Name:
Davin Pokoik

FFP miles spent: 120,000

Hotel points spent: None

Approximate fees: $200

Airline(s) / Routing: China Airlines / New York (JFK) — Anchorage — Taipei — Hong Kong

How booked:
Delta award reservations call center

Type of award(s):
Off-peak biz award ticket

Hotel(s):
Peninsula Hong Kong

Month/year of trip:
April 2008

Spring Vacation to Asia

I had about 500,000 Delta SkyMiles that I had earned by flying about 50,000 miles each year and I had earned about another 50,000 miles through the Delta SkyMiles Platinum credit card.

It took me about five years at the time to build up miles on Delta Air Lines from scratch and another one and a half years to earn enough miles for the trip to Hong Kong as an award ticket.

I booked the award ticket more than six months prior to the trip and availability was limited using the minimum amount of miles of 120,000 for a business roundtrip award ticket through all the SkyTeam partners.

In the future, to have more options, and a more direct route, I would book my award ticket closer to a year in advance. My wife and I took this trip to Asia to take a 12-day cruise on Crystal Cruises from Hong Kong to Singapore.

We loved Asia and our favorite highlight was being in Saigon, Vietnam and seeing the Cholon market and seeing the city’s culture.