The plan was to book a flight to Portland and take the Coastal Starlight Amtrak train down to Burbank.
Flight: Alaska airlines SNA-PDX. Was 7.5k points per person but google flights show it was $134 per person for the saver fare. The points booking is considered a main cabin fare (vs saver) so it is eligible for upgrades. We had to leave late at night so this was one of the only options. We also had a backup flight from Burbank airport early the next morning but that would require an hour long drive at 5AM.
Car Rental in Portland: Since we would arrive at around midnight, it made more sense just to take an uber to the hotel and then rent a car near the amtrak station the following morning. The uber should be around $30 and the car rental for a day only $28 with the Amex Platinum rate with 4 hour grace period. The other option was to do a one-way car rental from PDX and drop it off at the Hertz near the Amtrak station.
Hotel: The cash rates for hotels in the area were cheap ($100-150/night) but we opted for points because of free parking. The price for the Hyatt Centric was 8000 points/night versus a $150/night cash price. I would estimate any alternative within walking distance of the Amtrak Station, with parking, would be roughly $150/night, not including the globalist breakfast. For example, the Courtyard by Marriott was $254 total including taxes but did not include parking or breakfast.
Train: Paid 28536 points for a roomette on the Coastal Starlight from Portland Station to Burbank. The cash price would have been $570 with the companion certificate that comes with the Amtrak Credit card, or $790 for without the companion certificate. I earned the Amtrak points through the credit card sign up bonus. If I didn’t have the points, one option would be to reserve the Coach fare at $110 with companion certificate, then bid for an upgrade.
Burbank to home: Will either get a lyft ($100) or take a one-way car rental as backup ($71)
| Price Paid | Realistic Replacement | Realistic Price | |
| Flight: Alaska SNA-PDX | 15k points + taxes | Alaska: SNA-PDX | $300 |
| Car Rental: Hertz via Amex Plat | $28 | Hertz | $45 |
| Hotel: Hyatt Centric | 12k points | Courtyard by Marriott | $300 |
| Train: Coastal Starlight | 28.5k Amtrak Points | Coastal Starlight | $790 |
| Lyft: BUR to SNA | $100 | Lyft: BUR-SNA | $100 |
Realistically, I estimate points and travel hacking reduced the cost of the trip by about $700.
Total cost: $139, 15k AS points, 12k Hyatt points, 28.5k Amtrak points. I would value AS points at 0.75 cent and Hyatt/Amtrak points at 1.25 cents per point. These aren’t the realistic redemption values but the price I would pay for each point if I didn’t have a specific redemption in mind. This would put the price of the trip at roughly $760 for two people.
Realistic Cost of Replacements: $1535 assuming I pay cash for everything.
Median Travels 