Questions and Answers

Hello all! I want to start by acknowledging that this post is a very broad-based question, but I will do my best to convey my situation and interests for an upcoming vacation I am trying to plan for my girlfriend and I. I am fairly new to this game, but have slowly been trying to accumulate points and miles to have a fun vacation after I receive my Master’s degree in May. I will try to outline our current combined points status, and any particular desires that we may have for a vacation.

Airline Miles:

160,000 AA Miles
240,000 Delta Miles (+$500 in vouchers)
$300 United Voucher

Hotel Points:

97,000 IHG Points (+1 Free Night)
20,000 Hilton Points

Potential Vacation Sites (?):

South Asia
Europe
Hawaii
Caribbean

Unfortunately because I just started this game, I do not have any credits cards yet that allow for flexible point transfers. It is also clear that I am lacking in the hotel points collecting in regards to getting some free stays. Now is where I am hoping to get some advice from those who have experience vacationing to some of these places or ideas for helping us get to these places and maximizing our points. We really don’t have many concrete desires, but would really like: 1) A stay for between 8-12 days, 2) Business class flights for any long-hauls, 3) A tropical beach stop at some point. I’m open for all suggestions, including any recommended credit cards to quickly apply for to help reduce the costs of the vacation. We also plan on staying at AirBnB’s for some of the nights to reduce cost as well. Again, I realize the broadness of this topic, but am looking for someone who might have a fabulous idea for a great vacation! Thanks!

[USER=1388]@Jacob[/USER] — Welcome!

South Asia is a GREAT option! You should be able to use your AA miles in one direction, and Delta in another, and as long as you avoid expensive countries like Singapore your budget will go further in terms of hotels and such.

You definitely have time to rack up some hotel points before the trip though. Maybe let us know your top few destinations, and we can walk you through some of the best points hotels options?

Thanks for the help, Tiffany!

Some of the places we had interest in are Bali, Thailand, and Malaysia. Any places in particular you think would get some good value out of our IHG points and free night? Or any cards worth applying for that would give access to any fantastic hotels/resorts? Be sure to let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks again!

Hmm, I like all of those places! I’m not an expert with IHG though, so maybe someone else can chime in with some recommendations.

What you really have to do is to plan your vacation around the available ihg point breaks (5000 points per stay). I believe they will release ihg point breaks for May – July on 26 April (please double check this). You could check what was released historically for May by IHG and you may find they are the usual suspects for May/June/July. All my travel revolves around the ihg point breaks. For Jan they’ve released some nice hotel in Bali but that was sold out in seconds and I’ve ended up for a month in Panama and Guatemala instead, which worked quite nicely with my 2 day BA Gold tier-point run….

Tip: don’t fly long haul out of London. The passenger tax will eat up $300 easily. Instead, fly from Europe long haul via London. When transiting the passenger duty won’t apply.

Enjoy.

[USER=7]@Tiffany[/USER]

Isn’t May the start of the rainy season in Thailand and Malaysia if memory serves me?

Bali seams a better option for late May/early June