One of the great things (at least to me!) about earning points is that they give you the ability to book trips “on a whim.” Which is exactly what I did for Nick’s birthday! I wanted to surprise him with a little weekend getaway, and finally settled on Baltimore.
We’ll be heading down after work on October 21st, and we’ll spend all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday before we head back to NYC. No plans yet, so if you have a Baltimore recommendation, let me know!
So how did I do this? I did spend more money than points (bummer!), but that’s because we needed to use Amtrak points for another trip we have coming up later this month. Oh well, you win some, you lose some–this trip is still very much worth it :)! Here’s how it breaks down:
| Item | Points Used | Cash Spent |
|---|---|---|
| 2x Amtrak coachclass tickets, NYP-BAL | 0 | $98.00 |
| 2 nights at the Indigo Hotel – Baltimore Downtown (an IHG property) | 30,000 IHG points | $198.00 |
| 2x Amtrak coachclass tickets, BAL-NYP | 0 | $142.20 |
Total points used and cash spent: 30,000 points and $438.20.
We will earn the following points for this trip:
- Sam:
- Amtrak:
240480 points from travel + 720 points from Amtrak credit card - IHG:
198990 points from credit card (EDIT 9/18/2016: Cash+Points stays DO earn 5x points–and I have the credit card statement to prove it!)
- Amtrak:
- Nick:
- Amtrak:
240480 points
- Amtrak:
Happy birthday, Nick!
EDIT 9/18/2016: We’ll actually earn 480 Amtrak points each from travel, thanks to the Amtrak Double Days promotion!
A Point Earned 
2 thoughts on “Birthday Surprise!”