March 23, 2026
Cabo San Lucas on Points for Every Budget
Megan K.
If you’re looking for a beach vacation with stunning views, it’s hard to top Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. This city offers many luxurious resorts that are a short flight from the western U.S., and you can book this trip no matter what your points budget is.
In this series of blog posts, we show you ways to get to a destination, whether you’re low on points, looking for a mid-range option, or have points to spare. You can choose one or mix and match to make your trip.
An important thing to know before booking a trip to Cabo is that because of strong ocean currents, many of the beaches are not swimmable—but they are gorgeous to look at while you sit at the pool. If that’s a dealbreaker for you, Cancún or other parts of Mexico may be a better fit for your trip.
Let’s plan a trip from Houston to Cabo in September.
Low Points Price Flight – United Economy via Air Canada Aeroplan
One of our favorite ways to stretch our points is by booking tickets through partner airlines. United is a partner airline of Air Canada, and you can sometimes find better points prices by booking your United flights this way. In this case, the Houston to Cabo flight is available for:
- 15,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus about $112 US in taxes
- 20,000 United miles plus $60 US in taxes
If you already have United miles or want to limit your out-of-pocket costs, you can book directly with United.
But if you’re transferring credit card points, you could save points by booking through Air Canada. Additionally, Air Canada is a transfer partner of all the major programs. United is only a transfer partner of Bilt and Chase.
I generally prefer to save my Chase Ultimate Rewards® for Hyatt redemptions, so I’d be more inclined to transfer points from another points currency to Air Canada. If you’re lucky enough to time your booking with a transfer bonus, you could book this for even less!
Low Points Price Hotel – JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort and Spa
For a budget-friendly option in Cabo, you could stay at the JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort and Spa. This beachfront hotel offers beautiful pools, a golf course, and a high-end spa. You’ll also find a dedicated family pool and kids’ club.
In September, this property has rooms for around 56,000 points per night. If you can stay for five nights on points, you’ll get one night free. So that brings this stay to 225,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
You could also book a shorter stay with free-night certificates. If you got the five free-night certificate welcome offer from the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card in early 2026, this would be a solid option to use those certificates. You can top them off with up to 25,000 additional points to book this hotel. (Note that you do not get the fifth night free with certificates, only points.)
Medium Points Price Flight – Southwest Basic
If you have Southwest Rapid Rewards® (or even better, if you or someone you travel with holds a Companion Pass), then Southwest will be a better deal for you on this route. I found seats on Southwest’s “basic” fare class for 19,500 points plus $60 in taxes.
If you’re booking this ticket, you’ll want to understand the limitations of the Basic fare type. Basic fare passengers can’t choose a seat, can only cancel for a flight credit that expires in six months, and are the last to board. The good news is you can spare yourself some of these disadvantages if you hold a Southwest credit card!
Medium Points Price Hotel – The Cape, a Thompson Hotel (Hyatt Points)
The Cape, a Thompson Hotel in Cabo, is a luxury boutique hotel in Cabo San Lucas that you can book with your Hyatt points.
This beautiful property is a Category 7, which means it’ll cost you between 25,000 and 35,000 points per night (if you can book before Hyatt’s points levels change later this year). The dates I searched for in September were mostly off-peak, so you could book a four-night stay here for 105,000 points. Considering the cash cost of more than $600 a night, it’s a solid use of Hyatt points.
Jess and her family loved their stay here back in 2022, though the Cape was only a Category 6 at that time. While it’s not the most family-focused resort, Jess’s young daughter had a wonderful visit.
High Points Price Flight – United Business
If you have a lot of United miles and want to splurge, you can also take the United flight for 51,000 miles plus $60. Considering how short the flight is, that’s a lot of miles to spend. But if you have them and want to travel more comfortably, it’s an option.
This flight is not as fancy as United Polaris, but the fare will get you the typical benefits for a short-haul, premium cabin flight including priority check-in, priority boarding, more legroom, and more.
High Points Price Hotel – Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal
This is one of Pam’s favorite hotels!
The Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal has been a favorite in the points-and-miles community, and it’s easy to understand why.
As you’d expect from a Waldorf Astoria, this property delivers an ultra-luxurious experience. It offers beautiful pools (including a kids’ pool), world-class dining, a spa, and a kids’ club. The Waldorf Astoria also offers a variety of experiences for everyone in the family from pickleball to coffee tasting to cocktail making. Pam, Alex, and Jess all raved about the personalized service, food, and gorgeous views when they visited a few years ago.
Unfortunately, Hilton has increased award prices to a staggering 250,000 points per night for a standard room. That is quite a steep price, but if you’re looking to spend Hilton points, you can certainly enjoy a luxury stay here!
If you don’t have a massive stash of Hilton points, you could also book this trip using the squad’s favorite free-night certificates. They are also excited to check out the newly opened Park Hyatt Cabo del Sol!
Bonus Option: Use Your Premium Card Hotel Credits
Many premium cards, such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and Sapphire Reserve for Business℠, come with hotel credits that you can use to offset either a cash or points stay. This can be an ideal option if you’re looking to book a hotel that isn’t bookable with points (or if you don’t have the right type of points), such as Corazón Cabo Resort and Spa.
As of early 2026, you could book this hotel using your premium card’s credit via The Edit by Chase Travel℠ and receive $250 off a two-night stay. You can pay with points at 2 cents per point to cover the rest of your stay (subject to change).
Bottom Line
If western Mexico’s beaches are on your wish list, points and miles can take you there! Which option are you choosing?
Related Posts
Review of The Cape, a Thompson Hotel
Maldives Vacations for Every Points Budget
Costa Rica on Points for Every Budget
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. American Express is a Travel Mom Squad advertiser, but we always show the best public offer even when we don’t earn a commission. Terms Apply.
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