How To Visit National Parks With Points and Miles

 

Feeling uneasy about traveling internationally right now, there are so many beautiful places to visit right here in the US including National Parks. And yes, you can use points and miles to visit them. 

Recently, I visited Joshua Tree National Park, it is the 6th most visited park in the US with 3 million visitors every year. The park is located approximately 45 minutes from Palm Springs in the Hi Desert.

The top 10 most popular National Parks are: Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, Acadia, Grand Teton, Joshua Tree and Olympic. 

And those are just the most popular ones. Some of the smaller yet amazing National Parks include: Canyonlands, Lassen Volcanic, Big Bend, Channel Islands and North Cascades. 332 million people visit the National Parks each year. 

You will need to pay the entry for each park so if you plan to visit 2-3 of them, you should look into purchasing the America The Beautiful annual pass for $80. For seniors, it's just $20 for an annual pass and $80 for a lifetime pass. The pass is FREE for military and fourth graders and their families. 

You could pay a lot to stay inside some of the parks OR there are a handful of hotel chains that are typically located just outside the entrances to the parks. Those chains include Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott, Holiday Inn Express by IHG and Sure Stay Plus by Best Western. These hotels usually qualify for FREE night certificates like Marriott's FREE night for 35,000 points. In addition, Holiday Inn is a stay 3, get the 4th night FREE and Marriott is stay 4, get the 5th night FREE. 

If there is no chain near the entrance or you don't have a FREE night certificate, you can also look in the Chase Travel Portal or the Capital One Travel Portal or you can "erase" the hotel with your Capital One Venture credit card. 

For Joshua Tree National Park, I used a FREE night certificate to stay at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Twenty Nine Palms. It is located about seven minutes outside the park entrance. There is a grocery store across the street from the hotel and a few restaurants nearby including a Chipotle and Starbucks. I prefer the Fairfield Inn and Suites hotels because the rooms can accommodate up to 6 people, there is a pool and includes breakfast. 

Most of these parks are located within driving distance from a city where Southwest flies so you can use points and your Southwest Companion Pass. For example, Joshua Tree National Park is approximately 30 minutes from Palm Springs, 1.5 hours from Ontario Airport and 2.5 hours from Los Angeles, Burbank, John Wayne Airport and San Diego. 

Yellowstone is located a few hours from Salt Lake City and Boise, Idaho. Yosemite is located a few hours from Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and Fresno. The Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce are located a few hours from Las Vegas. You can also fly into Phoenix to visit the Grand Canyon. 

The biggest expense with a National Park trip is usually renting a car, but if you charge this purchase to your Capital One Venture or Venture X credit card, you get rental insurance and can "erase" the purchase with points. Right now, the Capital One Venture credit card is offering 100,000 bonus points through my special link. You might also try booking your rental car through the Chase or Capital One Travel portal, but I usually find Costco has better rates. 

One of my clients told me she finds great rates through airline offers when she books her flights. But however you make the reservation, be sure to pay for the rental car with a credit card that earns bonus points for travel. Or use a credit card that you are working to earn a bonus offer like the Chase Sapphire Preferred 100,000 point offer or that you can erase the rental with points. 

Food options can be limited near the National Parks so it's a good idea to carry a cooler with you and stop at a grocery store on the way. Keep plenty of water with you as well since many of the parks can be hot and have long lines during the busy season. 

Some of the parks like Joshua Tree National Park offer ranger tours like the one I took to Keys Ranch, an original homestead inside the park. We spent two hours in a private area inside the park that is only accessible on the tour. The original house, equipment and cars are on the property and Ranger Tom had lots of stories about the miners and park back in the 1930's. The tour is only available October - April and costs $20 per person. 

If you are looking to stay closer to home or in the US this summer, National Parks offer a great escape from the city and are super affordable with points and miles. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable.