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Scottsdale

JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa

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As the largest luxury hotel in Arizona, the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa stretches beautifully across more than 300 acres of desert landscape. With plenty of activities, amenities and restaurants to keep guests occupied, this is the kind of resort you never have to leave. It really has something for everyone — multiple pools, a lazy river and a spa for relaxing and tennis courts, pickleball courts and two championship golf courses for recreation.

The resort and its 950 guest rooms opened back in November 2002, and was Marriott’s 25th JW Marriott branded property. Twenty years later, Marriott completed the first phase of an $80 million renovation showcasing a refreshed lobby, redesigned guest rooms and a new signature restaurant.

In This Post

Booking

We decided to take this trip almost a year in advance and knew we wanted to stay at this resort. Around the same time, American Express was offering a “best ever” sign-up bonus of 125,000 Marriott points plus two free nights on the the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card. When I finally decided to pull the trigger and book the hotel, rates for standard rooms were going for $535 per night. I ended up booking four nights total, using the two free night certificates earned from the card, and 87,000 Marriott points. The card has a $95 annual fee, but I saved around $2,400. Well worth it!

Location

The resort is set on 316 acres in the Sonoran Desert with panoramic views of the McDowell Mountains. It’s around a 25-minute drive from Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport and close to Old Town Scottsdale, downtown Phoenix and many hiking and recreation areas.

Lobby

As soon as we walked through the front doors, I knew staying here was going to be great! The grand lobby has an immense entryway with stunning floor-to-ceiling windows and illuminating light fixtures throughout. The sophisticated design reflects the modern and tranquil desert lifestyle. There’s also a new lobby lounge featuring sectional sofas and groupings of lounge chairs, that are ideal for informal meetings, enjoying craft cocktails or watching the sunset.

You actually enter the property, and lobby, on the resort’s second floor. The openness down to the first floor enhances that grandiose feeling. During our stay, the staff had just completed setting up a big beautiful Christmas tree right at the top of the stairs heading down to the first floor.

Looking down the stairs from the lobby is a wall of windows leading out to the resort’s “playground”.

Check-in

Check-in was quick and easy! We were immediately greeted by a staff member and she welcomed me as a Marriott Gold member. I asked if there were any available room upgrades and she was able to get us into a mountain view room.

The Room

The resort’s guest rooms are spread throughout five different wings. Our room was located in the first one, next to the Revive Spa. The design palette is subtle and soothing with natural wood finishes and mural walls evoking the desert landscape.

With the completion of the recent renovation, the rooms are basically brand new. It had the standard amenities you’d expect with a smart TV, a small table and chair, and plenty of outlets and USB ports.

Each room features a private patio or balcony with a floor-to-ceiling sliding glass door. Our room had a balcony overlooking one of the championship golf courses.

The Bathroom

As with the guest rooms, the bathrooms were recently refreshed as well. The desert color scheme continued in here and included a single sink, walk-in shower and separate soaking tub.

As with many hotel rooms, the bathroom didn’t have double sinks, making it a little tricky to have multiple people in there at once. However, it’s still very functional and the resort did a good job utilizing the available space.

Hotel Amenities

The Pool

When planning a resort vacation, the pool area is typically one of the biggest factors. If that’s true for you, the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa has you covered. When everything is open, the resort offers four acres of water fun the whole family will enjoy. Unfortunately during our stay, the resort had already begun the next phase of its renovation, so the lazy river was closed. Once complete, the pool area will transform into a water park-like destination, including a family area with cabanas, an adults-only pool and three water slides.

See below for a tour of the current pool grounds.

Wildfire Pool

The resort currently boasts five pools and a 1,600-foot lazy river. The biggest pool is the Wildfire Pool.

Wildfire Pool
The waterfall feature at the Wildfire Outdoor Pool is lit with flames at night.

Griffin Bay

Griffin Bay is located in the main pool complex and offers an upgraded pool experience. Available for full day rental, it has 12 luxury cabana cottages, a personal concierge and enhanced food an beverage offerings.

Griffin Bay

Mesa Pool

The Mesa Pool is a bit smaller than the others. It’s shallow throughout and very shaded, making it great for families with little kids.

Mesa Pool

Isla del Sol

Beyond the Mesa Pool and over a quaint bridge is the Isla del Sol. This area had the only open outdoor hot tub during our stay. While we spent a little time here, it was pretty underwhelming.

The concrete in the hot tub was really was rough and it actually hurt to walk from one side to the other and even to sit down. In addition, the hot tub wasn’t very hot, so it attracted kids who used it like any other pool. Some were even “snorkeling”, which killed the relaxing vibe I would’ve wanted.

Dining and the Grounds

The resort restaurants offer a mix of indoor and outdoor dining that blends seamlessly into the property grounds. From casual poolside dishes to Southwestern cuisine and Asian-fusion, there’s no shortage of terrific options at the resort. They also feature in-room dining service, open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. The available dining options include:

  • Tia Carmen – open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the resort’s new signature restaurant serves contemporary Southwestern dishes that celebrate the local landscape, farmers, and community
  • Roy’s Pacific Rim – from famed chef Roy Yamaguchi, this restaurant offers bold flavors of Asia and Hawaii, with a delicious assortment of sushi, signature dishes and cocktails
  • Meritage – located next to the Wildfire Golf Club, this urban tavern provides delicious American fare, creative cocktails and more than 50 Arizona craft beers
  • Just A Splash Bar & Grill – outdoor bar and grill offering refreshing appetizers, salads and casual poolside lunch options
  • twenty6 – located on the 1st floor right down the lobby steps, this chic lounge and bourbon bar is an ideal spot for happy hour get-togethers and pre-dinner drinks
  • Spa Bistro – located inside the Revive Spa, this restaurant offers a small but flavorful, health-conscious menu
  • Starbucks – no resort is complete without America’s favorite coffeehouse

Just A Splash Bar & Grill

The bar at Just A Splash Bar & Grill

Just A Splash Bar & Grill sits right next to the main pool complex. The wraparound bar is U-shaped and a great place to enjoy a cocktail or a bite to eat. If you’d rather get more comfortable, there are a plethora of couches, chairs and picnic tables scattered in various seating areas next to the bar. Many of the seating areas have large televisions and plenty of shade.

The seating areas around Just A Splash Bar & Grill

twenty6

Down the steps from the lobby is twenty6, a chic lounge and bourbon bar. This is a great spot for a pre-dinner drink, a light bite or an after-dinner dessert. I recommend the cookie skillet!

twenty6

The Grounds

The resort grounds are beautiful and give guests that “desert oasis” feeling. The resort’s charming pathways are lined with majestic palm trees. Along those pathways are plenty of gathering and seating areas that invite togetherness, relaxation and socialization.

Through the doors by the twenty6 lounge is a covered outdoor area with plenty of seating and several fire pits.

As you exit the main building and walk past the covered sitting area, you come to an open grassy area called Sage Court. During the majority of our stay, this area was an open recreation space complete with ping pong tables and cornhole equipment. On Thanksgiving they used half of it as outdoor dining for guests taking advantage of Tia Carmen’s holiday buffet.

Just beyond Sage Court are a couple big round seating areas complete with with enormous fire pits.

Miscellaneous

The resort has a lot to offer guests looking to be active.

Golf

The Wildfire Golf Club at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge has two on-site championship golf courses designed by Arnold Palmer and Nick Faldo.

Tennis and Pickleball

The Tennis Center offers 5 tennis and 17 lighted pickleball courts. Besides a full service pro shop, the center offers hourly court time, group and private lessons and seasonal daily clinics. Court time is included in the resort fee and we reserved two hours of pickleball for Thanksgiving morning.

The pro shop has all the required equipment so you don’t need to come prepared. Even though we were basically newbies, the game is very easy to pick up and we had a blast!

Spa

The Revive Spa offers a full menu of treatments along with a fitness center, Spa Bistro and separate swimming pool with cabanas. Not too far from the spa and fitness center is a man-made island called the Isle of Capri. This secluded spot would make a very special backdrop for a wedding ceremony.

Isle of Capri

Coming in 2023

As a part of its second phase of renovations, the resort will open a reimagined pool experience featuring three new five-story high waterslides, including the only dual person vertical wall tube slide at a resort west of the Mississippi. It will also include an active family splash zone for little ones, an extended lazy river, new cabanas, and a food truck area with shaded tables and lounge areas.

Besides the water slides, the pool expansion will contain these new features:

  • A family splash zone surrounding the lazy river with five cabanas, lounge seating, a splash pad, a playground and a food truck area
  • Sky Island, an adults-only area with an infinity pool, hot tub, four cabanas, lounge seating and fire pits
  • Sedona Spa, a “VIP family-friendly sanctuary,” with a large infinity-edge hot tub, three cabanas, five shaded day beds, lounge and fire pit seating, a waterfall and a stargazing area

Bottom Line

With the second phase of renovations already underway, the JW Marriott Desert Ridge will soon cement itself as one of the premier family resorts in the western United States. This sprawling resort will be the best of both worlds. For parents, it’s a newly renovated luxury resort with outstanding dining options. For the kids, it provides endless fun with the new pool experience. I would undoubtedly stay here again.

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

First Class Thanksgiving: A Review of American Airlines’ Airbus A321 from Chicago to Phoenix

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As I mentioned in Thanksgiving Trip Planning, our trip to Scottsdale was three years in the making. We started exploring it in 2019 but it got shelved due to the pandemic. So when we decided to book it for 2022, I wanted it to be special. About nine months before Thanksgiving, I used 120,000 American AAdvantage® miles to book four seats in First Class from Chicago to Phoenix. Besides it being a great deal, I mainly booked it because the aircraft was a Boeing 787-9, a.k.a the Boeing Dreamliner. We’d have lie-flat seats and enjoy everything First Class has to offer.

Unfortunately, as sometimes happens, there was a plane change a few months after I booked. As a result, our Boeing Dreamliner became an Airbus A321, which has a more standard First Class cabin without lie-flat seats.

I thought about calling American to complain, but 30,000 miles per seat in First Class was still a great deal. At booking, these seats cost only a few thousand more miles than economy seats on the same flight. In addition, every other flight that day charged almost double for First Class seats. Finally, when I checked prices about a month before our departure, American Airlines was asking 75,000 miles per seat in First Class.

So even with the disappointment of the aircraft change, I still feel good about redeeming those miles. It was still a fun way to make the trip a little more special!

Check-in and Boarding

Flying the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we gave ourselves extra time in case the airport was packed. We arrived at O’Hare Airport about two hours before our flight and got through security very quickly. We had a 7am flight, which helped a lot. I’m sure the airport got busier and busier as the day progressed. The other bonus of being on one of the first flights of the day is that the aircraft had arrived the night before so there were no delays.

Being First Class passengers, we were in boarding group 1 and were greeted warmly by a flight attendant as we boarded.

First Class for the Family: A Review of American's Airbus A321 from Chicago to Phoenix
Enjoying First Class!

Cabin and Seats

The First Class cabin consists of 16 total seats in a 2 by 2 configuration. The seats are 21 inches wide, making them about 3 inches wider than the Main Cabin and Main Cabin Extra seats.

The seats themselves were spacious and very comfortable. I’m 6′ 1″ and there was enough room to comfortably cross my legs when I wanted.

When reclining the seat back, the seat cushion also slides forward. This configuration makes it so your personal space is not affected much when the person in front of you reclines.

Overall, this seat is great for medium-haul flights, but for longer-haul flights I’d much prefer lie-flat seats.

Amenities

Unfortunately this route didn’t have any special amenities. As with most aircrafts these days, there’s no seat-back entertainment, so you need to use your personal electronic device to watch TV or movies. There’s a USB plug and a contraption to hold your device right on the seat back in front of you.

There’s one lavatory available to First Class passengers located at the front of the cabin. It wasn’t any different than a standard aircraft lavatory but it’s nice to have one just for the 16 people in the cabin.

Food Service

Shortly after takeoff, the flight attendants came by to confirm the breakfast orders. After a hot towel, the meal service began.

Some of the available choices included a vegetable frittata and yogurt with granola. I pre-ordered an omelet that came with turkey sausage, potatoes and a side of fruit. The omelet was actually quite good! They also came by with a bread basket offering cinnamon rolls, biscuits or regular rolls.

Bottom Line

Overall, we had a great experience flying First Class. It was nice to be pampered a little and the comfortable seats made it much easier to get some shuteye. Unfortunately this trip didn’t satisfy my goal of flying First Class on Dreamliner, but it was still quite nice.

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

Using Points and Miles to get to Scottsdale

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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

Scottsdale: Thanksgiving Trip Planning

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Spending Thanksgiving in Arizona with my wife and two daughters is an idea that dates back three years now. The pandemic put our plan on hold, but late last year we decided to make this trip a priority again. We’re determined to make this trip happen this Thanksgiving! With that decided, I was ready to start planning, even though it was too early to actually book anything. What I could do was take inventory of my points and miles and be on the lookout for new opportunities to save money.

Bronze Horse Fountain in downtown Scottsdale

Airfare

My idea to save money on airfare is to book the flights in two one-way segments, with one on American Airlines and the other on United Airlines. The reason is is that I have free money to use on both airlines. I have $700 in American Airlines gift cards that I accumulated from credit cards benefits and redeeming points on Mypoints.com. In addition, I have $375 in United TravelBank cash available.

American Airlines

Most of the American gift cards came from the annual airline credits that are a benefit of owning a Hilton Honors Aspire® Card. That card offers $250 in annual airline credits, and prior to 2022, the American Express® Gold Card also offered $100. These credits are intended to be used for incidental fees like baggage, seat assignment or change fees. However, up until last year, there was a loophole whereby the credit would trigger when buying gift cards. So every year I would buy $350 in American Airlines gift cards, whether I had plans to travel or not, and American Express would reimburse those purchases making the gift cards completely free.

The other source of American Airlines gift cards is through MyPoints.com. MyPoints is similar to other shopping portals which give you points or miles if you start your purchase from their website. MyPoints is 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.

If I end up booking the American flight using cash instead of miles, I’ll have $700 in gift cards to help offset the overall cost.

United Airlines

While the loophole of purchasing American Airlines gift cards no longer works, it still exists in a similar fashion with United Airlines. Instead of buying gift cards, you add money to United’s TravelBank. You can use that money towards booking a United or United Express flight directly with United. At the beginning of this year, I added $250 to my TravelBank, paying with my Hilton Aspire Card. American Express reimbursed that purchase meaning I had $250 in free money to put towards flights. My current TravelBank balance also includes $25, a benefit of the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card, and $100 received after I enrolled in CLEAR for free.

If I end up booking the United flight using cash instead of miles, I’ll put my United TravelBank cash to good use. That probably won’t cover everything, so I also plan to utilize Chase’s Pay Yourself Back feature on my Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card. This allows me to redeem my Chase Ultimate Rewards points to receive statement credits on recent eligible purchases. Points are worth 1.5 cents apiece, which means that 25,000 points equals $375 in redemption value.

Hotel

For the hotel, there were a few factors that influenced our decision on where to stay. We have family on the north side of Scottsdale, so we wanted to be within a 15 minute drive of them. Since it’s been such a long time since we took a family vacation, we also wanted the trip to feel luxurious.

With those parameters in mind, we searched for resorts in northern Scottsdale/Phoenix. There are plenty to choose from but we zeroed in on the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa. It seems perfect with it’s northern location, five pools, lazy river, spa, golf, pickleball and plenty of dining options. Rooms can go for $500+ per night, so I started researching Marriott-branded credit cards to see how they could help with the cost.

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

As luck would have it, late in 2021, the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card had a limited time and best ever sign-up bonus. The deal was 125,000 points plus two free nights, up to 50,000 points each, after meeting the minimum spending requirements. During my research, I found that nights at the Desert Ridge Resort typically cost 50,000 points or less per night. So I immediately applied and was approved for the card. With my free nights and points, I won’t need to spend anything other than the resort fee and taxes out of pocket.

Car Rental

Finding a cheap auto rental is as difficult as it’s ever been after car rental companies sold off inventory during the pandemic. Combine that with chip shortages and increased demand and you have a situation where renting a car is very expensive. There’s no magic bullet to solve the problem, so I’ll regularly check prices directly with the the car rental companies. I’ll also check third parties like Costco Travel, AutoSlash and the Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express travel portals to compare prices.

The next post will detail which airfare, hotel and car rentals I booked and how much I saved.

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