Save thousands of dollars by booking Las Vegas hotels with points during CES.
Nearly 150,000 business executives, journalists, and tech-savvy consumers will descend on the Las Vegas convention center for CES, one of the largest annual technology trade shows.
Vegas deals with large numbers of tourists pretty much all year round, but CES is large enough that many airlines even adjust their flight schedules to accommodate the influx of conference attendees and, as you might have guessed, most hotel rooms book up pretty far in advance — and at very high rates. However, if you’re still finalizing your plans to attend CES, you have an opportunity to potentially save thousands of dollars by using your points. There are plenty of hotels that still have award space left, which is good because cash prices are skyrocketing.
Marriott has dozens of properties in Las Vegas, with affordable lower-category options as well as some incredible high-end properties. If you’re looking for luxurious accommodations for your CES trip, consider shelling out points to stay at The Cosmopolitan, an Autograph Collection hotel. Marriott recently implemented peak and off-peak award pricing, but as of now, this category 7 hotel is still showing standard pricing for all three nights of the conference, meaning award nights will cost 60,000 points each.
Hilton’s dynamic award pricing hits especially hard during major events like this, but there are still a few deals left for CES. The Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas occupies an incredible piece of real estate on the strip and has award space available at 80,000 points per night for all three nights of CES.
Tips for finding availability
Around a big event like CES, you might have to be flexible with your accommodations especially if you book late. That might mean switching hotels midway through the week, or mixing up your cash and points to take advantage of sporadic award availability. If you search for award availability for the entire event and don’t like what you see, your next move should be to try searching one day at a time and see what you find.
In contrast, some hotels have a multi-night restriction during CES, so one-night stays will sometimes be harder to spot. Some hotel chains like Marriott even make it very easy to combine cash rates and award nights on the same reservation, so you don’t have to deal with multiple confirmation numbers or even maybe moving rooms. Also, note that some hotels might have a two-night minimum requirement specifically imposed for an event like this, so be sure to keep that in mind.
One last tip is to think outside the box, and remember to look at non-chain hotels. You can take advantage of other hotel loyalty programs like Hotels.com or even consider paying with Chase Ultimate Rewards points if you find an attractive cash rate, but remember you’re not limited to booking with one of the major players.
Bottom line – Even though CES is a few months away, hotels are booking up quickly with cash prices climbing and award space drying up. If you’re planning on attending CES you should strongly consider locking down accommodations now. Many hotels allow penalty-free cancellation on award stays before a certain date, so there’s no harm in making plans now even if you’re not sure you’ll actually attend.
