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Points Talk®: Your Travel Dreams, Made Possible by Points

130. American Southwest with Kids

Points Talk®: Your Travel Dreams, Made Possible by Points

Alex, Pam and Jess

Places & Travel, Education, Society & Culture, How To

4.9 • 734 Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Jess and Megan walk us through their recent family getaways to two standout Hyatt properties in the American Southwest: the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale in Arizona and the Hyatt Regency Tamaya in New Mexico. From flights on Southwest® using Companion Passes to family-friendly resort and cultural activities, they break down exactly how they booked, what they loved, and what they'd do differently next time.

Grand Hyatt Scottsdale: Renovated Luxury with Resort Vibes

Fresh off a huge renovation and rebrand, the former Hyatt Regency Scottsdale is now the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale—and Jess and Megan each had three-night family stays to check it out.

The resort has ten pools, including a three-story water slide, a sandy beach area for little kids, and a separate adults-only pool. There's even a rock-climbing wall, putting green, and weekly birds of prey show. The club lounge, while small, included complimentary breakfast, drinks, appetizers, and desserts, and Jess made good use of the free happy hour drinks by taking them poolside.

Their biggest warning? Avoid Thursday–Saturday stays if you're sensitive to noise—live music in the lobby those nights is extremely loud and carries to guest rooms. Jess called it the biggest damper on an otherwise enjoyable trip.

Hyatt Regency Tamaya: Hidden Gem Near Albuquerque

Megan also shares her family’s stay at Hyatt Regency Tamaya, located on the Santa Ana Pueblo in New Mexico. Recently renovated and still a Category 4 Hyatt, it offered unique Native American cultural experiences, incredible mountain views, and tons of free family activities.

Megan’s family enjoyed nightly s’mores by the fire pit, cultural storytelling sessions, hands-on artisan demos, and a pueblo bread tasting. There are multiple pools, bike rentals, and even a horseback riding stable on-site. 

This resort is just 30 minutes from Albuquerque’s airport and offers easy access to Santa Fe and Petrified Forest National Park not too far away—making it perfect for road trip loops or a more relaxing extended stay.

If you're dreaming of a warm-weather escape filled with adventure, learning, and luxury—without the luxury price tag—this episode is packed with inspiration and real-world tips for traveling the Southwest on points. Hit play and start planning your family’s next trip!

 

Links:

Episode Minute By Minute:

  • 00:30 – Intro + overview
  • 01:00 – Flights on Southwest® + Companion Pass
  • 03:00 – Costco car rental + tips for family travel
  • 08:00 – Grand Hyatt Scottsdale: room types, points cost, parking fees
  • 13:00 – Club lounge pros/cons
  • 18:00 – Pool features, beach area, adult-only spaces, kids’ activities
  • 23:00 – Live music noise issues + what to know before booking
  • 31:00 –  Hyatt Regency Tamaya
  • 34:00 – Hotel background, cultural ties, and points cost
  • 38:00 – Pools, spa, activities, and Guest of Honor details
  • 41:00 – Cultural experiences
  • 44:00 – Horseback riding + why this property is a favorite for families

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Ready to head to the Southwest? And no, we're not talking about the airline. Tune into how Jess and

0:06.0

Megan both recently completed trips to Scottsdale and Albuquerque with their families, all on points,

0:11.5

of course. Welcome to Points Talk with the travel mom squad. We are three moms who've discovered

0:16.8

how to leverage credit card welcome offers to get hundreds of thousands of dollars of travel expenses

0:22.1

for nearly free. We've used credit card points of miles to take vacations to places like Hawaii,

0:27.9

Paris, Greece, Maldives, Japan, and so much more. And the best part, we each still have 800 plus credit

0:34.9

scores. Imagine being able to take the vacation of your dreams for

0:38.4

nearly free. It's totally possible and we're here to show you how. Hey, I'm Alex. And I'm Jess. Let's Talk

0:46.4

Points. Our director of operations, Megan, is back today as we take a deep dive into some recent family trips that we have taken. I just

0:57.4

returned literally yesterday from Scottsdale. My family and I stayed at the Grand Hyatt

1:03.3

Scottsdale. And Megan returned from a trip to Scottsdale and Albuquerque back in February.

1:10.4

So we are here to break it all down for you and

1:13.2

exactly how we did it using points and miles. So first, Megan and I are both going to talk about

1:18.7

how we got to Scottsdale. She will also cover Albuquerque. So my family flew Southwest, of course.

1:26.4

I know a lot of people have mixed feelings on Southwest

1:30.3

currently because of all of the changes that they are making to their brand. Basically,

1:35.3

they're not Southwest anymore. But we happened to get a really good deal on Southwest from,

1:42.3

we flew direct from Houston to Phoenix.

1:45.0

It was only 26,000 Southwest Points round trip per person.

1:50.4

And then Molly flew as my companion.

1:52.3

So Ted and I each paid 26,000 round trip.

1:55.6

Molly was my companion.

...

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