Fort Worth Texas on Credit Card Points!

Imagine treating your family to a wild west adventure in the heart of the Fort Worth Stockyards—without blowing your budget. With a little strategy and the right credit card points, you can cover both your flights and hotel, turning a dream Texas getaway into an almost-free reality. In this post, I’ll show you exactly how we did it so you can recreate the same memory-making trip for your own crew.

In October we had a few weeks off of school for a fall break and we headed down to Texas to enjoy the Stockyards in Fort Worth! It was the perfect quick little trip and we were able to use points and miles to cover the airplane tickets plus the hotel which made it affordable.

We were in Fort Worth for 4 nights and I'd actually recommend 2-3 nights, so like I stated above, this is a short trip. If you stay more than that look at doing things around Dallas or tack on a trip to Waco to Visit Magnolia and do all those fun things!

By using credit card points and miles we saved $4,500 making this a trip we could go on for a few days without stressing out about if it was worth doing it because it only cost $56 for five flights and four nights in a hotel for five of us!!

How to Get to Fort Worth, Texas

We recommend flying into Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). It’s a major hub with tons of flight options on airlines like Delta, American, United, Southwest, and more—making it easy to find times and routes that work for busy families. From DFW, it’s typically a 25–35 minute drive to the Fort Worth Stockyards, depending on traffic.

For our trip, we booked a nonstop flight on Delta from Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport (MSP). We used our Delta Skymiles to do this. You could also transfer your miles from American Express, but that will cost you a small fee. We were able to get 15% off our award flights because we hold the Delta Skymiles cards, which will also get you free checked luggage. If you fly Delta we recommend having one of these just for those two reasons. Jason holds the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card and I hold the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card. I would start with the gold card. I don't think the platinum is worth the higher annual fee.

Another options would be to save big using Virgin Atlantic to book flight tickets, which is actually Delta planes but sometimes a lot less. Virgin is a partner of Delta, and when there’s a transfer bonus (like 30%), you can transfer flexible points from a card like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card to Virgin and then use the Virgin Atlantic portal to book a Delta flight—often for fewer points than Delta itself. Not every Delta flight is available to book this way, so it doesn’t always work, but when it does, it’s an awesome sweet spot and we prefer using our stash of Capital One miles over dipping into our Delta balance.

If that feels a little too advanced for where you’re at right now, no worries. A great starter option is grabbing a Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card so you can earn miles toward free flights and enjoy perks like a free checked bag. Since Delta only partners with American Express Membership Rewards, the American Express® Gold Card is another strong choice if you want flexible points that can be transferred to Delta.

Prefer Southwest? That’s another fantastic option into DFW or Dallas Love Field (DAL). Consider one of the Southwest credit cards and work toward the famous Companion Pass, which lets a friend or family member fly with you for only the cost of taxes and fees—perfect for family trips to the Stockyards.

Rental Car

The hotel is a 45-60 minute drive depending on traffic. We rented a car onsite, but honestly you could totally uber there and back if you'd like. We parked our rental and hardly used it until it was time to drive back. Now, if you are looking to explore the area and do different things in Dallas I would recommend renting a car. If you have the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card booking a car rental through the portal is a perfect way to use up your yearly $300 credit. l

Car rentals are hard to cover with points unless you book directly in a credit card travel portal.

Another option is to reimburse yourself for the car rental by charging it to your Capital One Rewards Credit Card and reimbursing yourself for the charge with miles. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a great option if you want to do this!

Where we Stayed

Hyatt Place Fort Worth Historic Stockyards

We hit the jackpot for hotel and location. This is the BEST option hands down. It's right in the Stockyards and a prime location. You think of Hyatt Place being affordable. This one is expensive! Using our points for this stay saved us about $2,300 for our 3 nights. Wild right?

We booked two queen room that had a pull out couch. It was basic, but fairly large, clean and just what we needed. We contemplated booking two rooms, but decided to save our points and do just one room.

They have a cute pool behind the hotel. It's nothing spectacular but we went out there one afternoon and they have a few couches and loungers. We had so much fun just relaxing there. I wish we would have done that the afternoon before too!

Hyatt Regency DFW

We had a super early flight back to Minnesota, so we checked out of the Hyatt Place in the Stockyards and stayed our last night at the Hyatt Regency DFW. This was the best decision! We were able to do a 4 pm checkout at the Hyatt Place due to my Globalist status with Hyatt. So nice.

The Hyatt Regency was clean and just what we needed. I will say, we had to book a King room, plus a two queen room because they do not have a pull out coach and you can not get a rollaway in the two queen room due to fire safety rules. Quite the bummer.

The hotel is connected to the terminal. It is located adjacent to Terminal C. Jason returned our rental then had them drop him off at terminal C in the shuttle and it's a HIKE he said, so use that at your own risk.

The morning of our flight we took their shuttle to the terminal we needed and it was fast and efficient.

We did not get to enjoy breakfast in the morning due to the time of our flight, but I would have received a complimentary breakfast in their restaurant with my Globalist status. They also have a grab and go coffee shop.

After we checked in we did get to have supper in their restaurant, ACES Lobby Bar, which is so good. Actually surprisingly good, I have low hopes dining at hotels a lot of the time and this ranked right up there with one of our favorite meals of the trip! When we checked in we got a coupon for 50% off our meals, plus I charged it to our room and used my World of Hyatt Credit Card meaning I got 2X points on my charge, plus it activated my $50 Hyatt credit I get two times per year making that meal almost free.

This property is an Award Category 3 meaning it will run you 9,000 – 15,000 points per night. We paid 12,000 points per room and they each cost $350 so we thought it was a great value.

With that being said there is a Hyatt Place DFW which we drove right past coming into the airport. I think this would have served our needs as it also has a shuttle. We panicked booked the Hyatt Regency a night before we left because of the traffic in Dallas making the trip to the airport at an early hour seem like a bad idea. If we would have researched further I think we would have booked the Hyatt Place DFW since we would have only needed one room and it an Award Category 2 meaning it would only take 6,500 – 9,500 points per night.

Dining in Fort Worth Stockyard

The options are endless for dining here! We love how walkable this area is and cute. We felt totally safe wandering around shopping, eating and doing all the activities.

Each morning we grabbed the continental breakfast at the Hyatt Place. It was an average continental breakfast. Nothing to write home about, but free and easy to get food in your family's bellies. There are fresh baked cookies available for purchase at the bar and they are SO GOOD. Like oddly good and the size of your head. The perfect late night sweet treat when you get back to your room.

We did go to to The Biscuit Bar, which was a one block walk from our hotel and it was delicious! Kinzee got the Steak & Egg and Rylin got the Biscuit French Toast. Those were the two winners.

I grabbed coffee at Avoca Coffee Roasters which is right by the hotel. It was delicious! I highly recommend their Bourbon Latte. I tried it both hot and iced for research purposes of course. Both epic. The kids also enjoyed their hot chocolate. Grab a coffee and wander over to the area in front of the Livestock Exchange building and sit and enjoy or play cornhole like we did!

The first night we grabbed a late dinner at Tannahill's Tavern and Music Hall. It was so good! If I was on an adults trip I would recommend checking out their events calendar. They have some great musicians that come in. The restaurant is on the left side when you walk in and then they have a lounge area for music on the right side. Such a cool vibe.

Of course, knowing us, we had to find the best ice cream which is right across from Tannahill's at a place called Melt Ice Cream. If you need a sweet treat this is your place.

We also enjoyed a dinner at Riscky's Bar-B-Q and I would highly recommend it. We sat out on the patio and it was fun to watch everyone walking by. Jason and Koert enjoyed the Beef Ribs! Everything was delicious.

Activities & Things to Do – Fort Worth Stockyard

The main reason we went to visit the Stockyards was to go to the rodeos they have. Our family really enjoys going to rodeos so we thought it was a fun way to do this, plus the tickets were the cheapest I could find. We created the trip around the best deal on tickets!

The rodeos are held in the Cowtown Coliseum which is about a block and a half away from the Hyatt Place. We took in bull riding on Thursday night and a rodeo on Friday night. I will say we enjoyed the rodeo on Friday night more than the bull riding and we usually love bull riding just a heads up. The tickets were super reasonable. You can buy tickets and find more information out here.

One of the main draws to the Stockyard is the Longhorn Drive with the Fort Worth Herd each day at 11:30 am and 4 pm. It goes right down the road in front of the hotel and is so cool to watch. I will say the street fills up so if you want to get a good view make sure you head there 15-20 minutes early.

We also did “The Herd Experience” which takes place behind the Livestock Exchange Building. It's total free and I found it super interesting. The program has Drovers explain the history of the Fort Worth Stockyards, go over what Drovers used to do etc. It takes place Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1:30 to 2:30 pm and I highly recommend it.

Another thing we did was go horseback riding through the Stockyard Stables. I'm going to be honest and say we were less than impressed and I figured this going in, but Koert really wanted to do it, so we booked it. We were comparing it to horseback riding in the Black Hills out in nature. This you stay in the city obviously and it just wasn't worth the money in my opinion or the kid's opinion.

Another thing we did was the Cowtown Cattlepen Maze which was fun, but expensive of course. I would have sent the kids in and let them do it alone saving a few dollars because they are old enough. It lasted about 10 minutes maybe 15. Once again fun, but short. I guess there is a discount if you mention the code word “Cowtown” so do that, we did not know that.

Rylin begged to ride the mechanical bull by the maze so we let her do that. It was $12 and you just ride it until you fall off aka like a minute. She loved it, I cringed at the price, but hey on vacation sometimes you just do the things when you flights and hotel is almost free!

One thing we did not do, but I really wanted to was the Historic Guided Walking Tours that are available each day at multiple times. My children were not interested! I think this would have been so interesting. There is also a Stockyard Ghost Tour that I would have booked if it was an adult trip or I had older children!

Shopping

There is SO MUCH shopping in the stockyards! Everywhere you turn there's another western store or gift shop. We had a lot of fun wandering through everything. In fact, my friend told me to bring minimal clothes and just buy everything you want to wear for the rodeo and days you are there. So, obviously that's what I did!

Our first stop was a shop called Cavenders. This is a little bit of a walk and on the outskirts of the Stockyards, but it also was the best store in my opinion. It's bigger and has great selection for kids, women's and men's. I think we all got a few shirts there plus I bought my first pair of cowboy boots that I promptly wore the rest of the time we were there. I also found their prices very reasonable.

Right next to the hotel there is a building called the Stockyards Station and it is packed with stores and restaurants. We wandered through there a few times just browsing with the kids.

Credit Cards to Open to Travel for Almost Free!

Wondering how I covered our hotel rooms for FREE? Or how to cover your flights for almost free? Here are the cards I would open.

Points for Hyatt Place Fort Worth Stockyards

If you do not have our FAVE beginner card make sure you have that first!

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Learn How to Apply

Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.  

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is our #1 card and the perfect card for beginners just getting started on their points-and-miles journey. Check out our full review of this card!

If you open this card you'd have enough to cover at least four nights which is more than enough for a long weekend visiting the Fort Worth Stockyards!

Already have that card? I would recommend the Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card. Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Another option is Ink Business Cash® Credit Card which currently has an offer of 35,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional 40,000 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening. This card is marketed as a cash-back card, but you’ll actually earn Ultimate Rewards® points. Pair it with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to open up the transfer partners. Wondering if you qualify for a business card we have an entire post about it!

These are flexible points that can be transferred from Chase to Hyatt and that makes them so valuable. Another option would be to open up a The World of Hyatt Credit Card with a standard welcome offer of 60,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. This offer can vary.

Learn how to Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards in to Hyatt in this article!

The Wrap Up

We had a wonderful stay at Hyatt Place Fort Worth Stockyards and it's perfect for families, a couples trip or a girls trip. It's hard to beat the easy access and walkability to restaurants, shopping and activities.