This fall we redeemed Marriott points to stay at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii. It was my husband’s first ever trip to Hawaii and I wanted to make it extra special for him. We originally booked the King Deluxe Room with resort view for 240,000 Marriott points for five nights. Since this is a Category 7 property the standard rooms start at 60,000 points per night. However, if you book five nights (like we did) then the fifth night is free!

The Room

Thanks to our Platinum Premier Elite status the front desk agent upgraded us at check-in to an Ocean Front Suite. This room featured one king bed and one sofa bed on the first floor facing the ocean. It also included a living room along with a dining room table and two separate patio seating areas each with its own sliding glass doors. Perfectly located with only a short walk to the pool area. The front desk agent asked if we minded the handicap accessible bathroom before upgrading us. That didn’t bother us at all. From what we could tell the only difference was a shower curtain instead of glass shower doors.

Since we checked-in late at night I only have photos after turn down service in the evening, but I did take a brief video walking through the suite during the daylight.

The view from our Ocean Front Suite patio

Sean enjoying the hammock just outside our suite

The Award Redemption

It was an absolutely fabulous room that more than suited our needs. Curious about the cash rate for this suite, I looked up the dates for our stay in the Ocean Front Suite and the grand total was $9,673.11 for our room. That means we got about 4 cents per point in value with our redemption thanks to that upgrade! We only paid $182.30 total cash out of pocket to cover the resort fees.

The Perks

Additionally, we took advantage of another Marriott Platinum Premier Elite status benefit and ate at the giant breakfast buffet every morning for free. Without this complimentary perk, the breakfast buffet usually costs $100 for two people per day. It’s located in The Terrace restaurant with gorgeous views overlooking the pools. Lawrence, who is the restaurant manager, greeted us by name every morning and helped plan our daily activities. He even provided us with complimentary upgraded coffee options which normally are additional charges.

The view from our breakfast table one morning.

The food selection rotates every morning. However, a few staples remain consistent like the items displayed below along with a made-to-order omelette station.

The Service

Of course, the service at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua completely blew our minds as well. Every single person we met was so genuinely kind, helpful, and concerned if we were enjoying ourselves. In addition to Lawrence, both Amy and William were excellent servers who really went the extra mile. Tony ensured our chairs and towels were situated perfectly by the pool. Then Craig saw us attempting a selfie in front of the staple Ritz-Carlton entryway floral arrangement one evening. He took it upon himself to snap multiple photos from different angles so we had plenty of options.

The Bottom Line

We adored the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua and the service even more. It provided such a relaxing, yet fun environment and we definitely plan on returning again one day. In my opinion, the only negative aspect of the property is that the walk to the beach is quite lengthy and the beach itself is rather small with rough waves. However, Kapalua Bay Beach is a short drive away and a great place to snorkel. We got up close and personal with wild sea turtles there! If you want to book this property and are low on Marriott points, simply transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio instantly to top off your Marriott account.

You can view more photos of our activities during this trip on our Instagram account.

The post 5 Nights at The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua for only $182 appeared first on Seize the Globe.

Turkish Airlines offers incredible award value on North American flight redemptions. It’s a great strategy for flying on Star Alliance airlines like United or Air Canada at a cheaper cost. You may be thinking to yourself, “That’s great, but I never fly Turkish Airlines and I certainly don’t have any of their miles.” A few quick notes on that:

• We collectively had 40,000 Turkish miles in our Miles & Smiles accounts without ever once flying on a Turkish Airlines plane.
• We had those miles because Turkish Airlines offered status matching when the Star Alliance Gold loophole through Aegean Airlines closed.
• Open a frequent flyer account with as many airlines as you can. They’re free!
• Use the website wheretocredit.com to find the highest mileage accrual rate for your flights.
• Turkish Airlines is a Citi ThankYou Points transfer partner.

Why isn’t everybody doing it?

The only catch is that you must go to a physical Turkish Airlines office to redeem miles for partner awards. This places a pretty decent barrier to entry into the Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles program for people living in the US who want to redeem for non-Turkish flights. Additionally, the miles expire three years after accrual and there is no method to extend them.

That’s exactly why we both had expiring miles in our Miles and Smiles accounts. There is no Turkish Airlines office in Dallas and the closest is located in Houston. Recently, we both traveled to Chicago for work obligations. Before departing ORD airport we visited the Turkish Airlines ticket counter in Terminal 5 to redeem miles for a last minute flight.

Turkish Airlines Partner Award Booking Process    

When I’m not traveling, I’m fortunate that I work remotely. My husband travels weekly for his job. So I impulsively decided to use my expiring Turkish miles to return to Chicago with him again. However, a round-trip economy ticket was $674 or 25,000 miles with United. Whereas I could redeem 15,000 Turkish miles for the exact same flights.

Cash price for the United flights I wanted fly last minute with my husband

I first searched for award availability on United.com and wrote down the specific flight numbers I wanted to book. I gave the ticketing agent the flight numbers, my Turkish frequent flyer number, and ID.

United wanted 25,000 miles for the same exact flights. You can transfer Chase points to United 1:1.

He went into the back office to search for availability and asked us to take a seat while we wait. After about 15 minutes he reappeared and called us to the counter. He found availability on the flights I requested. Then gave me a print out that included the flight details, reservation number, and taxes/fees due.

My husband’s account contained enough miles for a roundtrip business class ticket within North America. My account was short 2K miles for a roundtrip economy ticket. Since you must physically appear at a Turkish ticketing office to redeem, we thought it made sense to empty my account first because my husband travels to Chicago weekly and I do not.

What Went Wrong

We knew we could buy or transfer the remaining miles for a small fee to make the redemption. I was anticipating completing the entire transaction at the counter. However, this is where things got weird. The agent said he could not accept my credit card at the ticket counter or finish the transaction. Instead he instructed me to call 1-800-874-8875 to obtain the remaining 2K miles and pay the taxes which were $132.02.

This confused me because everything I read online heavily emphasized that you MUST book and pay for Star Alliance partner awards at a Turkish office and could NOT do it via phone or online. The agent said my reservation would still be valid for the next 72 hours in order to pay the taxes/fees. He even said, “I’m going to keep working on this to see if I can get the taxes and fees total lower.” I trusted him, thanked him, and we went through security to board our flight home to Dallas.

However, when I called the number he provided the next morning my suspicions were confirmed. After speaking to multiple agents and supervisors…sure enough it was literally impossible for them to take my credit card over the phone because the award ticket was not on Turkish. *EYE ROLL* Every person told me that I needed to return to a Turkish office to complete my transaction—and I was now in Dallas.

Fortunately, one of my fellow travel nerds (who I met in the Facebook group Award Travel 101) lives in Chicago and offered to help. On his way home from work he stopped in the Turkish Airlines office located in downtown Chicago—not ORD airport. Armed with all of my information he explained the situation and within a few minutes completed the transaction on my behalf. Moments later I received an e-mail confirmation and e-ticket. Turns out the original agent did manage to lower the fees (like he mentioned) because the booking total came to $80.86 compared to the $132.02 on my printed reservation.

In the end my round trip DFW to ORD flights cost 15,000 Turkish miles and $80.86

The Approved Solution

Luckily this story ended on a positive note and the ticketing agent did some things correctly despite the miscommunication. Customers can buy or transfer remaining necessary miles but CANNOT pay the fees over the phone. The problem could have been entirely prevented if I  transferred the remaining miles or purchased them ($30 per 1,000) online before leaving the Turkish Airlines office. Then paid the fees with my credit card at the desk. Next time we know to only attempt award ticketing when all necessary miles are in the Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles account.

My goal is to use our last expiring miles to fly Air Canada business class to Vancouver over a long weekend. Stay tuned.

Featured image courtesy of Turkish Airlines Press Room

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This post will cover two of the main premium travel loyalty rewards currencies: Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards. I’ll walk you through how I booked my award flights to Italy by leveraging these currencies and the Star Alliance network.

This isn’t my sexiest award travel redemption by any means, but when award bookings align perfectly for convenience it’s always a win. My husband travels on a weekly basis and internationally for extended periods of time. His current business trip is in Italy for 2 weeks. To be honest, I’ve been missing him quite a lot recently. Luckily, I managed to join him for only $96.55 cash out of pocket and I am writing this from Bologna. 

Instead of flying business class on a completely separate oneworld itinerary using American Airlines miles (like my previous Qatar flights), I decided to redeem for cheap economy tickets on my husband’s exact same flights. His company booked him on a paid business class fare, so the plan was for us to possibly switch seats half way through the flights anyway.

Chase Ultimate Rewards

Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to seven different airlines—which includes United that transfers at a 1:1 ratio. I found award availability on United website for a one way ticket to Milan (DFW-FRA-MXP) on Lufthansa for 30K miles. Luckily this matched my husband’s itinerary! If you’re completely unfamiliar with airline alliances, the way I could book a Lufthansa flight using United miles is because they are both members of the Star Alliance network.

Here I transferred 30,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to my United Mileage Plus account—and they posted immediately. Below is my receipt for the one way ticket from Dallas to Milan which only cost $41.50 in taxes/fees.

American Express Membership Rewards

Now, the reason why I didn’t book a round trip is because there happens to be a current targeted promotion for a 20% transfer bonus from American Express Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan which is the loyalty program for Air Canada (another Star Alliance member).

Using Aeroplan’s website, I found award availability for the return leg home on United for 30K miles and $55.05 USD in taxes/fees. Thanks to the 20% transfer bonus, this saved me 5K American Express Membership Rewards points. Unfortunately, the Lufthansa flight was not available via Aeroplan. Otherwise, I would have preferred to book the entire round trip using this promotion.

This is an example of why it’s a great strategy to earn diverse types of points and miles because it allows flexibility to take advantage of different award redemptions.  Our unwritten “rule” is that we, personally, only redeem points/miles for premium, international cabins TOGETHER. This was our first trip booking different fares and asking flight attendants to allow us to spend time together and switch seats. The Lufthansa staff on board our flight from Dallas to Frankfurt were incredibly accommodating. We’ll see how United handles it when we try the same thing on our return flight from Milan to Newark.

Lufthansa business class lie flat seat and breakfast arriving into Frankfurt thanks to Chase!

The post Using Chase and American Express Points to Fly to Italy appeared first on Seize the Globe.

This past March I took my husband on a trip to Dubai for his spring break/our anniversary. I had close to 300K American Airlines AAdvantage miles and there was a looming devaluation on the horizon thanks to the finalization of their merger with US Airways. Since we are currently paying for his MIT graduate school tuition, we really didn’t have the money to even go on spring break. He even chose to forego joining his classmates on a week long trek through Brazil due to low funds. That’s when we decided that it was time to see if we could put some points/miles to work with an award redemption.

Sean said to me, “Find the craziest destination you can and let me know how we can swing it.” So I started brainstorming and one of the first destinations that popped into my head was Dubai. Could I possibly manage to fly two people on a poor student budget in first class to Dubai and back and use points to pay for the whole thing? My first step in searching for award availability was to go to use AA.com and see what my options were.

American Airlines is a member of the oneworld alliance which includes other airlines such as:

• Air Berlin
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• LAN
• TAM
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Jordanian
• S7 Airlines
• SriLankan Airlines

For example, this means if you are based in the United States and an AAdvantage member that you can fly with any of these airlines and still earn miles that credit to your frequent flier account. You can also redeem your miles for award travel on either of those airlines. If you hold elite status with any, then you get reciprocal benefits when flying on oneworld carriers.

I found British Airways flights that connected in London Heathrow, but I wanted to avoid that because even flying on an award ticket with British Airways/through LHR racks up RIDICULOUS fees (fuel surcharges). I’m talking $1,600+…so much for a “free” flight, right?

I definitely did not want to book those because it defeated the whole purpose of my mission. Now here is what you do if you want to find other oneworld alliance award flights that may not display on AA.com. Their website only displays award flights for Air Berlin, British Airways, Qantas, Finnair, and Royal Jordanian. If you want to research other airlines then head over to the British Airways website.

Now I know I just told you to avoid British Airways for award flights due to astronomical fees, but bear with me. Their website displays other oneworld partner award availability like Qatar Airways, JAL, and Cathay Pacific. All you do is register for a free Executive Club frequent flyer account in order to access this part of the site.

Here, I found Qatar Airways flights in business class that matched our desired dates. So I called American Airlines and spoke with one of their award redemption representatives to ask how many AA miles it would cost me for two round trip first class flights. She informed me that the aircraft flying this route was the BRAND NEW A350 and that it only had two classes onboard: economy and business which still had lie-flat seats. Perfect! It would cost 67,500 miles one way per person. So 270,000 miles total plus $94.60 in taxes/fees for Boston to Dubai roundtrip with a connection in Doha. I had enough thanks to plenty of American flights, credit card sign-up bonuses, and my Citi AAdvantage Executive MasterCard!

Now, here’s what they cost for the cash buyer:

Qatar Airways Boston to Dubai

I asked her to place it on a five day complimentary hold so I could confirm the dates and times with my husband. That’s yet another thing that I love about American Airlines. Giving a complimentary five day hold is so convenient and makes the planning way less stressful (unlike Delta). Plus, if necessary, it gives you additional time to earn, transfer, or purchase any additional miles you may need for the redemption.

When it was time to book she waived the phone booking fee because the flights were not visible on AA.com. Anytime a flight is available for online booking and you reserve a flight over the phone with a booking agent they charge you an additional booking fee. Make sure you remind them of this if you find a flight through the British Airways website!

Lastly, it was time to take care of the lodging. We needed five nights in Dubai and we decided to first look into using Hilton Hhonors points for the Conrad, but we decided that we didn’t like the location of the Conrad and wanted to stay near the Dubai Marina area. That’s when I found the Sheraton Jumeirah Beach Resort and like our Le Meridien stay in Thailand we took advantage of the buy four nights and get the fifth night free promotion. For the dates we needed it was 56,000 SPG points for five nights (including the free night). It was a no brainer. Luxury resort in the perfect location right at the base of the Palm right in the Dubai Marina? Done.

So there you have it. A newlywed couple paying for MIT graduate school managed to pull off a luxury vacation on one of the top airlines in the world on a brand new A350 and enjoyed five free nights in a gorgeous Starwood resort in Dubai. That’s why I love taking advantage of points and miles!

The other special thing we loved about this trip was the fact that it was Qatar Airways’ brand new launch of the Boston to Doha route. The inaugural flight was the night before ours and despite how fresh it was the Qatar Airways employees did a fantastic job from check-in to landing. The flight blew away all expectations with multiple course mouth-watering meals, complimentary pajamas, slippers, gifts, incredible wine, and of course…the glorious full night’s rest on the lie-flat beds. Our experience was so phenomenal that we’ve already booked another business class award ticket with them for next year: Johannesburg to Boston!

Doha to Dubai in First Class

The post How I got $25,000 worth of airfare and 5 Nights in Dubai for Only $94.60 appeared first on Seize the Globe.

This is long overdue, but I figure better late than never. We traveled to Thailand a full year ago as a honeymoon celebration and the reminders of the memories on Facebook and printing photos for Sean’s US permanent residency interview all prompted me to write this. So here is a review of our itinerary and the resorts we enjoyed. I’ll also detail how we managed to score 5 nights in a suite at the Le Meridien Koh Samui for FREE in a follow up post (Part 2).

Why Thailand?

The first question I usually hear is, “Why did you choose to go to Thailand?” My husband suggested it since he traveled there in 2012. He originally visited Bangkok, Chang Mai, Chang Rai, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Phuket, and a few other locations. While he was there he actually joined his best friend who worked full time for many years rescuing underage girls from sex slavery. He helped with that for a short period of time and the rest of it was a holiday. Since Sean took advantage of seeing several parts of the country, I trusted him to pick the top destinations he thought would be suitable for our honeymoon. He chose Koh Phangan and Koh Samui!

First Stop: Salad Beach Resort – Koh Phangan, Thailand

Now, you’ve probably come to realize that I love my points and miles. I really don’t like spending money on travel–especially accommodations–because I know I can stay in baller 5-star hotels for next to nothing by maximizing my points strategy. So you can imagine I was skeptical of what Sean’s surprise hotel choices for the first week would be. However, after we arrived to Salad Beach Resort, checked-in, and been escorted to our PRIVATE BEACH BUNGALOW, I politely waited for Sean to tip the bellman and waited for him to leave before turning to him and saying, “Are you kidding me right now, SEAN?! Just how much did this cost? We were supposed to use POINTS for this trip! We just paid for our wedding and now your graduate school tuition is next. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?” He replied with,

“You’re not going to believe me. We get this air-conditioned, private beach bungalow and breakfast buffet every day for 5 nights all for $30 USD a night.”

Come again? I knew I married this man for a reason. Salad Beach Resort was an excellent surprise and a fantastic way to kick off our honeymoon in Thailand. We were right on the beach with a fabulous pool and massage/spa area right outside our door. Thanks to the excitement and jetlag of our trip, we were awake super early each morning to maximize our time at the buffet and the food was incredible. Not to mention we enjoyed dinner on the beach every single night and even had live entertainment with fire dancers.

Truthfully, Sean and I are terrible about remembering to take photos and even worse about posting them online. Hence why this blog is so neglected. You can’t really just write blog posts with no photos! Who would want to read that? So forgive me as I’m still getting used to the idea of taking proper photos and videos. I only have a saved Snapchat video of right outside our bungalow, and no photos of the actual room itself. However, we did manage to progress in the photo department as the trip continued.

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I recommend going to Koh Ma beach down the road for at least a day. Also, be sure to go scuba diving with Sail Rock Divers. Their information is always posted at the resort. We had a blast with them! I’m a certified PADI Open Water diver, but Sean was a complete beginner during this trip. Sail Rock Divers usually advertise at the resort and that’s how we discovered them. They charged 2,500 THB ($70 USD) for certified divers and 3,500 THB ($100 USD) for beginners to do two dives and this included breakfast, lunch, equipment, all taxis, and beginner instruction. Such a steal!

I have previously dived in Maui and the Great Barrier Reef  and found Sail Rock to be just as exciting and an instant favorite due to all the various schools of fish and the WARM water (no need for anything more than a rash guard). Sail Rock is essentially a large rock in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand and can be described similar to an ice berg as the rock is MASSIVE below the surface and teeming with sea life. Unfortunately, even though it was during whale shark season we did not see any during either of our dives.

Brad was our personal instructor and he gave me a quick tune up (because I had not dived in a few years) and taught my husband the basics for his discovery dive. He was incredibly friendly and professional. We had an absolute blast and it was a great environment for a wide range of ages as there were a few pre-teens present as well. They did not overload the boat with people which made it a very comfortable trip. Breakfast consisted of small, assorted sandwiches and lunch was mild thai food, lady fingers, and cake. Sean said the only improvement he would say is if they could provide a beer after all the dives were complete for the return boat ride.

Second Stop: Milky Bay Resort – Koh Phangan, Thailand

We only stayed here one night for a quick stay in order to have a convenient place to sleep after the Half Moon Festival (which is essentially a rave in the jungle on the lunar calendar). They greeted us with sweet mocktails upon check-in and immediately helped us rent a motorbike. We stayed in a private bungalow right next to the beach and pool area and found it to be quite lovely. It was air conditioned and included a lit candle underneath an aromatherapy oil tray–which was a nice touch.

The included breakfast featured various options and was incredibly good. I have to highlight that the staff is VERY friendly, polite, and professional. Yu, in particular, is personable and remembered our names from serving us lunch the day prior. She spoke great English, made us feel genuinely welcomed, and was willing to help with absolutely anything. The only true downside to this resort is that the beach is not that great…although if you walk far enough into the water there is a sandbar where you can sit. But back to the PARTY!

These people also knew how to cater to the Half Moon partygoers. They hosted a pre-gaming party at their bar on the beach and gave free shots of tequila at 10:00 PM just before the taxis arrived to take us. This was great because it allowed us to meet four other travelers from Wales and party with them the rest of the night.

Free Shots at Milky Bay Resort

The best part about the timing of this particular Half Moon Party was the fact that it was the beginning of the Thailand Water Festival, “Songkran” which is the celebration of their New Year. So in addition to our free Red Bull and Vodka bucket that was included in our ticket price we were also given free squirt guns to help celebrate the festival beginning at midnight. That leads me to one of my most critical tips about traveling in Thailand during this time of year.

 

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