Sometimes you just need to take a vacation. And sometimes, you know you’ll need to take a vacation sooner rather than later. So what did Nick and I decide to do? Go to Harry Potter World, of course! And this wouldn’t be A Point Earned if we didn’t use points (and earn some!) to get there. Here’s our plan: fly LGA-MCO (Orlando) on 11/18 and return MCO-LGA on 11/20. Yes, it’s a short vacation, but our LGA-MCO flight is early in the morning and allows us to spend the rest of Friday at the beach–only an hour from the airport. Saturday will be spent at Universal, and we plan to see both parts of Harry Potter World. Sunday will be a hotel/pool day, and we’ll fly back in the afternoon.
Points/Money Breakdown:
| Item | Points Used | Value | Cash Spent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2x DL tickets (11/18-11/20)
LGA-MCO-LGA |
60,000 | $732.40 | $22.40 |
| 2 nights – DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando – Lake Buena Vista | 0* Redeemed Hilton Select certificate (free three day/two-night stay) | $362.50 | $112.50 |
| Enterprise Rental Car – Economy (Kia Rio or similar) | 0 | $80.01 | $80.01 |
| 2 one-day passes to both Universal Studios Parks | 0 | $310.00 | $310.00 |
In sum, we used 60,000 points and $524.91, which saved us $960.00 had we only paid with cash–over 60% in savings!
This trip could have been even cheaper had we not:
- Decided to upgrade our hotel room ($112.50)
- Paid cash ($80.01) rather than points (6,401) for the rental car
Had we not done either of these things, our trip costs would have been 66,401 points and $332.40.
We’re looking forward to our quick getaway–what was your favorite part of Harry Potter World?
A Point Earned 
2 thoughts on “We’re off to See the Wizard (No, Not That One!)”