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I also botched the “how much money did this actually save us” question…I didn’t make a note of the cash value of those flights or hotel nights at the time, so the value of the points we redeemed is hard to quantify. The budget was botched a bit by forgetting to include the international taxes and fees, but $180 for 2 round trips tickets is still a steal. $86 of this was the Lyft to and from MSP rest was transfers in Cancun

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No off-site excursions plenty of free lounging on the beach Rough estimate of tips for meals, a million daiquiris, and an airport coffee $3.91 “environmental fee” at the Hyatt Zilara + 56,250 Hyatt points $89.64 per person (international fees…) + 55,614 Southwest Rapid Rewards miles After all, I’ve teased the life-altering benefits of travel hacking for some time now. This is a money blog, so let’s talk about money.

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After 7 full days enjoying the sun and sand, good food and good company, we took a shuttle back to the airport and headed home. They say all good things must come to an end, and this trip was no different. You can also take the shuttle to the sister resorts, including the Royal Sands, where we spent a day at their much larger beach and pool. They have just two restaurants on site but they also partner with a few other local restaurants that are included in your all-inclusive package – just hop on a free shuttle bus between destinations and you get to sample some of the authentic local fare. The Royal Cancun is a smaller, slightly older resort with mostly family-friendly suites. Luckily, they’re really good at saying no, so it just cost them a couple hours of their time. The catch? They had to sit in on one of those infamous timeshare presentations. They stayed at a sister resort of The Royal Cancun during their honeymoon a couple years back and agreed to come back for 5 days/4 nights in a 2 bedroom suite for just $500. Best of all, they get as excited about smoking hot travel deals as I do. These friends of ours are also on the path to retiring early, so we have a fun little competition going to see who can hit their FI number first. We arrived at the Royal Cancun and were immediately met by our good friends, whom we hadn’t seen in over a year. If memory serves, we paid $20 cash, which included tip. Thanksgiving dinner at the Royal Cancun Days 4-7: The Royal CancunĪfter checking out of our room at the Hyatt (I still miss the view), we had the front desk arrange us a taxi to our next destination, The Royal Cancun Resort.

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Just 25,000 Hyatt points per night (later reduced down to 18,750 due to a 25% points back promo), plus a small environmental fee. The best part? All three nights were (almost) FREE.

The rooms were clean, service was great, and the views were incredible – the cover photo for this post was taken from our balcony. I still managed to survive by drinking my bodyweight in strawberry daiquiris. Unfortunately, the food and entertainment options were limited due to COVID restrictions. The rest of our time at the Hyatt Zilara was pretty uneventful, which was by design. They rely heavily on American money to maintain their operations and it would be pretty difficult to do that with a virus outbreak on their hands. Hotel staff were wiping down handrails, spraying pool furniture, and generally making us feel confident that we weren’t going to catch COVID here. At the time of our stay, masks were required inside the building and there were hand sanitizer stations everywhere. Upon our arrival at the Hyatt Zilara, we were greeted by friendly hotel staff observing all the pandemic-related precautions we have come to know and love. We rode with Kalido Tours from CUN to the Hyatt Zilara for $35 plus tip and had a great experience. Avoid the tourist horror stories of extortion (or worse…) and get to your destination safely, even if it costs a little extra. Follow that up with some research of your own – you won’t regret it. Contact your resort and ask them if they have a preferred transfer partner, or any recommendations. We highly recommend booking your airport transfer ahead of time with a reputable company. There are people everywhere, hawking rental cars, taxis, and luxury rides to your destination. In Cancun, the transportation scene at the airport is complete chaos. It took us about 10 minutes to go through security at MSP, and maybe 15 minutes to get through customs and out the door to our transfer shuttle in Cancun. Plus side of traveling during a pandemic: no lines. Paul (MSP) to Cancun (CUN), with a short layover in Nashville, arrived in Cancun around 1:30pm local time. Our early morning Southwest flight from Minneapolis-St. Days 1-4: Travel Day & Hyatt Zilara Cancun FlightsĪs I mentioned in my Travel Hack Recap of Colorado, Travel Day is one of the most exciting days in our household.