Two Las Vegas Trips in Two Weeks

How We Used Points, Credits, and Timing to Make It Work

We didn’t plan on taking two Las Vegas trips within two weeks, but between expiring credit card benefits, flexible dates, and an unexpected bowl game announcement, that’s exactly how it played out.

Looking back, Vegas once again proved why it is one of the easiest cities to plan strategically using points, hotel credits, and flexible timing.

Las Vegas offers a rare combination of hotel availability, competitive pricing, and stackable benefits — making it especially well-suited for year-end travel planning.

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How We Approached These Trips

Before getting into the details, this wasn’t about trying to take more trips just for the sake of taking them.

It was about using what we already had in the most practical way possible.

More detail: How we looked at the planning pieces

We looked at:

Credits that were expiring soon
Points balances we could realistically use
Timing, especially midweek pricing versus holiday pricing
Opportunities that popped up unexpectedly, like the Las Vegas Bowl

Instead of forcing everything into one longer trip, we adjusted. Splitting the travel into two separate trips ultimately allowed us to use more credits, avoid some peak pricing, and keep the out-of-pocket cost lower than it could have been.

That is the planning lesson here.

Sometimes the best trip strategy is not the most obvious one.

Trip #1: Using Year-End Credit Card Hotel Benefits

The first trip was planned around one main goal: use expiring credit card hotel credits before the end of the year.

We had opened the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Business card in August, which included a hotel credit when booking select properties through Chase The Edit. Las Vegas worked especially well for this because there were multiple eligible hotels at reasonable rates, especially with flexible dates.

More detail: Why Mandalay Bay worked for Chase The Edit

For this trip, we booked two nights at Mandalay Bay.

This ended up being our first stay at Mandalay Bay — one of the few Strip resorts we had not tried yet. The Chase The Edit credit covered nearly the entire stay, leaving only the mandatory resort fee out of pocket.

Chase The Edit bookings typically include:

Daily breakfast for two
A property or experience credit
Room upgrade when available
Early check-in and late checkout when available

Important note: While Chase The Edit advertises daily breakfast, several Las Vegas properties do not include breakfast as part of the benefit package. Always check the property-specific benefits before booking — especially in Vegas — because breakfast is not guaranteed at every hotel.

Adding The Palazzo With Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts

We also booked one night at The Palazzo, which has become one of our go-to Las Vegas hotels.

This stay was booked through Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts®. Even though we had already stayed there earlier in the year, we still had enough remaining credit to book another night — on what ended up being one of the cheaper nights of the year.

More detail: Why FHR was useful for this stay

Fine Hotels & Resorts bookings typically include:

$100 on-property credit
Daily breakfast for two
Room upgrade when available
Early check-in when available
Guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout

We have checked in as early as 10 a.m. at The Palazzo in the past, so the early check-in benefit can be very useful when it works out.

Originally, we had planned to add a fourth night at Resorts World to use another credit. But once the second Vegas trip came together, shifting those credits to the next stay turned out to be the better move.

Why We Split the Trips Instead of Combining Them

At first, we considered combining everything into one longer stay.

But splitting the trips ended up working better.

More detail: Why two trips created more value

It allowed us to:

Use different credits across separate stays
Avoid putting the entire trip into New Year’s Eve pricing
Keep more flexibility once the second trip opportunity came up
Match each hotel booking to the credit or points strategy that made the most sense

This is one of those small planning decisions that can make a big difference.

Sometimes separating trips creates more value than combining them.

Trip #2: Nebraska Football, New Year’s Eve, and a Last-Minute Plan

The second trip came together quickly after Nebraska was announced as playing in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Jon is a big Nebraska fan, and once our son suggested going, the idea started to make sense. Since the game fell on New Year’s Eve, staying to experience the Strip festivities made the decision even easier.

More detail: How the last-minute plan came together

Our son and daughter-in-law joined us, along with our niece. Jon and our son went to the game, while the girls did their own thing — which worked out well for everyone.

This was not the kind of trip we had planned months in advance.

But because we had points, credits, and some flexibility, we were able to make it work without paying holiday-weekend hotel prices across the board.

Booking New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas on Points

Finding a hotel for New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas can be difficult — and expensive.

But we were able to book Virgin Hotels Las Vegas using Hilton Honors points, which ended up being a huge win given how high cash prices were.

More detail: Why Virgin Hotels Las Vegas made sense

Virgin Hotels Las Vegas is not on the Strip, and it does not usually meet our normal 4.0+ TripAdvisor rating rule. But since we had stayed there before and liked it, we were comfortable booking it again.

The location also worked well for this specific trip:

It is close to Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas, where we didn’t eat but still stopped in for a great German beer.
It is near Naked City Pizza and the attached Buffalo Bills bar, which was just as fun as we remembered.
It is about a one-mile walk to the Strip, which made New Year’s Eve crowds manageable without needing a ride back.

That last point mattered.

On New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas, rideshare pricing, road closures, and crowds can make transportation more complicated than usual. Being close enough to walk back safely was part of the planning decision.

Stacking the Cash Night With Resort Credits and an Amex Offer

To avoid changing hotels, we booked the night before New Year’s Eve on a cash rate.

Since Virgin Hotels Las Vegas qualifies as a Hilton resort, we were able to stack multiple benefits against that stay.

More detail: How the stacking worked

We were able to stack:

Amex Hilton Honors Aspire resort credits
An Amex Offer that took $80 off the total

After credits and offers, we ended up under $100 out of pocket for two rooms for two nights, with additional credits still available on other cards.

That is the kind of booking that makes this strategy work.

Not every credit is exciting on its own. But when the timing, hotel, and offer line up, the value can be very real.

The Real Strategy: Stacking, Timing, and Flexibility

These two trips were not about luck.

They were about combining a few practical things.

More detail: The actual planning strategy

Using credits before they expired
Staying flexible with dates and locations
Matching the right hotel to the right booking program
Using points when cash prices were unusually high
Stacking benefits when the opportunity was available
Adjusting plans when a better option came up

That is a big part of how we think about travel.

Points and credits are not magic. They are tools.

The value comes from knowing when to use them, when to save them, and when a trip is worth adjusting because the math actually works.

Why Las Vegas Works So Well for Points and Credits

Las Vegas continues to be one of the easiest destinations to book strategically.

There are a few reasons for that.

More detail: Why Vegas keeps working for this kind of planning

Strong availability across multiple hotel programs
Lots of hotels participating in premium booking programs
Competitive pricing compared to many other major cities
Good opportunities to stack points, credits, and offers
Enough flexibility to support both planned trips and last-minute ideas

It also helps that Las Vegas can be many different types of trips.

It can be a cheap getaway, a points-and-credits experiment, a luxury hotel stay, a sports weekend, a food trip, or a quick escape. That flexibility makes it easier to match the trip to the benefits you already have.