My family loves the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta — and we pay for our trips with credit card rewards
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Jason Steele
- I love going to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta with my family — but it's expensive.
- Instead of paying high prices for my hotel and travel, I use credit card rewards points.
- Going to the event and checking out some of the local museums is a highlight of my year.
Watching a hot air balloon lift off at the crack of dawn on a cool clear day can make you smile — standing in the middle of a field of hundreds talking fight can make you completely giddy.
Each October for the past five years (other than in 2020, when the event was canceled during the COVID-19 outbreak), my family has traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the annual hot air Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta to witness this colorful spectacle.
Visiting the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is an unforgettable experience, but it can also be a costly one. But instead of spending thousands of dollars on flights and hotels, we've always paid for our travel with our rewards credit card points and miles.
About Albuquerque and the Balloon Fiesta
New Mexico is called The Land of Enchantment, and for good reason. From Albuquerque, you can take in the scenic vistas of deserts and mountains, while enjoying its unique Southwestern cuisine featuring its famous red and green chili peppers found on its license plates.
I've visited Albuquerque at various times of the year; it normally appears to be a sleepy town and a very inexpensive one at that. I like to joke that the Balloon Fiesta isn't just the largest event going on in Albuquerque, it seems to be the only one.
During the nine-day-long event in early October, flight and hotel prices soar as spectators and aviators saturate the town. While each of the 600 hot air balloons might hold just a handful of people, it takes a larger ground crew to launch and recover each airship. In 2023, the event recorded nearly a million visitors, an average of over 100,000 per day. Although some attendees are local, there's no doubt that it's quite a lot of visitors for a city of just 562,000.
How we visit with points and miles
Perhaps the biggest challenge of attending the Balloon Fiesta is finding affordable lodging. Thankfully, there are several hotel loyalty programs that offer free night stays for somewhat fixed amounts of points and miles. Last year, we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Albuquerque Uptown. Our family of five stayed in two rooms for two nights. At a cost of 40,000 Hilton Honors points per night, that set us back 160,000 points.
This hotel is located next to a large shopping mall, and conveniently, there's a shuttle bus departing to the Balloon Fiesta each morning. We've already made similar reservations for this year's event for the same number of points. Based on prices when I booked the rooms, I received a phenomenal 1.1 cents in value per point redeemed, roughly three times what you'd normally expect from redeeming Hilton points.
In past years, I've found that rooms in Albuquerque often become available for award stays within 30 days of the event, so keep checking if your preferred hotel doesn't have a vacancy.
As for flights, we typically take Southwest Airlines, which offers the most service to Albuquerque, by far. Thanks to the laws of supply and demand, even the one-hour flight from my hometown of Denver isn't cheap during the Balloon Fiesta.
However, that cost is mitigated by the fact that my wife and I both hold the Southwest Companion Pass. Therefore, we only need to redeem the points needed for three of us, as the other two are added as companions for a mere $11.20 round-trip. Over the years, we've learned that the key to getting the lowest fares is to book our tickets as far in advance as possible, which you'll want to do for big events like this, regardless of whether you fly Southwest or one of its competitors.
I earn Southwest Rapid Rewards points and get Companion Pass through the company's personal and small business cards from Chase. You can also transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest.
Other tips for visiting the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
Once you have your airline and hotel reservations, you'll almost certainly need to reserve a rental car. Do this in advance, and be sure to use any discounts you have from an employer or a warehouse store membership.
When going to the event, be sure to wake up early, dress warm, and catch a shuttle bus from one of the four satellite parking lots. Not only will the shuttle buses save you at least $20 in parking, they also have their own dedicated lanes to the event, bypassing the gridlock surrounding Balloon Fiesta park.
Unfortunately, food prices during the show are outrageous, the lines are long, and the quality is poor. But there's no restriction on bringing your own food, so pack some snacks and perhaps even an insulated bottle of coffee, hot cocoa, or tea.
And after the balloons have launched by mid-morning, be sure to check out other local sites such as Sandia Peak, the Explora children's museum, the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science and the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. For food, you can't go wrong with breakfast at Weck's, or any meal at Frontier or Cocina Azul, which are all Albuquerque staples with reasonable prices.
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