like doing surveys or watching videos. After earning enough points, you can redeem them for gift cards to lots of different merchants, including American Airlines.

Mypoints deducts 15,880 points in exchange for a $100 American Airlines gift card. For this trip I earned points through online shopping, opening up a new bank account, making a charitable donation and completing surveys.

My biggest point earnings came from opening a bank account with Aspiration, in which I earned 13,000 points. I also earned 10,000 points after making a donation to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Gift cards earned from Mypoints.com saved me $300!

In the end, if I had booked regular economy tickets, I would’ve paid $636 for our 2 tickets. Instead, I saved $120 booking basic economy, and after using $300 in gift cards, the final cost of the airfare came to $214!

Hotel

Sophie recommended we stay at The Hotel at the University of Maryland. According to Google Maps, it appears to be in a perfect location — right on campus and only a 7 minute walk from her sorority house. That should getting around campus much easier than having to drive and finding park wherever we go.

The Hotel at the University of Maryland is right in the heart of campus!

The hotel isn’t affiliated with any of the major hotel brands like Marriott, Hilton or IHG. That means there were no opportunities to redeem or earn points in those reward programs for this stay. Whenever that happens, I usually book through Hotels.com. Their rewards program is pretty straightforward — for every 10 nights booked, you earn 1 reward night. The value of the reward night earned is based on the average cost of the 10 nights booked.

The other option I had was booking directly with the hotel. The downside there is I wouldn’t earn any rewards on the stay at all and in this case, the hotel had a 3-night minimum and we’re only staying 2 nights. So I went ahead and booked through Hotels.com.

Booking

When booking the rooms, I took care of that for both Annie and my room and my mother-in-law’s room. After our stay is complete, I’ll earn 4 nights (2 for each room) towards a Hotels.com reward night. The total cost for each room came to $520.

Even though I wasn’t able to redeem or earn points at my favorite hotel brands, I was still able to take advantage of other offers. Before booking the rooms, I looked around online and found two offers to save money and an offer to earn bonus miles and Loyalty Points with American Airlines.

Saving Money with Amex and Citi Merchant Offers

The first offer was found on one of my American Express cards. I was able to save $10 by buying a $50 Hotels.com gift card thanks to Amex Offers. Amex Offers is a free program that saves you money or earns you points on shopping, dining and more. I first added the offer on my American Express® Blue Business® card and then used that card to purchase the gift card. Within just a few days, the $10 rebate appeared as a credit against my credit card balance.

Before booking the hotel, I purchased a $50 Hotels.com gift card and earned a $10 statement credit.

The second money-saving offer I found was a Citi Merchant Offer. This offer, which was tied to my Citi AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card, offered 10% back, up to a total of $50 on prepaid hotel purchases made through Hotels.com. After first applying the gift card I had purchased, the total charge to my MileUp card came to $989. Citi Merchant Offers can take a little longer to process than Amex Offers, but at some point in the near future, I’ll receive $50 back as a statement credit.

I saved $50 by adding this Citi Merchant Offer to my credit card and using that card to book the hotel!

Earning Miles

This offer netted me an extra 2,325 AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points towards status!

The last offer I was able to take advantage of was through SimplyMiles. SimplyMiles is a website where you can earn American AAdvantage miles on shopping, dining and more. As luck would have it, there was a deal was for 4 miles per dollar spent at Hotels.com. At the time of the hotel booking, I was still working towards achieving American AAdvantage Gold Status, so I was very happy to also earn Loyalty Points towards that effort.

The bonus miles and Loyalty Points were applied to my American AAdvantage account rather quickly. Unfortunately the offer had a cap of 2,325 AAdvantage miles/Loyalty Points per transaction. Regardless, the Loyalty Points I earned on this transaction pushed me over the threshold for AAdvantage Gold Status!

What’s great about these offers is the ability to use multiple offers at once, often called stacking. In total, for this 2-night stay in College Park, I’ll save $108 ($10 from Amex Offers and $98 from Citi Merchant Offers). In addition, I earned 2,325 bonus miles and Loyalty Points.

Rental Car

Booking directly with Budget was the best deal I could find, even better than with Costco Travel and AutoSlash. As I always do, I also input my reservation details in AutoSlash and they’ll email me should they find a better deal.

College Park Redemption Table

Retail CostOur CostMiles and Points UsedPoints Source
2 round trip tickets from Chicago (ORD) to Washington D.C. (DCA)$318 per person ($636 total)$214$300 American Airlines gift cards- Mypoints.com
2 nights at The Hotel at the University of Maryland$245 per night + taxes ($520 total)$460N/A- Amex Offers ($10)
- Citi Merchant Offers ($50)
2 day car rental$166$166N/AN/A
Total$1,322$840- AA gift cards- $482 in total savings
- 36% off retail cost

Bottom Line

Even though I didn’t redeem any points or miles for this trip, I was still able to save money by checking my credit card accounts for available offers. In addition, I was able to earn extra American AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points, which helped me achieve a level of status with the airline! It’s a fun game for me to try and find cost savings when I book trips, but I’m most excited to visit Sophie and enjoy being back on a college campus for a weekend!

Trip Report Index

  1. Saving Money on a Trip to College Park
  2. The Hotel at the University of Maryland

Using Points and Miles to get to Laguna Beach

By Leave a Comment

One of the many perks of being an IHG Rewards Club Premier cardholder is the free night award certificate. The award, valid at hotels costing up to 40,000 points a night, is given annually on your card-opening anniversary. Even better, IHG recently made it possible to add points from your account to redeem your free night award at hotels above the 40,000 point redemption limit. The certificate must be used within a year of receipt, so I needed to decide how and when to use it before I lose it. 

In July, I used the free night award certificate to book a one-night staycation in Chicago for my wife and I. Unfortunately we ended up having to cancel the reservation. After that didn’t pan out, we decided to do something bigger than just a one-night staycation. So we pivoted to taking a trip over Christmas to Orange County, California to visit friends and get out of the cold.

In This Post

Airfare

When I began looking for flights to Orange County, cash prices were hovering around $1,200 for 2 round-trip tickets. Alternatively, I could get those same tickets for 124,000 miles. Then this past weekend, I noticed that these flights had dropped in cost, both in cash and miles, so it was time to book.

Note: It pays to watch flight costs over a period of time to get a sense of what’s a good deal and what’s not. When you see a change for the better, don’t be afraid to pounce!

Chicago to Orange County

For the outbound flight, United Airlines beat American Airlines in both cash price and miles redemption cost. I decided to use miles and booked my wife and I on a flight for a total of 41,200 miles. At a cash cost of $472, the value of my miles redemption is 1.15 cents per mile ($472 / 41,200 miles). That’s a little under the standard value of 1.4 cents per mile, but I’d rather have the money in my pocket!

I saved around $460 by redeeming miles for this flight!

Orange County to Chicago

One the way home, it was the opposite — American Airlines had the more economical options. I chose to use miles again instead of paying cash even though the redemption value was just mediocre. At a cash cost of $490, the value of my miles redemption is 1.11 cents per mile ($490 / 45,000 miles).

I saved around $480 by redeeming miles for this flight!

In the end, flights costing $962 were paid with 45,000 AAdvantage miles and 41,200 MileagePlus miles, for a net cost of only $22.

Hotel

Every fourth reward night is free!

Once we decided to go to Orange County, it was time to find the hotel. Armed with the free night award certificate and around 200,000 IHG One Rewards points, the plan was a six-day, five-night vacation. One night will be covered by my free night award certificate and the other four nights by points. I chose to stay four extra nights because of another perk from the IHG Rewards Club Premier card. This perk allows cardholders to get a fourth night free when redeeming points to book award stays of four nights or more. The discount is applied automatically, so it couldn’t be easier to use.

IHG has a ton of hotels near Irvine, where our friends live. While there are lots of Holiday Inns and other middle or lower-tier hotels in the area, we want to stay somewhere special. In our search, the two options that really stood out were the Kimpton Shorebreak Resort in Huntington Beach and Casa Laguna Hotel & Spa in Laguna Beach. Kimpton is one of IHG’s upscale brands and the Shorebreak Resort is oceanfront, which made it very enticing. However, as I kept scrolling to the bottom of the search page, I noticed a Mr. & Mrs. Smith property that intrigued me.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith Casa Laguna Hotel & Spa

IHG has partnered with Mr. & Mrs. Smith hotels, a chain of boutique luxury hotels with properties all around the world. IHG members can earn and redeem points at Mr. & Mrs. Smith properties as they would at any other IHG property.

So we looked further into the Casa Laguna Hotel & Spa and it looks fabulous! The photos and reviews paint a picture of a serene oasis with many rooms overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Being a small adults-only boutique property, we should be able to feel the luxury, tranquility and relaxation. In addition, they provide a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine upon arrival and free daily European style continental breakfast.

The cash price for a 5-night stay in a Garden Room is over $2,100.

Booking the Casa Laguna Hotel & Spa

Unfortunately when it comes to booking with IHG, you have to book the free award night separately from the rest of the trip. So I started with the one free night. In this case, due to availability, the free night will be the final night of our stay.

Booking the One Free Night

The award certificate is valid at hotels costing up to 40,000 points a night. The Casa Laguna nightly rate is 70,000 points, so I had to add 30,000 points to my certificate in order to book it. I didn’t love having to add points for the free night, but we’re super excited about this hotel and thought it was worth it. Even better, for some unknown reason, the hotel was charging the same 70,000 points no matter what room I chose. The hotel only has six room types:

  • Garden Room (the cheapest room type)
  • Deluxe Ocean View
  • Deluxe Ocean View Patio
  • Junior Suite
  • One Bedroom Suite
  • “The Bungalow” (the most expensive room type)

So of course I booked “The Bungalow”, which has a cash price of over $1,000 on the night we’ve reserved it!

A free night award + 30,000 points got us the best room at the hotel!

The Bungalow Suite

Here’s a description of the room from the hotel’s website:

The property’s most exclusive accommodation, the Bungalow Suite was originally built in the 1930s. It is located in its own section of the property with a private entrance and features breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean from both the living room and jetted claw foot tub. At 600 sq. feet, the Bungalow features a separate living room and bedroom, and a well-equipped kitchenette. The Bungalow also features a large private balcony with a hammock for two boasting panoramic views of the coast, pool and gardens.

Casa Laguna Hotel & Spa

Booking the Other Four Nights

When you book rooms with IHG points, it’s only valid on standard rooms. So for the other four nights, I had to book a Garden Room, for a total cost of 190,000 points. My hope is that the Bungalow Suite is free and the hotel will be generous enough to upgrade us to that room for as many nights as it’s open.

I redeemed 190,000 IHG points to save $1,708.

Because I ended up having to add 30,000 points to my free night award certificate, I was just short on points for the other four nights. Luckily IHG was running a points promotion at the time. I needed around 20,000 more points and IHG was giving a 100% bonus on all points purchases. So I spent $135 to purchase 10,000 points and received 20,000 points in total.

I purchased 20,000 points for $135.

So in the end, we’ll be staying four nights in a Garden Room ($1,708 value) and one night in the Bungalow Suite ($1,015 value). And if we’re lucky we might get another night or two in “The Bungalow”. The total cost for the stay is 220,000 IHG points, a free night award certificate and $135. That’s a savings of $2,588!

Rental Car

The best rental car deal I could find for this trip was through Costco Travel. As I always do, I also input my reservation details in AutoSlash and they’ll email me should they find a better deal.

My original car rental reservation

Update: AutoSlash has been emailing me slightly better deals for a few weeks but today I finally jumped on one. The combination of reserving a car through Priceline.com and using a corporate code brought the cost of the car rental down by $148! My new reservation is also with Budget for the exact same car class as before.

My new car rental reservation

Laguna Beach Redemption Table

Retail CostOur CostMiles and Points UsedPoints Source
2 one-way tickets from Chicago (ORD) to Orange County (SNA)$236 per person ($472 total)$5.60 taxes and fees ($11 total)41,200 UA miles- United Explorer credit card
- Opinion Miles Club surveys
2 one-way tickets from Orange County (SNA) to Chicago (ORD)$245 per person ($490 total)$5.60 taxes and fees ($11 total)45,000 AA miles- Citi AAdvantage credit cards
- E-rewards surveys
- Miles for Opinions surveys
5 nights at the Casa Laguna Hotel & Spa$544 per night ($2,723 total)$1351 free night certificate and 220,000 IHG points- IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card
- IHG Points Purchase
5 day car rental$538$389N/AN/A
Total$4,223$546- 41,200 UA miles
- 45,000 AA miles
- 1 free night certificate
- 220,000 IHG points		- $3,677 in total savings
- 87% off retail cost

Bottom Line

We’re both really excited about this trip! During the last week of December, things are always a little boring at home, not to mention cold and potentially snowy. We haven’t traveled during this time of year in such a long time, so it’s wonderful to have something to look forward to. Plus we always have a great time with our Irvine friends and can’t wait to enjoy some much needed relaxation and warm weather. It’s even sweeter knowing this $4,200 trip will cost less than $600!

Trip Report Index

  1. Using Points and Miles to get to Laguna Beach
  2. Casa Laguna Hotel & Spa

Using Points and Miles to get to Scottsdale

By Leave a Comment

With the decision made to spend Thanksgiving 2022 in Scottsdale, it was time to book the trip. My wife, two daughters and I will be heading out to Arizona the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and coming home the Sunday after. Since we have family in Scottsdale, we’ll still get to experience a typical Thanksgiving celebration and a fun vacation. We’re so excited for this trip as this will be the first time that all four of us will be on vacation together in quite some time.

In This Post

Airfare

My initial plan was to book two one-way flights. I wanted to use American Airlines miles on the flight to Phoenix and United Airlines TravelBank credits on the way home. In the end, I booked both segments on American because prices for the second leg on United were so much higher than on American. The majority of my TravelBank cash doesn’t expire for years, so it’ll be there the next time I book a United flight.

Chicago to Phoenix

When I began looking for flights to Phoenix, my plan was to use $700 in gift cards against the cost of the flight and pay the rest in cash. I always check both the cash price and miles price, just in case there’s a deal one way or another. When I checked for deals using AAdvantage miles, I found one specific flight offering tickets in First Class on one of American’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners for 30,000 miles per person. That was just a few thousand more miles than the miles price of the same flight in coach!

The Dreamliner has lie-down seats so we can all relax on the early morning flight. Plus we haven’t told our daughters so this will be a total surprise!

Note: Since booking the flight from Chicago to Phoenix, American Airlines made a flight change and we’re no longer flying on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. This is extremely disappointing but there’s not much I can do about it. We’re still flying first class, they just won’t be lie-down seats. I still don’t mind having spent 30,000 miles per person on these seats since they’re now going for 75,000 miles.

Flights have gotten even more expensive since I booked! First Class seats for 4 now cost $2,768!

At $522 per person, the value of my miles redemption is 1.7 cents per mile. Most people value AA miles at 1.4 cents per mile, so the redemption is slightly above average. But most important to me is that we’re going to kickoff our trip in style!

A redemption of 120,000 miles will take our family of four to Phoenix in style!

Whenever you redeem miles on a domestic flight, the airlines still charge nominal fees. In total, I paid $22.40 for the four one-way tickets. To cover that cost, I paid with my Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card. I typically book flights with this card because of the many travel-related perks, like trip cancellation insurance, trip delay reimbursement and lost baggage reimbursement. In this case, I also used it because of the annual travel credit. Sapphire Reserve cardholders get $300 in travel credits each cardmember year and I hadn’t yet used them all. Within a few days of booking, Chase had already credited me back for this charge, making this a 100% free flight!

Phoenix to Chicago

After watching prices for months, American Airlines had consistently cheaper fares than United Airlines for the flight home. Even though I’m going to lose $125 in United TravelBank credits, I’m not upset. I received $25 because I’m an IHG® Rewards Premier Credit cardholder, and $100 after I enrolled in CLEAR for free. So while it’s annoying that they’ll expire worthless, I didn’t pay for those credits and I’m saving way more than $125 by booking flights on American. Plus I still have $250 in TravelBank credits to use on a future United flight and those don’t expire until 2027.

Unfortunately there was no way around paying an astronomical fee to fly home the Sunday after Thanksgiving. However, $348 per person on American feels like a steal compared to the $639 United was asking. That’s still really expensive but that’s as low as I’d seen it in months. While I had $700 in AA gift cards, I decided not to us them because of my recently opened AAdvantage® Aviator® Business Mastercard. I wanted to apply the full cost of these tickets towards meeting the minimum spending threshold needed to obtain the 80,000 mile sign-up bonus. The gift cards don’t ever expire, so I can always use them on my next trip.

Flights have gotten even more expensive since I booked as these tickets would cost $2,088 today!

To take some of the sting out of paying $1,390 for these flights, I decided to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points via Chase’s Pay Yourself Back feature. As a Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholder, I can redeem points to receive statement credits on recent eligible purchases. Points are worth 1.5 cents apiece, and I decided to redeem 56,667 points to receive a statement credit of about $850.

I redeemed 56,667 points in two transactions to receive just over $850 in statement credits.

So in the end, flights which would’ve cost $3,476 in total were paid for with 120,000 AAdvantage miles and 56,667 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for a final net cost of only $540.

Hotel

The JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa (Photo courtesy of Marriott)

From the beginning, we knew we wanted to stay at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa. It’s close to family and has five pools, a lazy river, a spa, golf, pickleball and plenty of dining options. To aid with the cost, I decided to apply for the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card late in 2021. Amex was offering a “best ever” sign-up bonus of 125,000 Marriott points plus two free nights, up to 50,000 points each, after meeting the minimum spending requirements. Redemptions at the Desert Ridge Resort go for about 50,000 points or less per night, so this works perfectly.

The cash price for a 4-night stay over Thanksgiving is over $2,600.

As of mid-July, nightly cash rates are around $600 per night, so I feel great to have booked our stay using my two free night certificates and 87,000 Marriott points.

I’ll spend only $203 on a stay that should cost over $2,600!

Unfortunately Marriott still charges resort fees, even on points redemptions, so it’s not going to be a completely free stay. However, I’m still saving a total of $2,407 for the four night stay!

Rental Car

We’re going to need a car to get around Scottsdale and I was able to find a pretty decent rate using a promo code I pulled from American Airline’s website. $376 for a standard size SUV was far and away the best deal I could find. Booking directly with Budget was even better than what I could find with Costco Travel and AutoSlash.

Scottsdale Redemption Table

Retail CostOur CostMiles and Points UsedPoints Source
4 one-way tickets from Chicago (ORD) to Phoenix (PHX)$522 per person ($2,086 total)$0120,000 AA miles- Citi AAdvantage credit cards
- E-rewards surveys
- Miles for Opinions surveys
- CSR annual travel credit
4 one-way tickets from Phoenix (PHX) to Chicago (ORD)$348 per person
($1,390 total)		$54056,667 Chase UR points- Chase credit cards
4 nights at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Hotel & Spa$534 per night + taxes ($2,610 total)$2032 free night certificates and 87,000 Marriott points- Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card
4 day car rental$377$377N/AN/A
Total$6,463$1,120- 120,000 AA miles
- 56,667 Chase UR points
- 2 free night certificates
- 87,000 Marriott points		- $5,343 in total savings
- 82% off retail cost

Bottom Line

I love being able to plan a trip like this and save 82% by using points and miles. The four of us can’t wait to take this family trip after having to postpone it for two years due to the pandemic. Plus we get to kickoff the vacation in style in First Class and stay at what looks like a fabulous resort. It’s even sweeter knowing this $6,400 trip will only cost around $1,100!

Trip Report Index

  1. Introduction and Planning
  2. Using Points and Miles to get to Scottsdale
  3. Flight from Chicago to Phoenix
  4. JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa