Cancun Part 2 - Using the Hotel Certificates

Now that we were armed with our points and certificates we booked the hotels first.  The reason being hotel nights can be canceled with no penalties up to 24 hours to a week before hand.  Airlines however tend to have "no cancellation" policies, so if the flights did not work we could always move the hotel days or even the vacation destination. 

First we booked, the Hyatt_Ziva for four nights.  This hotel looks amazing on the web site, has great reviews, and more importantly is all-inclusive so I do not have to worry about a massive food bill from feeding two teenage boys. Looking at the Hyatt website, the prices in June run $906 per night!

Hyatt Ziva from cancun.ziva.hyatt.com

Being so amazing, we were fortunate that we were able to book four nights that fit into our vacation plans.

The Hilton's reward_program is a little trickier.  As mentioned in last week's post, the certificate's have to be used with a category one 1-to-4 hotel and used on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night.

In January 2017, when I first looked Hilton had no hotels in Cancun. Amazing, I know.

But on April 1, a Hampton_Inn opened in downtown Cancun.  Not only was it part of the Hilton family of hotels, it was a category 2 hotel.

Hampton Inn Cancun from hamptoninn3.hilton.com

I immediately called and booked three nights (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). I also used 23,000 points I already earned to book the fourth night - Monday night.

I could have booked the Ziva Monday through Thursday night and then the Hampton Inn the Friday night before we left if I wanted to only use certificates to book our stays, but for me, it was not worth the hassle to switch hotels. Even if I didn't have enough points, the Hampton Inn as of this writing was relatively inexpensive at $104.00 per night and I would have paid for the one night versus lugging our stuff between hotels on our last day.

So, while the Hampton Inn was not as an amazing deal as the Hyatt Ziva, I feel paying $200 for four nights in Cancun is still a deal. It even includes free breakfast.  Our plan is to do most of our traveling while we're at the Hampton Inn and laze around when we're at the Ziva.

Next week: booking the flights - patience

Cancun 8 nights hotel and air under $700

Part I: Maximizing Mileage Programs

Using credit card mileage programs, I booked a flight and eight-night hotel stay for my family of four in Cancun for under $700.

Here's how I did it:

First, my wife and I applied for separate Citibank Hilton Honors Cards. The sign up bonus provided 2 free weekend nights (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) at category 1-4 hotels in the Hilton portfolio. Annual fee $99. Link to Citibank Hilton HHonors Card

Total cost 4 nights hotel: $198.00.

Then we both applied for the Chase Hyatt Card. The sign up bonus provides 2 free nights at almost any hotel in the Hyatt portfolio. Annual fee $99. Link to Chase Hyatt Card

Total cost 4 nights hotel: $198.00.

Finally, my wife applied for the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card to use specifically to cover our airfare. The signup bonus provided a $300 travel credit and 100,000 Chase Points to make travel purchases on their website. The fee for this card is $450. With the $300 travel credit, I view the total cost for this card to be $150.00. Link to Chase Sapphire Reserve Card 

The Sapphire bonus point award recently dropped to 50,000. However, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card also provides 50,000 points, but with no annual fee. 

It is important to check with all the credit cards mentioned regarding their latest signup bonuses and fees as they can change at any time. This also includes how much you have to spend within a specified amount of time to earn the signup bonuses.The information is based on the personal experience of my wife and I when we applied for cards between November 2016 and January 2017. 

The Points Guy website was a great resource to help me narrow the list of credit cards I planned to apply for to fund my trip.

Next Friday, I will detail how we used the points and miles we accumulated for the trip.