Planning the strangest vacation ever

[picantel]

Even though we live 30 minutes from disneyworld my wife has always wanted to go to disneyland especially for the nightmare before christmas haunted house. However, the cost is enormous and her work just cut all employees back to basically square one(goodbye managers bonus) so she is right back to where she started 18 years ago. Because of this we decided to get clever so we could fit in a small vacation. First we fly to vegas via frontier using the rewards from our capital one venture card making it free. Then we immediately jump into our hertz rental using a free weeks rental we got when we bought a car from them 2 weeks ago and drive to disneyland which I read is 4 hours away. Then we stay at the marriott courtyard theme park entrance hotel for 3 nights which is normally $313 a night plus tax but we are using 105k points from our marriott rewards card(the 80k bonus) so we pay nothing but parking. Of course we have to pay for theme park tickets but we are using a couple hundred from our chase disney visa card lol and the rest we will purchase gift cards from sams club which saves $7 per $150. We then drive back to vegas and stay one night at the Aria using a free redemption from a mobile game called myvegas along with a couple free buffets. The next day we fly back via frontier so I just need to decide if I want to pay cash for that or get the frontier credit card. I feel like a giant cheapie but sometimes you just gotta get clever. We can pay rent and all bills via credit card with no processing fee so it is really easy to get rewards fast especially when they have nice opening bonuses.

 

[ParkHopper1]

We can pay rent and all bills via credit card with no processing fee so it is really easy to get rewards fast especially when they have nice opening bonuses.

Most people miss the true power of this...as long as you are responsible with credit cards and can pay off all the expenses you charge each month you can rack up gazillions of points by putting EVERY life expense you can on a card that gives you points towards what you want. I rotate my focus of spending between AMX, Marriott card and Southwest card depending on my points balance and I haven't paid for a DL vacation cash out of pocket in years except for my AP to get into the park.

 

[bumbershoot]

So why/how is this a strange vacation?

 

[mom2rtk]

So why/how is this a strange vacation?

Right? Many people do this every chance they can.

 

[cinder-ellah]

Great strategizing !

Sounds like a fun trip !

 

[sheetz]

Welcome to the world of travel hacking!

I used to do much stranger things flying out of my way to collect frequent flyer miles and changing hotels every night for the stay credits.

 

[hlbtimes2]

Sounds like a great way to make things work !

Someday I hope to be responsible enough to be able to use credit wisely, and use these type perks. But, at 47 I know myself well enough to know I'd just end up with more debt. LOL!

As for strange vacations, my last one (last month) is what most would consider strange. It was me, my two teens and my ex-husband in Disneyland for 5 days. We've been divorced 3 years. His girl friend was planning on joining us, but broke up shortly before the trip because him and I being able to vacation together was more than she could handle. I will say that spending 5 days with him was a real reminder of why we are divorced and I will not be signing up to vacation with him again soon.

 

[Baklava]

That is EPIC! I am impressed by your skills. Have a wonderful time!

 

[avalon451]

Wow, that's awesome! Hope you have a great trip and enjoy Walt's park!

 

[gottalovepluto]

SO impressed. You discount yourself as being a "cheapie" but I'm glad you know you're really just being clever here. You're working within your means to afford a trip you otherwise could not. And the result is you get to go to Vegas AND Disneyland. There are people who plan trips in order to do both Vegas and DL in one plane trip from back East so you are planning a normal trip here fyi. Just with much less cash out of pocket than most people. And Haunted Mansion Holiday will not disappoint. I saw it for the first time last year and it was just amazing! Small World Holiday is also neat, but Haunted Mansion is next level stuff!

 

[Wahlee]

The only thing I would warn about with this idea is making sure to plan your dates so you don't have to drive FROM Vegas on a Sunday or TO Vegas on a Friday. Traffic between the LA and Vegas on those days is a nightmare (like, two hour delays, dead stop on the freeway in the middle of the desert kind of a nightmare). As long as you're avoiding those (or driving really early in the morning), sounds like a fabulous plan!

 

[LizzyS]

The only thing I would warn about with this idea is making sure to plan your dates so you don't have to drive FROM Vegas on a Sunday or TO Vegas on a Friday. Traffic between the LA and Vegas on those days is a nightmare (like, two hour delays, dead stop on the freeway in the middle of the desert kind of a nightmare). As long as you're avoiding those (or driving really early in the morning), sounds like a fabulous plan!

Please take this advice, OP, because it is sound. I live in the Las Vegas area and you never go to SoCal on a Sunday and return to Vegas on a Friday. The traffic is crazy on the I-15 and be forewarned most of your drive will be through desolate desert.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

drive to disneyland which I read is 4 hours away.

Good luck with that "4 hour" thing. We've lived in southern CA for over 30 years and it's never been less than 5-6 hours. There's always road work, or an accident somewhere along the line.