We just got back from our Seattle & Vancouver, B.C. trip two days ago.  To say we were exhausted, was an understatement.  Long travel days, unexpected heat waves, and toddler tantrums made for a very memorable, yet adventurous summer family vacation.  It was a reminder that sometimes we have this vision in our head of how a trip will go – but need to stay flexible for the unexpected.  At the end of the day, we were fortunate to experience a new destination and spend family time together making memories – another vacation down in the books, thanks to points and miles.

Itinerary & Flights

We flew into Seattle, WA and stayed there initially for two nights (on the way to Vancouver).  We stayed in a suite – for 27,000 points/night at Motif Seattle, in the downtown area.  After five days in Vancouver, we drove back to Seattle, and stayed again for one night – at the same hotel.  We flew out from Seattle the next morning back to Dallas.  We used points from my Hyatt card to book the total of three nights needed for the Seattle portion of our trip.  I chose this hotel simply because I could book one suite, with space for all five of us.  And another silver lining – it was walking distance from Pike Place Market!

I used points from my husband’s Citi premier card to book flights for the four of us (baby is under 2 and free) back in March (while we were in Costa Rica during spring break!).  My husband got the card when the offer was at 80,000 points, and I recently got it as this higher offer has come back, and been around – well, for a good couple weeks now!  If you’re interested in this card, I wouldn’t wait around too much longer.  With 3x the rewards on various types of purchases, and multiple airline/hotel travel partners – this card was a no-brainer for us.  (Hello 3x on gas!)

Citi ThankYou points are more valuable than we realize – I have to admit I underestimated this card at first too.  Citi has a great list of hotel and airline travel partners – one sweet spot for domestic redemptions is through the Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles program.  You can use Turkish Miles to travel anywhere in the U.S. – including Hawaii & Alaska – for just 7,500 miles one way/15k miles roundtrip!  I transferred 60,000 points (15k points/person) from my husband’s Citi account to his Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles account.  Creating a rewards account is easy and free – keep in mind that names on both accounts have to match at time of transfer.

Why did I do this?  Turkish Airlines is part of one the three big travel alliances (SkyTeam, Star Alliance, & Oneworld): Star Alliance program.  This allows individuals to use Turkish miles to book flights on United Airlines – so our flights to Seattle were on United.  Check out my blog post on this partnership and how you can snag a similar sweet deal with points earned from the Citi Premier card!

I always aim to book nonstop flights, but sometimes it’s just not possible.  Keep in mind I was booking about five months in advance – but still no luck.  So we flew to Seattle, and after a whirlwind day and a half, drove to Vancouver, B.C.  Now a night flight with a stopover, with a very active toddler, along with a roadtrip shortly after – makes for very tired parents.  To top it off, the mattresses at our Airbnb in Vancouver were not comfortable at all – too soft for our liking, and offered us no proper back support.

For this trip – our car rental and Airbnb, were out-of-pocket costs. For these, and any other food and/or miscellaneous costs that arose – we charged them to my husband’s Capital One Venture X card.  When we aren’t working to meet a minimum spend, we divide expenses between this card and my Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card.  The reason being – we want to earn flexible rewards currency that we can easily transfer out to travel (hotel/airline) partners for future trips. 

Our time in Vancouver, B.C.

Our Airbnb was about 40 minutes out from downtown Vancouver, and add in traffic – well we were driving an hour one way to visit local sights and scenery.  Vancouver is very expensive, and after extensive research – this cute, modern Airbnb – was looking to be our best bet.  They even provided a high chair upon request, left snacks and breakfast items in the fridge, and mattresses aside (I’ve spoken to them about this) – were very communicative about any questions we had.  We don’t mind drives, but overall I have to admit – they got too long and tiring for us – the views though, made them worth it.

Unfortunately for us, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., were experiencing a heat wave the very week we were there.  It made being outdoors for too long difficult, and our 19-month old got cranky very quickly from being bound to the carseat and/or stroller.  Nevertheless, we made the best of it – and even did a semi-indoor excursion one afternoon to escape the heat.  We took our little one to the Vancouver Aquarium – it was her first time, and she was amazed by all the aquatic wildlife.

We also drove from Vancouver to Whistler on what’s known as the Sea to Sky Highway, stopping by the town of Squamish.  This small town is well known for outdoor adventures – we did some climbing, walking the trails, and enjoying the viewpoints the drive had to offer.  We spent some time at Stanley Park – think of it as the Central Park of Canada.  Biking/walking/running trails, swimming area, playground, and lots of open grassy areas to relax and take in the views of Burrad Inlet and English Bay.  Weather permitting – we could have easily spent an entire day here. 

On our last morning before driving back to Seattle, we found this farm about 15 minutes from our Airbnb called Hopcott Farms.  It’s a third-generation family run local farm, with a market and bistro.  They serve local, farm-to-table food, and as a Muslim, it was great to see that they also sold Halal meat as an option in their shop.  We had brunch here – and on our last morning in Vancouver – the weather was just perfect to be outdoors.  Unfortunately for us, it was already mid-day and we had to drive back to Seattle, and return our rental car by 6 pm that evening.  Oh, how life can be funny sometimes!

In sum, we had a great trip.  I had to remind myself of the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”  I should add that crossing the border – to/from Canada didn’t take long at all!  It was waiting in line that actually took more of our time – our toddler slept part of the time, and the rest – well, we were her entertainment!  I had downloaded the ArriveCan app, prior to entering Canada, and uploaded our passports and proof of vaccination for each of us.  They didn’t ask or check further at the border (maybe it automatically came up as completed in the system?).  Nevertheless, as I like to say – memories made, adventures had, lessons learned.  Jusqu’à la prochaine fois – until next time Canada!