If you are looking for a budget-friendly, fun beach vacation for your family, look no further than Oceanside, California. It is much more inexpensive than San Diego, Newport Beach, and Huntington Beach and just as much fun! Complete with miles of beach access, an occasional seal or dolphin, and a pier, it has fun for the whole family. I recently completed a trip with my sister and stepmother and we had a great time. Here’s how to visit Oceanside, California on Points/Miles.

 

 

Flights

It is easy to fly into San Diego (SAN) or Orange County (SNA), rent a car, and drive to Oceanside. Just don’t get the two airports confused like I did because the acronyms are so similar. I told my sister, who drove over from Arizona that I was flying into SNA. She got there before I landed and couldn’t figure out where I was. Turned out that I was at SAN (60 miles away) – oops!

You can definitely get flights on United and Southwest Airlines to both airports, though so the bonus on  Chase Sapphire Preferred Card can get you a few flights.

 

 

Let’s check out flights on Southwest to San Diego now.

 

 

There are flights on many airlines that you can use to get to this area. It is not hard, nor expensive to fly with points and miles here.

 

 

Lodging

 

Vacasa Vacation Rentals

We happened to stay at the North Coast Village during our stay. This is a privately owned collection of Airbnb and VRBO rentals along with units rented out through property management companies.  The nice thing is that several of them are Vacasa Vacation Rentals too. That means that if you have the Citi Premier Card or a Capital One Credit Card, you could use those points/miles to book a stay there. We were steps from the beach and the property has a nice pool, tennis court, and outdoor grills

 

 

Here are a couple of Vacasa Vacation Rentals you could book in Oceanside. Remember that a one-bedroom will only cost 15K Wyndham points and they transfer from Citi or Capital One at 1:1  so you would only use 15K/points a night to stay in one of these places. Watch this video on how to book a Vacasa Rental. The Citi Premier Card and the Capital One Venture X Card are great cards to get if you’d like to book a Vacasa Vacation Rental.

 

 

Hotels

Prefer to stay in a hotel? There are several choices. You can use those same Citi Premier and Capital One points/miles and transfer to Choice Hotels and stay here:

 

 

If you have Marriott Bonvoy points, you could stay at the SpringHill Suites San Diego Oceanside/Downtown.  Remember that Marriott award stays let you book for four nights and the fifth night is free as shown in this example:

 

 

Another great choice is a stay at the Courtyard San Diego Oceanside.  For a mere 22K Bonvoy Rewards/night you can book a stay in Oceanside, Ca here. 88K for 5 nights since the fifth night is free! Marriott award stays may fluctuate as they have gone to dynamic pricing.

 

 

A great Hyatt option is The Seabird Resort. This resort is right on the beach, new, boutique style, and super cute! Right next door is their sister resort, Mission Pacific Hotel. Both of these hotels are category 5 which means they go for 17K, 20K, or 23K points a night.

 

 

There is a ton to do in Oceanside. Families played beach games, bicycled, surfed, and just enjoyed the nice weather. It is a definite family destination.

 

 

Bottom Line

If you are looking for fun in the sun and a budget-friendly family beach vacation, consider Oceanside, California. Bring your boogie boards, Spike Ball, and plenty of sunscreen and enjoy Oceanside, California on Points/Miles.