Kate's on a Plane

I’m on my way home from a quick trip to New Orleans, where I had the great fortune to see Taylor Swift perform one of the last shows of the Eras Tour. Although I didn’t redeem points to buy my ticket, points and miles were the reason I was able to get a ticket, and the reason I was able to make the trip to see the show.

In early September, I received an email from Capital One announcing that Venture X cardholders would be eligible for an opportunity to buy tickets to see the Eras Tour in three different cities this fall. I registered for an access code, selecting my top three dates…and I was lucky enough to get one! 

This is one perhaps under-discussed benefit of premium travel cards: unique opportunities to access entertainment benefits. Capital One has a whole entertainment division, where you can redeem your miles for things like Major League Baseball tickets. I have also used my Citi Premier card (RIP Premier, long live the Strata Premier) to access presale concert tickets before the general public. While these entertainment benefits might not be enough for me to add a card to my collection if I didn’t already have it, they do help me justify the annual fees on these cards, if I actually use them.

As soon as the Venture X ticket drop was announced, I went on the World of Hyatt website and looked for hotel availability. I found availability only for night three of the three-night New Orleans run of the tour, so I selected that date as my top choice. I even transferred points into my Hyatt account from Chase to book the room proactively.

On the checkout screen, I noticed that unlike most points bookings, this one would be completely nonrefundable. (Not-so-fun fact: if you’re a no-show for a points booking at a hotel, they charge your credit card the nightly rate for the first night. In real money.) Because I wasn’t sure that I would get tickets, for that night or any other, I didn’t go through with the booking.

I then went in search of flights. I was in luck, because Southwest had a direct flight from RDU to New Orleans that landed at 2pm the day of the night three show. I booked this flight for 11,186 points and $5.60, a flight with a cash price of $160. I knew I would be able to change or cancel this flight if I couldn’t get the concert tickets. 

I wasn’t so lucky with my flight home the following day. I was unable to find any good options to fly home on points. Prices on Southwest were high, with early departure times and one or more stops, so I didn’t book anything.

On the day of the ticket drop, I entered the waiting room and held my breath when it opened. 

By some stroke of luck, I was number 45 in the queue, which was surely thousands of people long, and when I was let into the sale, I was amazed to see that floor seats were available. I put them in my cart without thinking twice. I paid $348 each for two of these seats. While this is MUCH more than I’d ever paid for a concert ticket before, it was a fraction of what similar tickets were selling for on the resale market.

With the tickets in hand, I set about finalizing my travel plans. The friend who came with me generously offered to book our hotel using her Marriott points. We stayed at The Saint Hotel, only a 20 minute walk from the Superdome. Because I didn’t make this booking, I don’t know how many points it cost, or what the cash price would have been, but my guess is that given its proximity to the venue and the fact that we booked relatively late, it would have cost $700-$800.

I monitored my Southwest flights for a price drop, but it never came–prices only went up after I booked. After a few days of searching, I was still unable to find a good redemption for my flight home. I was even struggling to find a decent cash option, as the only direct flights available left very early! I bit the bullet and paid $345 for a mid-morning flight home on American, with a three-hour layover in Miami, reasoning that at least a long layover there would give me the chance to visit a new lounge.

	Cash Price	Points Paid	Out of Pocket Cost
Outbound flight	$160	11,186	$5.60
Hotel	$700?	?	$0
Return flight	$344.97	0	$344.97
Concert ticket	$348	0	$348
Grand totals	$1,552.97	11,186	$698.57

The show was absolutely incredible!  Another trip–and a bucket list experience–that would not have happened without award travel.