Banff National Park on Points
Banff National Park in Canada is one of my All Time Favorite destinations! Will and I visited in September just before Jimmie was born (a last minute babymoon, if you will). We flew on points, but we still had to pay a pretty penny for some of the lodging. Banff used to be notoriously hard to visit for nearly free since there weren’t many hotels or accommodations you can book on points. However….
ENTER… Marriott’s Moxy Banff!
It opened in May of 2024 and you can now book rooms for as low as 30K points/night on Marriot’s website.
From the iconic turquoise waters of Lake Louise to the dramatic peaks of the Canadian Rockies, Banff’s breathtaking scenery is seriously unparalleled. There are loads of outdoor activities, including hiking, wildlife spotting, skiing, and canoeing, providing you an endless opportunity for adventure and exploration!
It really is incredible! And you have got to see it for yourself!
Here’s How to Book Banff on Points:
Step 1 (HOTEL):
Open this credit card, meet the minimum spend, and earn 3 Free Marriott Night awards (worth up to 50,000 points each night – a total of 150K points). Book 3 free nights at the Banff Moxy for a savings of $1700-2700! See below for a sample booking of a 2 Queen Bed with Balcony room, for only 40k points/night in Sept.
Step 2 (FLIGHTS):
Air Canada is a partner airline of United Airlines. Which means, you can book a United Airline flight using your Air Canada miles (and often for much less!). Right now, my favorite flexible travel rewards card will earn you 90,000 bonus points (be sure to click on the 90K pts application) that are transferrable to Air Canada. Denver would be my positioning airport to get me to Calgary, Canada (YYC) direct on United Airlines. After transferring my flexible points to Air Canada, I could book a one way flight from Denver to Calgary for as little as 10K points per person (40K total for a family of 4! Amazing! See sample flight below).
Reminder: ANYONE can be eligible for a business credit card. If you sell anything (kid’s clothes, old items, etc) on Facebook Marketplace/Ebay/Poshmark/Etsy, you will be eligible for a biz card. Just use your name as the business and ss to apply.
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH for using my links when you sign up for a card! I earn a small amount of referral points at ZERO COST TO YOU! And it truly allows me to keep showing up and sharing all the travel help and new elevated offers to get you traveling more with your family for way less!
Step 3 (positioning flight if needed):
I’d then use my Southwest Airlines points and companion pass to get us direct flights from my home airport (LIT) to Denver. The companion pass is one of the #1 ways I save money on flights and it’s always my go-to airline for positioning flights! Here’s how you can earn your companion pass for up to 2 years!
Y’all, that’s a MININIMUM Savings of $5,956 (cash value of flights for a family of 4 plus 3 nights stay)!! AND, you’d still have 10,000 points left over from on your flexible travel rewards card to spend on your next vaca! (I apologize, I can’t mention the exact name of the cards in this post due to affiliate compliance rules, but simply click on the cards to find out which bank I’m talking about. )
Keep in mind: These sample flight and hotel dates are for September of 2025. So NOW is the time to open the cards you need, earn the points with your everyday budgeted spending, and then you’ll be able to book the vacation around May/June. There’s no guarantee, but most likely the hotel and flights will still be available for these similar point values. If not, THAT is the beauty of earning flexible points…you can always pivot to another vacation idea and there are LOADS to choose from.
If you’d like to extend your trip longer than 3 nights, then I’d recommend you read our 4-day Banff itinerary linked above for more recommendations on where to stay (these are all without points).
And as always, I am here to help. So feel free to shoot me a DM on Instagram or send me an email: hello@lazylauren.com if you have any questions or need help booking.
And thanks again for using my links if you decide to apply!
