At the end of February, I made a weekend getaway to San Diego to see Beetlejuice (so good!) on Broadway. I was able to cover most of this trip’s cost with credits from a few of my credit cards.
The Beetlejuice ticket was sold through Ticketmaster, so I used part of the annual $200 splurge credit from the Citi Strate Elite. For airfare, I flew Southwest using a combination of points and the airline credit on the American Express Platinum card. Transportation to and from the airports was partly covered by the Uber (referral link) credits from the American Express Platinum and Gold cards. I even timed the trip so I used the February credits on the way there and the March credits on the way back. The rest was from Swagbucks (referral link) gift cards I turned into Uber funds.
The Platinum card came in again for the hotel and meals. Using the Fine Hotels and Resorts program which reimburses $300 every six months, I booked the gorgeous US Grant right by the Civic Theatre where the show was. The cost for the night was $370.09 before the FHR credit. I originally booked a Superior room, but was upgraded to the Deluxe as an FHR benefit. Another perk of the FHR program is a $100 dining credit that I used for an excellent dinner at the hotel restaurant. The bread was amazing! The reimbursed meals didn’t end there though as I also had a $75 breakfast credit for either Grant’s Grill or in-room dining. I went with room service and was impressed at the presentation.
For other meals, I found two locations participating in the Resy program, so I could utilize some of the $100 quarterly credit that I never end up using in Phoenix as there are just no convenient locations. I had lunch the first day at Malibu Farm and then on the second day at Villains Brewing which were both an easy walk from the hotel. Malibu Farm is at Seaport Village so I also enjoyed the waterfront which is something I miss tremendously living in Phoenix.
Unfortunately there wasn’t a lounge I could access at the San Diego airport, but I had a preflight breakfast at the Sky Harbor Centurian lounge to start my trip.
I had a fantastic time in San Diego at very little cost thanks to my credit card perks.
