In a world obsessed with material possessions, I’ve come to realize the most valuable things aren’t actually things at all. Instead, I prioritize collecting memories. Experiences, adventures, and moments hold far more significance and long-lasting joy, at least to me, than any material item ever could.
Most experiences come with a cost. Although some are free, if you want to witness natural wonders, attend live events such as concerts or shows, or be part of special occasions, you’ll need to cover travel expenses. This is where collecting loyalty points can be helpful. By using points to pay for your travel, you can reduce your expenses to just meals and ticket prices.
As an example, here’s how we used points and other credit card-related perks to pay for most of the costs of our trip to New York to see the final show of Billy Joel’s 10-year residency at Madison Square Garden.
Concert Tickets
I’ve already written how I used the Citi Entertainment benefit of having a Citi credit card to get early access to tickets to the show. This saved us from having to pay the markup for tickets on the secondary market. We also were able to get seats just a few rows from the back of the stage, which was a great place to watch a Billy Joel show at MSG.
Flights To New York
For our flight to New York, we flew on Delta from MCO to LaGuardia Airport. Two one-way tickets cost us $246, which I purchased with my Capital One Venture X through Capital One Travel. I used my $300 travel credit to cover the cost of the tickets.
This was right in the middle of the Delta meltdown, so I paid $24 extra per ticket for Capital One’s flight disruption coverage. Thankfully, we didn’t need it, as our flight was only delayed by 90 minutes.
Our flight home was with JetBlue from Newark. I used 26,600 points and $11.20 in taxes, which I earned when we signed up for the JetBlue Plus card.
I charged the taxes to our Citi Prestige card, so they’d be reimbursed by that card’s $250 annual travel credit.
Hotel
For our hotel, we stayed at the Moxy Times Square. It’s only a short walk from the hotel to Madison Square Garden.
I paid for the stay with three 50K free night certificates, which I received as a signup bonus for the Marriott Bonvoy Business AMEX card. Since two of the nights cost slightly over 50,000 points, I added 7,000 Bonvoy points to complete the reservation. The hotel also charges a $30 nightly destination fee, which is not waived. After taxes, we paid $103.86.
Airport Parking
As usual, we parked at Fast Park & Relax, our normal offsite airport parking location. Thanks to referral bonuses we received over the years, we were able to park for free.
Transportation
We took the Q70 bus and subway to Manhattan from LaGuardia. The subway fare for the two of us was $5.80. Since I paid with my Sapphire Reserve, my annual travel credit covered the MTA fare.
To get to Newark Airport, we called an Uber instead of taking the train. The fare was $99.83, and I tipped the driver $20.
Final Cost
It’s challenging to determine the total cost of the trip because most of the expenses were covered using points or travel credits. However, if I had to pay for the flights ($500), hotel ($750+), parking, transportation, and meals, it would have been a very expensive quick trip to New York.
I recall reading a while ago that accumulating loyalty points for travel makes the unlikely seem routine. It also makes it much easier to gather experiences, such as attending a once-in-a-lifetime concert at Madison Square Garden.
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Cover Image by Andrew Scozzari from Pixabay
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
