Banff National Park is located in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains containing many glaciers, ice fields and alpine landscapes. The best time to visit Banff National Park is between June to September for hiking. The closest airport to Banff National Park is Calgary International Airport (YYC).
Award booking flights to Calgary airport
If you book in advance, Alaska Mileage Plan can be used to book premium cabin awards from the US to Calgary (see image below).
Calgary airport car rental
You can check on Kayak or other car rental websites to find good deals on YYC airport car rentals. It takes around an hour of driving to reach the Banff National Park from the Calgary airport.
Banff Accommodation
There are no hotel chains that offer accommodations inside the Banff National Park that can be booked with points. The famous Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise hotel is very expensive, but if you are paying for it, I recommend booking with Amex Platinum Fine Hotels + Resorts for added benefits.
I recommend checking on Booking.com and Airbnb since it is difficult to find well rated accommodations that are priced less than $200 per night.
Banff National Park Lakes & Hikes
We explored the following large lakes during our trip to Banff National Park.
Alltrails has several popular hikes listed in Banff National Park and I recommend doing a few of them to enjoy the beautiful park.
List of Banff Activities
Banff has many activities that can be chosen based on your interests.
Banff National Park Scenery
Conclusion
More than 4 million people visit Banff National Park every year and while the scenery is beautiful, I find it very congested and expensive even during the shoulder months. I always find myself returning to Torres Del Paine National Park, which receives just over 300,000 visitors each year (review). The lakes in Torres Del Paine are much bigger and have different colors during the day.