The very first points and miles ghost trip was the trip I took to San Jose, California to see the Winchester Mystery House. Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, bought the original 8 bedroom farmhouse after many tragedies in her life. A psychic told her that all the tragedy in her life was due to spirit activity from everyone that had died at the hands of a Winchester firearm. She also told her in order to avoid their further wrath, she should move out west and construct a house that would confuse the spirits that haunt her. By the time of Sarah’s death in 1922, the house was 24,000 square feet. All construction ceased on the day she died and what was left is the house you can visit today. In these 24,0000 square feet there are staircases that lead to nowhere, a maze of rooms, doors that lead to drop-offs, windows with no view, and the famous séance room.
Points and Miles on This Trip:
This trip took place in October of 2022 due to the Southwest Companion Pass Promotion they were running. It stated that you could get a Companion Pass valid for 2 months, January 4, 2023-March 4, 2023, if you bought a roundtrip ticket by the designated date and completed the trip by October. The Southwest Companion Pass, for those that don’t know, allows you to take a travel partner for free anywhere you go in the time you have the pass for just the flight taxes, $5.60 each way. So my best friend and I hopped on the deal so we could get the promotional pass.
My total trip cost was $307. This includes my round trip airfare and half of the hotel room. I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred card and used this trip to help meet my $4,000 minimum spend on this card. Travel earns 2X the points per dollar spent, so I earned 614 Chase points. Not to mention the food we ate while we were out there for 3x the points per dollar spent. I also earned 1x point per dollar for the Winchester tour tickets.
This ghost trip was a blessing because it gave me the Companion Pass that we used to go to Maui as a family of 6. This trip allowed my husband to fly to paradise for just the taxes!
The Trip:
This was a fun girls trip where we explored San Jose. Had some great drinks at the El Jardin restaurant for lunch. The drinks and food were so good we came back at night for more food and drinks and live music.
In October they offer special Halloween events at the Winchester house that include mazes through the house and live performances and music. When we got to the house we told them we were here for the last tour, not the halloween event. They had us wait to the side and told us they would call us when that time came. We waited and waited. We tried asking if the tour was almost ready. To summarize, there was a huge mixup and we did not get the tour of the house. Management came to speak to us and offered to fix it by giving us a private tour the next morning. We came back and it was just my friend and I with the tour guide before the house opened to the public. It was a beautiful and interesting house but I did not feel scared at all. No paranormal activity was experienced.
I would still recommend this house for people to see just because of its history and grandeur. It is reported to be very haunted, so maybe you’ll experience something I didn’t.
Happy haunted travels! 👻
