One Card, One Trip: Sedona, Arizona

In this series I will be exploring real-world examples of just how much you can travel with the points of one credit card sign-up bonus.  Whether this destination interests you or not, my hope is that you can take the learnings and get inspired to create your own amazing trip using miles and points.  In this first edition I am looking at a trip for two in May from Los Angeles, California and flying to Phoenix, Arizona which is about a 2 hour drive to Sedona.

Earning the Points

For the credit card I have selected the Chase Sapphire Preferred which is a great card to get (and keep) for those just getting started in the miles and points game.  Currently the sign-up bonus is 60k Chase Ultimate Rewards points after meeting a $4,000 minimum spend in 3 months.  I am going to assume for the sake of this exercise that I hit the minimum spend with $2,000 in 3X bonus categories such as dining and the remaining $2,000 outside of the bonus categories earning just 1 point per dollar spent.  That would yield a total of 68,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points:  $2,000 times 3 points/dollar plus $2,000 times 1 point/$ plus the 60,000 points from the sign-up bonus.  That’s just enough as we need 67,000 for the flights and hotel on this trip.

Building the Trip

For the flights, there are actually quite a few different options on points from LAX to PHX which are very reasonable. Considering the flight times and ease of booking directly I chose these flights on Southwest which were 7,644 points per person each way. Considering the $5.60 in taxes vs a $115 fare, that is 1.43 cents per point value. Other options were on American using Alaska or American miles (though not transferrable from Chase Ultimate Rewards), United, or transferring from Chase to Virgin Atlantic to book Delta flights for 7,500 points each way. Since you have to transfer Ultimate Rewards in 1000-point increments, it would cost 36,000 points total for these Southwest flights.

For the hotel I have selected the Hyatt Vacation Club at Pinon Pointe. This hotel looks to have amazing views and is in a great location for the many outdoor activities Sedona has to offer. As a category 4 property, it is available to book with category 1-4 free night certificates or for 15,000 points per night which can fluctuate between 12,000 or 18,000 for off-peak and peak dates. In this case I was fortunate to find off peak dates with 3 nights being available for a total of 36,000 Ultimate Rewards points transferred to World of Hyatt. Compared to a cash price of $333 per night this represents strong value at 2.78 cents per point and should save another ~ $100 in resort fees because those are waived on award stays. If we had some additional Chase or Hyatt points available, it would also be possible to book a one-bedroom villa for as low as 21,000 points per night off-peak.

TL;DR: With the points from one credit card sign-up bonus, the Chase Sapphire Preferred, we were able to build a 3-night trip for 2 to Sedona, Arizona. Many flight options were available from LAX to PHX but I chose nonstop and well-timed Southwest flights. The Hyatt Vacation Club at Pinon Pointe will make a great home base to explore all of the activities Sedona has to offer.