Want $1,000 for your next Vegas trip? It starts at home with the two of the five P’s — proper planning.
A recent Chase credit card promo for 100,000 points that was featured in LVA just ended. If you caught this, it’s a real winner. Those points are worth $1,000 or more. If you missed it, many promos throughout the year are worth grabbing.
I’m a big fan of Chase rewards points, along with a Chase Southwest card. Together they’ve provided me free flights, rental cars with free insurance, and more. Yeah, rentals are my big splurge, but they’ve paid off many times over. Case in point, I get to drive out to Rainbow and Emerald Island in Henderson, where good values abound.
The Chase promo required $5,000 in charges in three months. Paying food, gas, utilities, and other expenses got me there. Of course, it’s important to pay off your card every month to avoid the vicious interest rates, but if you’re charging basics, like food, gas, utilities, and other routine expenses, it should be easy.
When you book through the Chase travel portal, you get a 25% bonus. Let’s say your flight is $400. You use $300 in points. Nice.
I work the systems to get my one week trip to Vegas, complete with air, car, and hotel, for around $600. Yes, for the whole week. At that point, I’m $1,000 ahead even before I’ve landed.
Some folks like the comp route and if that works for you, fine. As for me, I don’t want to be obligated to a casino for playing several hours a day for comped RFB. I live by “stay where I want to stay and play where I want to play.”
I may stay at the Downtown Grand and play some, but will play more at Four Queens, Plaza, and out to Rainbow or somewhere else where the video poker is richer and the points promos are sweeter.
Downtown, your Southwest boarding pass is worth free matchplays at The D and El Cortez. Southwest has nonstops from my Raleigh airport several times a week and no baggage fee when using your Southwest Chase card.
I often do a one way on points to Vegas (Southwest) and a red eye back on another airline, which I prefer, as I don’t like wasting the whole day in the air. And leaving late gives me that whole last day.
If you missed the Chase $1,000 deal, there are still great offers. I find sites like Points Guy excellent resources to keep up on them.
At least once a year, Southwest has card deals where you can easily qualify for a free companion pass for a year. This amazing bonus can easily run $750 to $1,000 in value and that’s on top of your free points. I used to fly on points and my wife on a free companion pass. Again, we saved $750 to $1,000 before we landed.
So work the systems, folks.
You can create a bankroll from savings with proper planning. It’s a great feeling to be ahead $1,000 before you land.
Enjoy!
The Chase card free bag is in effect, even though SWA is now charging for bags. With the card the holder, and up to 8 companions get one free checked bag.
Eggzackly Edso..gosh I swear I have gotten so much free travel with Southwest/Chase and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the employees. In decades I think , maybe I have met one less than super nice employee and many are just delightful. And that keeps me coming back. I’ve had attendants dress up as Elvis and SING on the way to Mc Carran ( now Harry Reid). I’ve had one time a guy doing the safety instruction announcement start to literally say, ” Bla, bla, Bla..bla bla bla …” ! Then, ” Just checking to see if you are paying attention. :0)
And I used to have a joke for them as we boarded ( back in the day of Peanuts), and would ask,
” How come when I order my Champaign and Filet Mignon it always taste like peanuts and ginger” ale?
One time in repsonse an attendant tore out a picture of a steak dinner and served it to me ! Along with a side of peanuts !