Travel agents and tour groups call the trifecta of Disneyland, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon the “Golden Triangle.” Three great destination, one amazing trip. To get a family of four twelve days to experience this all will take a couple each applying for credit cards twice.

The couple will both have to have a minimum credit score of 725. And they’ll need to be able to spend $4,000 combined on credit cards per month. The first applications will require five credit cards each; the second will require one of them to get three, and the other two. But if they follow this advice, they can get a trip valued at $4,872 for only $498.

HIS FIRST APS: Five cards — Citi Platinum Select/AAdvantage, Hilton HHonors Surpass Card from Amex, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Citi Business AAdvantage, Bank of America Hawaiian Airlines

HIS SECOND APS: Three cards — Chase Ink Plus, Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card, Starwood Preferred Guest

HER FIRST APS: Five cards — Citi Platinum Select/AAdvantage,  Hilton HHonors Surpass Card from Amex, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Citi Business AAdvantage, Bank of America Hawaiian Airlines

HER SECOND APS: Two cards — Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card, Starwood Preferred Guest

ITINERARY OVERVIEW: The family flies to Los Angeles on Friday, March 7, 2014 and check-in to the Hilton Anaheim. They spend all of Friday, as well as Saturday and Sunday at Disneyland and California Adventure. On Monday, they pick up their rental car and can tour Los Angeles. On Tuesday, they check-out of the Hilton Anaheim and drive to Las Vegas. In Vegas they stay at the Westin Las Vegas Hotel, Casino and Spa. They spend three nights in Vegas, checking out on Friday and driving to the Grand Canyon. They’ll stay for four nights at the Hilton Garden Inn in Flagstaff. On Tuesday, March 18, they drive to Phoenix, drop off the car and fly home.

(Note: This is a sample itinerary only. We haven’t checked award availability to ensure that these dates are open.)

TOTAL TRIP VALUE: $4,872

(Note: The airline value is based on the cheapest available seats found using ITA Matrix. As the dates in the itinerary are for 2014, we used 2013 sample dates as 2014 information is not yet available.)

HERE’S HOW YOU DO IT:

March 7, 2014: One Way on American to Los Angeles
Cost: $1,268 ($317 per ticket)*
Method: American AAdvantage
Cards:

1. Citi Platinum Select/AAdvantage Visa Signature Card (x2) – 62,000 AAdvantage miles
   1. He receives 30,000 miles after spending $1,000 in three months.
   2. He receives 1,000 miles from his spend at a minimum of one point per dollar.
   3. She receives 30,000 miles after spending $1,000 in three months.
   4. She receives 1,000 miles from her spend at a minimum of one point per dollar.

Explanation: A one-way domestic AA Economy Saver costs 12,500. A family of four can get to LA for 50,000 AAdvantage miles. Between the two cards, the family of four can get to LA with 12,000 miles to help them with their return ticket.
Out of Pocket Cost: Taxes

March 7-11: Hilton Anaheim
Cost: $956 ($239 per night)
Method: Hilton HHonors
Cards:

1. Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card – 2 Free Weekend Nights
   1. He receives 2 free weekend room night vouchers after spending $2,500 in four months.
2. Hilton HHonors Surpass Card from American Express (x2) – 80,000 HHonors points
   1. He receives 40,000 points after his first spend.
   2. She receives 40,000 points after her first spend.

Explanation: The family may have to crowd into the room, but they can get one room for four nights at the Hilton Anaheim with their Hilton cards. The Citi Reserve card gets them two free weekend nights, and the Surpass cards get them a total of 80,000 points. The Hilton Anaheim is a Category 6 property, costing 40,000 points per night. Those 80k get the family another two nights. And a great perk of the hotel is that it’s located just across the street from Disneyland.
Out of Pocket Cost: $245 (a $95 annual fee for the Citi HHonors Reserve card and $75 annual fee for each the Hilton HHonors Surpass)

March 7-9: Disneyland and California Adventure
Cost: $830 ($215 per ticket for adults, $200 per ticket for children)
Method: Ultimate Rewards
Cards:

1. Chase Sapphire Preferred (x2) – 86,000 Ultimate Rewards points
   1. He receives 40,000 UR points after spending $3,000 within three months.
   2. He receives 3,000 points from his spend at a minimum of one point per dollar.
   3. She receives 40,000 points after spending $3,000 within three months.
   4. She receives 3,000 points from her spend at a minimum of one point per dollar.

Explanation: We’ve made this point before, but we should make it again: statement credits are not a great redemption of Ultimate Rewards points. We value these points at 1.9 cents a piece, so a penny per point redemption is not great.

A great site to use for discounted Disneyland tickets is MouseSavers. We found 3-day Park Hopper tickets for $215 for adults and $200 for children. The total cost is $830. At a penny a point, to cover $830 you would need 83,000 Ultimate Rewards points. Two Sapphire cards will get you 86,000 and cover the cost for 4 tickets.
Out of Pocket Cost: $0

March 10-18: Rental Car
Cost: $333 ($37 per day)
Method: Ultimate Rewards
Cards:

1. Chase Ink Plus– 55,000 Ultimate Rewards points
   1. He receives 55,000 UR points after spending $5,000 within three months.
   2. He receives 5,000 points from his spend at a minimum of one point per dollar.

Explanation: As we pointed our earlier, statement credits are not a great use of Ultimate Rewards points. However, the 55,000 points will more than cover the 33,300 Ultimate Rewards point cost of covering eight days of a rental car that’s picked up in LA and dropped off in Phoenix. (Note: we checked rental car prices using Hotwire.com.)
Out of Pocket Cost: $0

March 11-14: The Westin Las Vegas Hotel, Casino & Spa
Cost: $897 ($299 per night)
Method: Starpoints
Cards:

1. Starwood Preferred Guest– 60,000 Starpoints
   1. He receives 10,000 Starpoints after his first purchase.
   2. He receives another 15,000 Starpoints after spending $5,000 within six months.
   3. He receives 5,000 additional Starpoints from his spend at a minimum of one point per dollar.
   4. She receives 10,000 Starpoints after her first purchase.
   5. She receives another 15,000 Starpoints after spending $5,000 within six months.
   6. She receives another 5,000 Starpoints from her spend at a minimum of one point per dollar.

Explanation:  The Westin Las Vegas is a category 5 hotel, costing 16,000 points per night. Again, the family will have to squeeze in, but for 48,000 points, they’ll have three nights in Vegas.
Out of Pocket Cost: $0

March 14-18: Hilton Garden Inn
Cost: $588 ($147 per night)
Method: Hilton HHonors
Cards:

1. Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card – 2 Free Weekend Nights
   1. She receives 2 free weekend room night vouchers after spending $2,500 in four months.
2. Bank of America Hawaiian Airlines Visa Signature Card (x2) – 40,000 Hawaiian Airlines miles
   1. He receives 20,000 miles after his first spend.
   2. She receives 20,000 miles after her first spend.

Explanation: One week after arriving to Anaheim, the family arrives in Flagstaff, Arizona. On Friday, March 14, they check into the Hilton Garden Inn. They get the first two nights at the hotel courtesy of the two free weekend night voucher from the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve card. The other two nights are from the conversion of Hawaiian Airlines miles into Hilton HHonors points at a conversion of 1:2. With the BofA card, they each get 20,000 miles, which converts to 40,000 HHonors points each. The category 4 Hilton Garden Inn costs 30,000 points per night.
Out of Pocket Cost: $253 (a $95 annual fee for the Citi HHonors Reserve card and $79 annual fee for each BofA card)

March 18, 2014: One Way on American to Back Home
Cost: *Included in airline value
Method: AAdvantage
Cards:

1. CitiBusiness AAdvantage World MasterCard – 62,000 AAdvantage miles
   1. He receives 30,000 miles after spending $1,000 in three months.
   2. He receives 1,000 miles from his spend at a minimum of one point per dollar.
   3. She receives 30,000 miles after spending $1,000 in three months.
   4. She receives 1,000 miles from her spend at a minimum of one point per dollar.

Explanation: A one-way domestic AA Economy Saver costs 12,500. Our family of four can return home for 50,000 AAdvantage miles. They’ve already got 12,000 miles leftover from their trip over, meaning they’ll have 24,000 miles to spare when they get home.
Out of Pocket Cost: Taxes

The family can use those extra Ultimate Rewards points to cover some of their road expenses with statement credits; and don’t forget they’ll get free breakfast and free Internet at the Hilton properties with the gold status that comes as a part of the Citi Hilton Reserve card.