Missouri was added to America’s homeland when Thomas Jefferson brokered the deal to buy the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803, which basically doubled the size of America. To always remember the importance of this purchase, and how it transformed America, St. Louis is also referred to as “The Gateway to the West.” The idyllic Gateway Arch is the symbol of St. Louis as a result.
How to Get to Missouri
For a measly $69 annual fee you can pick up The Frontier Airlines World MasterCard®. Frontier is flexible on how you use the EarlyReturns miles, and allows for a multi-destination ticket. These must be booked by calling their customer service line, but they will waive the “over the phone” ticket booking fee. It would be ridiculous if they tried to charge it, because their website doesn’t even have the functionality of booking one of those.
If you want to learn more about multi-destination tickets, you can read about them in an old blog post. Basically it allows you to fly into one airport, and out of another. This would be great if you wanted to visit both Kansas City and St. Louis in one trip.
Booking a trip within the USA is 20,000 EarlyReturns miles for the primary cardholder. However they have a bizarre benefit for any companions who are flying on the same itinerary which discounts the award ticket to 15,000 for the companion. This means that your trip for two will only take 35,000 Early Returns miles for you to see both destinations. The The Frontier Airlines World MasterCard® easily provides enough miles for both of the tickets.
You’re basically looking at the following for costs:
- $69 Annual Fee (not waived)
- $10 in Taxes and Fees
- Total: $79 for two roundtrip flights
Where to Stay in St. Louis & Kansas City
The Starwood Preferred Guest program has incredible hotels across the nation. They’ve got a few sweet ones in both KC & STL, so you can plan on using your Starpoints. To get enough points for these hotels you’ll need to pick up the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express.
Sheraton St. Louis Westport Chalet Hotel (Photo courtesy of their website)
Ok, I recognize that neither of these hotels are on the waterfront directly below the Gateway Arch, but I don’t want to recommend that you use your entire bonus from the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card for one night either. Our objective is to always show you how to stretch the miles further than any other blog out there.
St. Louis
- Sheraton Westport Chalet Hotel St. Louis Category 2 (3000-4000 points per night)
- Sheraton Westport Plaza Hotel St. Louis Category 2 (3000-4000 points per night)
Four Points by Sheraton Kansas City-Sports Complex (Photo Courtesy of Hotels.com)
This hotel in KC would be awesome for anyone who wants to hit up a Royals or Chiefs game. You can easily walk to the stadium, which is rather convenient if the game goes into extra innings. Judd will be stoked about his next trip to KC, so he can visit Arrowhead stadium and watch his Chiefs beat up on someone.
Kansas City
- Four Points by Sheraton Kansas City – Sports Complex Category 2 (3000-4000 points per night)
You should be able to spend quite a few nights at these hotels with the bonus from the Starwood Preferred Guest
Total hotel cost:
- St. Louis $0
- Kansas City $0
Baseball in KC and St. Louis
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Royals fan or an Athletics fan, visiting Major League sports is fun wherever you go. The nice thing about baseball is that seats can be found cheap from a scalper outside the door. With 100+ games a year you should be able to take the whole family out to the ballgame (You just might have sneak in the snacks because you won’t be able to afford them).
Busch Stadium, as seen during the park’s opening year in 2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Bush stadium is impressive, and the location of the stadium is better. Situated in downtown St. Louis, you’ll be able to enjoy the game, and you might even catch a glimpse of the Gateway Arch from your seats (because you’re probably in the nosebleed seats anyway.)
Sing the Blues
Dun, Dun, Dun. I was born under a bad sign. Dun. Dun. Dun.
For some reason St. Louis reminds me of singing the blues. Stop in at a bar and sing one out.
Sweet BBQ
Loosen your belt and stretch your stomach for this trip. Although you’ll probably be on the move seeing all kinds of things, you need to ensure that you spend enough time at the BBQ restaurants that abound.
Bust out the variety of sauces and give them all a shot. Many restaurants have their own “secret recipe” and I encourage you to try them all. In all honesty it’s been a few years since I’ve been there, so I can’t give you personal recommendations, but I encourage you to eat your stomach out.
Other Fun Things to Do
In St. Louis:
In Kansas City:
- For all the Mormon readers you can visit LDS History sites
- Here are 33 FREE activities in the KC area
- Coco Key Indoor Water Park Kansas City
Have you been to either Kansas City or St. Louis? What things did you love there? Share with us! Thanks for worldwanderlusting with us!
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