GusGus16
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2018
Not all done with getting things back in order for tomorrow but thought I would take a little break and post about my 5 night/6 day Texas trip.
Use of points:
-Flights-Southwest using my CP.
Arrival to Dallas 6,458 RR's +$5.6 taxes. Cash price for the flight was $127. Redemption value 1.9c/point with the CP (+additional $5.6 taxes) 3.9c/pt.
Departure from Austin 6,095 RR's +$5.6 taxes. Cash price 135. Redemption value 2.2c/point with the CP (+additional %5.6 taxes) 4.4c/pt.
-Hotels
The first three nights were in Marriott properties.
Fairfield Waco South 17,500 pts and $167. With a redemption value of 0.95c/pt. A basic hotel mainly booked for the location and we did all the Magnolia stuff the next day. It overall was clean and a good redemption value. Has free breakfast which we did not partake.
Westin Downtown Austin (nights 2&3). 1st night used my 35,000 cert and 2nd night used my 50,000 cert. The hotel was 35,000 and I believe that is the standard redemption. 1st night cash rate was $293 with value of 0.83c/pt. It is a very good redemption value for the 35,000 cert, excellent location in downtown austin, with a rooftop deck with pool. No resort fee, but they will get you for parking, only option is valet for $49 a night. 2nd night cash rate was $283 and using my 50,000 cert value was 0.566c/pt. I used my 50,000 cert because I had no other plans for the cert at this time, and I wanted to stay in downtown austin and not pay >$200 a night somewhere else. I'm also all out of Marriott points and as the above demonstrates it does not make sense to transfer URs. Despite this, the redemption value was overall ok. The 50,000 cert is from the SPG lux, and the hotel was definitively worth the $150 from the AF.
The last two nights were at Miraval Austin, which is an adult only wellness resort. It is part of Hyatt. Miraval is a all inclusive resort (except alcohol) and includes many activities. This was booked by transferring UR's to Hyatt. You can book single occupancy for 45,000 and add a guest for 20,000, so 65,000 a night. In total I spent 130,000 UR's for these two nights. The resort is expensive and cash rate would have been $2,667 for the stay (without the taxes and additional fees). Redemption value 2c/pt. In addition to the included food and activities, each guests gets $175 resort credit per night. So we used this for a 100 minute massage and to try an ariel yoga class. Out of pocket for the little bit of overage for the the not included activities mainly the tax was less than $50. They also have a complimentary shuttle to and from the austin airport. There is a no tipping policy which is awesome. As well as a cell phone policy and it is suggested you keep your cell phone in its sleeping bag throughout your stay.
We packed our stay with activities at Miraval doing the included climbing wall, ropes course, cardio drumming, a couple mediation classes, and some time by the pool. Lots of activities that we didn't get to try. The food was good, lots of options and focus whole foods as well as options for vegetarian, vegan and gluten free diets. I was really looking forward to the Miraval stay, and I overall enjoyed it, but would be hesitant to recommend it and definitively is not worth the cash price of the resort. Mainly coming down to several lapses of communication at the resort and at times poor service. The beds which they brag about were just too soft for me with the down mattress pad on them. I'm interested in visiting their Arizona resort as it seems like with reviews people generally report some service problems which have been attributed to overall newness, so maybe in a few years it will be better.
Those are the highlights of what is related to credit card points. I did rent a vehicle to make the drive from Dallas to Austin and had it for 3 nights, that was the most expensive thing cash wise. We did a lot of sight seeing in Dallas and toured the AT&T stadium. Waco was focused on Magnolia. Austin is really an amazing city and we visited the LBJ Presidential Library, hiked, ate BBQ, and saw the trail of lights.
Use of points:
-Flights-Southwest using my CP.
Arrival to Dallas 6,458 RR's +$5.6 taxes. Cash price for the flight was $127. Redemption value 1.9c/point with the CP (+additional $5.6 taxes) 3.9c/pt.
Departure from Austin 6,095 RR's +$5.6 taxes. Cash price 135. Redemption value 2.2c/point with the CP (+additional %5.6 taxes) 4.4c/pt.
-Hotels
The first three nights were in Marriott properties.
Fairfield Waco South 17,500 pts and $167. With a redemption value of 0.95c/pt. A basic hotel mainly booked for the location and we did all the Magnolia stuff the next day. It overall was clean and a good redemption value. Has free breakfast which we did not partake.
Westin Downtown Austin (nights 2&3). 1st night used my 35,000 cert and 2nd night used my 50,000 cert. The hotel was 35,000 and I believe that is the standard redemption. 1st night cash rate was $293 with value of 0.83c/pt. It is a very good redemption value for the 35,000 cert, excellent location in downtown austin, with a rooftop deck with pool. No resort fee, but they will get you for parking, only option is valet for $49 a night. 2nd night cash rate was $283 and using my 50,000 cert value was 0.566c/pt. I used my 50,000 cert because I had no other plans for the cert at this time, and I wanted to stay in downtown austin and not pay >$200 a night somewhere else. I'm also all out of Marriott points and as the above demonstrates it does not make sense to transfer URs. Despite this, the redemption value was overall ok. The 50,000 cert is from the SPG lux, and the hotel was definitively worth the $150 from the AF.
The last two nights were at Miraval Austin, which is an adult only wellness resort. It is part of Hyatt. Miraval is a all inclusive resort (except alcohol) and includes many activities. This was booked by transferring UR's to Hyatt. You can book single occupancy for 45,000 and add a guest for 20,000, so 65,000 a night. In total I spent 130,000 UR's for these two nights. The resort is expensive and cash rate would have been $2,667 for the stay (without the taxes and additional fees). Redemption value 2c/pt. In addition to the included food and activities, each guests gets $175 resort credit per night. So we used this for a 100 minute massage and to try an ariel yoga class. Out of pocket for the little bit of overage for the the not included activities mainly the tax was less than $50. They also have a complimentary shuttle to and from the austin airport. There is a no tipping policy which is awesome. As well as a cell phone policy and it is suggested you keep your cell phone in its sleeping bag throughout your stay.
We packed our stay with activities at Miraval doing the included climbing wall, ropes course, cardio drumming, a couple mediation classes, and some time by the pool. Lots of activities that we didn't get to try. The food was good, lots of options and focus whole foods as well as options for vegetarian, vegan and gluten free diets. I was really looking forward to the Miraval stay, and I overall enjoyed it, but would be hesitant to recommend it and definitively is not worth the cash price of the resort. Mainly coming down to several lapses of communication at the resort and at times poor service. The beds which they brag about were just too soft for me with the down mattress pad on them. I'm interested in visiting their Arizona resort as it seems like with reviews people generally report some service problems which have been attributed to overall newness, so maybe in a few years it will be better.
Those are the highlights of what is related to credit card points. I did rent a vehicle to make the drive from Dallas to Austin and had it for 3 nights, that was the most expensive thing cash wise. We did a lot of sight seeing in Dallas and toured the AT&T stadium. Waco was focused on Magnolia. Austin is really an amazing city and we visited the LBJ Presidential Library, hiked, ate BBQ, and saw the trail of lights.
There were a lot of changes in enrollment this year - a ton of moves up and down. 5A WPIAL is the most solid district/class in the state in my opinion. Tons of great teams! I’m looking forward to some more local rivalries budding in our area with SF, USC, BP, and West A!
