What do free night certificates and a decent stash of Southwest Airlines points get you?  A weekend in Tulum, that’s what!  But let’s rewind a little…..to the part where we forgot we had two free night certificates thanks to my husband’s Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card.  And if you’re wondering how that happened?  Well, when you don’t frequent a brand much and are planning multiple award trips at once – sometimes, it just happens.

A couple weeks ago (or was it months?) my husband mentioned he had not one, but two free night certificates in his Hilton Honors account.  It gets better – they were expiring in April and May of this year!  Back in March of 2022, I had him apply for the American Express Hilton Honors Surpass card.  The intention was that points earned would help cover our Hilton stays in Makkah & Madinah, for our Umrah trip this past November.  At that time, the offer on this card included two free night certificates.  I left the Umrah trip booking to my husband…..and let’s just say, long story short – the certificates weren’t applied to our stays and the booking didn’t go as planned.  (He’s a great, supportive “Player 2,” but award travel bookings are my area of expertise ;)) 

To reiterate, before you apply to an airline/hotel co-branded card, make sure you are able to be loyal to that brand (to some degree) and/or have possible redemeptions in mind.  Annual fees on hotel cards are worth it with loyalty as then you are truly able to enjoy credit card perks such as free breakfast, free nights, possible free upgrades as available, and/or delayed checkouts, for example.

We were home for the holidays during our kids’ winter break, so you better believe what I was doing.  Yes that’s right, frantically researching how and where I could use these free night certificates.  I mean, we were stuck home anyway with sicknesses going around, and temperatures below freezing.  I had a small stash of Southwest points to work with – so the stars of award flights, an award stay, and plethora of personal logistics had to work out.  I promise you it’s no easy feat!

During spring break, we are heading to Europe and have out-of-pocket costs for that vacation, so if were were to go somewhere the month prior – travel costs had to be kept very minimal.  After some research, I found a place: Tulum, Mexico!  We’ve been to Cancun (2x) and Cozumel, but never to Tulum.

Let’s break down how I did this booking.  I booked flights for two on Southwest Airlines.  I had points earned from my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card that I could have transferred to Southwest, if I ran short (Southwest Airlines is a transfer partner of Chase).  But my goal was to not do so, and make it work in the roughly 28,000 points or so my husband had currently in his Southwest Rapid Rewards account.  We have multiple trips coming up, and I’m in the midst of planning various aspects – so I need to save the points for those.

Luckily he had just enough points, so I was able to book flights for my husband, and our two year old.  Unfortunately, we will not be taking our older two children along on this trip due to them having school.  While I’m free as my husband’s companion thanks to the Southwest Companion Pass, there are still taxes on my award ticket.

 

For a total of *$304.95*, we are flying to Cancun, Mexico – like whoa!  From there, we will have a ride that will take us to our resort.  The transfer takes about 1.5 hours or so to get to Tulum.  And I have a plan for that as well 😉  Ride costs can vary depending on what transport company you go with (up to a couple hundred dollars or so).  My husband has a small stash of Capital One miles thanks to his Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card – so I’ll cover most of the fee using Capital One miles.  (You need to charge such travel expenses on the card, and then eligible travel purchases can be covered using Capital One points.)  Just another reason why this card is a keeper for us 😉

We’ll be staying at the Hilton Tulum Riviera Maya All-Inclusive Resort for 3 nights in early February.  It was unbelievable that I was able to find award availability just over a month out!  I applied the two free night certificates + 90,000 points for the last night.  Award rates for Hilton are a lot higher when compared to Hyatt.  This will also only cover one room, which has a max capacity of three people.  It took a quick phone call to Hilton to do this booking.  If you’re using a mix of free night certificates and points – make sure you have the points difference needed in your Hilton Honors account.

That’s an insane amount of points, but I definitely would not have considered paying cash for this resort!

Here’s a look at the cash rates:

Flights for two (on Southwest Airlines) –

 

One room for three nights –

 

Rather than paying $2,046.69 ($729.10 + $1,317.59), I’m paying $304.95!

I wanted to stay at the Conrad Tulum Riviera Maya – but it’s not all inclusive.  So we choose its sister property (which is also gorgeous!) – the Hilton Tulum Riviera Maya All-Inclusive Resort as it’s more family friendly too.  (Remember, we are taking the toddler along on this trip).  With flights, hotel, and food/dining costs covered – and having spent roughly $300 out-of-pocket – I don’t know if it gets any better!  While I truly wish we could have brought our older two kids along this trip, this was too good of any opportunity to pass up!  Oh the travel opportunities we get thanks to points and miles!

 

Image Credit: https://www.traveloffpath.com/this-is-why-tulum-remains-popular-among-americans-despite-overtourism-and-crime/