April 6, 2021|Bonvoy, Frontier, Marriott, Uber

For Spring Break, we wanted to travel domestically to avoid a COVID test on our return. We were able to find a great deal in Puerto Rico.   I will post a separate trip review.

Airfare

I found that the lowest fare to San Juan would be to fly from Philadelphia which is an 80 minute drive.   Flying from Newark which is closer to home  was about triple the cost.
Always make sure to check out alternate airports you wouldn’t normally consider.  I was able to get 3 tickets on Frontier Airlines with bulkhead seats for a cost of $0 as follows:

The cost of 1 ticket for my wife was $198.40.   I was given a $200 credit upon renewal of my AMEX Platinum card for travel booked via AMEX Travel.   Frontier could not be booked online, so I called AMEX travel and the waived the phone booking fee and booked the ticket.   I earned 990 AMEX membership rewards for the purchase as Airfare is 5X points, even though I paid $0 for the ticket.  I paid $120 to get a bulkhead seat. This credited using my wife’s $200 Airline Credit from her AMEX Business Platinum card as Frontier is her selected airline with AMEX.  We needed 1 checked bag which would have cost $40 when checking.  I will get to that below.

The cost of the other 2 tickets for my son and me was $340.32.   On my wife’s AMEX Business Platinum Card, Frontier is the selected airline for the 35% points rebate and $200 airline incidental credit.   I used AMEX pay with points for 34,032 points with a 11,911 points rebated, so net cost was 22,121 AMEX Membership Rewards.  Again, I had to call and let them know I was doing this to get the points rebate as Frontier can’t be booked on the  AMEX website.  She earned 1,700 AMEX membership rewards for the 5X airline purchase.  

Last year I took advantage of the $49 upgrade to Elite 50K status with Frontier.  It also gave me reduced fares for Discount Den on Frontier for half price ($29.99).   This is why these two tickets cost $28.24 less than my wife’s ticket above. The AMEX $200 Airline credit took care of this fee as well.  Elite 50K gave my son and me free bulkhead seats,increased mileage earning, early boarding, as well as a carry-on bag for me.  

I went to purchase carry-on bags for my wife and son.  When checking on this record, it was charging $28 a bag, but at checkout, it changed to $40.   I called Frontier and they honored the $28 rate.  Additionally, it was showing an additional $49 for my wife to get the perks bundle which included seats and bags.  As I already paid $120 for seats (which was offset by the $200 AMEX airline credit), the phone agent credited me and and somehow when all was said and done, I paid an additional $34 for everything, which was offset by the $200 AMEX airline credit.  

My wife earned 170 Membership rewards for the $34 charge, 600 points for the $120 seat fee, 1,700 points for the $340.32 tickets, and 150 points on the Discount Den purchase.

The net result:

3 free airline tickets

3 bulkhead seats

3 carry-on bags

AMEX Points used:  22,121

AMEX Points earned: 3,610

Net AMEX points used: 18,511

Frontier Points earned:  Total of 13,396 for the three of us which can be pooled valued at $147.36 

Value:  $1,393 in airfare, seats, carry-on bags, and Discount Den Fee, Frontier Points earned

Cost $0

Hotel

I am Marriott Bonvoy Titanium and my wife is Bonvoy Platinum.  We had several free night certificates due to expire this year, so we wanted to stick with a Marriott Property.   

Looking at beach resorts in San Juan, the options were the Marriott Stellaris, the La Concha Renaissance, and the Courtyard Isla Verde.  Upon researching Tripadvisor reviews of late, it was going to come down to which was the best of the horrible recent reviews. We settled on the Courtyard Isla Verde.  Again, I will follow-up with a trip review post.

Using points, rooms were 35,000 points for 5 of our 6 night stay and 40,000 for 1 night.  I booked a four night stay with my Bonvoy account using four 35,000 point certificates.  I booked the last two night in my wife’s account using a 35,000 point certificate and a 50,000 point certificate.   We were supposed to be charged a $25 plus tax per night resort fee.   I used 4 suite night upgrade awards and my wife used 2 suite night upgrade awards.   Luckily they both cleared and we were given a 1 bedroom oceanfront suite. The cash value of the standard room was $421 a night and the suite was $801 a night.  Given the Spring Break timeframe, these rates are higher than normal.  The Elite gift was 500 points or a $20 a day food and beverage credit.  We took the credit.  It also came with two welcome drinks ($20) and $20 in Casino Match Play coupons.

I had the hotel link the reservations so we wouldn’t have to change rooms.

I also used some Chase and Amex Offers to pay for incidentals (food and beverage).   My AMEX card and my wife’s AMEX card each had $50 off $200 on Marriott charges.  My Chase Sapphire Reserve had 10% on up to $300 in spend.

In the end, we spent $501 and get back $110 due to the AMEX and Chase offers., so net cost was $391.  Due to some issues, I got the resort fees waived as well for all six nights.

The hotel stay breaks down as follows:

Standard room for 6 nights:  $2,526

Value of suite upgrade: $2,280

Resort Fee:  $137

Welcome Drinks: $20

Casino Match Play: $20

Food and Beverage Credit: $120

Food and Beverage spent: $391

Total value:  $5,494

Marriott Points Earned:  8,136 including my Titanium 75% bonus and my wife’s 50% Platinum bonus plus 1,116 points earned for 6X points on Marriott charges on the AMEX Bonvoy card.  Total Marriott points earned:  9,252

AMEX Membership points earned: 201  

Chase Ultimate Rewards points earned: 300

Total value of points earned $84

Total value:  $5,578

Cost:  $391

Uber

Between all of my wife’s and my AMEX cards, we have $50 of monthly Uber credit. We used all of this for Ubers to and from the airport as well as to and from dinner.

Total value:  $50

Cost $0

Total trip value: $7,021

Total cost:  $391

This took some work by knowing the benefits of each card and elite status, but it can be done.  If you need some help doing this, check out my webpage.