February 16, 2014

Avicii in Toronto Booked!

Emily and I are both pretty big Avicii fans.  After a couple of failed attempts last year, we wanted to make sure we caught him on the upcoming North American tour.  There are only 7 shows and most of them are on Thursday or Sunday nights.  We both have limited vacation days so needed to make one of the Saturday night shows work.  Our options were DC, New York, or Toronto and Toronto worked best.  Emily hasn't been and I've spent limited time there so we decided to make a weekend out of it.  Not to mention, we get to go stamp collecting.  Flights were running over $700/person so I checked out our award ticket options. 

This is a situation where points and miles can enable experiences not previously possible.  I was able to grab two nonstop economy tickets on United for the outbound for 25,000 miles $5.00 leaving after work on Friday.  Paid economy tickets on United weren't terrible coming back from Toronto on Sunday afternoon so I paid for those with cash.

The show is at the Rogers Centre downtown.  There were several great hotel options but we decided on the Westin Harbour Castle which is a short 15 minute week from the venue.  Starwood is great in that paid, points, and cash and points stays all count towards elite status.  So this trip, I'll pick up 1 stay and 2 nights towards re-qualifying for Platinum status.

Westin Toronto Harbour Castle

Paid rates were going for $252 AI per night.  Points (10,000) and cash and points (5,000 + $75) were both available.  So I could either use points and receive 2.52 cents/point.  Or use cash and points and get 3.54 cents/point.  I opted for the latter and we were all set.  I find that SPG cash and points redemptions usually deliver the most value and 3.5+ cents/point is really, really good value.

I've heard the weather in Toronto in May is pretty good.  If anyone has been there and has suggestions for stuff to do/places to eat, please comment below.

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