Two of my favorite perks in the miles/points world are the Southwest Airlines companion pass and the annual free night with IHG. We used both on a weekend trip to San Francisco. The value of this trip was $2,265 and we paid $22! (I do love this hobby)! But because of weather and a flight cancellation, it ended up costing a bit more…more on that later.

The SW Companion pass is fantastic for domestic flights! You can get it by opening two SW Chase cards, one personal and one business, each for 50,000 points, spending $2,000 within the first three months. You only need 6,000 more points and voila, you have the companion pass. You can book flights with points OR money and your companion flies with you FREE, costing no additional points or money! Taxes cost about $11 each for a round trip flight. We’ve used it for trips to Puerto Rico, Key West, Reno, Chicago, Phoenix, and SF! It’s a great deal and we are on our second companion pass!

The IHG credit card comes with one annual free night at any hotel, no restrictions. We had read about the Mark Hopkins IHG in SF and hadn’t been to SF in a while, so we both used our annual free nights for a weekend visit. Here’s some photos of the hotel on Nob Hill, the lobby, and our room.

 

 

The Mark Hopkins Hotel has quite a history…the existing building was built in 1926. Mark Hopkins, the founder of the Central Pacific Railroad, built the original structure in 1878, which was later destroyed by the great fire of 1906. I love these little mail slots right next to the elevator on our floor.

 

 

 

The view from our room on the 14th floor…

We went to eat Fisherman’s Wharf and ate clam chowder – so delicious!

 

 

Then on to Ghirardelli Square…

…where we did NOT stand in a long line for hot fudge sundaes!

Then we walked back UP to the hotel, straight UP 1.2 miles!

 

We watched a cable car get stuck on the hill, “Everybody out,” the driver hollered! He maneuvered it around and everybody got back on!

That night, we went to Top of the Mark for snacks. The food was mediocre, but the views were outstanding!

The Top of the Mark, on the 19th floor, was converted from an eleven room penthouse in 1939.

 

 

The Golden Gate Bridge at sunset…

Breakfast was very expensive at the hotel, so we walked two blocks to Roxanne’s Cafe for a wonderful breakfast at a third of the cost!

The next day was cold and foggy, but we still ventured out to see the Palace of Fine Arts and the Golden Gate Park. We rode Uber four times that day all over SF, costing $7 per Uber carpool ride, meeting interesting people along the way!

 

 

 

 

The fog city…

 

 

 

And that night, we went to a bluegrass music jam…

After breakfast our last morning, we strolled through Union Square and Chinatown.

 

 

Monday, we left for the airport via Uber and flew to Phoenix where our troubles began, listed in numerical  and chronological order.

1. Our flight was canceled due to weather and SW could not get us home until Wednesday. “But I’m a teacher and it’s the last week of school. I HAVE to get home,” I told the very helpful gate agent. So she got us our best option, Kansas City. We booked a one way car rental and hoped to get home by 3:00am.

2. Our flight was finally loaded when they had to open the door again because the lavatories would not flush and maintenance had to check them out.

3. After finally taking off, we were in the air for about 40 minutes when they called for a doctor or medical personnel to the front. WE HAD A MEDICAL EMERGENCY AND OUR FLIGHT HAD TO GO BACK TO PHOENIX! (I’ve never had that happen before, but we all clapped when the older lady was able to walk off the plane with help).

4. The pilot told us we landed “heavy” and had to get checked out by maintenance and add fuel before taking off again.

5. We finally got in the air, and arrived MCI at 2:30am.

6. Drove home through pouring rain, arriving 6:30am, ready to leave for work at 7:30!

7. Since we don’t live near a SW hub city, we had to deliver the rental car and pick up our car, four hours on the road AFTER work that day!

* So my trip was really not $22, but $146 ($124 for a one way car rental). But I did make it to school! And I did stay awake!   (:

My summer travels await and I will give you a hint of one place I’m visiting…the emerald isle.