Between a two-week Alaska cruise and a flight to Japan, we had a gap to fill. West Coast hotel deals turned it into a road trip, mostly on points and upgrades. (We covered the cruise in our Alaska post, and how we use cruises as transportation here.)
The bottom line. Twenty nights of hotels cost us $1,390 in cash plus 358,000 points: 236,000 Marriott Bonvoy, 97,000 World of Hyatt and 25,000 IHG One Rewards. Flights, the rental car and one airport taxi added about $1,860. That is roughly $3,250 in cash for 20 nights, before food, Ubers and gas. Fourteen of the 20 nights were paid with points.
The route
After disembarking Ovation of the Seas in Vancouver, we flew to Portland, made day trips to Mount St. Helens and the Oregon coast, then drove south through the redwoods to Sacramento and San Francisco. We flew the last leg to Los Angeles, met our son, and left for Tokyo.
| Stop | Nights | Where we stayed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland, OR | 7 | AC Hotel by Marriott Portland Downtown | 236,000 Bonvoy points (about 33,700 a night) |
| Eureka, CA | 1 | Holiday Inn Express & Suites Eureka | $282 |
| Redwood Valley, CA | 1 | Wyndham Garden Redwood Valley/Ukiah | $147 |
| Sacramento, CA | 4 | Hyatt Regency Sacramento | 57,000 Hyatt points + Suite Upgrade Award |
| San Francisco, CA | 4 | Grand Hyatt San Francisco | $961 (about $240 a night) + Suite Upgrade Award |
| West Hollywood, CA | 2 | Andaz West Hollywood | 40,000 Hyatt points, complimentary suite |
| LAX | 1 | Holiday Inn LAX | 25,000 IHG One Rewards points |
Each leg has its own write-up with the practical details:
- Portland, the Oregon coast and Mount St. Helens: A Week in Portland
- The drive south: Driving the Redwoods and the California Coast
- Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles: Hyatt Globalist on the West Coast
How we paid for it
First, a reality check. This is the West Coast of the United States, and it's expensive. Hotels, food and getting around cost a lot here whether you pay with points or cash, and that is the starting point for everything below. Our savings came from the points, the status perks and the places we chose to stay, not from a cheap destination.
Where the points came from. The 236,000 Bonvoy points were left over from the Bonvoy Brilliant American Express welcome offer. We wrote up why we're not renewing that card. Our Hyatt and IHG points came from travel spending over the past year and a half: transit, flights, cruises and hotel stays we paid for in cash. If you're starting from zero, our guide to travel credit cards for slow-traveling couples covers how to build balances like these.
What the points bought. Points per night only tells half the story; what the brand adds on top matters just as much.
| Award stay | Points per night | What came with it |
|---|---|---|
| AC Hotel Portland | about 33,700 Bonvoy | No breakfast, lounge or parking perks |
| Hyatt Regency Sacramento | about 14,250 Hyatt | Huge suite, lounge breakfast and evening hors d'oeuvres, free parking |
| Andaz West Hollywood | 20,000 Hyatt | Complimentary suite upgrade, daily breakfast |
What Globalist status added. My wife earned World of Hyatt Globalist status by staying 60 nights the previous year, about half of them during a month-long stay in Montreal. On this trip it brought two Suite Upgrade Awards (Sacramento and San Francisco), a complimentary suite at the Andaz, breakfast at every Hyatt, lounge access in Sacramento, food vouchers in San Francisco, and free parking on our Sacramento award stay. Those perks are why our food costs dropped so much after Portland.
When we paid cash. When cash rates were low, we paid cash: $961 for four nights at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco, plus two one-night stays on the coast.
What we'd do differently. Write down the cash price of every award night when you book it. We didn't, so we can't say exactly what our points were worth, and any number we gave now would only be a guess from current rates. If you want to know whether a redemption beat paying cash, note the cash rate on the booking screen before you confirm.
What it cost
| Transportation | Cost for two |
|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines, Vancouver to Portland | $723 |
| Taxi, PDX to downtown Portland | $60+ |
| Rental car, Portland to San Francisco | $620 |
| Flight, SFO to LAX | $457 |
| Uber, LAX to West Hollywood | $100 to $130 each way |
| Uber, Andaz to Hollywood Boulevard | $10 to $20 each way |
We left out gas, since prices vary too much to be useful. Attractions cost next to nothing; even the Kimmel taping was free. Prices are what we paid in September 2026.
Tips if you're planning a similar trip
- Let hotel status carry your food budget. Hyatt Globalist breakfasts, lounges and vouchers covered a large share of our meals in Sacramento, San Francisco and LA. Portland, without those perks, was our most expensive stop for food.
- Rent a car only for the stretches that need one. We went car-free in Portland, rented for the coast, Mount St. Helens and the drive south, then dropped it before San Francisco to skip city parking. We also rented from neighborhood offices instead of airports. Airport counters add extra taxes and fees, so the rates away from the airport are often better.
- In walkable downtowns, find the grocery store first. Or book a room with a kitchen; eating out three meals a day adds up fast.
- Mid-September is a sweet spot. Summer crowds are gone and the weather is mostly good. Pack layers for cold evenings.
- Build in a rest stop. Sacramento was our reset: a big suite, a lounge, and time to catch up on bills and paperwork.
- Pick the right LA airport. For Hollywood and West Hollywood, compare fares into Burbank before defaulting to LAX.
- Check closures before you go. At Mount St. Helens, confirm whether Johnston Ridge Observatory has reopened; otherwise plan on Coldwater and the Hummocks Trail.
- Take the train from the airport in Portland. The MAX Red Line costs $2.80 and beat our $60 taxi on both price and time.
Why we drove. A train would have been simpler, but it would have skipped everything in between: the Hummocks Trail, Cannon Beach, the Avenue of the Giants, Glass Beach. The slow route is the point of slow travel.
Next time: Napa, camping at Mount St. Helens, and Johnston Ridge once it reopens.