Tonya, my wife, and I spent our Christmas trip in NYC in 2024, and we used credit card points and miles to cover a big chunk of the cost. Here is exactly how much we saved and how we did it.
Tonya and I were able to save over $500 on our round trip flights (4 one way tickets total for the two of us). We also saved $1,200 on our 3 night stay at the Hyatt Herald Square by using credit card points and miles instead of paying cash.
Here is exactly how we did it.
Flights to New York City
We used 9,000 miles total through the Alaska Mileage Plan (now Atmos Rewards), 4,500 miles per ticket, to book our flights to New York City on American Airlines. Alaska Airlines allows you to book American Airlines flights, often for fewer points than booking through American Airlines for short haul flights. We paid a total of just over $36 in taxes and fees for the two flights.
The one way flights would have been $150 each if paying with cash. Both of these redemptions were excellent, since we got just over 2.9 cents per point in value on each one.
Flights Home
We used an additional 9,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points total, 4,500 points per ticket, transferred to Virgin Atlantic to book our flights home on Delta. Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club program lets you book seats on Delta flights, often for fewer points than booking directly through Delta would cost.
We paid just over $11 total in taxes and fees for both flights together. Each one way flight would have cost $125 per ticket. This redemption also landed us over 2.6 cents per point.
Our Hotel Stay
We used a total of 69,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book our 3 night stay at the Hyatt Herald Square. The cash price for the 3 night stay would have been $1,200. This redemption was solid, getting us about 1.7 cents per point.
We didn’t pay anything out of pocket for our hotel stay. All taxes and fees were covered, since it was a points stay.
At the time of this booking, we would have gotten 1.25 cents per point if we booked the stay through the Chase Travel Portal. So, if we booked the hotel through the portal it would have cost us 96,000 points. We saved 27,000 points by transferring the points to Hyatt and booking it directly with them.
Hyatt and the Chase Sapphire Preferred have both devalued their programs since we booked this stay. Chase cut the Hyatt transfer ratio from 1:1 to 4:3, and Hyatt moved from three pricing tiers to five. Many award stays now cost more points than they used to. If you had the Sapphire Preferred before June 15, 2026, you can still lock in the old 1:1 transfer rate until October 1, 2026. I break down whether the card is still worth it in my post about the benefits of the card.
Planning the Rest of Your Trip
Planning the rest of your NYC Christmas trip? I put together a complete 4 day NYC Christmas itinerary covering where to stay, how to get around, what to see each day, and how Tonya and I kept costs down throughout.
New to Points and Miles?
Points and miles can be intimidating to understand and use. Read my beginner’s guide for earning and using credit card points and miles. It will take the guesswork out of earning and using them for your travel.
In the post, you’ll find out what points and miles are, how to get started with them, types of credit card points, best beginner cards to consider, and ways that points and miles can transform your travel.
Over the years, I have learned that people don’t know how to transfer credit card points to airline and hotel partners. If that describes you, make sure to read my post about how you can transfer points from credit cards to travel partners. This one thing will help you save more of your money and get better value from your points.
The Cards That Made This Possible
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great travel credit card. It is the card that I recommend the most for people who are wanting to get into credit card points. It has a nice large sign up bonus, excellent transfer partners, fantastic travel protections, and other valuable perks. Read my full Chase Sapphire Preferred review to see all of the perks that come with the card and how to use them.
This is my referral link, I’ll earn bonus points if you’re approved, at no cost to you: Apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
For the flights to New York, we used miles from the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard, which now fall under Alaska Mileage Plan since the two airlines merged their loyalty programs. I get into the full details on that further down in the FAQ.
Common Questions About Using Points for a NYC Christmas Trip
It depends on the hotel and the redemption, but for our 3 night stay at the Hyatt Herald Square, we used 69,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points. That works out to roughly 23,000 points a night. Rates can run higher during Christmas week since demand is at its peak. You need to budget for more points than you’d need visiting NYC at a quieter time of year.
Yes, but it takes a little planning ahead of time. The trip that saved us $1,700 wasn’t our first time using points. The actual steps of earning a sign up bonus, transferring points to a partner, and booking the redemption, are things any beginner can do. If you’re just getting started, check out my beginner’s guide to credit card points and miles to see exactly where to begin.
A simple way to judge a redemption is by figuring out the cents per point you’re getting. At the time of our booking Chase valued its own points at 1.25 cents through its travel portal, so I used that as my baseline.
On our hotel stay, we got about 1.7 cents per point, and on our flights we got nearly 2.8 cents per point. It is always good to check the portal but in most cases you are going to get better value by transferring your points to a travel partner.
You don’t need one specific card, but you do need one that earns a transferable currency like Chase Ultimate Rewards, since that’s what let us book our hotel and one set of our flights.
We also used miles that started as HawaiianMiles, earned through the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard. We transferred them into the Alaska Mileage Plan, now Atmos Rewards, since the two programs merged. That’s a separate path from Chase Ultimate Rewards, not something you transfer Chase points into.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the card I recommend most to people getting started. It earns Ultimate Rewards points and gives you access to the same transfer partners we used on this trip. Read my full Chase Sapphire Preferred review to see if it’s the right fit for you.
Final Thoughts
Saving $1,700 on a Christmas trip to NYC wasn’t luck. It came down to earning a sign up bonus, transferring those points to the right partner, and booking the redemption before prices climbed for the holidays.
We didn’t do it with one single card. Our hotel came from transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Our flights used a mix of that same transfer and miles earned directly through a cobranded Hawaiian Airlines card.
Both approaches work, transferable points give you more flexibility across partners, while cobranded miles are often easier to earn quickly if you already fly one airline often.
If you’re just getting started, my beginner’s guide to credit card points and miles walks through exactly where to begin.
