Another place crossed off my bucket list that I never thought I’d see! I’ve always wanted to go to New Orleans for the food, history, and ghosts. Here’s the breakdown of how this was made possible thanks to points and miles.
Points Cost
The cash value of this 3 night trip for 2 people would have been $1,312. $667 for the room and $645 for 2 roundtrip flights from LAX to New Orleans. Instead I paid only $22.40 total for the taxes on the flight.
I transferred 36,000 total Chase points to my Hyatt account to stay at the Hyatt Centric French Quarter New Orleans for the rate of 12,000 points per night. I’ve earned these points by opening Chase Business Ink cards that earned me 90,000 points for each welcome bonus.
I’ve earned the Southwest Companion Pass so I only had to pay for one flight with points. I paid 21,000 Southwest points and $11.20 for myself and then another $11.20 for my companion. I earned these points through opening a Southwest personal card and a Southwest Business card.
If you don’t know what the Southwest Companion Pass is, please read my blog post https://www.mamitravels.com/southwest-companion-pass-everything-you-need-to-know/
Room Review
I chose to stay at the Hyatt Centric French Quarter New Orleans because I wanted to stay in the middle of the action. It is a category 4 hotel and that is good enough for my travel style of “just get there, I’m not even in the room very much”.
We arrived and the hotel was very beautiful on the inside which was already a plus. Another plus was that we got there at about 230 and check in was at 4. I simply asked if we could possibly get the room earlier and they were happy to oblige.
The room was spacious enough for two with a couch as well and windows that opened out for us to look out onto the city.
This room was perfect for 2 adults that want to be in the middle of the noise and action. It was right next to Bourbon street and the pick up spot for all of our tours. If you are a light sleeper you won’t want to stay there because Bourbon street doesn’t quiet down until very late in the night, or morning I should say. The large window lets in a lot of noise from the street. We were out late and we are not light sleepers so we were able to sleep just fine.
Points Earned on this Trip
I booked this trip months in advance so I knew I had time to wait and book our excursions so I was earning the most points possible through Rakuten. Rakuten is a shopping portal in which you can earn American Express points instead of cash back simply by linking your American Express charge card. I have the personal American Express Gold card that I linked to my Rakuten account.
I waited, knowing that Rakuten elevates the rates during holidays when most places run holiday sales such as for Black Friday, Christmas, New Years, etc. I got elevated offers for Viator and for Ticketmaster
I booked 3 tours with Viator when they were offering 15 points per dollar, earning me 3,092 extra AMEX points
I also bought football tickets to see the Atlanta Falcons play their rivals, the New Orleans Saints from Rakuten when Ticketmaster was offering 3 points per dollar spent for a total of another 300 AMEX points from Rakuten.
When we needed to we took Lyft instead of Uber because I linked my Chase Sapphire Preferred card to Lyft, which earns 5x the points on every dollar spent with Lyft. We only used Lyft to get to and from the airport. This was around $85, earning me 425 Chase Ultimate Reward Points.
Total points earned on this trip: 3,817
Having the right cards and planning ahead a bit allows you to earn many extra points when you are going on a trip.
If you plan on opening any of the above mentioned cards, please use the referral links on my Linktree. It is a no cost to you way to support my page and content https://linktr.ee/mamitravelswithpoints
Food and Fun
As mentioned above, we did 3 tours.
- St. Louis Cemetery #1 Tour- I did not like it and do not recommend. It was a lot of repeated information from what I learned on the city tour.
- The French quarter Ghost Walk was okay. They had good information. I guess I’m just disappointed that I couldn’t go inside anywhere and that I didn’t see a ghost.
- The New Orleans sight seeing tour was really good and informative but I think it was because of our tour guide. He was amazing! He was very knowledgeable and very funny. He said he does: city tours, food tours, ghost tours, swamp tours, cemetery tours, and voodoo tours. I would definitely contact him directly if you decide to go to New Orleans. His name is DJ Hayes. His number is (702) 467-5107. Instagram @djdoesdopeshit. Email: dennisjameshayes@gmail.com
If I ever go back to New Orleans I would like to add a plantation tour and a swamp tour for sure.
The worst food I had in New Orleans came from Deanie’s Seafood right across from the Hyatt we stayed at. I ordered the chicken gumbo and calamari. Neither were very good. The gumbo was too salty and the calamari had no flavor. I was surprised that the food was not good because it had a long line to get in.
I had jambalaya at Caesars Superdome stadium. That was really really good! Try some if you go there. It is a bit spicy.
I also had chicken gumbo at Cafe Beignet. That was much better than the one at Deanie’s Seafood.
The best food I had in New Orleans was the gator bites and Shrimp and Grit bites at Bon’s New Orleans Street Food. We only happened to go into this place because it was the meeting point for our City Tour and I’m so glad it was! This place is a must when you go to New Orleans.
Bon’s New Orleans Street is also a must because they also had the best beignets I tasted in New Orleans. Again, just by a stroke of luck I tasted them here. We were waiting for our city tour and I got a coffee while I waited. I said to myself, ” I can’t have coffee in New Orleans without beignets”. So I got some and I spent the rest of the trip comparing all the other beignets to these. These were and stayed piping hot because they were so thick and fluffy. I tried the other two most famous places for beignets, Cafe Du Monte and Cafe Beignet, and they just did not compare. The beignets at Cafe Du Monte were very thin and got cold fast. The beignets at Cafe Beignet were thicker but were not cooked all the way through. The center had raw dough. They also just weren’t very good.
So definitely go to Bon’s New Orleans Street food when in NOLA and try the alligator bites (be sure to dip them in the sauce), Shrimp and grits bites, and the beignets. Take your order to go and sit by the water located behind the restaurant.
