We had a wonderful Utah National Park trip partially funded by this hobby.
Flights MIA -DFW-SLC, back from LAS direct to Miami: 20,500 AAmiles each plus $5.60. Originally we had a stop on the way back but AA moved us to a direct flight on our of their schedule shuffles. Thankfully, all our flights left on time and, miraculously arrived early. Points came from opening Barclay and Citi cards. Cash price was $420 (2.04cpp). We used the Centurion in Miami, the Priority Pass lounge in Dallas, and the Priority Pass and Centurion in Vegas. Each time, it saved me conservatively $50 and gave me status in the eyes of my kids.
Hotels
Home2Suites one night SLC - 30k HH
AirBnB Moab - $1,100 - $880 used PYB from CSR
Red Sands Motel, Torrey - one room with Cap1 travel credit, one using UR because the Cap1 portal wouldn't guarantee a 2-bed room that we needed.
Bryce Canyon Inn - $234 cash for a 2-bedroom, new cabin
Zion Park Lodge - 2 rooms for 3 nights $1,576. Absolutely gorgeous location, loved the craftsman style of the buildings, and the easy access to hiking trails. The rooms are old and a little musty and the wifi is terrible/nonexistent. This was the end of the trip and although the bad wifi came close to causing a mutiny, the Narrows hike and winning an Angels Landing day-before lottery saved the day.
Las Vegas - 2 rooms, 1 night at the Waldorf Astoria at 80k HH each. I figured that after 9 days of hiking and nature, my family would appreciate some luxury (and I needed it too!).
Rental car - Avis $1,458 for a minivan
Food for a family of 6 was $3,785 for 10 days. Our only splurge was a French restaurant in Vegas at the Venetian. I used PYB for about $1000.
We did a Dark Ranger Night tour as recommended by
@wweazel and it was spectacular. Seeing the Milky Way arching over the sky and peeking into a telescope and seeing Saturn - Saturn! - clear as day reminded us of celestial wonders after so many days of earthly ones.
We also used Zion Adventures also as recommended by
@wweazel for a canyoneering trip that pushed my husband to his limit
but that my teens loved.
We all loved it much more than we thought. We had never done a trip like this with such little city time. My favorite hike was Mesa Arch in Canyonlands for the incredible vista on the other side but my 10 year old liked Delicate Arch and the bigger ones loved Angels Landing and the Narrows. We are from Florida so these vistas are completely new to us and we were oohing and aahing around every corner. Every single one of the 5 national parks is worth a visit, similar but different enough that you don't get bored. There were people doing hikes with small children and babies but I wouldn't do it unless the kids can hike too. While you can enjoy many views just from the car or short hikes to a viewpoint, the hikes add immeasurable enjoyment. Hikes are rated easy, moderate, and difficult but these Floridians found that many of the easy ones had uphill climbs that we weren't used to.
I don't think we would have ever done this trip without this group as I am the travel planner for our family perfectly happy going to Europe every year but all the trip reports and discussions encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and book it. We ended up with no blisters, no chafing, no heat stroke (I worried alot about all of those) but I did bring Covid back with me with very mild symptoms (and thankful no one else got it). Definitely a trip of a lifetime made even more meaningful knowing that my 19 year old and 18 year old are reaching those ages where trips for the 6 of us will be more rare.