While I was the Chicago Seminars in October 2013, I signed up for First2Board‘s Seattle Sessions to be held at the end of July. This is an intimate event consisting of 50 people who love to share mile and points tips and tricks. As the event title would suggest, the event is located in Seattle!
Unfortunately, both the Chicago Seminars and Seattle Sessions are sold out for 2014.
In This Post
Flying from Orange County to Seattle for $7.50 person
Southwest is my airline of choice when flying domestically. I booked tickets from Ontario, CA to Seattle, WA for $5 and 3,796 Southwest points.
And booked a return flight from Seattle to Ontario for $2.50 and 8,037 Southwest points.
My wife and son are coming with me, so we paid a total of $22.50 (3 * $7.50) and 23,666 Southwest points (2 * 11,833). My wife flies for free wherever I fly using the Southwest Companion Pass — she still has to pay the TSA fees, but there are no points spent on her tickets.
At 70 points per $1 of ticket price, we saved over $500 in airfare using Southwest points (3 * 11,833 / 70).
Worldmark by Wyndham Seattle – The Camlin
The host hotel for the First2Board Seattle Sessions is the Sheraton Bellevue. There was a group discount rate of $119 per night, plus tax, which would have been about $400 after taxes. We decided to save the cash and SPG points to use our Worldmark by Wyndham timeshare points to stay at one of our favorite timeshare locations.
We have stayed at Worldmark by Wyndham Seattle – The Camlin a few times before and love the historic nature of the building and how it is within walking distance of everything you want to see in Downtown Seattle.
Our reservation cost 4,900 Worldmark credits and a $52 housekeeping fee for a Studio room for a 3 night stay.
If you’d like to do a 3 day / 2 night mini-vacation to Seattle (or Las Vegas, Anaheim, or Indio) for $99, please fill out the form below, and I will refer you. You can also upgrade to a 4 day / 3 night getaway for $30 more. Either case, you will receive a $50 Amex gift card after attending their 120 minute presentation.
Things to do in Seattle
If you visit Seattle, you should check out The Underground Tour and Pike Place Market (home of the original Starbucks and where they throw the fish!). Additionally, think about getting a Seattle CityPASS to see Seattle’s 5 best attractions for one low price.
The CityPASS is $64 per adult and $44 per child and includes:
- 2 visits to the Space Needle
- Seattle Aquarium
- Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour
- EMP Museum or Woodland Park Zoo
- Pacific Science Center or The Museum of Flight
Seattle Sessions Agenda
Friday night
- Happy Hour and Introductions
Saturday
- Presentations 9a – 3pm
- Special event 4:30 – ???
Sunday
- Presentations 9a – 1pm
I’m looking forward to meeting some great people, listening to interesting presentations, and sharing tips and tricks with people who love to travel like I do.
Conclusion
Our family is able to attend a great mini-conference for 4 days and 3 nights for a total of $74.50 ($22.50 in flights + $52 in housekeeping) and 28,566 in points. Using miles and points saved us about $900 in normal flight and hotel costs.
I love it! Using miles and points is saving me huge amounts of cash so I can learn tips and tricks to save even more money using miles and points.
If you’d like to learn more about using airline miles and hotel points to travel for pennies on the dollar, please sign up for the BaldThoughts.com mailing list. Where will your miles take you?
