A Wedding in Scottsdale: Saying “I Do” to Points

This is the Trip Report, The Southwest Companion Pass: Round 3, which focuses on burning SWA RapidReward points after their confusing devaluation.

Heres’s the intro: Southwest Devaluation: Gotta Get Away

You want to see the real world of male modeling? The one they don’t show you in magazines or the Travel Channel? Well, look no further than this post as I show you another points heist for pennies on the dollar. If you’re like I am and exhausted about posts of flying suite class on an A380 via Singapore Airlines then you will find this trip overview refreshing.

Weddings are a celebration, a festive time for all those invited to attend. That is true once you are at the wedding. But up to that point, going to a wedding is a drain on finances and vacation days that could otherwise be spent going somewhere you want to go. For example, there is no way that I’d use my points or cash to fly to Michigan to attend another boring Arabic wedding. Sorry mom, I don’t care who is getting married. They should pick a more deserving location to pledge their vows.

Lucky for the bride and groom of the wedding in April, I will be in attendance because they chose my old home, Scottsdale, Arizona as the site of their nuptials. Unlucky for me, flights out of witness protection to Arizona are $400+ per person and hotels are pretty high too as it is still peak season in AZ. Spending a small fortune to go back to a place I once lived for a few days is out of the question. My sincerest apologies to the happy couple for my crass statement.

So what’s a man to do?

If you guessed use points then you still would be wrong. Shut Up And Book! may be TPOL’s philosophy for not hoarding points but I wouldn’t go about indiscriminately wasting them either. (I’m on my way to being disinvited though I doubt they read my blog for if they did I would be involved in their honeymoon planning.) To get to Arizona, I dug deep like when I made a visa run from Mongolia and found an incomparable deal further cementing my legacy as the greatest points booker that ever did it.

Without further boast, I give you my pennies on the dollar points heist for a white wedding.

• Spokane, Washington to Phoenix, AZ: 17k points $5.60 each way using SWA Companion Pass
• 2 nights Hyatt Old Town Scottsdale: $55 +4000 points/night. Rooms are $200+
• 1 night W Scottsdale: 12k points +Platinum Suite Upgrade. Standard room is $500+and that doesn’t factor in suite.
• 1 night Aloft Phoenix Airport: 4k points. Rooms are $120.

Out of pocket I pay $120. 

The poor cubicle worker/points doubter pays $400 flight + $1000 hotels and is probably going stag.

Any questions?

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