We recently spent a long weekend in San Diego, the land of never-ending 75º temperatures and endless sunshine. It was my birthday weekend, and I wanted to escape the 100º temperatures in the Central Valley. I’m so thankful that we live close enough to drive to so many beautiful locations throughout California.
How we booked it
HOTEL
Because we live within driving distance of San Diego, we only needed points for the hotel. I used points earned from opening my IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card. Our hotel stay cost 146,000 points total, which included the fourth night free.
I love the Fourth Night Free benefit of IHG cards. Thanks to that cardholder perk, we have gotten so much value out of our IHG points!
IHG uses dynamic pricing, meaning some nights cost more or less depending on factors like time of year, availability, location, etc. The rooms cost more than rooms at Hyatt (our favorite hotel program), but the IHG cards also reflect those higher prices. Welcome offers for IHG cards are much higher than those for Hyatt cards.
Here are the cards that earn IHG points:
- IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
- IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card
- IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
Additionally, you can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to IHG. However, we usually save those points for Hyatt hotels or airline tickets.
If you’re looking for a different hotel in San Diego, the Manchester Grand Hyatt is a very popular option! We would have stayed there, but there was no availability for our dates. Points from the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card can be transferred to Hyatt to book that hotel, or you can earn Hyatt points directly with The World of Hyatt Credit Card.
AIRFARE
If you don’t live close enough to drive to sunny San Diego, there are a few good flight options to know about. There are 17 airlines that fly into SAN.
They are:
- Air Canada
- Alaska Airlines
- Allegiant Air
- American Airlines
- Breeze
- British Airways
- Delta
- Frontier Airlines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Japan Airlines
- Jet Blue
- Lufthansa
- Southwest Airlines
- Spirit
- Sun Country Airlines
- United
- WestJet
It’s best to check various points options to see what’s cheapest. You can likely find some of the best deals with Southwest or United (both of which are Chase transfer partners), American Airlines, and Alaska Airlines.
Things to do
SAN DIEGO CITYPASS®
My top recommendation for what to do in San Diego is to get a CityPASS®*! This is a one-stop shop for all of the major attractions throughout San Diego. CityPASS® groups multiple attractions into one ticket, which can be used at any of your selected attractions. The ticket is good for nine consecutive days. Some attractions require reservations, so be sure to check the requirements.
For San Diego, the attraction options are:
- SeaWorld San Diego
- LEGOLAND
- San Diego Zoo or Safari Park
- USS Midway Museum
- City Cruises
- Birch Aquarium at Scripps
- Old Town Trolley Tours
- Maritime Museum of San Diego
Depending on the pass you choose, you can visit SeaWorld and/or LEGOLAND, plus three additional choices from the rest of the list. We used our CityPASS® for SeaWorld, LEGOLAND, the San Diego Zoo, the USS Midway Museum, and the Old Town Trolley Tours.
We spent a whole day at SeaWorld and a whole day at the zoo. Everyone loved both! On our final day, we rode the Old Town Trolley Tour and enjoyed the history they gave while we were riding. One of the stops was near the USS Midway Museum, so we hopped off and visited the museum. It’s so well done and includes a free audio tour, which really helped keep the kids engaged.
After that, we planned to visit Coronado Island – another trolley stop. Unfortunately, we ran out of time. So sad! Next time, we’ll start our day sooner so that we don’t miss out.
We had a great time everywhere time we went. However, my kids are a bit too old for LEGOLAND (they’re 8-15), so we will skip that next time. Eight years old is probably the maximum age I’d recommend, and I would advise you to invest in the passes that let you skip the lines.
Overall, the San Diego CityPASS® is absolutely the best option for getting the most bang for your buck and seeing all of San Diego’s most well-known attractions.
OTHER THINGS TO DO
There are a lot of other fun things to do in San Diego.
- Go to a Padres baseball game
- Spend the day on the beach – Mission Beach is one of our favorites
- Stroll the Embarcadero for some good food and pop-up shopping
- Go on a whale-watching tour
- Explore Belmont Park
- Visit the San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum
- Hike through Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
Places to eat
There are a ton of amazing restaurants in San Diego, so here are just a few of our favorites.
- Hidden Craft
- Gravity Heights
- Morning Glory
- Lumi
- Herb and Wood
- Cucina Urbana
- Viewpoint Brewing
- Corvette Diner
- Miguel’s Cocina
- Sidecar Doughnuts
Wrapping Up
San Diego is one of our favorite cities to visit. There are so many things to do that fit all travel styles – from lounging on the beach, to fancy restaurants, to hikes, to theme parks. San Diego has it all. To top it off, there are some great points options for both flights and hotels, so you can take an amazing trip without breaking your budget.
*I was given free CityPASS® tickets for my family in exchange for this honest review.
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Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.