A Cross-Country Adventure on Points (with a Family of 7)!
The entire family at Sequoia National Park in California
What if I told you that a family of seven could take a cross-country road trip and use 250,000 points to cover their hotels?
That might sound like it required years of collecting points, dozens of credit cards, or some complicated travel-hacking strategy.
It didn't!
This trip is actually a great example of what can happen when you strategically earn welcome bonuses and then have a plan for using those points.
The travelers were my sister-in-law and her family of seven, and for their cross-country adventure, they used a combination of Hyatt points, IHG points, and Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Across the trip, they used a total of 252,090 points for their hotel stays.
They earned those points from just two credit card welcome offers. 🤯
Where Did All Those Points Come From?
Before we get into the hotels, let's talk about how they accumulated the points in the first place.
They opened an IHG credit card when the welcome offer was the standard 140,000 points. They also opened the Chase Sapphire Preferred when the welcome offer was 80,000 points.
That's already 220,000 points from two welcome offers alone! Not to mention the points they received from meeting the spend, plus points earned after using the card over a period of time. They did not open these cards then immediately book this trip.
And that's before considering the points they earned from spending, existing points balances, hotel stays, and other sources.
This is why I always tell people that you don't necessarily need to open a dozen credit cards to make points work for you. Sometimes, a couple of well-chosen cards can make a huge difference and will allow you to create unforgettable memories.
When you're traveling with seven people, hotel costs can add up quickly! Depending on the property and room configuration, you may also need multiple rooms or a larger accommodation.
Their Chase points that they could transfer plus the co-branded IHG credit card are where the points really went to work for them here.
*Of course, welcome offers change, and the offers available today may be completely different from the ones they received. Always check the current offer and make sure a card makes sense for your own spending and travel goals. Be sure to pay attention to elevated welcome offers; they happen often!
Here's exactly how they used their points along the route:
| Stop | Hotel | Points Used | Program |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma City, OK | Hyatt Place Oklahoma City / Bricktown | 8,000 | Hyatt |
| Albuquerque, NM | Hyatt Place Albuquerque / Uptown | 9,000 | Hyatt |
| Flagstaff, AZ | Hyatt Place Flagstaff | 9,000 | Hyatt |
| Grand Canyon, AZ | Grand Canyon Railway Hotel | 15,090 | Chase |
| Las Vegas, NV | Hyatt Place Las Vegas | 15,000 | Hyatt |
| Las Vegas, NV | Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Desert Club Resorts | 21,000 | IHG |
| California | Holiday Inn Selma-Swan Court | 42,000 | IHG · 2 nights |
| Moab, UT | Hyatt Place Moab | 23,000 | Hyatt |
| Gunnison, CO | Holiday Inn Express & Suites Gunnison | 64,000 | IHG |
| Salina, KS | Holiday Inn Express & Suites Salina | 30,000 | IHG |
| St. Louis, MO | Hyatt Place St. Louis / Chesterfield | 16,000 | Hyatt |
Why Hyatt AND IHG?
One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when they first get into points and miles is thinking they have to choose one hotel program.
You don't!
In fact, having multiple options can be incredibly helpful…especially when you're taking a road trip. You can't always control where you're going to be at the end of a long day of driving. Maybe there's a great Hyatt where you need it, but maybe not.
Maybe there's an IHG property five minutes from your route.
Maybe there's a hotel that isn't part of either program but can be booked through a flexible-points travel portal…like Chase or Capital One.
The goal isn't loyalty for loyalty's sake. The goal is to have options. With points and miles, there are a ton of possibilities here!
Arches National Park, Moab, Utah
Hyatt Covered Several Stops
They used Hyatt points for six of the hotels:
Hyatt Place Oklahoma City/Bricktown — 8,000 points
Hyatt Place Albuquerque/Uptown — 9,000 points
Hyatt Place Flagstaff — 9,000 points
Hyatt Place Las Vegas — 15,000 points
Hyatt Place Moab — 23,000 points
Hyatt Place St. Louis/Chesterfield — 16,000 points
That's 80,000 Hyatt points across those stays.
And notice something important:
The point amounts weren't all the same.
Some nights required relatively few points, while others required considerably more.
That's why I don't recommend deciding that every hotel redemption has to meet some arbitrary "perfect" points value.
Sometimes you use more points because that's the hotel that works for your route.
IHG Filled in the Gaps
IHG was especially valuable for several of their other stops. My family personally has found a ton of value with the IHG program.
They used:
Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Desert Club Resorts — 21,000 points
Holiday Inn Selma-Swan Court — 42,000 points for two nights
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Gunnison — 64,000 points
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Salina — 30,000 points
That's 157,000 IHG points.
And remember where a large portion of those IHG points came from?
That 140,000-point IHG welcome offer. That's an incredible illustration of why a good welcome offer can have a very tangible purpose. They became hotel nights on a family road trip.
They Used Chase Points, Too
The Grand Canyon portion of the trip gave them another opportunity to use flexible points.
The Grand Canyon Railway Hotel was booked through the Chase Travel portal using 15,090 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, earned with their Chase Sapphire Preferred welcome offer.
Chase points are flexible points, which are incredibly useful when you don’t have a specific hotel in mind yet, or when you need to transfer to another hotel program or top off your co-branded credit card-earned points.
For this trip, the Chase Travel option made sense for this particular hotel.
Grand Canyon, Arizona
One of the biggest highlights of the trip was, of course, the Grand Canyon. After traveling across several states, the family finally got to stand at the edge of one of the most incredible natural sights in the country—and it was one of those moments where pictures really don't do it justice.
They were able to use Chase points to book through the portal for the Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel, where they rode a train until their last stop was the breathtaking views of the Grand Canyon.
How You Can Figure This Out, Too
If you are a family wanting to take your family on an epic road trip, here’s a few things to consider:
What cards do you already have?
What points do you have?
Which hotel programs have properties along your route?
Are there any elevated welcome offers that make sense for your situation?
Can flexible points fill in the gaps?
Then build your trip around the points, not necessarily the other way around. You don't want to book a hotel simply because it's part of a program if it's going to send you two hours out of your way. But if a hotel you're already considering can be booked with points? That’s a no-brainer!
Want help figuring out what your points can do?
That's exactly what I do as a Points Navigator. I help people look at the cards they have, the points they've earned, and the trips they want to take and figure out how to put those points to work. Check out the services page here to see how you can take a family road trip for pennies on the dollar, too.
Because earning points is only half the fun!
The best part is redeeming them and making those memories.
Earn. Redeem. Adventure ON.
