Salt Lake City, located in Utah, is one of the most extraordinary cities with beautiful natural sceneries. Not only does the Rocky Mountain pass through the city, the Great Salt Lake has always been the heart of the town. Did you know that the salt density in the Great Salt Lake was so high that you can float on the lake without sinking! Now taking a trip to Utah is even easier than that—just follow this recipe and earn your free journey there!

Recipe objective: Using 2 credit card promotions to create a three-night trip to Salt Lake City, Utah with free flight and 3 hotel nights. Aside from visiting the Great Salt Lake, there is much more to explore in Salk Lake City—both in winter and summer! This recipe also provides you with a list of attractions and gourmet places.

Ingredients:

• A good 2+ years credit history with no blemishes
• 720+ FICO score

Main Dish Preparation Steps:

Step1: Apply for: Chase Continental Airlines OnePass® Plus Card

• Get 25,000 miles and $50 credit statement after your first purchase.
• (Optional) Get 5,000 more after adding an authorized user.
• Either way it would be enough for a round trip to Salt Lake City, UT. Annual fee waived for the 1st year.

• Get 10,000 Starpoints after your first purchase--enough for staying at Sheraton Salt Lake Hotel (category 2 hotel) for 2 weekday nights or 3 weekend nights.
• No annual fee for the first year.

• Search for flights from you city to Salt Lake City.
• Choose Economy Class for available flights; it will cost you less than 25,000 miles for a round trip. 

• Note that 10,000 will suffice 3 weekend nights (3,000 each), but only 2 weekday nights (4,000 each) at Sheraton Salt Lake Hotel (category 2 hotel).
• If you travel with your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/etc. and each gets on the same deal, you have twice the number of hotel nights!
•  If you plan on keeping the card, note that you can also earn 2 Starwood points (instead of 1) for every dollar you spend at Starwood hotels and resorts.

• From August 20th to 22nd (Friday-Sunday)
• Fly a roundtrip with Continental from Detroit, MI to Salt Lake City, Utah
• Stay at Sheraton Salt Lake Hotel for 3 nights

Side Dish—the Salt-Lake-Flavored Steak:

Step1: Purchase the Visit Salt Lake Connect Pass

• Adult ticket starting at $16/person/day!
• Lets you visit any of these top attractions in Salt Lake City with a 1-, 2-, or 3-day pass:
  • The Discovery Gateway
  • Clark Planetarium (Starshow and IMAX)
  • The Lion House Pantry Restaurant
  • Red Butte Garden
  • Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort
  • Thanksgiving Point Gardens & Museum of Ancient Life
  • This is The Place Heritage Park
  • Tracy Aviary
  • Natural History Museum of Utah
  • The Leonardo
  • Utah Olympic Park
  • Utah’s Hogle Zoo

Step 2: Rent your car at Travelocity:

• Simply enter your pick-up and drop-off date and location, Travelocity will show you the best deals for all categories.

Step 3: Check out this great website for everything you can do at Salt Lake City

Side Dish—the Outdoor Seafood Medley:

Step 1: Plan a visit to Snowbird - the best place for skiing, hiking, camping, and more!

Step 2: Plan a visit to Big Cottonwood Canyon

• This is where the Rocky Mountain meets the Great Basin; offers the best scenery and hiking track.

• Lamb's Café: the oldest restaurant in the city (since 1919); serves Greek food.
• Market Street Grill: voted best breakfast in Salt Lake City, very good seafood restaurant.
• Moochie's Meatballs and More: great Italian food; famous for the Philly cheesesteak sandwiches.
• The Pie Pizzeria: this Utah institution is in a dark but cozy basement right next to the University; famous for their giant and thickly loaded pizzas.
• The Red Iguana: consistently ranked among the best restaurants in the valley; famous for its incredible moles.
• Ruth's Diner: the diner first opened in the 1930s; famous for "mile high" biscuits.
• Siegfried's Delicatessen: voted the city's most authentic German deli.
• Spencer's for Steaks and Chops: voted the Best Steak in the city by Salt Lake Magazine.  

Alternatives and Cautions:

• If you want to go to any other cities or countries, the Reward Flight Search will give you a good idea of how many miles you can redeem.
• Similarly, for other Starwood participating hotels, the conversion table between Starpoints and redeemable hotel nights for hotels in different categories will show you how many nights you can redeem.
  • Note that depending on the category of some hotels, the 10,000 points may not be enough for 3 nights.

Summary of steps:

1. Check your credit history and score.
2. Apply for Chase Continental Airlines OnePass® Plus Card (at least 25,000 bonus miles).
3. Apply for American Express Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express (10,000 bonus points).
4. Make a purchase with both cards on anything.
5. Book your plane ticket.
6. Book your hotel rooms.
7. Select certain (or all!) side dishes to make a plan for your trip to Salt Lake City.
8. Cancel your cards or keep them to earn points to your convenience.

 
(Photo: john-morgan)