Award Trip Report by Terrence
My wife and I had an amazing time on our three-week around-the-world honeymoon where we visited Australia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Dubai. This trip was made possible by the tips and tricks I’ve learned through obsessively researching and using all the points and miles that have come as a result.
Since Australia was our #1 destination, I booked the direct flight on United when availability was loaded (330 days prior to departure). I began to explore more exotic routings via Asia, but when my wife realized that I was thinking about purposefully adding connections, she put her foot down and squashed that plan. In the end, we stuck with United and the service, food and overall experience more than exceeded our expectations.
We spent three nights in Sydney, broken up by our road trip to the Blue Mountains. We really liked Sydney and even pictured ourselves moving there in the future. Our flights to the Maldives were booked on Singapore Airlines in business class using United miles. The flights were very good, but I regretted not splurging for SQ Suites class using KrisFlyer miles.
In the Maldives, I used 200,000 Hilton points to book the standard beach villa at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, and upgraded to a water villa for three nights and a superior water villa for two nights. Both villas were extremely spacious and featured breathtaking views. The Conrad was a popular destination for other points-minded folks, and the daily happy hour was a perfect time to meet and discuss the latest news and strategies.
We had a short but wonderful three-day stopover in Sri Lanka which was spent entirely in Galle, and would like to see more of the country.
While I’m usually sad to return home, our flights on Emirates were terrific and included the First Class Terminal in Dubai, and an unnecessary but fun shower aboard the A380.
Award Trip Report Details:
FFP miles spent:
250,000
Hotel points spent:
515,000
Approximate fees:
$260
Airline(s) / Routing:
SFO-SYD [UA], BNE-SIN-MLE [SQ], CMB-DXB-LHR-SFO [EK, BA]
How booked:
Directly through airline websites
Type of award(s):
First class and business class
Hotel(s):
Hilton Sydney, Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, Hilton Cairns, Hilton Brisbane, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, Amangalla
Month/year of trip:
November 2013
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