Paris and Switzerland 2026

The biggest trip we took/will take in 2026 is our family of 4 trip to Paris and Switzerland in July! With flights and 11 nights of accommodations, we would have spent well over $47,000... and let's be honest:

1. We don't have that kind of money to spend

2. The majority of that cost comes from flying 4 people in business class to and from Europe; again something we would never pay cash to do, but is possible only because of points and miles!

Here's an overview of our trip. For each booking I made, I include: which points I used, how many points I used, cash paid for taxes/fees/upgrades, and equally important: when and how I booked.

At the bottom, you'll see which points/miles programs I used (yes, more than one!) and how many points and how much cash we spent out of pocket for flights and accommodations, during peak travel season (July 2026).

Paris/Switzerland Trip Overview

• Flight to Paris
• 3 nights in Paris
• Train to Switzerland
• 7 nights in Switzerland
• Flight to Boston
• 1 night in Boston
• SW flight home

Flight There (DEN to CDG)

The booking process for this flight took a couple of iterations. It's daunting enough (and may make your head spin), that I gave it, it's own post. You can read what I did (when and how), here.

For 4 business class flights, total price in the end for 2 adult/2 children:

 Booked originally 9mo in advance; but altered 3mo in advance and 24 hours before the flight.

 192,000 pts + $1300 (a combination of Chase, American Express, and Capital One points; with Chase and Amex points transferred directly to Air France to book and Capital One points used for Travel eraser)

 Cash Value: $20,000 (CPP*: 9.74)

*CPP is equal to Cents per Point; it's how some points people gauge "value". The higher the CPP, the better. In comparison, when you use your points to book travel in a bank travel portal or cash out points like Capital One Travel Eraser, this is typically at 1 cent per point.

In the case of our flights to Europe, I got 9.74 CPP; which means I got almost 10 times the value than had I cashed out my points. This is an incredibly high CPP and great value! A "good" CPP is usually consider 2 or above.

Paris Hotel - 3 Nights

We stayed at Hyatt Regency Etoile in the Eiffel Tower Suite. This hotel is popular amongst points people for the value provided, especially if you have club access (free breakfast, snacks, and happy hour); but it is NOT in the heart of Paris. It worked really well for us, and I would stay there again, but I want to note that it's about a 20-30min commute to most attractions.

 Booked 8mo in advance by transferring Chase points to Hyatt to book direct on Hyatt (only Chase and Bilt are direct partners of Hyatt)

 I booked a standard king room at 20K points per night, but I had seen that the standard Regency Suite was available, so I contacted the hotel directly via email (reception@etoile.hyatt.com and parisetoile.regency@hyatt.com) to request using a Suite Upgrade Award I had to change from the standard room (occupancy 2) to the Regency Suite (occupancy 4, plus club access for free breakfast, snacks, and happy hour). 

In total for the 3 nights, I paid 20K pts per night plus the Suite Upgrade Award (60k Chase points moved to Hyatt total)

: I emailed the hotel again after booking was confirmed and asked to secure an Eiffel Tower view. I was offered a cash upgrade option (and given that it was peak travel season, I decided to take it, instead of gambling if I could get a free upgrade at check-in). I paid $276 in advance and the room type was changed to Eiffel Tower Suite (included club access for free breakfast/lounge access)

 Cash Value: $2,900 (CPP: 4.37)

TGV Train from Paris to Switzerland (Basel)

Rather than flying from Paris to Zurich and then spend another 2.5 hours on trains; we took a train directly from Paris to Basel, Switzerland. I paid cash for these tickets using my Chase Ink Preferred for 3x travel points and booked via Trainline for Rakuten. I booked us in first class, which cost roughly 20% more, but gave us guaranteed seats together with a table.

 Booked 4mo in advance (First Class can sell out)

Swiss Half Fare Card

I'm not going to sugarcoat it - the train pass situation for Switzerland is really confusing, mostly because there are several options!

After developing my itinerary, I used two different AI’s to analyze if we should by Jungfrau Region Pass or Half Fare Cards; Half Fare made more sense and also got us the Family Card, which made the majority of our travel free for our kids (under age 16).

 Purchased the week before departure

$372.46 for 2 adult half fare cards; purchased with my Chase Sapphire Reserve to use $300 travel credit. I purchased via Get Your Guide for Shopping portal points; at the time I booked, Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping had a promo; so I earned 2k pts for the purchase and because of using my CSR Travel Credit, we paid $72 out of pocket.

This is also why for the TGV Train leaving Paris, I only booked that itinerary to go to Basel, instead of going all the way to our destination of Wengen. Basel to Wengen required 3 trains....and because we had the Family Card, by way of the Half Fare card, that meant our kids rode for free! (which was a lot better than paying for them when we didn't need to!)

View from Bristol Apt K Balcony

Rental in Wengen, Switzerland - 6 Nights

While I generally try to use points for our accommodations, sometimes it just doesn't make sense. I researched briefly using points and/or hotel credits from premium credit cards; but ultimately due to hotel occupancy limits, we would have had to book 2 rooms and that quickly would have added up to over 500,000 points - which I wasn't willing to spend.

Instead, I figured that because we were pulling the kids out of summer camp for two weeks and "saving" on camp costs, I would use that budget towards a short term rental. I'm so glad I did! With this, we were able to eat breakfast and several dinners at our condo (food/drinks are not cheap in Switzerland).

 Booked 5mo in advance (this was late! There were limited options (maybe 4 or 5) left at the price point of under $300/night)

 Paid cash ($2,100) using the card we were working on a signup bonus for at the time. I booked via VRBO for 5% back on Rakuten. I had intended to pay the final payment with my Capital One Venture Card to use points for a partial credit to reduce our out of pocket costs, but there was a miscommunication and this didn’t work out . (Which in the end is okay, since I used Capital One points for our red-eye business class upgrade instead!)

We stayed at Bristol Apt K, managed by Interhome. We would absolutely stay here again and honestly probably stay at any Bristol apartment managed by Interhome, with the amazing views from the balconies! I will say communication with Interhome before our say was lacking and had me nervous, but it is a long established reputable property management company. At the time I booked, I did look at booking direct, but it was the same price as booking on Airbnb or VRBO, and with VRBO I got the 5% back (which was $105 or 10,000 points!)

Leaving Wengen, we took the train(s) to Zurich, booked the day of, with our Half Fare and Family Card in the SBB app (it takes about 2.5/3hours). We took the train that went directly from Interlaken to Zurich Airport (to avoid a train transfer at Zurich Main Station).

Zurich Hyatt Place - 1 Night

We were completely satisfied with this hotel! I've seen a lot of recommendations that Park Hyatt Zurich is amazing.... but for one night and four family, gosh, you can't beat Hyatt Place Zurich Airport Circle. It's literally less than a 5-minute walk to airport check-in counters and it's only a 20-minute train ride to downtown. I would stay here again in a heartbeat. It was perfect for our 7am departure the next morning.

They do have rooms that can accommodate two adults and 2 young (under 10?) children, but I think it would be tight. By the time we had our dates lined out, roughly six months in advance, the four-person room wasn't available for direct booking with Hyatt.

It was available in Chase Travel portal, but the problem with that, for me, was that I needed to book direct with Hyatt, to get credit for spending the night, towards my Hyatt status and not all Hyatt stays booked with a third party (like Chase Travel portal), count towards status.

So, we ended up booking 2 rooms:

• Room 1: I did book in the Chase Travel Portal. I paid the cash price of $213 with my Chase Sapphire Preferred, that way I could utilize the annual $100 hotel credit. Our out of pocket cost was $113.
• Room 2: I booked direct with Hyatt and paid cash, using my Capital One Venture card, for $193. This gave me the qualifying night credit I needed with Hyatt and allowed me to use to use points to "erase" the travel purchase (after I couldn’t use on our rental). Final cost: 19,300pts +$0

 Booked the week before! Lol 

 19,300 pts + $113

 Cash Value: $406

Flight Back to US

Believe it or not, this was much more straight forward of a booking, compared to our flights going to Paris. Although....as I type this, I'm realizing some of you will disagree.

So, we live in Denver, but we flew into Boston. WHY?! Because the points price for flights to get from Zurich to Denver were actually MORE expensive in economy, than it was to fly from Zurich to Boston in business class! What?! I know, it's crazy!

This is called repositioning and it's very common in points travel. Basically, you add a flight to your itinerary in order to get better pricing and/or a better flight; in our case, we got both.

We flew Lufthansa on a A380 (double deck plane!). I booked as one itinerary, ZUR > MUC > BOS 60,000 pts + $136 each. To do this, I created an Air Canada Points Pool, which allowed me to transfer points from P2's American Express and my American Express to combine together to book with Air Canada. 

Keep in mind, we flew Lufthansa, but because of airline alliances, we booked the flight through Air Canada.

 Booked 8mo in advance

 240,000 pts + $546

 Cash Value: $20,000 (CCP: 8.11)

Boston Harbor Hyatt Regency - 1 Night

This was an easy choice. The hotel really isn't downtown, but it is VERY close to the airport and has a free shuttle. Since we were basically flying into Boston, going to bed, and flying home the next morning, this was a perfection option for us. 

(Note, there are two difference Hyatt Regencies in Boston. If you are actually wanting to stay in Boston, I would not stay here. I would book Hyatt Centric instead.)

 8mo in advance; booked direct with Hyatt by transferring Chase points to Hyatt

 15,000 pts + $0

 Cash Value: $369 (CCP: 2.46)

Final Flight Home: BOS > DEN

Again, we flew to Boston from Europe, because it was cheaper and nicer cabins than flying to Denver.. but really the key strategy and reason this worked for us, is that Southwest flies direct from Boston to Denver. We hold two Southwest Companion Passes, so for this final flight leg home, we only "paid" for two flights (using points) and then paid $11.60 for the kids flights because of companion pass.

 Booked 8mo in advance (using points we already had in our Southwest accounts) and rebooked a few times to drop the price 

 46,000 pts + $22

 Cash Value: $1,334 

Summary

Did you make it this far?! I used a variety of transferable points from various banks to make this trip happen. This flexibility helped me to take advantage of transfer bonuses and lower my out of pocket costs. If you're curious or tallying up... as you'll see below, I used:

• Chase: 192,000 points 

I really usually try to save Chase points for Hyatt explicitly, but I couldn't pass up the Flying Blue Transfer Bonus, which got us premium seats on the red-eye flight to Europe) 

• Southwest: 46,000 points

Again, companion passes came in handy as part of my booking strategy. They saved us another 46,000 points and "allowed" us to fly the international flight in business class

• American Express: 275,000 points 

Typically I find these are the easiest points to earn, so they are the first points I try to use; especially on flights

• Capital One: 59,000 points  

I could have saved these points and paid $590 cash, instead of using the travel eraser option; but we have enough of these points that it was worth redeeming at 1:1 for what I did 

 

And because I love a good spreadsheet, here's the "raw" form for my fellow Type-A friends ;)

(Click to enlarge/view clearer)

This trip planning was absolutely a puzzle to piece together, something that I enjoy doing... but for my family and the memories we made, the trip itself was absolutely incredible!

I hope that my posts and sharing can help you find ways to use your everyday spending to inspire you and your family to make your own special memories with the help of points and miles!

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

My Kids First Business Class Flights

The fact that I can even title a post with this, is so crazy!! I never fathomed I would fly business class, let alone my children. Yet, here we are. Points are incredible!

I'm starting to blog my trip recap of our biggest trip we took/will take in 2026 is our family of 4 trip to Paris and Switzerland. 

For each booking, I'll share: which points I used, how many points I used, cash paid for taxes/fees/upgrades, and equally important: when and how I booked

But in typing up just our flights there, I realized there's a lot of content in our one-way flights there. It was pretty complicated (because I made it be;) and that it deserves a post of it's own.

Keep in mind; when using points for flying, we book one-way flights! This gives you the most flexibility and best likelihood to find "good" flights because you're not tied to matching up finding a good flight there and flight back from just one airline (you're expanding your horizons, ha!) Unlike cash flights, points flights do not cost more if you book one-way instead of round trip. To learn more about my process for points flights, check out this detailed post.

So, if you're looking for the overview of our trip; and which points/miles programs I used (yes, more than one!) and how much points and how much cash we spent out of pocket for flights and accommodations, during peak travel season (July 2026); that will be documented separately.

For now...

How I Got Four Business Class Flights to Europe

(during peak travel season)

Originally I booked premium economy flights for us. These flights were booked 9 months (Sept 2025) in advance, during a Chase transfer bonus. I transferred points from Chase to Air France, to book award flights directly with Air France. 

With Transfer bonus and kids discount; I paid 117k points + $500 in taxes/fees (cash value: $10k); this was a spectacular deal; especially for summer flights and a direct flight! 

At the time of booking a saver adult premium economy flight cost 40K points and because kids 2-11 receive a 25% discount with Flying Blue, the kids were 30K. (you may be doing the math and think 40+40+30+30 does not equal 117, like I said I paid; this is where the transfer bonus comes in)

At the time when I booked, there were also business class saver seats available (60K for adults and 45k for kids); but to be honest, I wasn't willing to spend that many Chase points on business class since premium economy was an option.

However...

After I booked the flights, later on I started to second guess that decision. I used Seats Aero Pro (paid $9.99/mo service) to set alerts for business class saver availability and in April, I received an alert that two saver seats on our exact flight were available!

The awesome thing about several airlines, including Air France, is that they are transfer partners of multiple banks... this gives you the ability to "pool" your points together, or to use points from whichever bank you have the most flexibility points with. 

When I received the alert, within a few hours, I called Air France to say I had an existing reservation I wanted to modify and then book the two business saver seats. Air France put a hold on the two business seats and then removed two of the four premium economy tickets on our original itinerary. I made it VERY clear that I didn't want to cancel the entire reservation!

The two cancelled tickets immediately refunded cash and points to my account, but I needed to transfer in more points to have enough for business class. Air France stayed on the phone with me, while I transferred in more points.  There happened to be a transfer bonus to Air France from American Express, so I used my Amex points and transferred what was needed to Air France. The agent was able to book the two business saver seats on the phone. In total, for 1 adult and 1 child, I paid 93.5k pts + $850 for 2 business seats (which includes $150 in change fees; $75/person, plus taxes and fees)

BUT, the other two of us were still in PE! Ughhhh.

I kept searching for more business saver options without success and had alert set through Seats Aero Pro. I had all but given up on getting all for us on in business class, and conceded that I would let the boys seat up front, and us girls would be in Premium Economy. This sounds superficial, but I was really sad to miss the excitement that I knew my son would have sitting up front.

As luck would have it, after flight check in, I was offered a cash upgrade option to business for $480 per person from Premium Economy. At first this seemed really expensive, as in "I don't want to really spend $960 more on our flights". However, I then realized that if I charged this $960 to my Venture Card, then I could use points to "erase" a portion of the cash charge to lower my overall out of pocket costs; which is exactly what I did

Since I did a portion of cash and capital one points, this "set" of business tickets was actually very similar priced to the first “set” that I had booked at Saver Fare.  I ultimately paid 98.5k pts + $450 cash for the second adult and second child business seats [58.5k pts from original Chase transfer bonus + 40k capital one miles to erase $400 of the cash out of pocket cost].

Using Capital One miles for Travel Eraser isn't the highest "value" you can get from your points (in comparison to transferring to airlines and hotels. You get a fixed value 1 cent of per point when  redeemed this way... but to me, for this situation, it was WELL WORTH the use of points! We all got to together in Business Class one the way to Europe; especially since it was our kids first business class flight (I know, bougie!! I never dreamed I would fly business, let alone my kids at ages 7 and 8!)

What We Paid in the End...

For 4 business class flights, total price in the end for 2 adult/2 children business class:

: Booked originally 9mo in advance; but altered 3mo in advance and 24 hours before the flight.

 192k pts + $1300 (a combination of Chase, American Express, and Capital One points; with Chase and Amex points transferred directly to Air France to book and Capital One points used for Travel eraser)

 Cash value: $20k

CPP*: 9.74

*CPP is equal to Cents per Point; it's how some points people gauge "value". The higher the CPP, the better. In comparison, when you use your points to book travel in a bank travel portal or cash out points like Capital One Travel Eraser, this is typically at 1 cent per point.

In the case of our flights to Europe, I got 9.74 CPP; which means I got almost 10 times the value than had I cashed out my points. This is an incredibly high CPP and great value! A "good" CPP is usually consider 2 or above.

Summary

I share this story because it has a lot of components. While confusing and complicated, it covers a variety of lessons learned and options:

1. Even after you book your flights, they're not locked in stone.

2. Take advantage of Transfer Bonuses when you can

3. You can "pool" (or combine) flexible points from various banks in the same airline to book in order to take advantage of points you have and/or transfer bonuses.

4. It's possible to do a cash upgrade at times/if offered, but you may have to wait until 24 hours before your flight to find out.

5. It's okay to use YOUR points how they work for YOU. Typically I do not use my Capital One points for travel eraser; but in this case - it was absolutely worth getting "only" 1 cent per point to have my family all fly in business class together, especially for the kids first time!

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

Sept 2026 Transfer Bonuses

Below you'll find information on the current transfer bonuses. Don't know what a transfer bonus is? Check out this page, which not only explains what a transfer bonus is, but also always includes the current transfer bonuses, as well as a calculator to tell you exactly how many points you need to move.

I'll keep this page updated as the month goes on, so be sure to check back!

Sept 2026 Transfer Bonuses

No idea what it even means to transfer? Start here with a beginner post and here to learn why and how to transfer.

American Express

• British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Iberia Plus: 30% bonus through 11:59PM ET Sept 27, 2026 (this is almost 2 months long! wow!)

These airlines are all part of Oneworld Alliance and all use Avios as their points system. What's cool about Avios, is that you can move them from one Avios airline to another! I have an entire post and tutorial here.

Why would you want or need to do this? You can save 30% on other flights, not just these airlines! For example, Qatar Airways is known to be one of the best business class flights in the world but they're not part of this transfer bonus (nor a transfer partner of Amex)... but you could move Amex points to British Airways, and then from British Airways to Qatar to ultimate book your flight and utilize this transfer bonus.       

• Hilton: 30% bonus through 11:59PM ET October 14, 2026 

Hilton is a fairly common American Express transfer bonus. Keep in mind, without the transfer bonus, Amex points transfer at a 1:2 ratio to Hilton, which doubles your points moving to Hilton. The transfer bonus makes it take much better!

Also keep in mind, if you have a Platinum card or a Business Platinum Card (or Hilton cards), you get Hilton Gold Status, which gets you 5th night free on consecutive night booking. Doubling this benefit with a transfer bonus, can be a great sweet spot.

Capital One

• Japan Airlines: 30% bonus through 11:59PM ET Sept 30, 2026. (Keep in mind - you'll need to have had your free Japan Airlines account for more than 7 days, in order to be able to redeem miles. If you don't have a JAL account, do yourself and make one now, for the next time you need it!

Chase

• Air Canada: 20% bonus through 11:59PM ET September 30, 2026.

Don't have any plans to fly Air Canada soon? Don't write off this transfer bonus just yet! Air Canada is in Star Alliance, a partnership of airlines that allow you to book flights for other airlines in the alliance. This means you could potentially book a United flight (and other airlines) through Air Canada using this transfer bonus! Learn more about alliances here.

This post specifically talks about Air Canada and it's tie to United, with example how to use Air Canada to book United.

Summary

Have you taken advantage of transfer bonuses before? While I don't wait for a transfer bonus (when I have something I want to book, I book it!), but it sure is nice when a transfer bonus aligns with something that I need to book.

I'll keep this page updated as the month goes on, so be sure to check back!

____________________________________________

Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

Colorado Fall Colors (on Points)

Crisp mornings, golden leaves, basking in sunshine.... tomorrow is September and that means the month of Colorado Fall Colors is here!

If you've followed me during the month of September, you may recall, it's one of my favorite months of the year in Colorado. This post is my attempt to entice you to join in my obsession. Here are a few of my favorite stays to enjoy the second half of September/beginning of October, in the mountains nearest Denver; that is Summit and Eagle Counties. 

(If you want to see my favorite hikes; look for the "Summit" saved Instagram Highlight bubble in my IG profile: @justcallmehaha)

Summit and Eagle County Hyatt Hotels

Booking Hyatt directly has usually my starting point (by transferring Chase points to Hyatt to do so); but in the last year there have been so many changes to premium credit cards that include hotel benefits like free breakfast, etc! Now there are several ways to book the same hotel and there are hotels outside of Hyatt that are worth considering. This will depend on which cards you hold, how long you want to stay and your preference for points and benefits.

First  - let's look at the hotels and then we'll look at other options to book them! This list isn’t all inclusive of your options; but I’m highlighting some various price points and locations.

(Note that the rates listed below are the lowest potential rates for this time of year. It's possible that room types at this lower rate may be sold out already.)

Hyatt Place Keystone

15,000 points per night

This is the lowest "luxury" level of the Hyatt options. At a Category 4, you could use a Level 1-4 Free Night Award (FNA)  here (although to be honest, the cash price is pretty low, that I personally wouldn't use an FNA for this stay) and includes free continental breakfast

Ranahan Breckenridge (Hyatt Vacation Club)

25,000 points per night

This is a Category 6 Hyatt. The benefit of staying at a Vacation Club, is that you typically have an apartment style rental - that offers a little more space as well as a kitchen to prepare/eat your own food.

Grand Hyatt Vail

30,000 points per night

Keep in mind; while you pay $0 in resort fees when booking direct on points, this hotel has a nightly $60 valet charge

Park Hyatt Beaver Creek

35,000 points per night

Keep in mind; while you pay $0 in resort fees when booking direct on points, this hotel has a nightly $60 valet charge

Alternative Booking Methods

If you're trying to stretch your points farther, you may want to consider the Cents per Points (or CPP) value that you're getting from a direct Hyatt booking. That is, compare the Points Cost to the Cash Price for the night you want to book. Take the Cash Price divided by the Points Price. If that number is smaller than 0.015, that means you're getting less than 1.5 cents per point and generally it would be recommended to save your points and pay cash.

However, enter Chase Points Boost. If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Chase Sapphire Reserve Business; in the Chase Travel Portal, there are select hotels that have "points boost" if booked through Chase. Points Boost essentially means that you will get a greater value than 1 cent per point when redeeming points to book a hotel with Chase. You can toggle on the filter to show only Points Boost hotels:

Sometimes you can actually spend LESS points booking a hotel on points in Chase Travel Portal than you will if you transferred points to the hotel and booked directly! Keep in mind though; that if you have hotel status or are collecting qualifying nights at a hotel; if you book in a bank travel portal, you may not receive credit. This will vary per hotel and dates. Generally the hotel will say "_____ (hotel program) Eligible" and allow you to put in your loyalty number)

For example, looking at Park Hyatt Beaver Creek for one night; Saturday Sept 26 through Sunday Sept 27th. If you booked directly with points at Hyatt, Hyatt wants to charge you 45,000 points for a standard room:

But, if I search in Chase Travel Portal, for the same hotel and same dates... I can find the same room for 30,023 (literally 30% less points)! AND to make it even better, because it's an Edit Hotel, I'll get free breakfast and $100 resort credit! Plus it says "Eligible for World of Hyatt", so I'd get credit with Hyatt for that night's stay). 

In this case, it's a no brainer: book through Chase Portal!

Note: Sapphire Reserve cards typically have better "points boost" than Sapphire Preferred. If you have both of these cards, make sure you are searching in Chase Travel Portal under your Reserve.

Chase Edit Credit

When Chase update the Sapphire Reserve card June 2025, they introduced Edit Hotels and Edit Credit. Edit Hotels are higher end hotels bookable in Chase Travel Portal that come with hotel benefits such as free breakfast for 2, resort credits, potential early check-in/late check out. Edit Hotels typically (if not always), also have points boost! 

The Edit Credit, is two $250 credits that can be used (separately) to book a 2-night minimum stay at an Edit Hotel. You simply charge at last $250 to your Reserve card when checking out in the portal. You can do a combination of cash and points, to minimize your net out of pocket cost.

And because I know this has surprised some people: to receive Edit Hotel benefits, you do NOT have to book a 2-night stay. However, if you want to utilize the $250 Edit Credit, you DO need to book a 2-night (minimum stay)

American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts

This is another great option to look at, especially if you have a Platinum card or a Business Platinum Card, which both come with 2 $300 Hotel Credits a year.

Similar to Chase Edit Hotels, Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts come with as free breakfast for 2, resort credits, potential early check-in and a guaranteed 4p late check out. Unlike Edit Credit, to use a $300 Hotel Credit, it does NOT have to be a 2-night stay. A one night stay will activate this credit!

(Also note: the 4pm guaranteed late checkout is wonderful if you're doing just a one-night stay! You can potentially check in as early as 12p, and stay until 4p the next day. That's more than 24 hours; just right for a staycation).

The one downfall to Amex Hyatt bookings is that the daily resort fee is NOT allowed to be paid with by points. When you check out in the travel portal, you'll see amount due now and amount due at hotel. The amount due at the hotel is generally the hotel's resort fee. However, for both Grand Hyatt Vail and Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, I have found that you can use the $100 resort credit to cover the $60/nt resort fee and $60/nt valet fee. If you're staying just one night; then your out of pocket cost become $20 instead of $100, due to the resort credit.

If you're interested in learning more about the Platinum card or a Business Platinum Card, click on their links above.

Grand Hyatt Vail and Park Hyatt Beaver Creek both qualify for Chase Edit Hotels/Credit and American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts/Hotel Credit. You can see more here about my experience at Grand Hyatt Vail from fall 2025, using my Amex  $300 credit.

Non-Hyatt Hotels

Kindred Resort

This hotel is brand new at the base of Keystone main River Run village. While I haven't stayed here (yet), the points price is awesome, especially if you stay for 2 night and utilize a $250 Edit Credit, then points to cover the rest.

These last two hotels are IHG Properties. While you could transfer points to IHG to book directly; honestly, this typically is not a good use of Chase points from a value perspective. However, I’ve booked both of these hotels with premium credit card benefits instead of Chase points and want to share that option. 

Hotel Indigo Silverthorne 

In addition to the Chase $250 Edit Credit I mentioned above, for 2026 Chase Reserve cards also have a $250 hotel benefit for "select" hotels when booked in the travel portal. Hotel Indigo qualifies for this $250 credit (as indicated by the gray strip on the photo) on a 2-night minimum stay. This hotel is in a lovely location and is pretty new. We found it very comfortable and worth recommending.

Holiday Inn Express Frisco

I recently open a Bilt Palladium card (it's so new, I haven't even shared the details yet! I'm waiting for my mortgage to post before I share). This card comes with a $200 hotel credit, twice a year (Jan-Jun, Jul-Dec). It can be used on any hotel in Bilt Travel portal, but MUST be used on a 2-night stay.

It also can be combined with a $100 Bilt Cash Hotel Credit, which ends up giving you $300 off a 2-night hotel stay.

I recently booked (and later cancelled due to a change in plans) 2 nights at Holiday Inn Express Frisco through Bilt Travel for only $9 out of pocket with utilizing these benefits!

Summary

Earning points is often the easier part of figuring this all out. Learning how to use those points is hard - because there are so many different options and ways to use them.

I hope that this post helped offer you not only some ideas to catch fall colors in Colorado; but also showed you that there are several ways to book the same hotel (which honestly, can make your head spin. Especially to keep track of all of these "coupon" like benefits on higher fee cards). It just depends which cards you hold and what exactly you're looking for!

If you book one of these, or if I missed your favorite; let me know in the comments or give me a tag on IG!

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know my suggestions.

Wondering how I keep all of this information organized? Check out my Points Tracker!

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!