The 2024-2025 ski season is nearly upon us. Large-name U.S. resorts like those in Vail, Colorado; Park Metropolis, Utah; and round Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border are slated to open in mid-November, and Colorado’s Wolf Creek Ski Space is already open because of an October snowstorm. Which means now is a good time to start out planning (and budgeting for) a winter getaway.
Even a budget-conscious ski journey can simply price between $200 and $500 per particular person, per day while you embrace carry tickets, gear leases, meals, lodging and transportation. Tack on some non-public ski classes, flights or a splurge on fancy lodging, and that complete can shortly multiply.
Nevertheless, your subsequent journey to the mountain does not have to empty 1000’s of {dollars} out of your checking account. The truth is, you possibly can pay for a lot of your ski journey utilizing factors and miles. Here is how.
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Guide flights in your ski journey with factors and miles
Flights are one of many largest bills when taking a ski journey — and one of many best methods to get monetary savings by utilizing factors and miles.
You probably have a stash of airline factors or miles or a bank card that earns transferable factors or miles, you possibly can e-book award flights instantly by means of airways. You may often discover the perfect offers both on the final minute (when lodge costs is probably not equally low cost) or far upfront, so we advocate beginning your search early. Most airways provide some kind of calendar function, permitting you to see which dates have the perfect costs.
Listed here are some nice choices we discovered.
*Be aware costs have been correct on the time of publishing.
Flights to mountain airports
There are two methods for flying to a ski vacation spot. The primary is to fly right into a small airport that is near the slopes. That is very handy when every thing goes easily, however take into account that you are much less prone to discover a nonstop flight to those smaller airports and extra prone to see your flight get delayed or canceled resulting from unpredictable mountain climate. A couple of years in the past, TPG’s Summer time Hull was caught in Aspen, Colorado, for days resulting from a snowstorm (fortunately, she had built-in journey insurance coverage through her Chase Sapphire Reserve®).
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Additionally, seats on these flights might be fairly expensive, particularly on weekends or holidays throughout peak ski season. However there are some improbable award offers on the market that may enable you to get to your favourite ski slope for (virtually) free.
As an illustration, United Airways persistently presents Saver awards from many U.S. cities to high ski locations for 15,000 MileagePlus miles (plus $5.60 in taxes and charges) every approach.
You may typically get these flights for much less by reserving them by means of Turkish Airways’ Miles&Smiles program or Avianca LifeMiles as a substitute. On this case, the very same United flight from Boston Logan Worldwide Airport (BOS) to Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) prices solely 12,500 LifeMiles (plus 51,351 Colombian pesos, or about $12) every approach.
American Airways has January flights to Jackson Gap Airport (JAC) in Wyoming from East Coast airports like Miami Worldwide Airport (MIA) and Charlotte Douglas Worldwide Airport (CLT) starting from 8,500 to 11,000 American Airways AAdvantage miles and $5.60 in taxes and charges every approach. It additionally has loads of award house for flights from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport (ATL) and Dulles Worldwide Airport (IAD) close to Washington, D.C., for under 6,000 miles every approach. That is an incredible deal for flights that price roughly $200 to $400 one-way, supplying you with a worth of over 3 cents per mile. (AAdvantage miles are price 1.6 cents every, per TPG’s November 2024 valuations.)
Alaska Airways Mileage Plan has open award house to Vail’s Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE) from main airports like Chicago’s O’Hare Worldwide Airport (ORD), Minneapolis-St. Paul Worldwide Airport (MSP) and Seattle-Tacoma Worldwide Airport (SEA) for under 7,500 miles and round $20 in taxes and charges every approach. Since these flights price upward of $400 every approach, that provides you a wonderful worth of over 5 cents per mile.
Southwest Airways does not fly to a ton of smaller ski locations, nevertheless it does serve Yampa Valley Regional Airport (HDN) in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. For instance, you would fly from Houston’s William P. Interest Airport (HOU) to HDN for underneath 10,000 Southwest Fast Rewards factors every approach this January — and when you maintain the sought-after Companion Cross, you would carry a cherished one for simply the price of taxes and charges. You may additionally get two free checked baggage, which is very useful when touring with ski gear.
Most airways aren’t so beneficiant in relation to baggage, however having an airline cobranded bank card will typically get you at the least one free checked bag.
Flights to bigger airports
You could select to fly into a bigger airport, even when it is a bit farther from the slopes. Some frequent ones embrace Denver Worldwide Airport (DEN), Salt Lake Metropolis Worldwide Airport (SLC) and Reno-Tahoe Worldwide Airport (RNO), relying on the place you are planning to ski. This offers you extra choices in relation to flights and doubtlessly higher award pricing.
As an illustration, you possibly can fly to Denver on Delta Air Strains this upcoming ski season for underneath 10,000 SkyMiles every approach from locations like Seattle (5,500 miles), Minneapolis (6,500 miles), Chicago (7,000 miles) and Boston (9,500 miles). United is at present providing flights to Reno from New York Metropolis ranging from 13,300 MileagePlus miles every approach or from Seattle ranging from 10,100 miles one-way. As for American, the service has award house to Salt Lake Metropolis from Miami, Dallas and Charleston, South Carolina, for round 10,000 AAdvantage miles every approach.
Since Southwest does not serve many of the smaller mountain airports, flying into a much bigger airport will give Southwest loyalists way more choices to make use of their Fast Rewards factors, Companion Cross or bank card perks.
The draw back of this method is that you’ll have to organize journey from the airport to your vacation spot. Fortunately, many ski locations provide shuttle providers and public transportation choices, and there are a number of methods to e-book rental automobiles with factors or miles — we’ll cowl these in additional element later.
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Bank card portals and perks
When researching flights, do not overlook bank card journey reserving platforms, the place you possibly can redeem factors for flights at a flat price. As an illustration, many Capital One cardholders can get 1 cent per mile on Capital One Journey purchases, whereas these with the Chase Sapphire Most well-liked® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve can get 1.25 or 1.5 cents per level, respectively, utilizing the Chase Journey℠ portal.
On this case, the fee in factors or miles correlates to the money value of a flight. For those who discover a low cost flight to your ski vacation spot, this may very well be a good way to e-book it with factors or miles. And since airways sometimes code these flights as paid income flights, you will doubtless nonetheless earn airline factors or miles on them.
You may also select to e-book a flight in money after which redeem your factors or miles for an announcement credit score to cowl the acquisition. For instance, the Capital One Enterprise X Rewards Credit score Card presents a price of 1 cent per mile whereas permitting you to benefit from bank card perks like journey cancellation and interruption.
Remember to benefit from different card advantages, both. Airline playing cards typically present free checked baggage or boarding upgrades. Some playing cards provide money again (within the type of an announcement credit score) on airline incidental purchases; for instance, The Platinum Card® from American Categorical supplies an annual (as much as) $200 assertion credit score towards airline incidental charges (enrollment is required). You should use this to cowl checked baggage charges (which may actually add up on a household ski journey) or pay for seat assignments to make sure your group can sit collectively.
Merely holding sure playing cards can get you precious reductions on award flights. For instance, Delta’s TakeOff 15 function provides many eligible Delta cobranded cardholders a 15% low cost on flights booked with Delta SkyMiles, whereas the United Quest℠ Card supplies two 5,000-mile rebates on award flights annually.
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Guide lodges in your ski journey with factors and miles
For those who’re a frequent skier, you already understand how expensive on-mountain lodging might be throughout ski season. The excellent news is that many of those lodges belong to main loyalty applications like Hilton Honors, World of Hyatt and Marriott Bonvoy, that means you should use your hard-earned factors and miles and free night time certificates to slash the price of your ski journey.
Even higher, most of those lodges’ websites provide a calendar function that can assist you discover the perfect charges and dates in your wintry trip. Listed here are some offers we have discovered at the most well-liked applications.
*Be aware costs have been correct on the time of publishing.
Hilton Honors
For those who’re a Hilton loyalist, there are various choices for redeeming your Honors Honors factors at lodges at or close to ski resorts. With the Hilton Honors program, there is not any set award chart. As a substitute, the lodge operates utilizing dynamic pricing, besides for traditional room rewards. Every lodge has a variety for the variety of factors it prices per night time for traditional room rewards that you’ll find utilizing Hilton’s Factors Explorer software.
Though you possibly can count on most dates throughout ski season to fall underneath peak pricing and thus have the very best award charges, there are some cheap choices on the market. For instance, the Hampton Inn & Suites South Lake Tahoe runs between 47,000 and 70,000 factors per night time in January.
Since these are customary room rewards, these with a Hilton Honors American Categorical Surpass® Card (after spending $15,000 in a calendar 12 months) or a Hilton Honors American Categorical Aspire Card might theoretically use a free night time reward — however we would not advocate it. These certificates are extraordinarily precious as a result of you should use them for any customary room reward price as much as 150,000 factors. You are higher off utilizing your free night time at a property just like the Waldorf Astoria Park Metropolis, which prices 110,000 factors for the standard room reward. Money charges there throughout ski season recurrently climb to properly over $1,000 per night time.
The knowledge for the Hilton Honors American Categorical Aspire Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.
Like a lot of Hilton’s ski properties, the Waldorf Astoria Park Metropolis is assessed as a resort by Hilton, that means Aspire cardholders can use their semiannual (as much as) $200 Hilton resort assertion credit score there. Different Hilton ski resorts embrace the DoubleTree by Hilton Lodge Breckenridge, the Hilton Trip Membership Lake Tahoe Resort South, the Homewood Suites by Hilton Mont-Tremblant Resort and the Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa.
Hilton presents a number of cobranded bank cards to fast-track your Honors factors. Many of those present elite standing, which not solely provides you perks throughout your keep but additionally means that you can e-book a fifth night time free with factors.
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World of Hyatt
World of Hyatt is a standard lodge program amongst vacationers, partially as a result of it nonetheless makes use of an award chart — which may end up in some improbable Hyatt redemptions.
Whereas the top-notch ski resorts will sometimes require between 25,000 and 45,000 World of Hyatt factors per night time, there are a couple of hidden gems in this system. For instance, Hyatt Place Keystone / Dillon and Hyatt Place Park Metropolis are each Class 4 properties, that means they price solely 18,000 factors per night time on peak dates. For these with the World of Hyatt Credit score Card, this can be a nice alternative to make use of your annual Hyatt Class 1-4 free night time certificates.
You may typically get essentially the most worth out of your factors at higher-category properties. As an illustration, the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley is a Class 6 property, that means peak dates will set you again 29,000 factors per night time. Money charges common round $1,300 throughout ski season, supplying you with a worth of roughly 4.5 cents per level — properly over TPG’s November 2024 valuation of 1.7 cents every for World of Hyatt factors.
When checking award charges at a person lodge, click on “Factors Calendar” to see which dates are most cost-effective. Though most dates throughout ski season are likely to fall underneath “peak” pricing, chances are you’ll get fortunate.
One main advantage of utilizing your factors at Hyatt properties is that resort charges are waived on award stays. Parking charges are additionally waived for Globalist members, even on paid reservations.
Associated: World of Hyatt elite standing: What it’s and how one can earn it
Marriott Bonvoy
If an annual ski trip is in your future, you will most likely need to begin incomes factors inside the Marriott Bonvoy program ASAP. That is as a result of it presents the best variety of ski-friendly properties throughout out west and past. There’s every thing from high-end ski-in, ski-out resorts to extra budget-friendly properties not too removed from the primary ski villages.
Marriott now makes use of dynamic pricing, and ski season typically interprets to the very best charges. You may seek for the most cost effective dates by checking the “Versatile dates” field when setting the dates in your search.
Some moderately priced properties embrace the Residence Inn Steamboat Springs and the Sheraton Steamboat Resort Villas, the place award charges this winter are largely within the 60,000- to 75,000-point vary. Each lodges provide full kitchens, so you would save much more by eating in.
However as with Hyatt, you possibly can typically maximize the worth of your factors at Marriott’s luxurious properties — when you have sufficient factors to e-book them. As an illustration, a weekend at The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe in January will set you again roughly 125,000 factors per night time. With money charges round $1,300, you may get a worth of over 1 cent per level. That is fairly good, contemplating TPG values Bonvoy factors at 0.85 cents apiece, as of November 2024.
Different upscale resorts to think about embrace The Cloudveil, Autograph Assortment in Jackson Gap, Wyoming, and The Sky Residences at W Aspen and The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa, Avon, Vail Valley in Colorado.
Sadly, not like Hilton and Hyatt, Marriott prices nightly resort charges, even when you e-book with factors or maintain elite standing. You may obtain your fifth night time free when reserving with factors, nevertheless it’ll take off your least costly night time.
Some Marriott playing cards present annual free night time awards that you should use at a wide range of properties. The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit score Card is at present providing 125,000 bonus factors after spending $5,000 in eligible purchases in your first three months from account opening. The Marriott Bonvoy Daring® Credit score Card has its best-ever provide: You may earn 60,000 factors plus one free night time award (valued as much as 50,000 factors) after you spend $2,000 on eligible purchases inside the first three months from account opening. (Sure lodges have resort charges.)
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Different lodges and trip leases
We have lined a few of the hottest factors lodges, however they are not the one ones to think about in your ski journey.
IHG Motels & Resorts presents a handful of properties conveniently positioned close to ski resorts, just like the Vacation Inn Steamboat Springs, the Vacation Inn Categorical & Suites Park Metropolis and the Vacation Inn Membership Holidays Tahoe Ridge Resort. Many of those price 40,000 IHG One Rewards factors or much less per night time, which implies you should use your annual anniversary reward night time certificates (capped at 40,000 factors) that comes with the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit score Card. Cardmembers additionally get a fourth night time free on consecutive award stays.
Wyndham Motels & Resorts has a number of choices which are a bit outdoors of standard ski resorts, leading to a lot decrease costs. As an illustration, the Tremendous 8 by Wyndham Dillon/Breckenridge Space is inside a half-hour drive of Breckenridge and Keystone, Colorado, and prices solely 15,000 Wyndham Rewards factors per night time. Some Wyndham resorts require a two- or three-night minimal keep, so it may well assist to examine for award availability for a number of nights.
Selection Motels’ portfolio features a handful of properties close to ski slopes, like Consolation Inn Close to Vail Beaver Creek in Colorado and High quality Inn Close to Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort in California. The draw back is that you may’t e-book with Selection Privileges factors till 100 days upfront.
For those who’d desire a trip rental — maybe since you’re touring with a big group or hoping to save cash by eating in — there are a couple of methods to e-book trip leases with factors by means of locations like Vacasa, Marriott Houses & Villas, Houses & Hideaways by World of Hyatt and Bluegreen Holidays. Moreover, some bank card journey portals, like Capital One Journey, now provide a number of trip leases. An alternative choice is to e-book a Vrbo or an Airbnb with money and use your bank card factors or miles to repay the acquisition.
Associated: Planning for ski season: How I booked a $1,500 trip rental for simply 45,000 factors
Bank card journey portals
As with flights, you possibly can e-book lodges instantly with factors or miles through your bank card’s journey portal. This selection is engaging when you maintain Chase’s Sapphire Most well-liked or Sapphire Reserve, as they offer you a redemption worth of 1.25 cents per level and 1.5 cents per level, respectively, while you e-book by means of Chase Journey.
Moreover, the Capital One Enterprise X Rewards Credit score Card supplies a $300 journey credit score every cardmember 12 months; nevertheless, you will need to e-book by means of the Capital One Journey portal.
Get carry tickets and ski gear utilizing factors and miles
As soon as your flight and lodge are taken care of, you would possibly assume you’ve got lined the majority of your ski journey bills. However do not forget about the price of carry tickets, ski passes and tools. These bills are straightforward to miss, however they will shortly stack as much as tons of of {dollars} per particular person. Fortunately, there are methods to cowl some or all of them with factors and miles.
Carry tickets and passes
One tip to save cash (or factors and miles) and assure a day on the mountain is to buy carry tickets earlier than the season begins. You are able to do this by means of advance single-day ticket reservations or a bigger package deal or cross, which typically provide higher charges than shopping for your ticket on the mountain. A season cross is sensible when you plan to take a couple of ski journey, and it may well even be well worth the cash for a single weeklong journey. Remember that cross costs typically rise as ski season nears, and gross sales often finish sooner or later in fall.
In terms of utilizing factors for carry tickets and passes, you’ve gotten a couple of choices. Many rewards playing cards provide a technique to put your factors or miles towards earlier purchases, supplying you with an announcement credit score that successfully cancels the acquisition. Nevertheless, the classes you are able to do this with — and the worth you will get out of your factors or miles — rely upon what card you’ve gotten.
As an illustration, Capital One helps you to pay with miles for journey purchases at a price of 1 cent per mile. Nevertheless, ski passes sometimes do not code as journey purchases; they typically code as leisure. You might redeem your Capital One miles for money again to cowl the price of your ski cross, however that might offer you half the worth at 0.5 cents per mile.
One technique to get round that is by means of a website referred to as Undercover Vacationer. A number of big-name ski passes, such because the Epic Cross, can be found for buy through the positioning. For those who purchase your cross by means of Undercover Vacationer, the acquisition will code as journey, supplying you with extra choices to redeem factors and miles.
For example to procure a three-day Epic Cross for $330 on Undercover Vacationer along with your Capital One Enterprise Rewards Credit score Card. Since Capital One considers this a journey buy, you would redeem 33,000 miles to cowl it. For those who purchased the identical cross elsewhere and it coded as leisure, you would nonetheless redeem your miles for money again, however you’d must redeem double the miles to cowl the acquisition.
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Redeem factors for ski present playing cards
Alternatively, you possibly can put your factors towards carry tickets by redeeming them for related present playing cards. For instance, Chase helps you to redeem Chase Final Rewards factors at a price of 1 cent every for present playing cards at varied retailers, together with REI. Citi helps you to redeem Citi ThankYou Rewards factors for present playing cards on the similar worth, and you may typically rise up to 1.11 cents per level throughout gross sales.
You may also redeem 28,600 American Categorical Membership Rewards factors for a $200 Aspen Snowmass present card, however we do not advocate it. At lower than a 1-cent-per-point redemption, this is not an incredible possibility for vacationers, particularly when TPG values these factors at 2 cents every as of November 2024. Generally, you are higher off utilizing your factors for flights or lodging.
Ski without spending a dime
Along with utilizing factors and miles, there are various methods for kids and seniors to ski without spending a dime (or at a drastic low cost). Focusing on resorts the place at the least a few of the household can ski for much less can prevent severe money and/or factors and miles.
Lease ski gear utilizing factors
As with carry tickets, you possibly can redeem your factors and miles for present playing cards or assertion credit to place towards ski gear purchases. However when you have Chase Final Rewards factors, you too can use them to lease ski gear in lots of areas.
Within the Chase Journey portal, you possibly can redeem factors instantly for journey. Ski gear leases are included underneath the “Actions” tab.
Simply enter your vacation spot and dates, then filter the outcomes for phrases like “ski.”
It is a fairly good use of your factors since you’ll get a worth of greater than 1 cent per level. Sapphire Most well-liked cardholders can redeem factors at a price of 1.25 cents every; these with the Sapphire Reserve get a fair higher price of 1.5 cents every.
Guide floor transportation in your ski journey with factors and miles
Final however not at all times least is getting from the airport to the mountain (and again).
Rental automobiles
For those who want a automobile throughout your ski trip, there are a number of methods to e-book rental automobiles with factors and miles. As with flights and lodges, you should use rental automobile rewards factors to e-book your automobile instantly, or you possibly can e-book it with bank card factors or miles by means of your issuer’s journey portal. You may also use cash-back rewards towards assertion credit to cowl the price of a rental automobile (in addition to associated purchases like fuel and parking).
And do not forget that many journey rewards playing cards provide automobile rental insurance coverage, so you will not must pay further for it. Some playing cards present elite standing at sure rental businesses, which regularly comes with perks like automobile upgrades or a free second driver, saving you much more cash.
Associated: What I’ve discovered from a number of automobile leases with the Capital One Journey portal
Shuttles and public transportation
For those who’re balking on the considered paying for a rental automobile (or navigating snowy mountain roads), a shuttle service or public transportation could also be simpler in your pockets and your nerves.
Epic Mountain Categorical presents van service (with free Wi-Fi) from the Denver airport to many Colorado ski areas, equivalent to Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone and Copper Mountain — and Epic Cross holders get a 20% low cost. The Snowstang bus runs to a number of ski hills in Colorado, and Amtrak presents a Winter Park Categorical prepare.
Similar to with gear leases, you possibly can typically e-book these shuttles and airport transfers by means of the Chase Journey portal. And since many ski villages provide free shuttles round city, you most likely will not miss having a automobile when you get there.
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Finest bank cards for reserving ski journeys
If you cannot e-book each a part of your ski journey with factors and miles, you possibly can at the least earn as many factors as attainable on these purchases by utilizing the correct bank card.
For flights, lodging, rental automobiles, and the rest that codes as journey, use a card that provides you bonus rewards on journey purchases. Many journey playing cards include built-in journey safety, eliminating the necessity to purchase journey insurance coverage and supplying you with a security web in case your journey does not go easily. Listed here are a few of our favourite choices:
For nontravel purchases like carry tickets and ski gear, contemplate a card that earns bonus rewards on each buy:
*Eligibility and Profit degree varies by Card. Phrases, Circumstances and Limitations Apply. Please go to americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for extra particulars. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance coverage Firm, an AIG Firm.
Associated: Finest bank cards to make use of on ski journeys
Backside line
Whether or not you goal financial savings by heading to smaller mountains or leaning into your factors and miles, there are many methods to save lots of huge in your ski journeys this season. However we advocate beginning your search now, which can enable you to discover essentially the most choices and the perfect offers.
For Capital One merchandise listed on this web page, a few of the advantages could also be supplied by Visa® or Mastercard® and should fluctuate by product. See the respective Information to Advantages for particulars, as phrases and exclusions apply.
