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Summer is coming, and the world’s most popular Comic-Con is back for another year. Hosting in San Diego every year in the summer, hotel rooms and flights tend to disappear quicker than Violet Parr in Pixar’s 2004 hit “The Incredibles.” If you haven’t bought your flights or reserved your hotel rooms yet, now’s the time. Since the cash price for these dates can skyrocket, let’s take a look at how to use points and miles to get you to San Diego this July.
When and where is Comic-Con 2024?
There are numerous smaller conventions all across the United States, but the Comic-Con all others are measured by is in California. Specifically, this Comic-Con is in San Diego, hosted at the San Diego Convention Center right in the middle of downtown. It’s within walking distance to hundreds of restaurants and bars, minutes away from the airport by car, and is easily accessible via Uber, Lyft or taxi to dozens of hotels.
Make your way to San Diego from July 25-28, 2024 for the main event—but since the preview night is July 24, you might want to consider arriving a day early.
Which airlines fly to Comic-Con?
Nearly every airline in the U.S flies to San Diego, and plenty of international airlines as well. You’ll find service from all the major carriers like Delta, American, United, and Southwest. Alaska Airlines,Spirit, Frontier, and even Allegiant.
If you’re coming from abroad, you’ll likely be able to snag tickets with British Airways (with non-stop flights between San Diego and London), Japan Airlines (with non-stop flights between San Diego and Tokyo), or Lufthansa (with non-stop flights between San Diego and Munich), for instance.
Which hotels are close to Comic-Con?
Every major hotel chain has a presence in San Diego, so if you’re looking to keep your elite status with your favorite hotel, racking up a couple of extra nights to your annual tally is a breeze. Here are a few of the closest hotels:
While these hotels are literally right next door to the convention center, don’t feel the need to choose them because of their proximity. There are dozens of hotels within a 10-minute walk or so to the event itself.
How do I use my points for hotels at Comic-Con?
At the time of writing, many hotels have already jacked up prices pretty high. We’re seeing some hotels charging well over $1,000 a night. After all, there are a finite number of rooms and when you’ve got tens of thousands of people descending on any major city, availability will be scarce. (And, unlike comic heroes like the Fantastic Four who can access dimensions such as the Negative Zone, we normal travelers are stuck with the space available in our own dimension.)
Luckily, if you act quickly, you can likely still snag some rooms at a great deal. Keep in mind that you should always check the hotel’s website for real time availability before transferring your points over from a flexible credit card rewards program, as you won’t be able to get them back once you move them. Here are some options for leveraging your points toward hotel stays.
Hyatt – transfer points from Chase and Bilt
There are two hotels close by to the event, and if you’re willing to drive a little bit further, there are two more hotels located just north of downtown. The Manchester Grand Hyatt flanks the convention center while the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa is a short drive away.
Rates for these hotels generally run between 18,000-20,000 points each night.
You can transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards to Hyatt, at a 1:1 ratio in both cases. If you’re not yet a member of these programs, check out our Ultimate Rewards guide and Bilt program guide to get an in-depth look at how to earn and redeem points.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, and Bilt Mastercard® are all excellent travel cards that can help make your Comic-Con dreams come true if you opt to go this route.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Intro bonus
75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
| Annual fee | $95 |
| Regular APR | 21.49%–28.49% variable |
Marriott – transfer points from American Express, Bilt, and Chase
While most of the more than a dozen hotels in the Marriott portfolio are sold out, there are still some options available. Two great options for points are the Guild Hotel, part of the Tribute collection, and the Coronado Island Resort and Spa.
Don’t forget that if you stay for five nights using points, you’ll get your fifth night for free. This could be a way to extend the value of your points even further and even enjoy some extra time at the event.
Points transfer at a 1:1 rate to Marriott Bonvoy from American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, and Chase Ultimate Rewards.
For those not eager to burn through transferable Amex, Bilt, or Chase points by moving them to Marriott Bonvoy, a co-branded Marriott credit card could offer a better option.
If you’re a small business owner who signed up for one of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card offers recently and you’ve got some of the 50,000-point free night certificates available, consider the Courtyard San Diego Mission Valley. With each night costing 50,000 points or less (as shown during our research), your entire hotel stay could essentially be free.
To view rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, see this page.
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
Intro Bonus
Earn 3 Free Night Awards after you use your new card to make $6,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Each Free Night Award has a redemption level up to 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points, for a total potential value of up to 150,000 points, at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Certain hotels have resort fees. (Terms apply).
| Annual fee | $125 |
| Regular APR | 20.99%–29.99% variable |
Hilton – transfer points from Bilt and American Express
The Hilton San Diego Airport Hotel and the Monsaraz San Diego, a Tapestry Collection hotel, are within a couple minutes drive from the convention center and have availability to use with points. Just north of downtown, there are six hotels ranging in price between 60,000-70,000 points per night per our research.
Just like Marriott, remember that with all Hilton hotels, your fifth night is free when redeeming points, so see if you can snag some extra value out of your points by extending your stay.
You can move points from both Amex Membership Rewards and Bilt, at a 1:2 ratio in Amex’s case and just 1:1 with Bilt. However, as we mentioned with Marriott, a co-branded Hilton card could be the way to go if you don’t want to burn your transferable points (particularly because Hilton points tend to have some of the lowest cent-per-point valuations on the travel scene).
For instance, consider the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card as a way to rack up Hilton points and enjoy premium perks. Or, if that card’s $450 annual fee is too high for comfort, consider the mid-tier Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card for $150 per year.
All information about the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by Fortune Recommends™.
To view rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, see this page.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
Intro Bonus
Earn 150,000 points if you spend $6,000 in the first 6 months of account opening.
| Annual fee | $450 |
| Regular APR | 20.99%–29.99% variable |
Choice – transfer points from Citi, American Express, Capital One, and Wells Fargo
While not the first “choice” for many using their points, the Choice Privileges program offers tremendous value when you know how to make savvy point transfers. If you hold the Citi Strata Premier card, you’ll enjoy a 1:2 transfer ratio—meaning you can transfer 1,000 ThankYou points and net 2,000 Choice points.
The Comfort Inn Gaslamp Convention Center is only a few blocks walk from the event and comes in at 30,000 points a night. If you send your Citi points over, it’ll only cost you 15,000 Citi points (which convert to 30,000 Choice points) per night, based on what our search found.
Similarly, the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Visa® Card and the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card can also transfer points at a 1:2 ratio to the Choice program.
Amex Membership Rewards points and Capital One Miles only transfer to Choice 1:1, so this is probably not the best way to use your Amex or Cap One rewards, in our assessment.
Citi Strata Premier℠ Card
Intro Bonus
75,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.
| Annual Fee | $95 |
| APR | 21.24% to 29.24% variable |
How many airline miles does it take for a free flight to Comic-Con?
Since nearly every domestic airline flies to San Diego, dedicated travel rewards aficionados can likely use the airline miles they’ve already been earning toward a free flight. Plus, remember that flexible currencies, such as Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, and Ultimate Rewards can be transferred to numerous airlines and hotels—and if you know how to leverage airline alliances when redeeming points, that may help you find better deals than you would otherwise.
As an example of some of the airlines you can take advantage of when you have flexible rewards banked: Chase’s Ultimate Rewards points will transfer to Air Canada and United, Bilt will allow you to move your points to Alaska Airlines, Air Canada, and United, and American Express Membership Rewards points can be moved over to Delta Airlines.
Maybe you’re a fan of collecting American Airlines miles. Flights from the East Coast can be found for as few as 12,500 miles one way in economy or 25,000 miles one way in first class, like this example of an AAdvantage miles award flight from Philadelphia to San Diego.
United also offers attainable flight options as well, like this example from Denver for only 9,700 miles in economy one way. If you’re running low on United miles, you can move your Chase Ultimate Rewards or Bilt Rewards to United at 1:1 ratios.
If you’re on the West Coast, Alaska Airlines offers frequent service up and down the coast. Flights are available for as low as 7,500 miles each way in economy or 20,000 miles each way in first class.
If you need more Alaska Airlines miles, you can use the points earned from your Bilt Mastercard to transfer over at a 1:1 ratio.
If you’re not able to find a good flight into San Diego, consider John Wayne Airport (airport code SNA) in the Anaheim, California area as a backup plan. It’s roughly a little more than an hour-and-a-half drive north of where Comic-Con is, but just like San Diego it’s serviced by nearly every airline in the U.S. You might be able to find a better deal looking there instead of focusing only on flights into San Diego.
The takeaway
Just because the cost of travel shoots up for big events like Comic-Con doesn’t mean you have to spend thousands of dollars to get there. We’ve seen here that with hotel options ranging from Choice Hotels to Hilton, and airlines offering certain flights starting at under 10,000 points one way, you can make an exciting San Diego weekend happen on a budget.
If you have the points, deciding to go to Comic-Con might be an easy decision. A tougher question may be whether you intend to cosplay. If you do, you might want to leverage a credit card with a free checked bag perk to get your costume and gear to San Diego cheaply!
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