Best Use of Airmiles

[FayeW]

We are going to Orlando Feb 13-19th and I want to keep this a fairly budget trip. Airfare is already purchased, and we have one park day and several plus features left on our PHP tickets. We are also going to Universal because WWOHP is the reason for the trip. I have about 3000 airmiles, and I'm trying to decide how to use them to keep the most money in my pocket.

Originally I was going to use them for our Universal 2Day/2Park tickets but I don't have enough miles for 3 tickets. Also, I am going to try to get the Costco 3 day tickets that don't expire until Dec/15. We will probably only use 2 days out of 3 this trip so I could save a day for another trip in a couple of years.

I have a car reserved with Dollar, total cost $225.79. I think it costs 175 miles per day, so that is an option, but then I will have to pay the taxes and fees out of pocket so not sure if that is the best use. That would still leave me about 2000 airmiles which is enough to get 3 one day tickets to SeaWorld, which we haven't been to since 2003, so that is an option as well. However, CAA has SeaWorld tickets that include a meal deal so again, not sure if using the airmiles for the tickets makes the most sense.

The plan was to use our last WDW park day and hit our favourites at all 4 parks if we can, have 2 days at US/IOA, probably a day at Typhoon Lagoon and an evening or two at Disney Quest. SeaWorld is really only because we could go using the airmiles.

If you stayed with me this far, I am leaning towards using the airmiles for the car rental and SeaWorld tickets because I have pretty much decided on the Costco Universal tickets. Does it make sense to use my airmiles this way?

 

[dancin Disney style]

So here's what I would do....
Write out all the costs on a piece of paper. See which combo will save you the most.

Also, have you checked out the AM required to get gift cards that you can pay for the rental car with? If they are still available it's the best way to do it.

 

[FayeW]

That's what I am doing. I think I figured out that using the airmiles for the car is the best way to go. It will cost me 1030 airmiles for a mid-size car, + $49.88 for tax. The cheapest cash rate I could find is with Dollar for $225.87, so booking with airmiles would save me $171.

It costs 950 airmiles for a $100 gift certificate, and then you still pay the taxes. Going that route would cost me nearly the same amount of airmiles, and I would have to pay $125 out of pocket instead of $50.

I will have 2000 airmiles left, I just have to decide if I am going to use 1600 of those for 2 x 1 day/1 park tickets for Universal, and then upgrade to the 2 day/2 park at the gate and pay cash for the additional 2 day/2 park ticket we need, or buy the Universal tickets with cash and use my airmiles for 3 SeaWorld tickets instead. I can't locate the Costco tickets so I'll have to use Undercover Tourist for those instead.