My 3 Favorite Weekend Getaways
I use major U.S. airlines for long, international trips, but when I go away for the weekend, it’s Spirit Airlines I turn to. I have been flying Spirit for weekend getaways now for about five years. Once I figured out the benefit of having their credit card, I have been unstoppable. Most of my weekend trips have been free where I paid just the taxes or I got really good deals on airfare.
1-Cancun-Typically I pay $62 roundtrip plus 10,000 miles. I have found the best way for me to do Cancun is to stay right in the heart of the action at either the Cancun Clipper Club or at the Krystal Grand Punta. The Clipper Club is a gem of a hotel. They offer free WiFi in the lobby and the restaurant serves decent, inexpensive food. My favorite thing is they serve the brands of beer (Modelo Especial and Corona) that I like which are hard to find in Cancun. The Clipper Club is inexpensive. By that I mean $38-$44 U.S. a night for two people. That price can’t be beat especially when one considers the location. It is walking distance to many restaurants and to Coco Bongo. The rooms are a bit dated yet clean, but for $44 a night who’s complaining? The only down side to the Clipper Club is that it is on the lagoon; not the ocean. http://www.clipper.com.mx
If I want to stay on the ocean side, my hotel of choice is the Krystal Grand Punta. I can usually snag a room here on Priceline for around $100 a night.
From the Clipper Club/Krystal area to the airport the ride is less than 30 minutes and should not cost more than 400 pesos.
Even a cheaper option than paying $50 in cab fare from the airport to the hotel zone is to take the ADO bus to the Downton Cancun central bus terminal. Exit the airport, pass all the ride solicitors and stay to the right. About halfway down you will see a kiosk with the red and white ADO logo on it. Busses run to central Cancun every half hour at 20 and 50 minutes past the hour. The one way fare is 72 pesos (about $3.50). From the bus station, take a “Hotel Zone” city bus 10.5 pesos (50 cents) or a taxi to the hotel zone. Taxi fare to the hotel zone should be around $8 US; less than 200 pesos. If you opt for the bus, tell the driver where you want to get off when you board. This may take a bit longer, but to me the extra hour is worth the savings.
2-New York City– I go to New York City every year for my son’s birthday. I usually redeem 5,000 miles round trip for each of us and I pay about $26 each for taxes. I like that Spirit flies into LaGuardia Airport because it is the most centrally located airport of the three in New York City. I opt to stay near the airport. That way I can quickly store my luggage and if time is tight on departure day, I like to be close the the airport.
3-Bahamas-I love the Bahamas Paradise Cruise line trip to Freeport. Details about this cruise can be found here http://justacarryon.com/2015/07/59-cruises-to-the-bahamas/ . I go at least once a year, but usually twice. For the price, this trip can’t be beat. Once I tally up all the required costs, I only spend $108 for two nights hotel, all the food I can eat, and transportation to the Bahamas. I either fly Spirit to Fort Lauderdale and take the train to West Palm Beach or I fly Delta directly to West Palm Beach (PBI). Included with the Delta American Express credit card is a companion voucher good for one free domestic ticket. I usually find an airfare for around $250 from Detroit to West Palm Beach, and I use the companion certificate to buy the second ticket. Thus I get two tickets for $250. I like to fly Delta because the flight times are better than the ones on Spirit and it gets me directly to West Palm Beach.
I’ve done other weekend getaways for next to free, but they aren’t on my list of regulars. Some of these destinations to where I’ve gone for free on Spirit are: Soaring Eagle Resort, Costa Rica, St. Thomas, Montego Bay, Las Vegas, Dallas, New Orleans, Puerto Rico, and Bogota. These destinations have decent flight times from Detroit usually allowing one to depart on a Friday night and return on Sunday. To me, that makes a great weekend getaway.
~Bella
