Good afternoon everyone. My last reality check post was pretty popular (Reality Check: Traveling with Non-TSA PreCheck Travelers Sucks) so hopefully you guys enjoy this post and I get some good feedback from you guys. Here is some background info and how I think. I love nonstop flights and tend to book those even if they are not the cheapest option. Booking flights under $100, under $200, and under $300 do not bother me at all, but when it comes to booking a hotel room, I find it hard to justify paying $200+ for a hotel room. For the nonstop flights that I tend to book, using miles is not ideal. Either the flight is so cheap that I would be getting a terrible value using miles (like a $100 Alaska Airlines flight vs. 12,500 Alaska Airlines miles) or only standard awards are available (like a $200 United Airlines flight vs. 25,000 United Airlines miles). I mostly fly Southwest Airlines and have a stockpile of Southwest Airlines gift cards (thanks to airline reimbursements from American Express Business Platinum, American Express Hilton Aspire, and Chase Southwest Airlines Priority) and discounted gift cards sold on eBay, along with many Southwest Airlines travel credits that I need to use before they expire. When I fly Southwest Airlines, I always use up my travel funds and then redeem Southwest Airlines gift cards. In those instances, those Southwest Airlines flights seem much cheaper to me than the original price.
I was recently looking for a hotel along the California coast for an upcoming roadtrip. The cities I looked at were far from major cities and were mostly one off motels, small hotels, and bed & breakfasts. I couldn’t believe these properties were charging $180+ per night. I looked at the next closest coastal city and saw similar prices for similar properties. Don’t these properties know that I am very hesitant to book rooms for more than $150 a night? What were they thinking?
I kept searching and eventually I was an hour away from where I wanted to stay and couldn’t find any decent properties that matched my expectations and price. I then decided to “splurge” on a $220 room at the quaint Cottage Inn By The Sea in Pismo Beach. I guess if you have a cozy fireplace and stunning views of the Pacific Ocean, you “might” be worthy of the $220 pricetag. But couldn’t you cost $150 instead to make me happy?
King Bed, fireplace, and Pacific Ocean view
Outdoor fire pit with beach view
After I finished booking the room at the Cottage Inn By The Sea, I still couldn’t believe I paid that much for room with a bed. For that price, I could fly practically anywhere I wanted (assuming the flight cost less than or equal to $220). I was only going to be spending 1 night here, so that comes down to an average cost of $220 per night! On the other hand, I could sit on a plane for 3-4 hours and end up in another state or country. That’s only like $55 per hour for sitting on an airplane ($220 / 4 = $55) – what a deal! Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not saying that I would rather sit on a plane for 4 hours vs. spending 4 hours in a comfy hotel room.
But the more I thought about it, the more I decided that I was being ridiculous. $220 is $220, regardless if it is a flight, a hotel room, an expensive dinner, concert tickets, sporting event tickets, or a new outfit. Why was I getting so hung up on the fast that the hotel room was $220? I think it comes down to the fact that I always, I mean ALWAYS, try to book a room at a chain hotel and use hotel points to pay for the stay. I do not have loyalty to a specific hotel chain and have plenty of points spread out across the various programs, so finding a chain hotel with award space is usually very easy. The fact that there were no chain hotels available made me reluctant to want to pay for a hotel stay.
As long as I have hotel points, I think I will always prefer to redeem hotel points for a free stay (assuming the number of points is reasonable). I’m going to work on getting over my fear of booking non chain hotels, but the process is going to take time. What do you think? Do you agree with my thoughts or am I completely crazy? Let me know what you think in the comment below. Have a great weekend everyone!
Looking at the two photos you posted I think you got a great deal. It’s ocean view! That fire pit area looks so inviting.
Thank you Ingrid. After getting so much rain in Northern California the last 2 months, I’m looking forward to nice beach weather :)
Northern what? Oh. Yeah. You forget the last 300 miles of state. ;-)
For that sole reason – staying at non-chain hotels in “off-the-beaten-path” places – I have a nice stack of free nights with Hotels.com.
Buy Hotels.com gift cards with a 20+% discount and book through a cashback portal for optimal use.
Stay 10 discounted nights, get one free !
I don’t tend to stay more than 10 nights a year at non chain hotels, so I haven’t considered the Hotels.com approach. The fact that GCs and eGCs are occasionally at 20% off, might be a good enough reason to look into Hotels.com :)
Your hotel room looks great. I could not agree with you more, about using points for hotels and airlines. That is always my first choice.
I’m glad you agree with my travel booking logic :)
Priorities are funny things. Those of us who have bought into the travel hacking lifestyle can become obsessive about “value”, opportunity cost, limited time offers, mistake fares, lounge access, status perks, etc, etc, but what does it all really mean? Are great and memorable travel experiences the goal or is it “winning the game”? Several years ago when I first started, I couldn’t wait for the next batch of promo codes, credit card bonus offers, manufactured spending schemes, reduced award flights and anything else that would increase my hoard of points and miles or allow me to maximize their potential. It was very exciting and addictive. Blogs like this were and still are a big part of my enthusiasm. I remember chasing 50 or 100 points down like they were gold nuggets! There wasn’t a scheme or an offer that was too small or too much trouble, no matter how minuscule or massive the haul was, I would go for it! The thrill was beating the system and amassing a huge pile of “free” travel. As time passed I started to relax. My award wallet bulging with 3-4 million precious bread crumbs, my priorities started to change. I focused less on how far my points could take me and more about the actual experiences I could create with them. From time to time, I would wrestle with dilemmas similar to the one Grant describes in this article and I argued them out as such. If I never pay cash and only use points, miles, gift cards and the like, there are places I may never see. However, even if I do use cash there will still be millions of places I will never see. It’s a big world and I will not live long enough to touch every corner of it. I am now and always will be a travel hacker, but because I have educated myself and cast off the wanderlust a child feels on Christmas morning, my goals are clear. I am enjoying a lifestyle which few people who aren’t in this “club” can afford. I would have traveled some and paid cash if I hadn’t stumbled into this habit. In conclusion, most people end up either saving all year or paying all year for one vacation trip. I travel at least twice a month to locations I never dreamed I’d go and I never worry about the cost. There will never come a day when I don’t do the math to see how I can get more for less and this has informed my destination choices 99% of the time. With all this in mind, I have achieved tens of thousands of dollars in unforgettable life moments at a cost so low, that if an amazing trip comes up which I would have to use some real cash money to accomplish, I am already so far ahead financially that it would be fool hearty not to bend the rules and go for it.
Very well said, Brant!
Great post Brant. And I totally agree with you. Also good and honest post Grant. I’d definitely rather stay in a great hotel room vs. sitting on an airplane 4-5 hours. When I was younger, I didn’t mind flying now I absolutely dread it. Seems like airline employees are crankier, people are crankier, people have less good hygiene and habits vs when I was younger.
People used to be respectful and never blare music without headphones or listen to movies on their iPad without headphones. There were less screaming kids traveling back then. There is less room now for the most part. Hassles at the airport.
But a great hotel room with a great ocean view is worth quite a bit more to me these days. All of this is really subjective but I think it’s a great exercise to talk it through and it’s interesting to read about what someone values more than something else. No one is right or wrong.
Thank you for sharing your views, Mike.
I think it comes back to the Golden Ruke: treat people the way you would like to be treated. I try to lead by example and treat all people well, from the TSA agents, to the gate agents, to the flight attendants, and fellow passengers. Some people just don’t know how to communicate with others or are aware of their surroundings and the people around them. Common courtesy is just as common as it used to be.
Sitting in a plane for four hours vs a hotel room for four hours? After the four hours in a plane, you still have to find a hotel room. That being said, as a fellow Californian, did you not take into consideration the places you checked were on the tourist route? Pismo is a popular destination for the So.Cal crowd, as are all the places leading to it. Maybe head a bit farther north, to Pacific Grove, where prices usually are more reasonable, except during golf season at 17 mile drive. $200-220/night for a place to put your head? Nope. Maybe for those who’ve never seen the Pacific Ocean, but not for me. For those prices, I vote with my feet.
We are driving down from SF and stopping at Hearst Castle. I was trying to find a place close to there but we decided to do Dune Buggy rides on the Pismo Dunes the following day.
Agree. I don’t like paying for hotel rooms, either. I also have quite the collection of points scattered about all of the chains. I found that Nashville was painful (as far as hotel cost) and I wound up using Hilton points 45,000/night x 2 nights to offset the sheer agony of paying outright. I may soon have to pull the lever on an Amex upgrade (Hilton) for the additional 150,000 points….(just in case I may need them). But I’m still pondering that one….
I haven’t been to Nashville, but there are some cities with high prices for hotels and no great hotel award prices.