My First Points Redemption
My First Points Redemption: Costa Rica
Costa Rica was the first trip I booked with points. It was stunning and I absolutely loved it. The people, the weather and the resort all exceeded my expectations. But first, let me give you the details you're actually looking for. Our family of five flew American Airlines and stayed at the Andaz Costa Rica Resort at the Peninsula Papagayo.
This trip cost $84.50 per person total for hotel and airfare.
Cost Breakdown
American Airlines:
192,500 points with American Airlines to fly our family of 5 round-trip from Boston to Liberia International Airport (LIR)
$84.50 per person in taxes and fees round-trip
The cash rate came out to just over $3,000 for 5 roundtrip tickets from Boston. So we got an amazing deal at $84.50 per person.
Hyatt Andaz Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo:
112,000 Hyatt points for one double room at the Andaz. We had one double room with 2 queen beds, a crib and a balcony.
I paid $0 for the 4 nights we stayed. Hyatt does not charge any fees when you pay with points.
The cash rate would have come to just over $6,000 for the 4 nights in this room! I paid $0. Isn’t that insane? Thank you, points and miles!
The credit cards
Chase Ink Business Unlimited
90,000 bonus points after $6,000 minimum spend within the first 3 months
$0 annual fee
Additional 40,000 bonus points from my husband’s referral link
Barclays AAdvantage Aviator World Elite Red Mastercard
60,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after making a purchase and paying the annual fee within the first 90 days
$99 annual fee
Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard
75,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after $3,500 minimum spend within 4 months
$99 annual fee, waived the first year
CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard
65,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after $4,000 minimum spend within 4 months
$99 annual fee, waived the first year
So yes, it cost less than $100 per person for 5 days in Costa Rica at an upscale resort. I got 4 cards in total for this trip: 2 business cards and 2 personal. It was hard to stomach taking up 2 of my 5/24 slots for this one trip, but I was super eager to go to this resort, and visit Costa Rica. Would I do it differently now that I know more about traveling on points? Yes. But at the time, this was my best option.
I got these credit cards over the course of several months. I did not get them all at once. I used them for our normal everyday expenses as a family of five, including: tuition, utilities, healthcare bills, maintenance costs at our house, and groceries.
It’s important to note that one of these cards, the Barclays AAdvantage card did not have a minimum spend amount. The only requirement was to make one purchase and pay the annual fee. The purchase could literally be a $1 charge. So, that lowered the minimum spend I needed to attain between all 4 cards.
The total annual fees I actually paid for this trip is just the one Barclays $99 fee. The other 3 cards either had no fee or it was waived for the first year. I will likely cancel the 2 Citi cards before I have to pay the annual fee next year. I don’t see enough value to keep them.
Details on the trip
I went with my husband and three kids in early March, which is high season in Costa Rica. High season = dry season. It’s the rainforest so we were planning the trip around when we’d get the best weather. March was amazing. It didn’t rain at all. It was very hot and very humid. Exactly what we were hoping for, since we were leaving 30 degree weather behind.
Our flights with American were disappointing.
This was my first time flying American and I was really unimpressed. There were no TV screens in the headrests, so we each had to have our own device. I also quickly learned that the Wifi that was offered was only to access American’s preloaded content. With little kids, we had specific content in mind for them. So, we had to buy individual flight passes for each device to have Wifi for the entire flight.
One of our flights was over an hour longer than it was supposed to be. I’m sure the pilots did what they needed to get us there safely, but that extra time was super hard with three little kids. Not much food was offered, and this was a pretty long flight that spanned through lunch. I had packed some snacks, but it would have been helpful if we had the option to purchase lunch in-flight.
The amount of points I needed for these American flights was nearly double what I initially planned. I previously had this trip booked for later in the year, but I changed the dates so we could go sooner. American was great about canceling everything and refunding all fees and points. But, the new dates were 100,000 more than our original plans. This was on me though. We were excited to go and I had already allocated all those AAdvantage points for this trip anyways. But in the future, it’s good to know that 5 roundtrip flights can be booked for around 100,000 points total.
The Andaz Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo
Why I loved the Andaz Costa Rica:
The resort is built into a mountainside and is truly stunning. When we arrived, our bags were whisked away to our room while we were greeted with warm towels, coconut water and fresh cookies. It was such a lovely way to start the trip.
I was surprised to find that we were upgraded to a Bay view room (for free, with no request to do so). I assume this is because I paid with points (although I did not have Hyatt loyalty status at the time). The Bay view was beautiful and every room has a large balcony. Once the little ones went to bed, this gave my husband and I a place to retreat. It was a great setup.
When we arrived, they had a bottle of champagne, a platter of chocolate dipped strawberries and a chocolate cake in our room, to celebrate our anniversary. This was super thoughtful and such a fun surprise. The concierge had called prior to our arrival asking questions about our stay, so clearly they were taking notes. They also put a little stuffed animal in the crib for my son - which was a big hit. Each day the cleaning staff would arrange my kids’ toys in these fun little ways. The kids loved coming back to the room to see how they were arranged each day. These gestures truly made us feel welcome.
The resort is built into a hill, which makes for great views. But it also makes it quite the trek to get around the property. But the property was designed with little roads running throughout that fit golf carts. The staff picks you up in the golf cart and drops you off anywhere you please throughout the day, all complementary.
The Andaz was very family friendly: Kids 5 and under eat free off the kids’ menu. There is a complementary kids’ club drop-off program during the day. There is a gradual-entry family pool that is perfect for toddlers. They let us stay in a double room, even though we had 5 people and the maximum occupancy was technically 4. They knew my son would be in a crib and were kind enough to let us stay in one room. Also, I have to mention the monkeys! There were monkeys all around the property. The kids loved that and it remains a highlight of the trip.
They accommodated families very well while also somehow catering to couples. We saw many couples who were there on honeymoons and solo vacationers.
They have another separate beach, pool and restaurant accessible via complementary water taxi (about a 5 minute ride) or via the shuttle bus. This turned out to be a fun outing that didn’t cost anything extra. It was gorgeous at the beach club, the pool there was a hit and the speed boat was such a fun little private ride (we happened to have it to ourselves but it could fit probably 10 people).
The entire staff at the Andaz was incredible. They go out of their way to ensure you have everything you need. Everyone we met was wonderful and remembered all of our names from day one. I wasn’t expecting such warm hospitality all around. It was really comforting and is what makes us want to return.
