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How points and miles saved me over $2,000 on a trip to Nantucket and Cape Cod
Andrew Kunesh is TPG's Points & Miles editor. He has been active in the points and miles space since 2014, using them to travel far and wide around the world. He is originally from Chicago but moved to New York City after graduating from DePaul University. His work is featured on Credit Karma, UpgradedPoints, ValuePenguin and various other travel and finance publications. He currently holds Delta Diamond Medallion and Marriott Titanium status, and 20+ credit cards that each have a special place in Andrew's wallet.
July 15, 2021 • 11 min read
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Quick summary
The article details a trip from New York City to Nantucket and Cape Cod, focusing on maximizing savings through points and miles.
Flights were booked using airline loyalty program miles, with notable value achieved despite dynamic award pricing and seasonal routes.
Hotel stays in Nantucket required cash bookings due to a lack of points hotels, while a chain hotel in Cape Cod was booked with loyalty points and a free night certificate.
Additional savings were achieved on a rental car by using an alumni discount code and paying with a card offering rental coverage and rewards.
What to consider
Some flight and hotel award rates fluctuate due to dynamic pricing and peak travel periods.
Not all destinations, such as Nantucket, have hotels bookable with points, requiring alternative strategies for savings.
Certain offers and rates mentioned in the article may no longer be available.
What you'll miss from the article
A step-by-step breakdown of how to combine points, certificates, shopping portals and discount codes to maximize savings on a Northeast getaway.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
I've lived in New York City for the past three years, but I haven't explored much of the Northeast. Aside from occasional trips to Providence and Philadelphia to visit friends, most of my time here is spent in NYC. This year, one of my travel goals is to explore more nearby cities, whether in upstate New York or elsewhere.
Two of the places at the top of my list are Cape Cod and Nantucket. These regions are rich in history and — from what friends have told me — a great place to work remotely for a week. Plus, it's easy to travel from New York City to Nantucket, with most major airlines operating nonstop service from at least one of New York's three major airports.
I recently planned a trip to Nantucket and Cape Cod, mainly using points and miles. Here's a look at how I booked flights, hotels and other transportation
Booking flights Miles on JetBlue, Delta and Cape Air
(Photo by Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock.com)
Delta Air Lines operates seasonal nonstop flights to Nantucket (ACK) from New York-JFK and New York (LGA). These flights give New Yorkers an easy way to make the 199-mile journey without driving or stepping foot on a ferry. This can be a huge benefit given the drive from NYC to Hyannis — a Cape Cod town with direct ferry access to Nantucket — takes 6+ hours when there's bad traffic.
Due to Delta SkyMiles' dynamic award pricing, award prices vary significantly on flights between NYC and Nantucket. For example, you'll see prices range between 4,500 and 70,000 SkyMiles one-way this September. Those fares start at $60 each way, so you're getting well over TPG valuation of 1.41 cents per point on a ticket that costs 4,500 SkyMiles.
(Screenshot courtesy of delta.com)
JetBlue also operates seasonal flights to Nantucket from New York-JFK, New York (LGA) and Newark (EWR). JetBlue prices award tickets based on the cost of a cash ticket, so more expensive tickets cost more points.
I was able to book a one-way ticket from Newark that worked better for my schedule for just 7,500 TrueBlue points one-way. The same ticket cost $115, so I got 1.45 cents per point in value.
Returning to New York from Cape Cod with Delta and Cape Air
I plan to return from Hyannis (HYA) in Cape Cod. Currently, Cape Air serves this airport with nonstop flights to Boston (BOS). Delta and Cape Air recently announced a loyalty partnership, so I was able to book a one-way ticket from Hyannis to New York via Boston (BOS) for 20,000 SkyMiles in Main Cabin. The same ticket cost $242, so I'm getting 1.21 cents per mile in value.
(Screenshot courtesy of delta.com)
One interesting thing to note: Cape Air operates a Cessna light aircraft between Hyannis and Boston. This flight is a first for me and will make for an exciting trip home.
(Photo by Wangkun Jia / Shutterstock.com)
While I could have gotten a better value redeeming my SkyMiles elsewhere, I wanted to save as much money as possible on this trip. Nantucket and Cape Cod are expensive, after all. So, the more money I can save on flights, the more money I can spend having a great time in the region. Plus, I'm working to burn down my SkyMiles balance anyway since a devaluation is always possible.
Interested in earning Delta SkyMiles? Here are the current offers for Delta cobranded credit cards:
Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card: Earn 65,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 in purchases on your new card in your first six months of card membership. Offer ends 8/2/23.
Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card: Earn 85,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 in purchases on your new card in your first six months of card membership. Offer ends 8/2/23.
Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card: Earn 85,000 bonus miles after you spend $6,000 in purchases on your new card in your first six months of card membership. Offer ends 8/2/23.
Hotels are a big expense on any trip — and in Nantucket and Cape, budget properties are hard to find. Here's a quick overview of the hotels I booked and how I used points to reduce my expenses a bit.
Nantucket is a no-go with points and miles
Hotels are notoriously expensive in Nantucket and there are no points hotels on the island. I did some research and found that there are only a handful of hotels available for under $300 per night this September. So, I opted to book three nights at The Beachside on Nantucket for $241 per night through Hotels.com. It's a no-frills property near Jetties Beach and downtown Nantucket Town.
(Screenshot courtesy of hotels.com)
I booked through Hotels.com because I can earn Hotels.com Rewards nights on my stay. This program gives you one free night for every 10 nights you stay. Your free night is worth the average of your last 10 nights, effectively giving you a 10% discount on Hotels.com stays if you use the certificate for max value.
I paid for my hotel booking with my Citi Premier® Card (see rates and fees) since it earns 3 ThankYou points per dollar spent on hotels, air travel, restaurants and gas stations. The card currently offers new cardmembers 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on the card within the first 3 months of account opening. Consider opening one of these cards if you have a lot of spend in these purchase categories.
Cape Cod is a large region with numerous towns to visit, but I plan to make Hyannis my home base. When there, I'll rent a car and drive around Cape Cod during the day to see other towns like Provincetown and Eastham. Plus, I plan to spend a day hiking the Cape Cod National Seashore.
I'll use Marriott Bonvoy points to cover five nights at the Courtyard Cape Cod Hyannis. The property is 35,000 to 40,000 points per night during my stay due to peak pricing. I'll use points to cover three nights and a Marriott free night certificate to cover the fourth. I got this free night certificate with my Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, and it's valid for a free night at any Marriott up to 35,000 points per night (awarded annually). The fifth night is covered by Marriott's fifth-night free benefit on award stays.
(Screenshot courtesy of marriott.com)
This ended up being a pretty solid use of points and certificates too. The two-night stay would cost $1,788, so I got almost 1.2 cents per point in value from this redemption. This is significantly higher than TPG's valuation of 0.8 cents per Marriott point — an excellent deal in my mind.
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card: Earn 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after using your card to spend $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months; plus, earn 50,000 bonus points after you stay six eligible paid nights at Marriott hotels through Jan. 31, 2024. Offer ends August 10.
Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card: Earn 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after using your card to spend $1,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months; plus, earn 50,000 bonus points after you stay six eligible paid nights at Marriott hotels through Jan. 31, 2024. Offer ends August 10.
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: Earn 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after spending $6,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months; plus, earn 50,000 points after you stay six eligible nights at Marriott hotels through Jan. 31, 2024. Offer ends August 9.
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card: Earn 75,000 bonus points after you use your new card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first three months of card membership.
My university's Hertz discount code helped me save over $100 on a rental car in Cape Cod. (Photo by antonnot / Shutterstock.com)
I'll rent a car during my week-long stay in Hyannis. I've talked extensively about saving money on rental cars, so I'll spare you all the details here. But I want to highlight how I could save over $100 of the standard Hertz rental rate with my university's alumni code.
Here's a look at the standard rental rate for a five-day rental in late September. The cheapest Pay Later rate is $620.44 for a small sedan or economy car.
(Screenshot courtesy of hertz.com)
My university's alumni code brings that price down to $496.35. This saves me roughly $124, which is pretty solid. Make sure to always check for available corporate and discount codes from your university, employer or alumni association when renting a car. It could be your ticket to big savings.
(Screenshot courtesy of hertz.com)
Additionally, I'll pay for the rental with my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and earn 2 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per dollar. Plus, this card includes a rental damage waiver that covers the car against theft and damage. This means I don't need to purchase this coverage from Hertz or claim on my own car insurance if anything happens to the car.
If you're interested in opening a Chase Sapphire Preferred, new cardmembers can earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. This bonus is worth $1,200 per TPG's latest valuation of Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
My trip to Nantucket and Cape Cod wasn't completely free, but points and miles helped me save well over $2,000. Plus, I maximized my expenses by charging the Nantucket hotel and Cape Cod rental car to a points-earning credit card and leveraging shopping portals and discount codes.
This is just one example of how points and miles can help you make otherwise out-of-budget trips attainable. Armed with the right suite of credit cards, you can save money just about anywhere in the world.
Feature photo by Lucky-photographer/Shutterstock
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
