July 30, 2024
Family Trip For 29 People to Florida
Pam
We just got back from a family trip for 29 people to Florida. Almost THIRTY people! Was it all on credit card points and miles? Not at all, but they certainly helped take the sting out of some of our travel. Here’s how we did it:
Flights on Points to Panama City, Florida
Most of our flights were on Southwest Airlines® using Rapid Rewards from Denver or Salt Lake City. A couple of families also used Southwest® Companion Passes. The tickets cost 26K roundtrip from SLC for Alex. She utilized two Companion Passes, so it was a total of 104K for her family of six. This included a connection in Denver, where we met up with them at the Capital One Lounge and then continued on the same flight to Florida with them.
I love the Capital One Lounge in Denver because they have the BEST cookies and chocolate covered raisins. And they even offer to-go packaging. Alex laughed that I grab so many treats on every visit that my card_name annual fee ends up saving me a TON of money.
I love the Capital One Lounge’s chocolate covered raisins and cookies!
Beach outside our hotel. Sadly, the ocean was had two red flags and we couldn’t swim in it.🥲
Free Nights in Panama City
Six families stayed at the Hyatt Place Panama City, and two got two rooms. Every single room was paid for with Hyatt points that we got from transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards®. Most of us stayed two nights, and some stayed just one night. This hotel is now a Category 5 Hyatt Hotel so standard nights are 20K. We stayed there for 18K/night as we booked it when it was a Category 4. Cash rates are over $300/night. I will give a complete review of the hotel tomorrow.
The beautiful colors of the room make it seem more luxurious than most Hyatt Places.
Using Credit Card Benefits
Many of us used credit card benefits to make the trip easier and cheaper. These benefits included:
- Using CLEAR and TSA PreCheck® to get through the airports faster
- Taking advantage of airport lounges
- Using credit cards that had primary car rental coverage
- Using dining benefits on cards for Uber Eats or Grub Hub
Vacasa Airbnb Rental for Five Nights
After our time at the Hyatt Place Panama City, we stayed at this Vacasa Airbnb – it was not cheap but it had more than enough space for all of us and was very luxurious. When you divide the price by six families, it wasn’t horrible, especially since our flights and our first two nights in Florida were nearly free. Additionally, we were able to save on food costs, by preparing most of our food. Our family trip for 29 people to Florida was cheaper thanks to using points/miles for some of our travel, too.
We could have offset the cost of our Airbnb by using the Capital One purchase eraser but I preferred to save the miles for some more valuable business class flights in the future.
One of two two outdoor covered areas
The top floor of one of the houses where The Squad (7 of the youngest cousins) slept
This was the bedroom we slept in – 11 bedrooms with en-suite.
Living area of small house – you can see the larger house through the window.
Activities in Florida
Beach, beach and more beach. We also had individual family pictures taken, rented e-bikes, played tennis and spent an evening in the adroable town of Seaside.
Miramar Beach was a very quick walk of about two blocks from our place.
Alex’s cute family.
The youngest member of our group!
We all enjoyed a lot of quality pool time and reconnecting.
The youngest members of our group, lovingly called The Squad.
Bottom Line
Our family trip to Florida for 29 people was a massive success. While we didn’t use credit card points/miles for everything, they definitely cut down the costs of our trip. Additionally, credit card benefits made it cheaper and more relaxing. Reconnecting to famly members who live in different countries, creating new memories, and enjoying the beauty of Florida, made it an incredible trip!
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