Award Travel in Action: How I Managed A SECOND Spontaneous, Last Minute Trip to the World Cup 2026 AND For A Quarterfinal Match! (KC Trip Report – ARG v SUI)

ByRosemary

While I knew that attending a World Cup match wasn’t going to be a once in a lifetime thing for me, I was thinking with this year’s ticket prices that I should set my sights on seeing another match in Portugal or Morocco in four years.

And honestly, FIFA was making me so mad during the tournament – you cannot call something sold out if you are dropping hundreds – thousands of last minute tickets days before a match and in the same vein, dynamic pricing would be that the prices of those newly dropped tickets would be lowered (ya know cuz economics?!) that I couldn’t bring myself to buy a ticket.

But as I watched, I realized that there was something that was happening that I would never be able to see again and that was worth going for (FIFA be damned). Seeing the greatest of all time, still playing at an absurd level – that I should make ever effort to see Lionel Messi play for Argentina and at the World Cup.

But I hesitated with seeing him in Miami vs Cabo Verde and then again in Atlanta against Egypt (damn FIFA and my own indecision!). I knew that I was running out of chances and reasonably attractive ticket prices – so I scrambled to make it happen for the Quarterfinal match

Hilariously this trip was even more last minute than my Vancouver World Cup trip and that one was booked less than 48 hours before I flew to Canada. And that was a nearly ideal award travel trip with dates, times and availability widely available for both booking flights and hotels award bookings.

This trip would be a test of patience and knowledge with eventually being rewarded for channeling Seneca’s wisdom ie how luck is when preparation meets opportunity. The award travel bookings were anything but straightforward…yet things somehow fell perfectly into place because I had a pretty good feel for what would happen.

Let me show you how it all came together and you tell me if you think this was worth it!

QUICK TRIP STATS

TOTAL SPEND of 33,5000 Chase Ultimate Reward Points (transferred to airline/hotel partner), 104K Marriott Bonvoy points, & $1088 in cash for another Wanderlist trip. Four days in Kansas City, MO, US to attend a World Cup 26 Quarterfinal match!

More complex award travel + bookings (especially compared to World Cup Vancouver trip) aided by a bit of luck, some patience and lots of knowledge. Maximized by using Chase Sapphire Reserve card benefits, having World of Hyatt Globalist elite status and stacking opportunities!

Please note: this post contains affiliate links which means if you buy something following a link on this page, I may get a small commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This is absolutely free for you/does not cost you anything extra! There’s no sponsored content nor do I run ads here so this helps so much in reducing the ever-increasing costs of keeping this site active.Thanks! Rosemary


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FULL TRIP STATS

Cost (cash and points) breakdown for the trip - because I love spreadsheets, numbers and data
ha! there are so many more spreadsheets and they are much, much more involved!

TRIP REPORTS are where I peel back the curtain (and literally provide receipts) to show exactly what I spent in cash, points, miles – and where the savings came from.

My goal is to show you how these trips can be replicated, with one important caveat: YMMV (“Your Mileage May Vary”). In award travel, that means your experience may differ from mine (upgrades, availability, etc.), but the fundamentals of using points and miles for flights and hotels remain the same.

Making my money work harder involves a combination of credit card strategies (including welcome bonuses and maximizing credit card benefits), loyalty programs, and double, triple, or even quadruple stacking to maximize every dollar I spend.

I use many of these strategies together, so this trip may seem like a lot at first. I’m sharing my thought process to help you understand what’s possible – not because I expect you to copy everything. Pick the ideas that work for you and ignore the rest! I’ve been doing this for a long time, so much of it has become second nature – and lol I am obsessive about travel and money hacking!

Award travel is simply being able to travel for better, cheaper, more often (and I’m now adding) and/or doing once in a lifetime experiences SO if you are able to do any of these things, you are doing it right =)

FLIGHTS

DEN (Denver, CO) – MCI (Kansas City, MO) / United Economy

Spend: $19.40 / CASH VALUE: $359.40 / Additional Savings: Premier Access, Standard Seat at Booking/Preferred Seat at Check-in & Free Wi-Fi (T-Mobile perk)

BEAUTIFUL TIPS: Know refund policies as it pays to be able to book flights as soon as you find a good redemption or cash price! In my case, I decided I would only go to KC if I could snag a hotel room on points but knew that as I was waiting/looking for that miracle, it was likely flights would go up. And they did – within a couple of hours of buying that ticket, the cash and mile prices skyrocketed! So I booked knowing that I could cancel the flight and would be issued credit that I would need to use in a year (very easy since DEN is a UA hub)

When and How Did I Book This Flight: Booked on Tuesday, July 7 around 10 in the morning (travel date was that Friday, July 10) and directly on United Airlines

Why I Chose This Flight: I briefly considered flying in on Saturday since the match would be in the evening and United had lots of flights that day but decided against that plan. First, because I didn’t want to miss the match if things went sideways travel-wise; second, it ended up working out in my favor to stay this first night (see the Hotels – Westin section for more details) and third, price and time hit the sweet spot as I would be able to attend and enjoy the KC FIFA Fan Festival on Friday!

How Did I Only Spend $19.40 on the Flight?: I was able to use funds that I had in my United Travel Bank that had been funded earlier from various credit cards/ benefits (IYKYK!) Note that I did put part of the flight on my Chase Sapphire Reserve as I always do – this is in case I ever have to use Trip Delay travel insurance!

The Flight: The flight itself was fine but I am kicking myself for missing out on a great volunteer bumping scenario. I suppose you win some, you lose some – since this section is already long, I will have more details on this in the Good To Know section!

MCI (Kansas City, MO) – DEN (Denver, CO) / United Economy

Spend: 13,500 Chase UR points (transfered to UA) + $5.60 taxes / CASH VALUE: $379.60 / Additional Savings: Premier Access, Standard Seat at Booking/Economy Plus Seat at Check-in booking through United + free WiFi via T-Mobile

When and How Did I Book This Flight: Booked on Sunday, July 12 (travel date was next day – Monday, July 13) and directly on United Airlines app

BEAUTIFUL TIP: Power of knowing cancellation policy again – I had a different flight booked on AA for Monday but since it wasn’t non-stop, I kept checking United hoping that there one of the flights that day would drop in miles. AA does not charge cancellation fees plus I would prefer to save my AA miles for better redemptions.

Why I Chose This Flight: Flights home on Sunday were $1K+ in cash with the number of miles needed being what I spend on international business class flights so those were out. Since this was a popular sports event and MCI isn’t a large airport, I had accepted that I would be flying out on Monday. Luckily I live in a UA hub that is close to MCI so UA had lots of flights on Monday and I was able to snag a saver awards flight last minute and canceled my AA flight.

Any Alternatives to Flying Out of MCI? I did look at flying out of a nearby airport with St Louis having the most potential. In the end, not worth it for me as I didn’t want to have my knee suffering through a nearly 6 hour train ride then having two more flights to fly out on Sunday (again UA was again prohibitively expensive and using AA miles meant a layover)

One of the most useful concepts that you can adapt in award travel is flexibility with where you fly into/out of. One area of the US where this is easy to put in practice is the East Coast since Amtrak is a quick and cost effective way to get from cities (ie flying out of NYC vs PHL)

Here’s Why I Love Flexible Points: I was able to quickly transfer 13.5K Chase Ultimate Reward points to my United account that went through instantly so I didn’t miss out on this saver award fare suddenly appearing on Sunday!

The Flight: One perk of flying in a regional plane is that the standard seats were filled by the time I booked so I was able to sit in Economy Plus without having to pay for it!

How to earn the points

Final Thoughts: There are many that book award flights right when the airline releases them (often nearly a year out) but I am not that type of traveler and both approaches can get you lots of value from points + miles. That’s my reminder that there are a lot of ways to approach points bookings – you should find the one that works for you (lol my way gives many people heart palpitations and I tend to cancel award flights booked far in advance because I will change plans!)

The flexibility that comes with using points and miles is one of the biggest reasons why I am able to travel so much and the way that I do. Lots of practice and patience along with some knowledge (ie how to fund travel bank + know airlines’ cancellation policies) were put to the test and ultimately got me to and back from KC on direct flights!

HOTELS

While I LOVE Hyatt especially their World of Hyatt loyalty program, the reality is that they have the smallest footprint for hotels compared to Hilton and Marriott – so it definitely pays to have points with multiple hotel programs (also should include IHG)

Case in point, there are three Hyatts in this area (not counting the Elms hotel) and Hotel Kansas City is the only one that was in the Downtown KC area and was sold out for both nights. Important note: With Marriott, Hilton and IHG, it is dramatically better to have points earned via sign up bonuses on Hilton or Marriott cards versus transferring flexible points based on the number of points needed for their award stays!

Westin Kansas City at Crown Center

Spend: 104K Marriott Bonvoy points + $20 (Housekeeping cash tip) / CASH VALUE: $1047.41 / Additional Savings: Upgraded Room Type (Comp w/ Marriott Bonvot Lifetime Gold status) + welcome amenity

BEAUTIFUL TIP: If you are unable to find an award booking for one night, sometimes expanding the search to two nights will open up availability. I have been able to use this trick for busy sports weekends but also during college graduation weekends! As you can see in the first photo on the left, there are no award rooms available for a July 11 -12 stay but once I amend the search for two nights from July 10 – 12, one room at the Westin becomes available to book on points!

What About Award Bookings With Other Hotel Chains? The two KC Hyatt hotels located in Overland Park were not available on points for both nights PLUS the stadium bus route from that area was sold out so I would have had to pay for transportation to/from stadium AND one night hotel. There were multiple KC Hiltons that did have availability for two nights but the number of points for ONE night was between 110K – 130K at those hotels.

Why I Chose This Hotel: I didn’t choose the hotel, the hotel choose me! Haha but really it could not have worked out any better as the location of the hotel was perfect for this trip! It was a 10 minute walk to the KC FIFA Fan Festival and even shorter to get to the lot where they had the airport and stadium buses!

The Stay: It’s a cool hotel that boasts a very cool atrium as well as a relaxing pool area which were both welcome ways to beat the relentless summer heat! There’s also ‘The Link’ – an elevated, climate controlled pedestrian walkway that connects the hotel to Crown Center shops, Union station and the Sheraton hotel making it very easy to get around (you are able to catch the KC streetcar easily and comfortably using the Link!)

Full review on the Westin Kansas City at Crown Center to come

Credit Cards To Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points + Sign Up Bonus

Hotel Kansas City

Spend: 20K Chase Points+ $23 (Housekeeping + bell cash tips) / CASH VALUE: $1058.80 / Additional Savings: Upgrade to Suite (Comp w/ World of Hyatt Globalist status - also included in other sections for savings: Complimentary breakfast)

Why I Chose This Hotel: I opted to save the cash and use points to stay one additional night in KC. Rather than spend 50,000 points at the Westin, I transferred points from Chase to World of Hyatt to book one night here.

The Stay: A fun hotel with so much character from the amazing decor to my super cute suite to the lovely breakfast and staff, it was such a great end cap for my KC World Cup Trip!

Full review on the Hotel Kansas City to come

How to earn the points

FOOD

Not pictured are my KC BBQ joint visits – I was too busy eating to snap pics

Spend: $113.34 / Savings of $109.16 on meals + drinks from a variety of sources. Free brekkie at Hotel Kansas City & Starbucks Gift Cards (gifts/tips) & DoorDash Credits/Deals + Lounge Access with Chase Sapphire Reserve

Food prices at the Fan Festival and Stadium were stereotypical US sports events stupidly pricey such as my $9.90 swirl ice cream which luckily were offset by deals like this DoorDash 85% off gem. Two Hawaiian Bros tasty kids meals that gave me the meat variety I wanted and also included Dole Whips with tip for $8.

Food spending was also pretty low because I was a hot mess the entire trip – from getting heat exhaustion the first day to coming down with something by the end of my trip so I didn’t eat even half of what I normally would!

TRANSPORTATION

Spend: $68.60 – Lyft/Uber/A Line in Denver + KC2026 Transit options / Savings of $25 from CSR/Lyft + Amex Plat/Uber monthly credits

I probably should have included what I saved with KC rolling out their KC2026 transit options – seriously it was impressive. Large, comfy air conditioned motor buses for direct transport between the airport and FIFA Fan Festival that was FREE and the same buses used to transport to/from the stadium for only $15! I peeked at Uber to see what I would have paid and it was $55 for getting to the airport and $150 to get from the match – so savings from $300 – 400+ from just those four rides! Added bonus is the KC streetcar is always free to ride!

ACTIVITIES

FIFA Fan Festival

KC’s FIFA Fan Festival was a whole family event that also had free performances / concerts along with showing the matches and football-related activities.

Able to catch Spain v Belgium’s quarterfinal match here and also snag one of those viral Bank of America bracelets…was it worth it to wait an hour and a half for it? Haha I was a victim of sunk cost fallacy when after 45 minutes, I was faced with the dilemma of to stay or go.

Probably my only complaint about KC2026 is the covering over that watch area being a terrible design choice. When it was sunny, all of the holes and the translucency made it ineffective as shade and when it rained, the water definitely came down – which created muddy conditions. If I lived in KC, it wouldn’t have been a big deal as I would have been able to pack a waterproof picnic blanket but not practical when traveling there (glad I had a rain jacket packed in my bag as the ground was already muddy and wet before the afternoon shower came but since it’s me-sized, didn’t cover a lot of ground area).

I missed my Trolley City Tour but spent some time walking and exploring KC on my own including the beautiful Union Station and the hidden gem that is the KC Central Library – such a delight on so many levels!

World Cup 26 Quarterfinal Match (ARG vs SUI)

Ticket price was $992.75 – $150 (Sapphire Reserve StubHub/Viagogo bi-annual credit) – $34.75 (Rakuten 3.5% cashback) = $808 NET PRICE

For more on the full strategy I used to snag this ticket, read this!

One of the advantages for buying my ticket via Viagogo (or Stubhub) is that by using my Chase Sapphire Reserve to pay, that charge triggered the second $150 credit benefit on the card which was a direct savings of $150 (that Chase automatically applies once the StubHub credit is activated)!

I always preach about maximizing spend and will use shopping portals for more points/miles whenever possible. Viagogo was 3.5% Cashback (or in my case, I earn Amex points for 3.5x) on Rakuten so that was another $34.75 saved bring the total saved to $184.75!

NEW TO RAKUTEN? SIGN UP WITH MY REFERRAL LINK FOR AN EXTRA $50 HERE

MISCELLANEOUS

Spend: $11 Souvenirs: Worldcup 26 KC Pin

I am so bummed that I missed out on a match pin (they were sold out at all the stands!) + the Michelob Ultra cups from the stadium (hilariously I was not aware that they were printed with the match info and I should have snagged some until I was on Tik Tok the next morning!!)

But there were a number of free items that I did get – note that I could have gotten so much more free stuff but I absolutely hate waiting in lines.

Everything else besides the beaded bracelet were just handed out (the knit scarf was given at the airport!)

KC As A Host City – WOW!

Being from Denver, I was part of the group that was a little salty that KC was hosting and not us so I may have come in with a chip on my shoulder. But boy o boy, did KC bring it and really just blew me away.

I had specifically chosen Vancouver for my first World Cup trip as they had the infrastructure in place (great mass transit + stadium within downtown area) that would make things really easy on me and it definitely proved to be that way when I visited.

KC does not have those things in place but they created a system that was incredibly easy and affordable for those visiting. Furthermore, all of the volunteers that were out were so incredibly wonderful – at the airport, at the Fan Festival, at the Stadium, at the bus lots.

Well done KC – I can see why you were chosen AND as importantly THANK YOU!!

GOOD TO KNOW

Compensation – Voluntary Bump on Flight

When I checked into my flight on Thursday, I was presented with this information about UA looking for volunteers to change flights OR be voluntarily bumped and compensated. The most interesting part was that one of the flights you could change to would take off just an hour and a half late! United would give either travel voucher or miles (their three default options are the top and middle right photos) to move as well as a option to name your price (haha my bid is the bottom right photo).

I actually got to the gate 15 minutes before boarding started to see what would happen and they had indeed oversold the flight. By that time, there was only one more volunteer needed and they were offering 15K miles or $300 travel voucher. I went up to the gate agent and asked if there was any room for higher compensation and she said that she had one more person to call who said they would take that amount. If he said no, then we could chat.

Boooooo! He said yes =(

Did I overplay it? Probably, as a 1.5 hour delay would have been worth taking the 15,000 miles but alas hindsight is 20/20. One thing is that I wouldn’t have made it to the FIFA Fan Festival in time to get a bracelet sooo there’s that hahaha!

How Hyatt Loyalty Pays Off

There are still a lot of reasons to love World of Hyatt even after their recent devaluations for me. One of my favorite is this perk: Brand Explorer Free Night Awards – I hadn’t realized that Hotel Kansas City would check off another brand for me and trigger this award!

To learn more about the Brand Explorer Free Night Award, read this

FINAL THOUGHTS

Just a small taste of the wonder what was my KC World Cup 26 trip!

While the Chase Sapphire Reserve does have a very high annual fee, this trip showcases how the card can easily pay for itself with 1:1 transfer to Hyatt, the $150 Stubhub/Viagogo bi-annual credit, $10 monthly Lyft credit, and airport lounge access. If I had been feeling better, I could have made use of the $150 OpenTable bi-annual credit and treated myself to a nice dinner!

This is one of those “once in a lifetime” moments, lol not attending the World Cup but seeing Lionel Messi play for Argentina and at the World Cup. He is simply the GOAT but even more so, he has been having one of the craziest tournaments and I wanted to be able to see that magic in person!

And that’s the beauty and power of travel hacking….are you starting to believe me yet?

About Author

Rosemary is a travel hacker, points nerd, money maximizer, and female solo traveler who’s explored 70+ countries without a trust fund, sugar daddy, or sponsored content. Every mile, upgrade, and trip is completely self-funded using a mix of points, miles, and cash or earned with elite status.Through firsthand experience and plenty of trial and error, she teaches everyday travelers the art of travel hacking ie how they too can travel for cheaper, better, and more often (and she provides receipts along with a mildly concerning amount of spreadsheets)

While Rosemary doesn’t take herself too seriously, she does take award travel, making her money work harder (and searching for the best ice cream) seriously – and shares it all here because she believes that seeing the world or living your most beautiful life shouldn’t be reserved for the rich, the retired, or content creators with brand deals.

When not traveling, she is based in Denver, Colorado and loves to share the amazing things you can do, see, and experience (many of which are free!) in the Centennial state (which she feels absolutely blessed to be able to call home)

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