Countdown to the 2024 Solar Eclipse: Save Big on Hotels with Points

Categories: Where to Stay with PointsBy Last Updated: February 9, 2024

Are you planning to witness the Great North American Eclipse on April 8, 2024, and wondering how to make the most of your budget? The upcoming total solar eclipse is an event that you wouldn’t want to miss. It is also the last total solar eclipse that will be visible from North America until 2044.

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Cities to Watch 2024 Solar Eclipse

If you’re not familiar with the term, the “path of totality” refers to the area on the Earth’s surface where the total phase of the solar eclipse can be seen. This is the part of the eclipse where the Moon completely covers the Sun, creating a momentary darkness during the day. Being within the path of totality is essential to experiencing the full extent of the eclipse, and fortunately, there are plenty of cities and towns that fall entirely within the path of totality for the 2024 Great North American Eclipse. These cities include:

  • San Antonio, Texas
  • Austin, Texas
  • Waco, Texas
  • Dallas, Texas
  • Little Rock, Arkansas
  • Indianapolis, Indiana
  • Cleveland, Ohio
  • Buffalo, New York
  • Rochester, New York

Using Hotel Points to Book Your Stay

One of the biggest expenses of any trip is accommodation, and with the 2024 Solar Eclipse being a popular event, prices are likely to go up and up as it gets closer. But fear not, if you’ve been saving up hotel points, this is the perfect chance to use them and save on your stay.

The most important thing is to book ASAP! The earlier you book, the better chance you have to secure a great deal.

Best Hyatts To Book For the Eclipse

The World of Hyatt Program is one of our favorite hotel loyalty programs.

Hyatt hotels are assigned a category and this category determines the cost in points to book a hotel room. Category 1 is the cheapest and rooms cost a standard rate of 5,000 points per night. Category 2 rooms costs 8,000 points per night. The great news: there are Category 1 or 2 Hyatts in every major city that is in the “path of totality.”

Some of these are already sold out. The easiest way to find available dates is to use MaxMyPoint.com which can show you a calendar view of available dates. In recent researches, I have found that some Hyatts are imposing minimum night stays restrictions — try searching from Thursday to Tuesday to see if you find more availability. You should be able to later shorten your stay by contacting Hyatt reservations.

Best IHG Hotels To Book For the Eclipse

The IHG Points Program is another loyalty program that can help you save on hotel costs during the 2024 solar eclipse. Similar to the Hyatt Points Program, you can use points to stay at any of the IHG hotels, which include popular brands such as InterContinental, Holiday Inn, and Crowne Plaza.

Unlike Hyatt, IHG hotels use dynamic pricing for award nights. That means the cost in points will go up and down according to demand. If you’re able to book early, you can snag a deal with your IHG points — but if you wait till the last minute, except prices to be soaring.

One big benefit of holding the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card is that you can get the 4th night free when you book four consecutive nights with points.

If you’re a family, look for Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites — both of which have free breakfast. Be sure to check the reviews of the hotel you’re looking at. We find that some are very nice and some are disappointing. If free breakfast isn’t a priority for you, our favorite IHG brand is Kimpton! There are also two Holiday Inn Vacation Club properties in Texas that sleep 6 people that would be in the path of totality. You can find them here.

Best Marriott Hotels To Book For the Eclipse

Like IHG, Marriott has a large number of hotels which means lots of potential options! But unfortunately, it also uses dynamic pricing which means I expect Marriott hotel pricing to increase as the eclipse gets closer.

There are two family friendly Marriott hotels in Texas in the path of totality listed on my Family Friendly Marriott map. You can also look for Residence Inn or Fairfield Inn which have free breakfast and also often larger rooms for families. With Marriott, if you book a 5 night stay with points, your cheapest will be free.

Book Vacation Homes with Wyndham Rewards

Another option to consider for lodging during the 2024 solar eclipse is vacation homes.

With Wyndham Rewards you can book Vacasa vacation rentals for as cheap as 15,000 points per night. Even better, cleaning fees and taxes are covered by your points! For a detailed description of how to find and book vacation homes this way, check out our full blog post.

The 2024 solar eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime event that should not be missed. By using hotel reward points programs like Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, and Wyndham, you can save big on accommodations and have the perfect spot to witness this incredible astronomical phenomenon. Remember to start planning your trip today and don’t let the high demand for hotels in major eclipse cities deter you!

Saving on any hotel

If you don’t already have any points saved up to help you book a hotel room, another option is to open up a Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, or Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit. These cards earn Venture miles which can be used to “erase” travel purchases — even retroactively. If you open a card now, you could use the card to immediately book any hotel via the Capital One Travel website. For the Venture X, you’ll earn 10 points per dollar on this booking. Then when you earn your welcome offer, you can use those 75,000 points to erase $750 of your travel cost. 

welcome offer:

75,000 miles

Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel

Annual Fee:

$395

  • $300 annual travel credit when booking through Capital One’s portal
  • 10,000 points every year on account anniversary (worth at least $100)
  • Statement credit for Global Entry or TSA Precheck
  • Easy airport lounge access for your whole family
  • Miles can be redeemed to erase any travel purchase. 75,000 miles = $750
  • Can be transferred to a variety of partners like Jet Blue, Wyndham, Avianca, Turkish Airways and more.
  • Get my downloadable checklist here so you can max your benefits

Don’t let the annual fee of $395 scare you. The $300 annual travel credit and a slew of other benefits make this card a keeper. Plus you’ll immediately up your travel game with airport lounge access and Hertz Presidents’ Club status. Read my complete guide here.

When this card was released in November 2021, it had a 100,000 miles bonus offered (with a $10,000 spend requirement over 6 months). Since March 2022, it has had the same 75,000 mile bonus offer.

Starting October 6, 2023 – a new 90k offer was available exclusively through select referral links. This ended early in December 2023.

welcome offer:

75,000 miles

Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel

Annual Fee:

$95

  • Miles can be redeemed to erase any travel purchase. 50,000 miles = $500
  • Can be transferred to a variety of partners like Jet Blue, Wyndham, Avianca, Turkish Airways and more
  • Also worth considering the Venture X which has more benefits and the same offer.

If you really can’t stomach the annual fee of the Venture X, the Venture has a similar offer and a lower $95 fee! Points have the same uses as the Venture X.

An offer expired in July 2021 for a total of 100K: 50K after $3K in the first 3 months + 20K after $20K in the first 6 months.

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