How I Turned $99 Into a $6,205.32 Luxury Resort Stay
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Crave nice vacations but can’t stomach the astronomical costs? Boy, can I relate.
Even once your boss has approved your PTO… your kids are off school… the dog sitter is available… hotel sticker shock can abruptly derail your whole vacation plan. You’ve found the perfect spot that everyone will enjoy, but the cost of the room alone makes the whole idea completely out of budget.
That’s what happened to me countless times when I was trying to plan much-needed, recharging getaways for my family of 4.
I’d uncover dreamy, Insta-worthy spots that I knew would be perfect for making family memory magic… but I’d stop dead in my tracks once I clicked through to see the final price.
I knew there had to be a better way to take my family on amazing adventures without shelling out so much cash. And, good news: I can happily report that there IS a better way. A way to pay pennies on the dollar for your travel– sometimes, even $0 – and with good credit, you can do it, too.
Better yet, if you qualify for this card and act now, you can walk away with a big stash of bonus points once you meet the requirements. Here’s how.
The cost of paradise: $0?!
This is the stuff vacation daydreams are made of: a private balcony from your oceanfront room, overlooking turquoise Caribbean waters and soft sand. Sipping a frozen drink, complete with a colorful umbrella, while you leisurely read by the pool.
It all sounded spectacular.
Except…
This is what I saw when I selected the dates of the long holiday weekend that we could travel:
Don’t get me wrong, the stunning luxury resort looked like it was worth every penny. I just wasn’t about to pay anywhere near that much out of pocket. Not only could my deal-savvy self never stomach forking over that much cash for a 4-night stay, but it was simply way out of budget.
But thanks to 1 credit card in my wallet, my family was able to swing that luxurious long weekend, at that same resort, on the same dates. Without paying anything like $6,205.
Here’s what we paid instead…
That’s right. $0 for the room. $0 in government-mandated state and/or local fees and taxes.
(Now, we were on the hook for a steep $80 per night resort fee that provided things like kayak and paddle boat rentals, snorkeling gear, valet parking and more. But that fee is tacked onto each night of cash-paying rooms, too.)
We paid a total of 210,000 points for those 4 nights. Remember, this was a room for 4 people, for 4 nights, over a popular holiday weekend. Did I mention it was oceanfront?!
Look closely and you’ll notice that for 1 night, not only did we pay $0 but we also paid 0 points. That's thanks to holding this 1 credit card...
Free hotel nights on a silver platter
The IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card is a powerhouse travel rewards card that can help you rack up free hotel nights at more than 6,000 hotel properties around the world in short order. It offers loads of benefits and perks, like:
✅ A free night (up to 40,000 points) each calendar year.
✅ Eye-popping rewards earnings of up to 26 points total per $1 spent at IHG (10 from card, 10 from loyalty program, 6 from automatic elite status). Plus 5 points per $1 spent on travel, gas stations and restaurants and 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
✅ Automatic Platinum Elite status, which gives perks like priority check-in, late checkout, complimentary internet access, complimentary room upgrades (when available) and a dedicated customer service phone line.
✅ Up to a $100 credit toward an application for travel timesavers Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or Nexus (once every 4 years).
✅ $0 foreign transaction fees.
✅ Up to $50 United® Airlines TravelBank Cash each calendar year when you register.
✅ Tons of travel protections, and much more.
But here’s one of my favorite perks of the card that helped me save big on this trip:
If you hold the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, you’ll get the 4th night free when you pay with points for a stay of four nights or more (terms apply).
Yes, that means you’ll only pay the points for 3 nights and you’ll get the 4th night free!
Yes, this card charges an annual fee of $99. But I’m more than happy to pay that fee because of all the value the card brings me.
Plus, the IHG One Rewards loyalty program offers another great money-saving benefit when you redeem your points for hotel stays: Taxes and fees will be waived on all hotel stays when you pay with points. (As mentioned above, though, this applies to government-mandated taxes and fees and doesn’t cover additional resort fees or the government-imposed tourism fee you’ll see at some properties.)
But for this trip, that benefit saved us $1,459!
FEATURED
Why now is a great time to get the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
This 1 credit card helped my family connect, recharge and make lasting memories — in luxury – for a small fraction of the price we could have paid for this trip.
Will all IHG hotel points redemptions be this outstanding? Probably not. But whether you use your points for a simple, clean bed on a long road trip… for your teenager’s weekend soccer tournament… or you save them up for a luxurious splurge like I did – chances are, this card can add solid value to your wallet.
The IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card is offering new cardholders a valuable sign-up bonus:
Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
That's a big pile of points that can give you a nice headstart toward booking your next trip.
Plus, another cool perk of the IHG Rewards program: You can add points to the value of the annual free night certificate you earn from holding the card to make it even more valuable.
For example, let’s say you have an IHG free night certificate good for up to 40,000 points. But you want to book a stay at a hotel that costs 70,000 points per night (like my stay did). You can add points from your IHG account to the certificate to cover the whole night!
Throw in the card’s multitude of perks, credits and protections, and it’s a no-brainer for me.
The bottom line
Credit card points, miles and free night certificates help my family take trips we probably wouldn’t be able to take otherwise. Taking advantage of the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card's 4th night free benefit and waived fees perk helps a ton, too. I'm happy to pay a $99 annual fee for the value the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card brings my family each year.
All images courtesy of Erin Hurd, NerdWallet
