How to Travel Hack New Orleans

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In February, two weeks after I travel hacked Las Vegas, I travel hacked New Orleans.

Despite my love for beignets, it had been more than 12 years since my last visit to the Big Easy. A return visit was long overdue.

But unlike my trip many years ago, on this visit, I travel hacked New Orleans for a total trip cost of $167.90.

Here’s how I hacked my trip to New Orleans and you can too!

How to Travel Hack New Orleans

This is part 1 of a multi-part series on travel hacking New Orleans.

I flew roundtrip from San Diego to New Orleans for a weekend getaway including an overnight layover in Dallas for $16.80.

Pro-tip: Without the stop in Dallas, the trip would have cost $11.20.

This was a short trip to attend a miles and points meetup.

Cost

I used miles and points earned from the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®, World of Hyatt credit card, Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card, and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. You can travel hack New Orleans using other credit cards. Scroll down to learn more.

Flights

Several airlines fly from San Diego to New Orleans so there are a lot of options. The least expensive ticket was $346.

Most airlines charge 25,000 miles roundtrip for a free flight. For that price, it makes sense to buy the ticket instead of using miles.

Unless you can find a better deal, as I did.

Because I was traveling solo I couldn’t use the Southwest Companion Pass.

I found an economy web special on American Airlines to New Orleans for 8,000 that included an overnight in Dallas. One less night in New Orleans but I would avoid a redeye flight.

For the return flight from New Orleans to San Diego I booked a standard award of 12,500 miles.

The cost for both flights was 20,000 miles plus $16.80.

On the way to New Orleans, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express gave me free access to the San Diego Airspace Lounge and a $10 credit for food and drinks. You can also use The Platinum Card® from American Express. Enrollment is required for select benefit. The card also got me into the Centurion Lounge at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport.

The Airspace Lounge is now the Aspire Lounge. As a Priority Pass Lounge, you get free access with your Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card, Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, and Capital One Venture X Business.

While in Dallas because I have the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® and was flying on American Airlines, I had access to the Admirals Club, the American Airlines airport lounge.

Flying home from New Orleans, my Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card got me into the Club MSY.

Pro-tip: You can get free access to airport lounges with your credit card.

Hotels

To avoid a redeye flight to New Orleans, I stayed at two Hyatt hotels during this weekend’s getaway to New Orleans. I used points from my The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card.

There are many hotels in addition to Hyatt, including Hilton, IHG, and Marriott. So you can use points from your Hilton Honors American Express Card, Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, your IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card, IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card, Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, and your Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card.

Hyatt Regency DFW International Airport

For my overnight in Dallas, I stayed at the Hyatt Regency DFW International Airport in a suite. I’ve stayed here many times before and they treat Globalists very well. Free night awards are 8,000 points per night. Sometimes you luck out and rooms are inexpensive so you have to decide when you should use points and when to pay cash for hotels. With taxes, I paid $151.10.

Pro-tip: This is a Category 4 hotel so you can use your free night certificate from the World of Hyatt card.

Hyatt Place New Orleans Convention Center

While in New Orleans, I stayed at the Hyatt Place New Orleans Convention Center. I used 12,000 Hyatt points. The Hyatt Centric and The Eliza Jane in the French Quarter are also 12,000 points per night. I had an early morning flight so would miss breakfast and the Hyatt Place was walking distance to the brewery. So I picked the Hyatt Place.

Pro-tip: If you don’t have Hyatt points you can transfer points from cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Sapphire Reserve, and Ink Business Cash® Credit Card.

How to Earn the Miles and Points

The quickest way to earn miles and points to travel hack New Orleans is credit card bonuses.

Besides welcome offers, I use creative ways to earn unlimited miles and points.  With those points, I’ve travel hacked Australia not once but twice for a two week Australia trip, a ten day trip to Europe, and the Maldives.

Sixteen airlines fly to New Orleans and several offer co-branded airline credit cards. For this trip, it was cheaper for me to use American Airlines miles.

I used the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®, World of Hyatt card, Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card, and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card for travel hacking New Orleans.

Conclusion

With so many airlines and hotels, you can travel hack New Orleans. My trip to the Big Easy should have cost $746.10 but I only paid $167.90.

New Orleans is inexpensive unless you visit during Mardi Gras. So it’s easy to use miles and points when visiting the Big Easy. The quickest way to earn miles and points to get a free trip to New Orleans is through travel rewards credit cards. But do the math because it might make more sense to pay cash than to use miles and points.  

I use miles and points for trips in the US when I can find a great deal like the web special award and reduced miles awards. That way I have more points to travel hack Australia, Europe, and the Maldives.

Stay tuned for the next part of this series: flights to New Orleans.

What are your tricks and how-tos to travel hack New Orleans?

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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the best card to get started in the world of miles and points. It is the first card you should get to start traveling for free because the welcome offer is 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months.

 

My favorite perks about this card are earning 5X points on travel when booked through the Chase portal (2X if direct purchase), 3X points on dining, $50 yearly credit on hotels booked through the Chase portal, no foreign transaction fees, and transferring points to 13 airline and hotel partners like Hyatt, United, and Southwest.

 

Learn more about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and how to apply

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Chase Freedom Unlimited®

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is one of my favorite cards for earning cash back card and travel rewards. It offers a welcome offer of an additional 1.5% cash back on all your purchases up to $20,000 your first year.

 

My favorite perks about this card are earning 5% cash back on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal, 3% cash back at drugstores and restaurants (including delivery and takeout), 1.5% cash back on all other purchases and no annual fee. When paired with cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card or Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, you can use your points to travel for free.

 

Learn more about the Chase Freedom Unlimited® and how to apply