How I Booked My Ski Trip with Points & Miles
Planning a ski getaway doesn’t have to mean draining your wallet. With a little strategy, I pieced together flights and hotels almost entirely on points and miles — here’s how I did it. This trip would have been over $3700 for flights and hotels. Instead, we used points and miles and have around $100 out of pocket.
Flights to Denver – Southwest Rapid Rewards
I booked my outbound flight to Denver using Southwest Rapid Rewards points for 3 of us. It was 13,000 miles each for the basic tickets.
Thanks to my Southwest rapid rewards credit, we were able to pick our seats out already and will get one free bag each. This is huge for a ski trip.
I only had enough points to get 3 free tickets, so I got creative. I have a $75 credit on my Southwest Rapid Rewards card. I bought a gift card with it. I then booked the remaining balance on my American Express Hilton d. The balance was less than $100, and it triggered my $50 credit. Read more here about how I stacked offers to get this ticket for free -> Stacking Credit card reward
Total out of pocket for 4 flights to Denver from Nashville - $48 for the one and $5.60 each for the ones we booked on Southwest Rapid Rewards. If we had paid cash for these flights, it would have been $696 plus bags and seat selections.
Keystone Stay – Hyatt Place (4 Nights)
For lodging near the slopes, I used World of Hyatt points to book Hyatt Place Keystone.
Four nights covered entirely on points meant I could splurge on ski passes and après-ski fun instead of hotel bills.
Hyatt Place Keystone is a solid choice for families — free breakfast, spacious rooms, and proximity to the lifts.
If we had booked this room using cash, it would have been $1600. We used 72,000 points and saved $1600! Score! Check out my review of Hyatt Place Keystone -> Hyatt Place Keystone Colorado. We have stayed here quite a few times thanks to the close location to the lifts and the affordable food on a ski mountain.
Denver Stopover – Hyatt Place (1 Night)
On the way back, I booked Hyatt Place Denver for one night, again using Hyatt points. We have a super early flight home so we need to be close to the airport.
Perfect for a quick city stop before flying home.
Another free breakfast and no out-of-pocket cost — Hyatt points really stretched far on this trip.
Flights Home – United MileagePlus
For my return flight, I tapped into United MileagePlus miles. We had 85,000 thanks to a sign-up bonus, and we only had to use 15k each to fly us home.
United’s award availability lined up perfectly with my schedule, making it easy to wrap up the trip without spending cash.
If we had paid cash for these flights it would been $289 a ticket or $11,156 for our family of 4. Instead we spend $5.60 a person.
Takeaway
This trip is a great example of how mixing and matching loyalty programs can maximize value:
Southwest Rapid Rewards for the outbound flight.
Hyatt points for both mountain and city stays.
United miles for the return flight.
By leveraging points and miles, I turned what could have been a pricey ski vacation into a budget-friendly adventure — proof that with the right strategy, travel hacking makes big trips accessible. The costs for hotels and flights would have been over $3700; instead, we are spending around $100 in cash.
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