HOW TO VISIT NEW YORK CITY WITH MILES AND POINTS
One of our favorite cities to visit in the United States is New York City. It’s actually our favorite place to visit over the holidays. But staying in NYC isn’t cheap at all. Trying to find a three to four star hotel for under $300 a night is hard to do unless you want to stay across the bridge in New Jersey (which we actually did the first time we visited). Thank goodness for miles and points we have been able to visit NYC over the holidays three times for nearly free right in the heart of the city.
HOW WE BOOKED OUR FLIGHTS
Award prices for flights to NY were super high last year. I’m talking over 60k points to fly from Dallas to New York. That’s enough for a round-trip flight to Europe. Even this year prices are inflated compared to when we visited in 2019. If you’re paying with cash or points, the key is to book as early as possible. There are three airports that you can fly into to visit NYC. I always check all three for pricing: Newark, NJ (EWR), La Guardia (LGA) and JFK airport.
We have points in just about every travel rewards program that you can think of, so we have plenty of options when it comes to booking. Even so, the first place I check for flights is Google Flights. I only enter my departure city and NYC (all airports) and I do not enter a date. I let the price of flights guide me on my dates. We try to visit over my daughter’s holiday break from school, so we have a little flexibility.
After checking cash flights on Google Flights, I check every airline that I have points with. The standard award price for a roundtrip domestic flight is about 12.5k points each way. I won’t pay more in points than this. Southwest Airlines varies and can run higher or lower than this. Don’t forget to check British Airways (a Chase transfer partner) if you live a short distance from NYC. Their award prices are distance based and oftentimes are lower than you’ll find with American Airlines.
We were able to find award prices under 25k AA miles roundtrip and booked three flights on points with fees under $30. My husband has AAdvantage status which means we can choose Main Cabin Extra seats for free and priority boarding.
WHERE WE STAYED
Options are endless when it comes to award stays in Manhattan. Every single hotel chain has multiple properties here ranging from budget to luxury, so the choice is really yours when it comes to booking a hotel in New York City. We base our booking on award price, location and perks that come with having status.
Sheraton New York Times Square
We have stayed here three times so far on separate trips. This hotel isn’t fancy and could do with some updates, but we love the location, and we love the price. The hotel is located in midtown Manhattan, just a few blocks north of Times Square and south of Central Park. The hotel is located within walking distance to almost everything. There’s a subway stop right on the corner which makes it so convenient to reach other parts of the city. It’s one of the less expensive points options in NYC during peak holiday season too which you know how we like to stretch our miles.
We stayed three nights for almost free by using a combination of points and free night certificates. At just 50k Marriott points a night, this place is a steal. Cash rates are over $450 a night over the holidays so we saved over $1300 by using points. This hotel charges a ‘daily destination’ fee of $30 (as do most hotels in NYC) but includes a daily $30 food and beverage credit to offset that which can be used in one of their two restaurants.
HOW WE EARNED MARRIOTT POINTS
Just one credit card sign up bonus is all you need to earn enough points for three free nights in New York City at the Sheraton NY Times Square. Want to stay longer? Have your Player Two apply for the same card and you’ll get six free nights in New York City at this property. This past Spring, Marriott changed to dynamic award pricing which means that award night prices increase during peak periods. Keep this in mind when booking your room.
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card: (click Category>Hotel). This Earn 3 Free Nights (each valued up to 50,000 points) after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from your account opening. Annual Fee: $95. The three free night certificates are awarded as three 50k point certificates that must be used within 12 months and can be topped off with up to 15k points (example: if the room you want to book is 52k points a night, you can use your free night certificate plus 2k points). Don’t forget that if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can top off your Marriott account with points. I only recommend doing this if you need to top off your Marriott account with a couple thousand points as it’s not a good value to transfer 50k Chase points to Marriott.
While there are multiple Marriott properties in NYC. This hotel prices out as close to 50k a night than any other Marriott. On our first visit to NYC in 2019, we booked this property for just 35k points a night. Higher end Marriott properties run about 60k-70k points a night.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Hyatt Grand Central NY: You can book a room here for just 23k Hyatt points a night. Standard nightly rate in December is $439/night. We love this location and if you have Hyatt status, it makes sense to stay at a Hyatt property for the suite upgrade and free breakfast/lounge access.
Hyatt Centric Times Square: This hotel books for over $700 a night over the holidays, but if you have Hyatt or Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you can book this for just 25k points a night. Incredible! It has a great location in Times Square. I love that it has two queen beds (instead of two double beds). You can book with Hyatt points or transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt to book.
Thompson Central Park NY: Hotel located in a fantastic location near Central Park with great views. Award nights start at 29k points here for a room with two double beds. Standard cash rate is $679 a night.
Park Hyatt New York: If you’re looking for something a little more luxurious, book a room at the Park Hyatt New York. The rooms here book for close to $1,000 a night in peak season, and you can book for just 40k Hyatt points a night.
You can earn Hyatt points from the following cards:
The World of Hyatt Credit Card: (click: Category>hotel) -While I love my Chase Hyatt card (for the annual free night certificate) and I’ve had the card for over six years, you’ll earn more Hyatt points from the Chase Sapphire card sign up bonus below.
The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card: (click: Category>hotel) -Earn 60,000 points after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. Annual Fee: $199. Remember, any type of side hustle where you provide a service in exchange for money is considered a business (like driving for Uber, reselling items on Facebook Marketplace/eBay, walking dogs, blogging, etc.)
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Annual Fee: $95. Because the Chase Sapphire earns flexible (transferable points) you can transfer points to Hyatt to book rooms. This is one of my favorite ways to earn Hyatt points.
FINAL THOUGHTS
New York City is a prime example of a trip that would be out of reach for many families due to the high cost of lodging. Being able to use miles and points to off-set the highest cost of travel (flights and hotel) means fulfilling that dream of visiting New York during Christmas is truly possible.
Happy Travels!
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