YES! WE CAN DO SHORT TRIPS TOO!

2-DAY LAS VEGAS

The idea behind this trip was to experience The Sphere. The Sphere is a 366′ tall globe that has a capacity of up to 20,000 people. About 60% of the inside is a giant LED screen. It truly sets a new standard for entertainment venues. We went there to see the Eagles in September, 2024.

For this quick trip, we flew to Las Vegas on a Saturday. We checked into the Home2Suites by Hilton Las Vegas Convention Center hotel. This is an ideal location because it is within walking distance to the sphere. And the line for Ubers after the show is loooonnnnggg! Home2Suites upgraded us to their best suite. For dinner, we went to Caesars Palace. At Caesars Palace, we were able to get $100 of free dining credit at the Bacchanal buffet. After that, we walked to the Sphere and saw the Eagles.

THAT SOUNDS GREAT, BUT HOW DID YOU DO IT?

For the flights to Las Vegas, we used $175 of United Airlines Travel Bank credit. We had to pay $18 in cash. How do you get United Airlines Travel Bank credit?

Many Amex credit cards have quarterly or annual flight credits of up to $200. First, go into your Amex account and preregister your Amex card for the airline that you want to apply your credit to. Next, you simply go into your United Airlines account and select Add Funds to Travel Bank. Then make a purchase $50 to $100. The credit card will rebate this amount back to you. As of 9/5/5, the Amex personal and business Platinum cards have a $200 annual credit and the Amex Aspire card has a $50 per quarter credit. Additionally, the Chase IHG personal and business Premiere cards have a $25 semi-annual flight credit. Once you register, this is automatically deposited twice a year. But this credit does expire in six months.

For the hotel, we redeemed 50,000 Hilton points (the cash cost would have been $339). How did we get the Hilton points? We got them by opening an American Express Hilton Honors Business card and an American Express Hilton Honors Surpass card.

For the Caesar’s Palace dinner, we matched our Wyndham Diamond status to Caesar’s diamond status. Once they match, Caesar’s gave you a $100 annual celebration dinner credit. Note that they discontinued this perk in February, 2025.

For the flight home, there weren’t any good point options. So we paid $374 cash for Frontier premium economy seats. We had hoped to upgrade to business class but nothing was available.