A Fantastic 13-Day Luxury Asia Trip for Nearly Free

This trip report explains how I built a 13-day Asia trip across seven cities using points, miles, and credit card rewards. By combining Alaska Mileage Plan miles, Hyatt hotel points, and travel credit card benefits, I was able to stay in luxury hotels and fly across Asia with almost no out-of-pocket cost

I hadn’t been back to China since 2020. For a while I had been thinking about returning, but I didn’t want to plan a typical trip.

Two things motivate my travel more than anything else.

First, I enjoy exploring well-designed luxury hotels. I often study how they design their rooms, lobby spaces, lighting, and layout. Many of these ideas eventually influence how I design my own Airbnb properties, and someday I hope to create my own boutique hotel.

Second, I enjoy the strategy of travel itself — combining miles, points, elite status, and credit-card benefits to make a trip extremely efficient.

This trip became the perfect opportunity to combine both.

Over the course of 13 days, I traveled across seven cities in Asia, stayed in several luxury hotels, and flew multiple flights — all while keeping my actual out-of-pocket spending extremely low.

Almost every major expense on the trip was covered through miles, points, or credit-card travel credits.

Tools and Programs Behind This Trip

This trip relied on a combination of airline miles, hotel points, elite status, and credit-card travel credits. The key programs I used included:

Program / Card	How It Was Used
Alaska Mileage Plan	Booked the transpacific flight from San Francisco → Tokyo → Shanghai with a free stopover
Hyatt Points	Redeemed multiple hotel stays across China and Japan
Flying Blue (Air France / KLM)	Booked a short-haul flight within China (Hangzhou → Kunming)
American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts	Used annual hotel credits for luxury hotel stays
Capital One Travel Credit	Covered the Xi’an → Seoul positioning flight
Ritz-Carlton Chase Travel Credit	Reimbursed additional travel expenses
Alaska MVP 75K Elite Status	Provided upgrade certificates and better seat selection
Hilton Aspire Credit Card	Free night certificate used at Conrad Tokyo

Rather than relying on a single program, the trip worked because multiple programs were stacked together.

Trip Structure

Before diving into the details, here is the full structure of the trip.

Day 1

San Francisco → Haneda (Economy Flight)

Day 2–3

Stay: Hyatt Regency Yokohama

Day 4

Stay: Conrad Tokyo

Day 5

Haneda → Shanghai (Economy Flight)

Stay: Park Hyatt Shanghai

Day 6

Shanghai → Ningbo (Private Car)

Stay: Park Hyatt Ningbo Resort (suite)

Day 7–9

Hangzhou → Kunming (Economy Flight)

Stay: Grand Hyatt Kunming (suite)

Day 10-11

Flight Kunming → Chengdu

Stay: Waldorf Astoria Chengdu

Stay: St. Regis Chengdu

Day 12

High-speed train Chengdu → Xi’an

Stay: Grand Hyatt Xi’an (suite)

Day 13

Xi’an → Seoul (Economy Flight)

Seoul → Seattle → San Francisco (Business Flight)

San Francisco → Haneda

Economy Class on Japan Airlines

This trip began with a redemption through Alaska Mileage Plan.

I booked a flight from San Francisco to Tokyo (Haneda) for 35,000 Alaska miles. One reason Alaska miles are particularly valuable is that they allow a free stopover on partner awards. That meant I could continue on to Shanghai later without paying additional miles.

Although many travelers focus on business class redemptions, I intentionally chose economy class for this flight.

The flight departed during the daytime, and I rarely sleep well on planes. Because of that, the additional cost of business class would not have provided much extra value.

Thanks to my Alaska elite status, I was able to select a seat with additional legroom. The flight was also relatively empty due to the low travel season, so no one ended up sitting next to me.

In this case, economy was simply the more efficient choice.

Hyatt Regency Yokohama

2 Nights – 9,000 Hyatt Points per Night

For the Tokyo portion of the trip, I initially searched for Hyatt properties within central Tokyo. However, many of the desirable options required higher point redemptions.

Instead, I chose Hyatt Regency Yokohama, which is a Category 2 Hyatt property costing only 9,000 points per night.

Yokohama is located about 30 minutes from Tokyo by train, which makes it very convenient while still offering much better redemption value.

This allowed me to save Hyatt points while still staying in a comfortable hotel close to the city.

During my time in Tokyo, I spent a morning exploring teamLab Tokyo’s immersive digital art museums, which turned out to be one of the most unique experiences of the trip. Getting around the city initially felt overwhelming, but after a few rides I quickly became comfortable navigating Tokyo’s public transportation system. I also discovered that Tokyo is an incredible place for food souvenirs, especially beautifully packaged chocolate and cookie gifts that are perfect to bring home.

Conrad Tokyo

1 Night – Hilton Aspire Free Night Certificate

For my final night in the Tokyo area, I used a free night certificate from the Hilton Aspire credit card to stay at Conrad Tokyo.

The Aspire card provides a free night each year that can be used at almost any Hilton property. Using it at a high-end hotel like Conrad Tokyo is one of the best ways to maximize its value.

This gave me one luxury night in Tokyo before continuing on to the China portion of the trip.

Haneda → Shanghai

Economy Flight Included in Alaska Redemption

The flight from Tokyo (Haneda) to Shanghai was included in the original Alaska redemption.

Because Alaska Mileage Plan allows a stopover on partner awards, the entire itinerary:

San Francisco → Tokyo → Shanghai

still cost only 35,000 miles.

This is one of the most valuable features of Alaska miles.

Park Hyatt Shanghai

1 Night – Booked Through AMEX Fine Hotels & Resorts

For my first night in China, I stayed at Park Hyatt Shanghai, booked through the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR) program.

The room cost $350, and I applied my $300 annual FHR hotel credit, leaving $50 out-of-pocket.

However, FHR bookings also include a $100 property credit, which can typically be used for dining or other hotel services. During the stay I used part of that credit, which effectively offset the remaining cost.

In other words, even though the booking technically required $50 after the credit, the property credit made the stay essentially net positive in value.

Shanghai → Ningbo

Private Car Transfer

Instead of taking a train, I booked a private ride-share car from Shanghai to Ningbo using a service similar to carpooling.

The trip cost about $50 and took roughly three hours.

This option was convenient and allowed me to travel directly to the hotel without transferring between stations.

Park Hyatt Ningbo Resort

1 Night – 12,000 Hyatt Points + Suite Upgrade

Park Hyatt Ningbo turned out to be the highlight of the entire trip.

The hotel costs 12,000 Hyatt points per night, and I also applied a Hyatt suite upgrade award from my Globalist benefits.

The property is located next to a large lake and designed in a traditional Jiangnan architectural style, creating a quiet and relaxing environment.

After visiting busy cities like Tokyo and Shanghai, the peaceful setting made it the perfect place to unwind.

Hangzhou → Kunming

Economy Flight – 11,000 Flying Blue Miles

Flights within China can sometimes be difficult to book using international airline programs.

However, I found a great redemption through Flying Blue, the loyalty program of Air France and KLM.

A flight from Hangzhou to Kunming would have cost about $300, but Flying Blue priced it at only 11,000 miles.

I transferred points from American Express Membership Rewards to Flying Blue and booked the flight that way.

Grand Hyatt Kunming

3 Nights – 8,000 Hyatt Points per Night + Suite Upgrade

Grand Hyatt Kunming is a Category 2 Hyatt hotel, which means it costs only 8,000 points per night.

I stayed for three nights and also used a Hyatt suite upgrade award, giving me a much larger room during the stay.

Because of the low redemption cost, this property offers particularly strong value for Hyatt points.

Kunming → Chengdu

Economy Flight

This was a short domestic flight that cost about $90, so I simply paid with chase Ritz Carlton credit card and get that reimbursed later.

Chengdu Waldorf Astoria and St Regis

The two Chengdu hotels together cost:

$180 (Waldorf Astoria Chengdu)

$130 (St. Regis Chengdu)

Total: $310

I applied another $300 AMEX FHR credit, reducing the out-of-pocket cost to $10.

In addition, each FHR stay provided a $100 property credit, giving a total of $200 in hotel credits that could be used for food or other services.

Because of these benefits, the Chengdu portion of the trip actually generated significant net value despite the small cash payment.

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Chengdu → Xi’an

High-Speed Train

Instead of flying, I took a high-speed train from Chengdu to Xi’an.

The trip took about three hours and cost $50.

China’s high-speed rail network makes traveling between cities extremely efficient.

Grand Hyatt Xi’an

1 Night – 8,000 Hyatt Points

For my stay in Xi’an, I used 8,000 Hyatt points at Grand Hyatt Xi’an.

Even though I did not apply a suite upgrade, my Hyatt Globalist status still resulted in a suite upgrade during the stay.

Xi’an → Seoul Economy Flight

To position for the return journey, I flew from Xi’an to Seoul.

The ticket cost $150, and fortunately the flight — operated by Asiana Airlines — was available through the Capital One travel portal.

Because my Capital One card provides an annual $300 travel credit, I used that credit to cover the entire cost of the ticket.

As a result, this flight did not add any additional out-of-pocket expense to the trip.

Seoul → Seattle → San Francisco

Business Class Upgrade

The return flight was originally booked in economy class.

However, because of my Alaska MVP 75K elite status, I was able to apply an upgrade certificate, and the flight cleared into business class on Hawaiian Airlines.

This made the long return journey significantly more comfortable.

Points and Miles Used on This Trip

One of the most interesting parts of this trip was how different loyalty programs worked together. Instead of relying on a single program, the itinerary used a mix of airline miles, hotel points, upgrade certificates, and credit-card benefits.

Here is a summary of the points and miles used.

Program	Redemption	Points / Miles Used
Alaska Mileage Plan	San Francisco → Tokyo → Shanghai	35,000 miles
Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)	Hangzhou → Kunming flight	11,000 miles
Hyatt	Hyatt Regency Yokohama (2 nights)	18,000 points
Hyatt	Park Hyatt Ningbo Resort	12,000 points
Hyatt	Grand Hyatt Kunming (3 nights)	24,000 points
Hyatt	Grand Hyatt Xi’an	8,000 points
Hilton Aspire Free Night	Conrad Tokyo	1 certificate
Alaska MVP 75K Upgrade	Seoul → Seattle → San Francisco	1 upgrade certificate

Total Points Used

Program	Total Used
Alaska Mileage Plan	35,000 miles
Flying Blue	11,000 miles
Hyatt	62,000 points
Hilton	1 free night certificate
Alaska MVP 75K	1 upgrade certificate

Cost Comparison

Category	Amount
Estimated retail cost of trip	~$5,180
Actual cash spent	$280
Hotel credits received	$300
Net out-of-pocket cost	–$20

Final Result

The trip would have cost roughly $5,180 at retail prices.

By combining points, miles, elite benefits, and credit-card travel credits, my actual spending during the trip was about $280, while the hotel credits I received totaled $300.

In other words, the trip ended up slightly net-positive, even before counting the value of the flights and hotels booked with points.