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Answers (4)

Emirates 1st class or Al Maha

Emirates 1st class or Al Maha

  1. Anonymous Guest

    Hi Lucky,
    As someone who has experienced both of these products I was wondering what your thoughts are on two possible redemption options. I am planning a trip to Dubai, the Maldives, and London which we will be traveling to via an Alaska reward redemption that goes from NYC-Stops at Dubai-Pay for flight to Maldives – goes on towards London.

    I currently have 125k Alaska Miles (have already churned the card recently so can’t get much more besides maybe manufacturing spend) and 150k SPG points which makes traveling 1st class Emirates feasible for my girlfriend and I.

    The option I am weighing is – transfer 60k SPG points to Alaska so we can book first class tickets. Or book two nights at Al Maha for 78k points. Which would you say is the better experience?

    Emirates has a better “value” but its over 12 hr and 7 hr flights versus two nights at a hotel. At the same time we are staying at the Park Hyatt in the Maldives so the relaxation of Al Maha may be a duplication of that part of the trip albeit in a different setting.

    For what is worth we have flown long haul flights before in economy to Sydney and have never even flown business class. I am also going to business school in the fall so I won’t be replenishing my SPG points with work travel/I already have the personal and business Amex.

  2. Anonymous Guest

    Oh man, that’s like an impossible choice.

    Ben would probably say the Emirates redemption is a no-brainer option, as you’d get two showers. I will say that Al Maha is the best place I’ve ever been, and I now measure all my SPG points in increments of “stays at Al Maha.”

    But looking at your points…don’t you have enough to do both?

  3. dave15446 New Member

    It is something I am considering although it would completely exhaust my SPG points with no prospect of refreshing them. It wouldn’t leave me any left over for the 4-5 nights we are planning on being in London for – although none of the SPG hotels in London are particularly interesting to me so thats not end of the world. I was also hoping to have 48k or so leftover after this trip so we could do a week long trip again with the 5 nights for 4 at a category five.

    Is the Al Maha that amazing that its worth the points? Having trouble stomaching that outlay for only two nights when I could get almost 10 in most major cities at category five.

  4. Anonymous Guest

    [USER=1421]@dave15446[/USER] — Well, that’s a tough call, so it really depends on what you value most. [B]I[/B] loved Al Maha, but I also stay at a lot of hotels, so that changes the equation. If it sounds outrageous to you, it probably isn’t worth it.

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