Jordan and I just got back from a few days in San Francisco, and while I have to say I don’t love the microclimates (hot, cold, hot, cold), we still had a blast. We especially loved driving to the wine country from San Francisco.
Foggy San Francisco
Here’s a quick recap of what miles & points we used to get to San Francisco, and how you can do the same. FYI, I will be doing full reviews of the hotels we stayed at and where we ate/drank in separate posts. Stay tuned.
How we got there
I prefer to use my airline miles for international premium cabin flights, because that’s where you can get the most bang for your buck. That said, I’m not above redeeming my miles for domestic travel, since we can’t always travel internationally and weekend getaways with the wife is one of my favorite things to do. Obviously.
Ok, here’s how we got there:
United has a non-stop between Austin and San Francisco, so I redeemed 12,500 United miles & $2.50 each way per person in economy.
United AUS – SFO
Not terrible. It cost us 50,000 United miles and $10 total for our round-trip flights to San Francisco.
How can you get 50,000 United miles? It’s pretty easy. Some Chase bank branches have offers on the United MileagePlus credit card for 50,000 miles, so you could check your local branch to see what they have to offer. Besides that, the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus, and Ink Bold are three credit cards that come with generous sign-up offers after meeting the minimum spending requirement. And since United is a transfer partner of Ultimate Rewards, you can instantly transfer points at a 1:1 ratio to United if you hold one of those cards. You can apply or see more info through the links below:
Link: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Link: Ink Bold® Business Charge Card
Link: Ink Plus® Business Card
Where we stayed
If you read the blog, then you know I’m a Hyatt lover. So, since I’m always excited to try new Hyatt properties, I booked us one night at the Hyatt Fishermans Wharf, and two nights at the Grand Hyatt in Union Square.
Grand Hyatt San Francisco
Both of these hotels were located in extremely touristy spots, but it is what it is. Like I mentioned before, I will be doing full reviews of the properties in separate posts.
I primarily booked the Fishermans Wharf because I had a free annual certificate from my Hyatt Visa card, good for category 1-4 properties. The Fishermans Wharf is a category 4 property, so the night was freakin’ free. Gotta love that.
If we were using Gold Passport points, this category 4 property would have been 15,000 points a night, or 7,500 points & $100 through the cash & points redemption method.
I booked our next two nights at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco location. Hyatt Diamond status is the only elite status I go out of my way to meet, so I booked one night with cash & points so I would get credit for an elite status stay.
The Grand Hyatt in San Francisco is a category 5 property, so it’s 20,000 points a night. Cash & points redemptions are 10,000 points and $125 a night. Rooms are generally around $400 a night during the summer.
Want to earn Hyatt points? The Chase Hyatt Credit Card comes with two free nights at any Hyatt (I recommend using those nights internationally, like at the Park Hyatt Vendome). And guess what? Hyatt is a transfer partner of Ultimate Rewards, so if you hold the Sapphire Preferred or Ink cards, you can transfer them to Hyatt, too.
Tip: Don’t forget to go through a shopping portal like Top Cashback or Ebates when booking a hotel to save even more $$ or earn more miles.
Conclusions
Our total cost for two round-trip tickets in economy and 3 nights in hotels on this trip was 50,000 United/UR miles, one free night Hyatt certificate, 30,000 Hyatt/UR points, and $135.
We had a great quick trip to San Francisco and Sonoma, and miles and points made it happen! Stay tuned for more on what we did, as well as reviews of the Hyatt properties.
(Disclaimer: I receive a referral credit for some of the cards mentioned in this post. Thanks for the support if you ever apply through the blog!)
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— Geoff Whitmore