We have a lot of "assets/perks" available in 2024 that will be expiring, so we want to maximize the travel perks before they disappear or expire in 2025.
Here's what we're thinking so far:
- Flights for 2 to Costa Rica - use travel credits (no out of pocket)
- Use Hyatt points for a week at an all inclusive, adult only hotel, and use a guaranteed suite upgrade - no out of pocket. Given hotel status & the upgrade, we would get a bunch of other perks included.
- We will need to pay for transportation to/from the hotel & the airport locally, as well as any activities not included in the all inclusive.
- We will fly my parents in to take care of (just!) Nick, as we typically do
- We will also leave cash for my parents for the week, when they are at our house
All told, we'd love to do the trip for $1500 or so, which seems quite realistic given our options. If I can pull this out, it would be a big frugal win! We need to wait to see where Sam will be going to college before we can book, as many colleges have parents weekend around our anniversary, and will need to adjust the timing accordingly.
What about you? Any bucket list trips you've done/are planning, and tips for how you kept the cost down? Any major travel wins scored with points, miles, perks, etc? Please share!
As for today, I finally made progress on my resume, & handed it off to the resume service. Hurrah for progress!
Here's what else I'm up to today:
- Workout class (this one is a running only class, which will gives my arms a bit of a break, after a lot of strength training)
- Stretching
- Lunch catch up with a friend
- Start on my volunteer project for the soccer club
- Attend Nick's tennis match
- Journal
- Meditate
- Farsi lesson
- Find 5 items to declutter
- List 2 items on eBay
- Spot clean one area of the house
That sounds like a plan! That’s awesome that you have so many travel/hotel perks. That makes it very do-able! Good luck with the resume service!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited about it, and I hate "waste", even if "waste" is in my mind as defined by letting points, perks, upgrades, etc expire. I spent all of that time traveling while I was working, so best to take advantage while I have the time off! - HP
DeleteI LOVED Costa Rica (Play Conchal.) The offsite excursions were the most costly--horseback riding, mud spa, canopy experience--but worth it. While it was a while ago, an all-inclusive wasn't really necessary, as wandering into town was a treat. (Hotel provided cab service.)
ReplyDeleteThank you! For whatever reason, the points difference between the all inclusive vs non all inclusive for the days we're looking at is minimal, so it basically gets us all of our food for close to free, which is why we're looking at the AI. But, we do plan to pay for some excursions for sure.
DeleteCosta Rica has been on my list for a while, so I'm excited to figure out how to make it work! - HP
*Playa* not "Play." Typos, darn typos!
ReplyDeleteGlad you will be able to use those travel perks before they expire. We are planning a cross country road trip in August. Not exactly the frugality of it but TheHub has never done it before and wants to at least once. Anne in the kitchen
ReplyDeleteOooh, that will be fun! Nick is dying to do a cross country road trip for his senior trip. I think we will help him whittle it down quite a bit. He wants to see a bunch of national parks, which is what inspired our spring break trip - Redwood National Park + Lassen. - HP
DeleteThis year we will be doing some cabin camping and traveling to visit our oldest son. I would like to get a couple of weekend getaways planned as well.
ReplyDeleteGood for you in using up all those perks before they expire.
God bless.
My daughter was in Costa Rica twice, once as a high schooler as part of a choir trip, and then two years ago with college friends. She loved it- zip lining, white water rafting, the active volcano and coffee bean farm were some of her experiences. And of course, seeing the sloths.
ReplyDeleteWe are really excited about it! - HP
DeleteMy frugal trip is staying at Hipcamp.com which makes it more of an adventure. We love camping, but not with other campers, so this is the perfect option. Hipcamps are peoples private property, wineries, farms, some just raw land, sites by lakes/rivers and some glamping options etc. For us it's more of an adventure then staying in hotels when we do mini trips by home. We've stayed at some unique places and makes the trips more memorable. Of course, we are fair weather campers and will plan around the weather. We also can make a lot of our own meals or opt to use the money we save from not going to hotels on fun actives and going out to eat. This will be our first long trip to Texas this spring and will be staying at a hip camp on a lake for the night, we also save by staying with friends while in Texas and then we will take our time coming back and staying in the Ozarks for a few days. Makes for a cheap week vacation!
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of Hipcamp before, but it looks super interesting. Thanks for sharing! - HP
DeleteCan you share the Hyatt property name? I’d love to try Costa Rica as Mexico is off my list now.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. The one we are looking at is Secrets Papagayo Costa Rica
DeleteIs there a CCard that’s best for Hyatt other than Hyatt directly? Sometimes transfer points are best and I think I read this in relation to Hyatt. Our travel revolves around using airline miles, but trying to switch up my approach.
DeleteWe have the Hyatt Chase card, which we like. It gives you pretty good earning, plus free night awards, etc. We also like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which the best redemption option for that happens to be to Hyatt points. Note that both of these cards have a fee. With our new "life" in 2024+, we'll re-evaluate & see if we're going to pay for them again next year. - HP
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