A Four Day Weekend in Northern California for $100

February 05, 2014

This past weekend I took a trip to San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, California. The flight, hotels and rental car only cost me $100 total and it could have ended up being a lot less! I used American Airlines miles to fly from New Orleans to San Francisco. This usually costs 25,000 miles and $10 in taxes and fees if you book before 21 days of departure. Also, if you have a Citibank American Air credit card you receive a 10% refund of points used. So it only "cost" me 22,500 points to take this flight. I didn't book before 21 days of departure so I had to pay a $75 late fee to book, which is a bummer, bringing my total amount paid for the flight to $85. Still not bad at all for a flight that would normally cost anywhere from $300-500+ depending on when you go and when you book.

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

For my hotel rooms, I used Marriott reward points that I earned from my Chase Marriott credit card. I stayed my first night in Rancho Cordova which is just east of Sacramento for just 15,000 points. This hotel would have cost me around $100 if I were to pay cash. While in South Lake Tahoe I used 60,000 points for two nights at the Marriott Timber Lodge which is in the perfect location. The price for two nights here would have cost me $500 easy. Using points was definitely the way to go! Right outside the hotel are shops and restaurants and just a short walk away from a supermarket. It is also right next to the Heavenly Gondola which takes you up to the ski slopes. They have a pool in the middle of the property and they keep the water at 85 degrees which is very nice. They also have four hot tubs which is very relaxing after a day of tearing up the slopes.

View of Alpine Building and pool area

I next used Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book my car rental. The rental price for four days was around $150. I used 5,500 points plus $15 instead. I could have used all points and it would have been around 7,800 points. This brought my total to $100 spent out of pocket and it very well could have only been $10 for the taxes and fees for the flight. Even still, $100 to travel to and from California, three nights in a hotel and a rental car is not bad at all and you could do it as well.