Questions and Answers

Hello,

We have been doing a lot of research but haven’t figured out the best way to maximize the points and mileages we saved over the past 1.5 year for the purpose of the honeymoon. Please kindly help, please!

I will summarize a few things we are looking for and avoid, and followed by a summary of the points/mileages we have accumulated thus far.

[B][U]Requirements[/U][/B]:
– Duration: 14-17 days
– Ideally:around Feb 10- 26; if not anytime Mar-July
– Departure: New York
– Destination:
1) Places with low risk of zika.
2) two-three cities/countries max, with one of the location with high-end beach resort
3) a good balance of sightseeing, culture/city experience + resort/beach + nature
4) farther away from New York
5) We looked into Bora Bora/hawaii/Australia/New Zealand; or South Africa/Mauritius. Mediterranean/middle east could be a stop over on the way to the southern hemisphere
6) We would like to try at least one/two of our outbound flights with “First Class” on A380 with Emirate or Eithad. We would prefer to be on business for other long haul flights. I looked into some of the round the world options but we do not quite understand how it works especially with limited options in the current market.
7) We also looked into buying business class and use mileage to upgrade for both seats but couldn’t find out how to 100% guarantee it will work after i purchase the business tickets

Summary of our reward points and mileages:

[U]Hotel:[/U]
[B]SPG (Platinum): [/B]
-400K Starpoints
-Reached 75 nights in 2016
– Have 1 free night in 2017 (with SPG50)
[B]Hyatt (Diamond till end of Feb):[/B]
-48000 points

IHG([B]Spire)[/B]
200K
One free night in any IHG in 2017

[U]Airline:[/U]
[B]AAadvantage(platinum):[/B]
95K
[B]Asia Mile;[/B]
46K([B]MaroPolo Green- Myself)[/B]
20K(my husband)

[U]Credit Card:[/U]
[B]Citi Prestige [/B]
-79,677

[B]Chase[/B]
Sapphire Reserve:
112,600
120,000(my husband)
Sapphire Prefered
63,000

[B]Amex[/B]
Premier Gold:
50K

SPG amex card:
33k

[B]Barclays Arrivals Plus:[/B]
56000

Thank you so much in advance !!

hi [USER=2648]@KatieSnow[/USER], welcome. You have points in quite a few programs but the 400,000 SPG points should be a huge help, either as direct transfers or via points and flights redemptions through Marriott. Have you considered maybe a Maldives and Asia itinerary? That would meet your specs for a high end beach experience with plenty of cultural and educational opportunities in Asia. You can certainly research and do this yourself but if you are talking about 2017 I would suggest looking at an award booking service (OMAAT has their own called PointsPros although there are plenty of others). Find one that works well for you and can customize an itinerary for you. Good luck, and congratulations!