Over the past year, you’ve seen us write about Sharon’s fishing trips to Cape Canaveral, FL. While she’s taken trips with two boat operators to find her favorite, It’s been up to me to find her a place to stay either the night before or the day after her fishing trips. Sure, the shore is only an hour+ from our house but fishing boats leave at times that are not usual for the typical human (Note from Sharon: Especially this human #notamorningperson) and sometimes it’s just better to sleep there to ensure being able to drive home without being too drowsy.
During the pandemic, we racked up some Marriott Bonvoy free nights so I booked those at:
I also booked a free night at the Holiday Inn Vacation Club when it was available for less than 40K per night, so I could use my free night from the IHG credit card.
This past week, Sharon had another fishing trip booked. However, we’ve been in a strange weather pocket with warm and cold fronts blowing over the area which, besides causing massive temperature fluctuations and severe weather, also causes high seas if you’re out at the wrong time. Fishing boats only cancel trips 12-24 hours in advance so I couldn’t book a room for Sharon before we were sure the fishing trip was sure to happen.
We got to a point when we were sure she’d be leaving the next morning. However, we were now at a time when it was spring break AND the day when NASA would roll the Artemis Moon Rocket to the launchpad. Needless to say that hotel rooms at Cape Canaveral were at a premium.
In fact, all of the Marriott Bonvoy and IHG properties in the area were sold out for the night. Hyatt doesn’t have any properties in the area and even the Radisson was selling rooms for $300+ a night.
That’s when I looked at Sharon and said I didn’t think I would be able to find her a room.
However, I’m not one to give up. If I couldn’t book a free night with our main programs, what about with the ones we don’t use as often? Maybe I could find a free night with Choice Rewards of Wyndham.
Nothing doing, unless I wanted to find a place 30 minutes away. At that point, she might as well just drive home. That’s when I remembered we have a large amount of Hilton Honors points.
I checked the Hilton website and found a hotel right near the dock, which was available for 40,000 points a night.
Considering that the AAA rate for the same room was $282 a night, I’d be getting a value of 0.7 CPP for my Hilton Honors points. I’ll redeem them for anything over 0.5 CPP so while this wasn’t the best or most aspirational stay, it fit our needs.
Final Thoughts
Of course, this wasn’t the best use of Hilton Honors points you’ve ever seen. However since all of the Marriott Bonvoy and IHG properties were booked solid and I couldn’t even find a points redemption with Radisson, Wyndham or Choice, being able to book a room at a Hilton property was the best value I could find. Being able to book a $300 room with 40,000 points I earned from the Hilton Honors Surpass card sign-up bonus and still having points to spare shows the value in diversifying your points portfolio.
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