I thought our trip to Florida this past weekend would end our travels for the year (except for a quick business trip for my wife later this week). We went to Marco Island and then drove over to the east coast for a quick visit with my mom. I’ve reviewed the Hilton Marco Island twice, both the regular room and the suite. We flew down and back on Delta as usual, into Fort Myers and home from Fort Lauderdale.

Last week, my wife found out about a famous clay artist giving a seminar in Todos Santos, Mexico (about an hour from Cabo San Lucas) on the last weekend of the year, between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. She got on the waitlist and after a few days, she was cleared into the class. I decided to join her since I have never been to that part of Mexico.

To find flights at the last minute over the holidays is…challenging. Nothing even halfway decent was available using miles and points. I ended up booking nonstop flights on Delta from Atlanta to Cabo using American Express points with the 35% Business Platinum card rebate. It will end up costing us about 75k Membership Rewards points per person round-trip after the rebate. That’s not too bad for 4+ hour direct flights during the holidays booked two weeks out. If I had booked with Delta direct, it would have been over 100k SkyMiles per person or $1,160 cash. On the outbound, we are stuck way at the back of main cabin with no comfort plus or first-class seats available. On the return, there are still nine seats in first class showing available so it’s possible we might get upgraded. At least we also have exit row seats for that flight if the upgrades don’t clear.

As for a place to stay, most of the decent nearby hotels were either booked up or ridiculously priced, but I lucked into a well-reviewed and nice looking VRBO property. I went ahead and grabbed it, having to pre-pay as it’s so close to the trip. As we are going for only three nights, I thought it would be nice to be right on the beach, but still close to where my wife’s class is being held.

To get from Cabo to Todos Santos and back, it made sense to rent a car. A local company called Cactus has excellent reviews and matched the price I got from Hertz including necessary liability insurance. I’ll now have a car to explore while my wife is taking her class.

I’m planning to drive back to Cabo after I drop off my wife at class on the first day and go whale watching as it’s the season for it. On the second day, I’ll probably go hiking as the local scenery and weather forecast looks great for that.

I’ll have a couple of posts about this trip when we return from Mexico. Hopefully, our flights will be on time and my wife will enjoy her class. I’ll also post some travel year in review thoughts before the end of the year.

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