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Southwest Road Trip 2021: Trip costs and points we used
In July 2021, we set out on a month long road trip from our home in the Chicago suburbs to California and back. Check out my Google map below to see our route, our favorite attractions, and how much we paid at each stop! Click the brackets in the top right corner of the map to see it larger.
Total lodging and transportation costs
On this trip, we used a total of:
- 59,000 Hyatt points
- 18,000 IHG Points
- 2 IHG Free Night Certificates
- 8,000 Choice points
- 17,500 Marriott points
We paid:
- $884 for 5 nights at an Airbnb
- $15 resort fee at one hotel
- $90 total for 5 nights of camping
That brings our totals to 102,500 points, 2 free night certificates and $989 for a month-long trip. We also stayed with family for 3 nights.
We paid $664 for gas for the trip.
Hyatt Place gave us the best value across the US. We loved that the rooms had 2 queen beds and a sofa bed, as well as a decent breakfast included. Interested in earning Hyatt points? You can earn a big chunk by opening a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, which allows you to transfer points to Hyatt.
Another option for earning Hyatt points is the Hyatt credit card.
I also like the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, especially when it has a great welcome offer!
Annual Fee:
Airbnb Income
Meanwhile, we were renting our house on Airbnb. We were paid out $4,095 after fees and rented our home for a total of 23 days. Check out my full write up on How to Airbnb Your House here.
After paying our cleaners and other monthly expenses (mortgage, property taxes, utilities), we were left with a profit of $2,200.
After subtracting our gas + lodging costs, that still left us with $547 to spend on food and activities!
We had other expenses throughout the month as well, like our health insurance and life insurance premiums which total about $820 per month.
Drop any questions about our trip (and how we got the points for it) below!
Share Your Points Success Story
Do you have a points and miles success story? We would love to hear from you! Submit your story here.
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[…] our road trip to California and back, we stayed at 10 different Hyatt Place properties and came to love them! They typically sleep 6 (2 queen beds + sofa bed) and have a great free […]
Thanks for sharing your family with us. I noticed that you had Four Corners on the map, but your route didn’t go there. Just curious. Is this on your To Do list? Or did the route need to be adjusted? Thanks!
Oh you’re right! So we went though Tuba City up to 4 corners and then to Albuquerque. The route was created just using the places we slept and missed a side trips we took.