Spring Break in Arizona Using Miles and Points!

Who doesn't enjoy a getaway trip during Spring break week?  Armed with a new signup credit card bonus from Southwest Airlines and a good number of Ultimate Rewards points from Chase, I researched high and low about where we should go.

 The choice this year for Spring break travel was Sedona and Flagstaff, Arizona! I researched the average temps for early April and saw they were generally in the 60 degree range.  Sounds great compared to the generally cold, rainy weather of our home in the northeast.

Sedona, Mescal Trail View

I set an alarm for the day that Southwest Air flights opened for the end of March/ early April, seeing that my usual experience was that it would be cheaper to buy tickets earlier when they were offered vs later. So, on August 3rd, the plane tickets were purchased, including Early bird check in. For 34,000 points each round trip x 3. A very good deal, in my opinion.  Total other cost was $133 for taxes/EBCI.  Ok, step one done in our vacation plan!

Sedona, Mescal Trail View

Next step, book the hotel. I am a fan of Hyatt stays since the redemption from Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt is often a fantastic deal. I found a brand new Hyatt Place in Flagstaff set to open in December of 2023 for 9,500 points per night, including free breakfast!  Booked it for our stay and we were set. 

View of the Grand Canyon.

About four months later, the original direct flight I had booked from Buffalo, NY to Phoenix, AZ was cancelled and we were rebooked to connecting flights. Besides a longer travel time, our Early Bird Check In position on the new flights got pushed back into the B boarding group. (I'm currently working on an article about whether buying Early Bird Check In is worth the extra cost.)  

Fast forward to the end of March, with our departure date of March 30 quickly approaching!  The weather forecast showed cold, snow and rain. Not appealing to me. About a week before we were scheduled to leave, I wanted to cancel with the miserable weather forecast. Then the weather forecast started to improve after the first two days, showing 60's and sunshine for days 3-5.  Ok, we could go and just deal with the cold of the first two days. 

Sedona, View from the Mescal Trail.

We arrived in Phoenix, got our rental car (you have to get on a train to get to the rental car area), and started the two hour drive north to Flagstaff. It was warm and dry but a winter storm was predicted for the night! We arrived at the hotel while the roads were still dry. 

The next morning, we woke up to about 5 inches of snow on the ground!  We're from Buffalo, NY, so snow is something we're used to dealing with. We planned to stay in Flagstaff for the day, and they do actually have snowplows and use them. 

It was fun to see kids at the hotel playing in snow for the first time! 

View from our hotel room in Flagstaff .

The second day's weather was cold (40's), rain and wind. We planned to get our first visit to Sedona and do a guided tour. I booked this through the Chase portal and used Ultimate Reward points. It was a good tour and a great introduction to the city we had traveled so far to see! 

Our first day in Sedona, cold but still beautiful.

For our third day, we chose a trail to hike in Sedona. The weather had improved to 60's and sunny. We drove to the Sedona Shuttle bus pick up to take us to the Mescal  Mountain Trail. We had to wait about 45 minutes to get on one of the shuttle busses, but it was worth the wait!  We were looking for a trail that might not be terribly busy and not an extreme level of elevation. Mescal was both of those plus had spectacular views!

Sedona, View from the Mescal Trail

For our fourth day, we headed north to the Grand Canyon National Park. Along with many, many other people. I think we waited about an hour to get into the park. We had to find a parking lot with spaces available and get on a shuttle bus to get to the South Kaibab trail.

View from The South Kaibab Trail at Grand Canyon.

 We had intentions of hiking down to Ooh Aah Point, almost a mile down, but my fear of heights took over, and I think we only went down about half a mile.  Plus, there is over 600 feet of elevation coming back up the trail. That was enough for me. 

I feel fortunate to have seen The Grand Canyon, but I think we would have enjoyed another day in Sedona instead. My opinion. 

For our final day before returning to Phoenix to fly home, we drove through Jerome and Camp Verde. 

Using points for our flights and hotel saved us around $2300.  We paid for our rental car, food and gas. 

Now to decide our next destination...... Maybe a kayaking adventure in Florida?