Friday, May 3, 2013

A summer weekend in Chicago for $10

A reader nicknamed “Tickles” requested WenneTravel to find a trip to Chicago this summer for a weekend. He wants to go July 18 to 21. Here is our itinerary:

DC to Chicago
Chicago to DC

And the credit cards we’ll be signing up for:

Chase United MileagePlus Explorer
30,000 miles after $1,000 spend in 3 months
$0 annual fee first year

American Express Starwood
25,000 points after $5,000 spend in 6 months
No annual fee first year

Total Miles: 31,000
Total Hotel Points: 30,000
Total Cost: $0

Flights

Because United has a huge hub in Chicago, there are many flights there from most big cities in the country. There are more than 10 from Washington Reagan alone. Unfortunately on a Thursday, which is a huge day for business travel, there is no saver award availability:



Lucky for us, United shows its partners’ availability on their site as well. US Airways doesn’t have any nonstop seats available, but there are a couple reasonable itineraries:



Depending on when Tickles can leave work, he can either fly US Air at 515pm for 12,500 miles, or United at 745pm for 10,000 miles. Leaving on Sunday may be a little more difficult unfortunately:



730am is a little brutal after a fun Saturday night on the town. What about a one-stopper?



1030am is significantly better. Unfortunately we can’t leave after that, but this will have to do. For this price I’m happy to sleep on the plane.

Total Miles Used: 20,000
Total Cost so Far: $10

Hotels

Starwood has more than its fair share of hotels in Chicago. For 10,000 points a night we can stay at a couple hotels that are normally pretty expensive:



Not bad for a kid from Beantown! That Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers looks pretty darn nice. Let’s do it.

Total Points Used: 30,000
Total Cost so Far: $10

Three nights in Chicago for $10 is a steal.

Here’s a look at the actual price for flights and this hotel on the same days:

Flights



$286 (this is nonstop though)

Hotel
$960 ($286 per night plus taxes)

Total Savings: $1,236

Need help thinking about the right credit cards for you, or how to book this kind of trip? Head over to www.wennecorp.com and we’d be happy to chat with you.

Credit Card Links

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