The Final Four: How Points and Miles Got My Daughter and Me There

If you’ve been reading Upgraded Points for a while, you’re probably already aware of how passionate we are about travel rewards.

With points and miles, you can get amazing things like first class flights and top-notch hotels. This makes luxury travel attainable for a lot of people. But, there are times when staying in a 5-star hotel or ticking off a fancy premium airline experience on a “bucket list” isn’t the priority.

Often, the best thing about working hard to earn these valuable travel rewards is the opportunity to create memories that will last a lifetime. By using points and miles, you can drastically reduce the cost of attending a major world-class sporting event, like the Super Bowl, or in my case, the Final Four, to experience it for yourself.

Read on to find out how points and miles made it possible for my daughter and me to travel at the last minute to Houston for the NCAA Men’s Final Four, the semifinals of the single-elimination college basketball tournament.

Planning a Last-minute Trip to the Final Four

As a University of Miami graduate, former athletic department staffer, and lifetime Miami Hurricanes supporter, I told my wife that if the school’s men’s basketball team made it to the Final Four, I would do whatever it took to attend this historic sporting event.

That’s why, as I watched the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal matchup between the University of Miami and the University of Texas, I knew that if I waited until the outcome of the game was determined, airfare would skyrocket and award space to Houston — the host city of the Final Four — would be nearly impossible to come by.

In addition, another South Florida school, Florida Atlantic University, had a Cinderella run to the Final Four, sending demand for flights from South Florida to Houston over the roof.

As the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament is a single-elimination event, if a team wins, it advances to the next round. But if a team loses, it goes home — making it tough for students, alumni, and fans to make travel plans well in advance.

Flight to Houston

So I did the most reasonable thing I could think of. I took advantage of American Airlines’ 24-hour award ticket hold policy to hold 2 one-way business class award tickets from Miami International Airport (MIA) to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) for 18,500 AAdvantage miles apiece — prior to knowing if my team would make the Final Four.

Before I looked for award tickets in business or first class on American Airlines, I looked for award seats in economy. I was surprised to find Web Special awards in Main Cabin for 8,500 miles each. I knew I had found a deal that wasn’t going to last more than a few minutes until the fate of the current game was decided.

In the worst-case scenario, if my Miami Hurricanes did not win and go to the Final Four, I would be able to cancel the hold for free within 24 hours. In the best-case scenario, I’d get 2 reasonably priced award tickets in economy or business class to attend the Final Four in Houston with my daughter.

Cash Fares to Houston for the Final Four Were Exorbitant

Even though the game was still going on, one-way economy fares from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Miami (MIA) to Houston (IAH) were going up by the minute, and Google Flights only showed flights in the late afternoon because most of the earlier flights were already full.

Before they started selling out, one-way economy fares on Saturday morning ranged from $300 to $900. Afternoon flight options in business class remained reasonably priced, but those flight options weren’t helpful since the game was set to tip-off just before 8 p.m. local time and I likely wouldn’t make it on time.

I determined that using AAdvantage miles and booking the flight I had on hold was by far the best option. In addition to getting me to Houston in the morning, we could fly domestic first class for a total of 18,500 AAdvantage miles per person and my only out-of-pocket expense would be $11.20 in taxes and fees.

I was pleased to get a minimally-priced reward ticket for 2, compared to the $1,000+ fares I was seeing for the same flight in business class. If I hadn’t been able to use miles for the flight to Houston, I would have had to pay more than $1,000 for the 2 of us to fly there (and still would have arrived past the start of the game!). Even without factoring in the cost of a hotel stay and high-priced game tickets, the trip would have been next to impossible to achieve.

Return Flight Back to South Florida

My high-value award ticket to Houston made me very happy, but the return journey was a different story.

A little part of me wanted to wait and see if maybe, just maybe, my team would make it to the National Championship and I’d have a change of heart to linger around Houston a bit longer and see them play in the big game. So, I postponed buying a flight back from Houston until about an hour after my team clinched a Final Four bid. Big mistake.

I paid a price for my indecision, and after some deliberation, I bit the bullet and bought one-way tickets for the next day from Houston (IAH) to Miami (MIA) for $348 apiece. I looked for award tickets on American Airlines, United Airlines, and even Southwest Airlines, but none were available at any reasonable mileage rates.

Only a few hours after my team made it to the Final Four, one-way tickets returning to South Florida for the day after the semifinal games were pricing out between $700 and $1,000! Overall, the price I paid for our one-way tickets home didn’t seem too bad compared to what airlines were charging just a few hours after the Final Four teams were determined.

Hot Tip: I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card, which offers excellent trip insurance, to pay the taxes and fees on my award ticket to Houston, and The Platinum Card^® from American Express to pay for my return ticket to Miami, since the card earns 5x Membership Rewards points for every dollar spent on tickets booked directly with the airline or via AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 per year).

Booking a Hotel Room for Final Four Weekend in Houston

After I booked my flight to Houston, I concentrated on the hotel component of the trip. Despite not knowing if my team would win and advance to the National Championship game — which would be played on Monday night — I knew I was just in town to see them play in the Final Four for 1 night.

Prices, as you could expect, were already exorbitant. Nightly rates for 2- and 3-star hotels near NRG Stadium for the day of the game were already well over $300 per night!

Looking for Hyatt Award Nights in Houston

As a World of Hyatt Globalist, the first hotel brand I looked for was Hyatt. But every Hyatt hotel in the city of Houston was full. The only Hyatt hotels with room availability were over 20 miles away from the stadium — which was too far for my preference.

To avoid being stuck and risking even higher hotel rates, I booked the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Houston S – Medical Ctr Area, which is just a 15-minute walk from the stadium, for $332 per night, including taxes and fees.

Still, I continued checking the Hyatt app for room availability throughout the next 24 hours.

The next morning I was ecstatic to find that the Hyatt House Houston/Galleria, located just 3 blocks from The Galleria Mall and a short drive from downtown Houston and NRG Stadium, had rooms available for only 5,000 points per night.

I immediately canceled my Holiday Inn reservation and booked a standard room — King Studio Suite — at the Hyatt House Houston/Galleria for only 5,000 points per night!

The nightly cash rate for our stay at the Hyatt House Houston/Galleria started at $329, therefore my redemption value came out to an astounding 6.5 cents per point, shattering our 1.5 cents per point valuation of World of Hyatt points.

By utilizing points from my World of Hyatt account, I was able to avoid spending over $300 on a hotel room for the Final Four weekend in Houston!

Hot Tip: If I need World of Hyatt points, I transfer them from Chase Ultimate Rewards, but there are many other ways to earn World of Hyatt points, too.

Final Thoughts

It is not often that you get the chance to take your daughter to the Final Four to see your alma mater compete in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament semifinals. To support my team in the Final Four, I would have gone to great lengths to get to Houston, but points and miles made it a little simpler to make that dream a reality.

I wish I could claim that attending a Final Four is entirely free with travel rewards, but there are a lot of costs associated with witnessing a major sporting event of this magnitude in person. Fortunately, points and miles are indispensable tools for making these once-in-a-lifetime events possible.