One of the great things about acquiring points and miles is that you can plan last minute trips that would normally be too expensive otherwise. One of the top global parties every year is Burning Man which takes place in the middle of the desert in Nevada in the week leading up to each Labor Day. Imagine you and 50,000 of your closest friends coming for a week and creating a city of art, music and memories. The ideas of sustainability and “Leaving no Trace” are central to the festival and the idea is you take away whatever you bring so the desert (playa) is left exactly as it was when you found it. I have been wanting to go for many years and decided that this was my year! This is just the lineup from one of the many parties at burning man this year.
Luck had it that immediately before Burning Man was another amazing party called Get Lost in Los Angeles. The Get Lost parties during Winter Music Conference in Miami are some of the most talked about every year and the music and artists are amazing.
I decided to see if I could plan a trip to do both parties, first Get Lost in LA then Burning Man. If I could get a good deal on the plane tickets which is often the biggest hurdle for most people then I could get the experience of a lifetime on a small budget.
Since I had oodles of Southwest Points that I got by buying and selling Sears merchandise, I wanted to see if I could use those to make it happen. When I looked around, I was surprised to see some really reasonable point values still available. Long story short this is what I was able to find.
So for almost 26,000 points and $12.50 I had my tickets! Since Southwest uses a fixed ratio of 60 points per dollar for Wanna Get Away fares, this gave me a value of $433 for those points. I am staying with some friends in LA and at Burning Man so there will be some other expenses, but when you can get the flights for free, it makes it much easier to make the other ends meet.
While that great Sears offer I took advantage previously isn’t available any more, what IS available is a 50,000 offer for the Chase Rapid Rewards card. Spending just 1000 in 3 months will get you the 50,000 points which is enough for 2 incredible trips (or more) like I just booked! I really don’t know why people pay for flights when it is so easy to get them for free. Get on board and join me traveling around this amazing world of ours!
