Relearning Las Vegas

Most trips are about relaxation or sightseeing, but this one actually had many different types of goals.

• Experiment with working on the road.
• Try out more Vegas hotels.
• Expand my casino status.
• Get Hyatt Globalist.
• See Death Valley.

Flights

While there are many great ways to get to Hawaii, I had a mountain of American Airlines miles and quick search via SeatSpy revealed they had plenty of availability.

110,000 miles each way $4000

Wifi on the flight wasn’t good but it largely worked. American allows you to purchase it in-flight but if you buy a one month subscription it will trigger the American Express airline incidental credit.

Alternatives

• Fly United economy with 15,000 Turkish miles.
• Delta business with Virgin Atlantic.

Accommodations

There’s no better way to book Hawaii than with Vacasa using Wyndham points. It’s just 15,000 points per night for a one bedroom, many of which have multiple rooms with beds. Best of all, while you might need to book an award stay at Hyatt six months out, I had six great condos to choose from two weeks out.

https://www.vacasa.com/unit/65036

With my 10% discount from the Wyndham Business Earner, I was able to get a 1000sqft three bed top floor loft condo in a Kihei resort, just across the street from the beach.

Getting Around

When it comes to renting a car, Hawaii has lots of choices. You have the main agencies like Hertz, National, and Budget. Then there are smaller ma and pops like X where you can get more unusual cars like a mini. Lastly there’s a ton of folks on Turo renting out their own cars or running a mini rental agency.

I was late to the game and went with Hertz, leveraging a 30% cash back offer from the Capital One Shopping portal and using the primary rental coverage from my Sapphire Reserve.

Had I not done that, I probably would have picked the best rate on AutoSlash, a rental comparison tool that helps find the best prices.

The smart move would have been to rent a car

Bus

MGM