A Week in Japan: Planning & Booking II

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Planning & Booking II
Star Alliance First Class Lounge LAX
Asiana First Class A380 LAX to Seoul (ICN)
Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul (ICN)
Asiana A330 Business Class Seoul (ICN) to Kyoto (KIX)
The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto
Cathay Pacific Business Class 777-300ER Kyoto (KIX) to Hong Kong
Conrad Hong Kong
The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines First Class 777-300ER Hong Kong to San Francisco
Hyatt Regency SFO

For a variety of reasons, we shortened our upcoming trip by a few days.  Unfortunately that means no visit to Osaka or Tokyo but we'll still get 3 days in Kyoto and 3 days in Hong Kong.  All hotels remain the same - we just mixed it up a bit with the flights.  If you're interested in reading more about the initial booking process, please read the first planning and booking segment.

We swapped our United Polaris flight for Asiana's A380 first class service from LAX.  Instead of 130,000 United miles, this set us back 110,000 United and 105,000 Aeroplan miles.  Not the greatest use of an additional 75,000 miles but we'll be more comfortable.  In Seoul, we'll visit the Asiana First Class lounge for a shower before boarding an Asiana A330 in business class to Osaka (KIX).

After three nights in Kyoto, we'll take the train back to KIX and fly Cathay Pacific business class direct to Hong Kong.  Not as fancy as Cathay first but should be plenty fine for a 4 hour flight.  I booked this flight with 40,000 (total) British Airways miles - pretty good deal considering the length of the flight and better than Alaska's award chart by 5,000 total miles.

Everything else remains the same.  I should have the first segment up in the next month or so!

A Week in Japan: Flight Milenomics

Last week, I published the Planning & Booking segment of the trip report for our upcoming trip to Japan and Hong Kong.  I included the mileage and cash cost of each flight segment and I've receive some questions around how to value the redemptions.  I figured I'd write a post around the flight valuations and can follow-up with hotels if interesting.

Valuing miles is definitely more art than science but I personally value the vast majority of airline miles between 1.5 and 2 cents a piece.  I wouldn't redeem unless I'm getting really close to 2 cents and one of the newest benchmarks is the ability to redeem Amex Membership Rewards points (with Amex Business Platinum) for 2 cents against airfare - which to me is essentially as good as cash.

Here's a recap on the miles redeemed (for 2) for our upcoming trip:

• United Polaris Business Class DEN - KIX for 130,000 United MileagePlus miles
• Cathay Pacific First Class HND - HKG for 55,000 Alaska Mileage Plan miles
• Singapore Airlines First Class HKG - SFO for 140,250 Singapore KrisFlyer miles

And the cash costs when I looked last week:

• $9,276 for United to Osaka
• $8,168 for Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong
• $16,392 for Singapore Airlines to San Francisco
• $212 for United home to Denver
• $268 in taxes/fees

In total, that is 325,250 miles redeemed for $34,048 in flights.  Note that is the retail value and if you were going to purchase the flights, you could likely do somewhat better with discounts, credit card bonus categories, and mileage earning.  Let's assume that all in, that would amount to a 20% rebate (would vary wildly based on status and fare class but I think a fair assumption) valued as cash knocking the retail value down to $26,970 (including taxes/fees).

At that rate, the blended rate for each mile redeemed would be 8.3 cents.  Still amazing.  But how much would you actually pay for these flights?  That question is totally subjective but this is our fifth anniversary and I'd consider a splurge.  The best I could do to mimic the flights (combination of United and ANA) in economy priced out at $1,323 each.  No thanks.  

I think premium economy fares would be a fair comparison as I think a lot of you would be willing to pay a premium to be a bit more comfortable for a big trip like this for a special occasion.  How do those flights price out?  $3,238 each on Orbitz.  Since this is not a premium fare, booked from an OTA, and unlikely to earn as many miles, I'll discount the rebate to 15% which brings the fare to $5,505 for 2.  

See what I'm talking about in terms of the art?  That brings the redemption per mile to 1.7 cents - right in the middle of my valuations.  Another factor to consider is that I'm mileage rich and it's not that big of a deal to burn 325,250 miles on a balance of +1,000,000 miles.  It's a different story when considering paying $3,000 - $6,500 for two tickets.  I'd much prefer to spend the miles which require a bit of time and ingenuity to acquire and save the cash for other experiences.  In addition, there are both comfort and enjoyment factors that need to be considered.  We'll arrive rested (on both ends) and enjoy our vacation and make the transition back to work a lot easier.  We also love flying - especially on these carriers and wouldn't be able to do it without miles.

Overall, this is a great set of redemptions regardless of your valuation.  

A Week in Japan: Planning & Booking

Introduction
Planning & Booking
United Polaris Business Class 787-8 San Francisco to Osaka (KIX)
Intercontinental Osaka
The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto
Park Hyatt Tokyo
Cathay Pacific First Class 777-300ER Tokyo (HND) to Hong Kong
Conrad Hong Kong
The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines First Class 777-300ER Hong Kong to San Francisco
Hyatt Regency SFO

I'm still working on a couple of segments from our latest trip to Al Maha in November of last year.   I plan to finish those trip reports in April but given that our next trip is coming up next month, I wanted to get the introductory post on the blog.

 Hotels:

At the moment, we have 10 hotel nights planned.  We fly out early to San Francisco, catch the direct United flight to Osaka and land early afternoon.  I booked the Intercontinental Osaka for 40,000 IHG points for the overnight.  We have nearly 150,000 IHG points so seemed like the right thing to do given we'll only be in town for one night and convenience is key.  The hotel is located next to the train station so will be convenient to get from the airport and to Kyoto.

In Kyoto, I booked the Ritz-Carlton for a total of 210,000 Marriott Rewards points using a combination of Marriott Rewards points and SPG points.  This was an incredible redemption given cash rates of $1,700 per night!  The property looks gorgeous and we're really excited about visiting Kyoto.

A Week in Japan: Introduction

Introduction
Planning & Booking
United Polaris Business Class 787-8 San Francisco to Osaka (KIX)
Intercontinental Osaka
The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto
Park Hyatt Tokyo
Cathay Pacific First Class 777-300ER Tokyo (HND) to Hong Kong
Conrad Hong Kong
The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines First Class 777-300ER Hong Kong to San Francisco
Hyatt Regency SFO

I'm still working on a couple of segments from our latest trip to Al Maha in November of last year.   I plan to finish those trip reports in April but given that our next trip is coming up next month, I wanted to get the introductory post on the blog.

We were in Tokyo last August and loved it.  We decided to go back on the flight home and started thinking about when and where.  We wanted to spend some additional time in Tokyo along with a visit to Kyoto.  We were able to snag flights on United's direct service from San Francisco to Osaka (closest international airport to Kyoto) and began planning from there.

I do want to give United's Polaris soft (hard product won't be installed on these planes for years) product so leaning towards keeping the direct flight.  For another 40,000 miles a piece we could fly Asiana first class through Seoul which would be more comfortable and more fun but take longer.

16,000+ miles of flying

Review: Singapore Airlines Business Class 777-300ER Singapore to Tokyo (HND)

Introduction
Introduction Part Two
Planning & Booking
Sheraton JFK Airport
Lufthansa Business Class Lounge JFK
Turkish Airlines Business Class 777-300ER New York (JFK) to Istanbul
Turkish Airlines Istanbul Arrivals Lounge
St. Regis Istanbul
Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge Istanbul
Turkish Airlines Business Class A330-300 Istanbul to Male
Transfer from Male to Conrad Maldives
Conrad Maldives Part One
Conrad Maldives Part Two
Transfer from Conrad Maldives to Male
Singapore Airlines Business Class 777-200ER Male to Singapore
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore
Singapore Airlines Business Class 777-300ER Singapore to Tokyo (HND)
Andaz Tokyo
ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo (NRT)
ANA First Class 777-300ER Tokyo (NRT) to San Francisco

Singapore Airlines SQ 632
Singapore (SIN) to Tokyo (HND)
August 25, 2016
Aircraft:  777-300ER
Seats:  11D/11F

We spent an hour or so in the Singapore Airlines Krisflyer business class lounge before heading to the gate.  The lounge was fine - big, crowded, and with lots of seating areas.  But nothing spectacular so I'm going to skip over the review.  We made our way to security (which is done at each gate in Singapore) and were in the secure boarding gate area within minutes.

It was morning rush hour as SIN and there was a lot of SQ traffic moving about the airfield.

Our ride to Tokyo

Review: Singapore Airlines Business Class 777-200ER Male to Singapore

Introduction
Introduction Part Two
Planning & Booking
Sheraton JFK Airport
Lufthansa Business Class Lounge JFK
Turkish Airlines Business Class 777-300ER New York (JFK) to Istanbul
Turkish Airlines Istanbul Arrivals Lounge
St. Regis Istanbul
Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge Istanbul
Turkish Airlines Business Class A330-300 Istanbul to Male
Transfer from Male to Conrad Maldives
Conrad Maldives Part One
Conrad Maldives Part Two
Transfer from Conrad Maldives to Male
Singapore Airlines Business Class 777-200ER Male to Singapore
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge to Singapore
Singapore Airlines Business Class 777-300ER Singapore to Tokyo (HND)
Andaz Tokyo
ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo (NRT)
ANA First Class 777-300ER Tokyo (NRT) to San Francisco

Singapore Airlines SQ 461
Male (MLE) to Singapore (SIN)
August 24, 2016
Aircraft:  777-200ER
Seats:  14A/14C

We boarded the aircraft and made our way to our seats in row 14.  While we love Singapore Airlines, these 777's are in desperate need of a renovation.  The purple color scheme is definitely a throwback to another decade.  The angled lie flight seats are fine for a daytime 4.5 hour flight but not as great for a redeye.  The flight went out with about 10 people in business class so we had plenty of room to stretch out.

Singapore Airlines 777-200ER Business Class

Planning & Booking: I'm Going Going, Back Back to Maldives, Maldives

Introduction
Introduction Part Two
Planning & Booking
Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel
Turkish Airlines 777-300ER Business Class New York (JFK) to Istanbul
Turkish Airlines Istanbul Arrivals Lounge
St. Regis Istanbul
Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge Istanbul
Turkish Airlines A330-300 Business Class Istanbul to Male
Transfer from Male to Conrad Maldives
Conrad Maldives
Transfer from Conrad Maldives to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200 Business Class Male to Singapore
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge to Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER Business Class Singapore to Tokyo (HND)
Andaz Tokyo
ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo (NRT)
ANA 777-300ER First Class Tokyo (NRT) to Houston
American Express Centurion Lounge Houston (IAH)

We are just a few weeks away from our RTW adventure to Istanbul, Maldives, Singapore, and Tokyo.  This will be our second RTW trip in the last year and we're really excited about how this trip came together.  If you're interested in reading in previous updates, check out the latest introductory post.

Lots of flying but looks worth it

Hotels:

As it stands now, we have 9 hotel nights planned.  We needed a Newark overnight and I ended up booking the Marriott Renaissance Newark Airport for 25,000 Marriott Rewards points.  This ended up being a phenomenal use of points as the the hotel is selling for $249/night which comes to $288/night with taxes.  Getting more than 1 cent per Marriott point is amazing.

Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel Rates

In Istanbul, we ended up booking the St. Regis through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts since we really need the ability to check-in early and in theory, we should be able to get in the room at noon or earlier.  The rate came to $251 USD with taxes.  That includes the early check-in, likely room upgrade, and $100 food and beverage credit.  While we could have certainly saved money by staying at the Park Hyatt ($180 USD/night) or a few other options, we wanted to checkout a new property in Istanbul and figured the rooftop Spago would be a nice way to end the day and burn our $100 credit.

St. Regis Istanbul Rooftop Views

Introduction Part Two: I'm Going Going, Back Back to Maldives, Maldives

Introduction
Introduction Part Two
Planning & Booking
Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel
Turkish Airlines 777-300ER Business Class New York (JFK) to Istanbul
Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge Istanbul
Turkish Airlines A330-300 Business Class Istanbul to Male
Transfer from Male to Conrad Maldives
Conrad Maldives
Transfer from Conrad Maldives to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200 Business Class Male to Singapore
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge to Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER Business Class Singapore to Tokyo (HND)
Andaz Tokyo
ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo (NRT)
ANA 777-300ER First Class Tokyo (NRT) to Houston
American Express Centurion Lounge Houston (IAH)

I've updated the post below based on changes made to our itinerary.  I'll post the Planning & Booking section in the next week or so.

I've eluded to our upcoming RTW adventures in posts about the brand new Houston Centurion lounge as well as getting the most out of Hyatt Gold Passport points.  We're leaving next month and the trip is almost complete so figured I'd provide a bit more of a teaser in the form of an introductory post.

We were in the Maldives last year and just loved it.  There is something completely magical about the remoteness of it all.  There's no denying the fact that it's an incredibly challenging to get there.  Especially from the US.  But once you are there, it's the most beautiful place on earth (at least that I've seen).  So we set out to return later this summer.  While we loved the Park Hyatt, getting there is more of a challenge than other resorts.

Our 23,000+ mile RTW itinerary (courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper)

My First International First Class Experience

On July 7, 2012, Singapore Airlines made a mistake.  A big mistake.  While premium cabin awards on Singapore Airlines weren't typically made available to United's MileagePlus frequent flyer members, an IT upgrade opened the floodgates.  Essentially all Singapore Airlines premium cabin inventory was mistakenly made available.

First Singapore Airlines booking

I was in Boulder with Emily for the weekend preparing for our wedding.  While we were both distracted with other things, I ended up booking a roundtrip business (on Singapore's A380) and first class award to Singapore.  For 260,000 United miles and $138 in taxes and fees!  

Introduction: I'm Going Going, Back Back to Maldives, Maldives

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge Houston IAH
Turkish Airlines 777-300ER Business Class Houston to Istanbul
Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge Istanbul
Turkish Airlines A330-300 Business Class Istanbul to Male
Transfer from Male to Conrad Maldives
Conrad Maldives
Transfer from Conrad Maldives to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200 Business Class Male to Singapore
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge to Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER Business Class Singapore to Tokyo (HND)
Andaz Tokyo
ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo (NRT)
ANA 777-300ER First Class Tokyo (NRT) to Houston

I've eluded to our upcoming RTW adventures in posts about the brand new Houston Centurion lounge as well as getting the most out of Hyatt Gold Passport points.  We're leaving next month and the trip is almost complete so figured I'd provide a bit more of a teaser in the form of an introductory post.

We were in the Maldives last year and just loved it.  There is something completely magical about the remoteness of it all.  There's no denying the fact that it's an incredibly challenging to get there.  Especially from the US.  But once you are there, it's the most beautiful place on earth (at least that I've seen).  So we set out to return later this summer.  While we loved the Park Hyatt, getting there is more of a challenge than other resorts.

24,000 miles RTW - map courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper

Red-eye vs. Daytime Flight?

We are just a couple of months away from our latest adventure.  I'm working on finalizing details and will post an overview as soon as it comes together.  For now, we're headed back to the Maldives for four nights and have a couple of other cool stops as we circumnavigate the globe for the second time.

Going going back to back to...

 As of now, we're leaving Male for Tokyo with an overnight in Singapore.  This means a daytime flight from Male departing around 1PM and getting into Singapore around 8:40PM.  Followed by an early morning departure to Tokyo landing in the early afternoon.  The good news is that we'll be flying to Tokyo's Haneda airport which is far closer to the city.  But essentially we'll be spending two back to back days flying with a total of 12 hours in the air.

Current itinerary

Another option would be to take Singapore Airline's red-eye flight from Male to Singapore.  We took this flight last year and while it was fun, it wasn't that fun.  It's a late departure and an early arrival without proper time (<5 hour flight) to get a full night's sleep.  You have to balance that with an extra half day in the Maldives...which doesn't suck.  We could step right off that flight and onto our planned daytime flight to Haneda.  Or we could spend the day in Singapore and take another red-eye that evening to Narita.  But back to back red-eye's seems crazy.

So as of now, I'm leaning to keeping our itinerary as planned.  We will have a bit less time in the Maldives on our final day but we'll have a daytime seaplane ride to Male to look forward to.  We'll land in Singapore early enough that we can go into the city if we're feeling up to it.  Then we'll wake up rested the next morning for an 8AM flight to Haneda.

In certain cases, red-eye's are great.  They can save you the cost of a hotel room and enable you to enjoy a full day at your destination.  While I'd love more time in either the Maldives or Tokyo, I also want to feel relaxed and rested in both places.  Plus, I'm excited for back-to-back flights on one of my favorite airlines.

Would you choose a red-eye or a daytime flight?

How Long Does it Take for Singapore Airlines Miles to Refund After an Award Cancellation?

Singapore Airlines offers some of the most lowest cost award redemption change/cancellation fees of any airline.  For a complete overview, Lucky has a great post on change/cancel fees for all airlines.

Cancelling an award booking costs $30 USD and changing one costs $20.  That compares very favorably to United which will charge (without status) $200 to get your hard earned miles back in your account in the event of a cancellation!

Singapore Airlines First Class IFE

I recently had to make a change to an award that required a redeposit of miles.  Unfortunately you can't do this online and have to call.  Singapore Airlines has great customer service (24 hours) in the US and it only took 10 minutes to process the cancellation for the $30 fee.

Dom or Krug on SQ

The agent informed me that the taxes would be refunded to my credit card in 6-8 weeks and the miles refunded back to my account within 5-7 business days.

What?  That is an eternity to wait when award availability is limited.  Well good news - I can report that the miles posted back to my account in ~36 hours.

Singapore Airlines BMW designed First Class (777-300ER)

I did process the cancellation on a Sunday so perhaps that slowed things down.  Either way, being able to rebook within a couple of days was no big deal and the new award was still available once the miles were safely back in my KrisFlyer account.

How to Book Singapore Airlines Award Tickets

Last week I posted on how to book Cathay Pacific First Class award tickets.  Today we're going to focus on booking award tickets on another of my favorite Asian carries.

As I eluded to this morning, I'm going to Asia later in the year.  While I had a couple of days to play with, my schedule isn't that flexible.  I generally want to fly home on Saturday or Sunday and for my specific dates, that left with only a couple of options.

Singapore Airlines offers non-stop service from Tokyo to Los Angeles as a continuation of their flight from Singapore.  This would give me another opportunity to fly the flagship Suites Class on the A380.  You can read more about previous Suites Class flights here and here.

Singapore Airlines Lobster Thermidor

The best place to search and book Singapore Airlines awards is on their own website.  For purposes of this post, I'm going to assume you have a Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer account.  If you don't already have an account, sign-up for one here.

Review: Singapore Airlines First Class 777-300ER Singapore to Hong Kong

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300ER First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Resort & Park Villa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Water Villa
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200ER Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Changi Airport 
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

We made our way over to the gate and through security (done at individual gates) around 5 minutes prior to the scheduled boarding time.  Boarding was delayed maybe 10 minutes so we had a 15 minute wait in the gate area.  Not the worst thing in the world but because the airport and lounge are so awesome, you want to delay getting to the cramped (with no services) gate area as much as possible.

Boarding was called and we were the first people on the plane.  We had both been expecting Singapore's "old" 777 first class as we thought they had been flying the "new" 777 first class solely to London.  We were pleasantly surprised to find the new version of the seat upon entering the aircraft!  To make it even more exciting, this flight is tagged SQ2 which to complement the SQ1 tag  we flew to Hong Kong last year.  Pretty awesome to have flown flight 1 and 2!!!

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER "New" first class

We were warmly welcomed by the crew and very impressed by the new cabin.  Quilted leather is so hot right now. 

Review: Singapore Airlines The Private Room

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300ER First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Resort & Park Villa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Water Villa
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200ER Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Changi Airport 
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

Arriving at the first class check-in facility in Singapore is pretty awesome.  The cab pulls in and instantly there are multiple people surrounding you.  Opening doors, grabbing bags, confirming that you obtained everything from the cab, and then escorting you into the beautifully appointed facility.

Singapore Airlines First Class Check-In

Orchids

Check-In desk on the right

Review: Singapore Airlines 777-200ER Business Class Male to Singapore

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300ER First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Resort & Park Villa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Water Villa
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200ER Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

I've reviewed Singapore Airlines a number of times over the past couple of years.  Before flying Emirates, they were my favorite airline and this was my 9th segment flying with them in a premium cabin.  Given the late departure (nearly 11:30 PM) and the fact that we were depressed tired after leaving the Park Hyatt, I didn't take a ton of pictures.  I had looked long and hard for a review of this flight to no avail.  So hopefully this review is helpful to some.

We arrived at the gate a few minutes before the scheduled boarding time.  We went through security again (like our 5th checkpoint of the day) just as boarding was called.  We made our way down the stairs to the waiting bus to take us to plane.

The bus ride was short and we were able to get up close and personal with the one of the giant Rolls-Royce Trent 892's.

Rolls-Royce Trent 892 behind the stairs

Singapore Airlines 777-200ER

Round the World in 11 Days: Planning & Booking

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300 First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200 Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

They say the best part about a vacation is the anticipation.  This trip is no exception.  Emily and I have had The Maldives on our bucket list for years.  For us flying halfway around the world to get to a beach is part of the fun.  When the opportunity to spend time in The Maldives and Al Maha, (outside Dubai) I started to work on flights.  Here's an overview of the booking process and what everything cost.

Hotels:

We've already covered our first couple of nights in Dubai at Al Maha.  This cost me 78,000 SPG points (normally 120,000) thanks to Starwood's recent promotion.  Given the fact that the resort is all inclusive (3 meals per day and 2 activities) and room rates go for more than $1,500 USD/night, I consider this a great deal.

Cash rates at Al Maha Dubai

All in, I'm getting about 5 cents worth of value from my SPG points.  Not that I would ever pay $2K for a night in a hotel but this regardless, this is one of the best redemptions of my life.

We'll then head to the Park Hyatt Maldives for 4 nights using Hyatt Gold Passport points.  The hotel used to be a category 6 then went to 7 and now is back to 6.  So 25,000 points per night for a total of 100,000 for our stay.  I used a combination of Hyatt points earned from stays and transferred in the rest from my Chase Ultimate Rewards account.  I did pay cash to upgrade us to an overwater bungalow for the last night of our but I'll leave that out of the booking process since that was totally optional.

Park Hyatt Maldives beach

Round the World in 11 Days: Introduction

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300 First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200 Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

After a summer break due to our new family member, Emily and I are 30 days away from our most anticipated trip yet.  Both of us have had the Maldives at the top of our bucket list and we actually had a trip booked in late 2014.  Life got in the way and we ended up canceling the trip...and I'm glad we did because a year later, our itinerary is even better.

The Maldives is far.  Really far.  Almost 11,000 miles far.  For those keeping score, that is nearly halfway around the world.  So we decided to break up the trip on both ends with stops in Dubai and Singapore.  Flying through Singapore on the way home enabled us to make this a true round the world trip (RTW) which has been another bucket list item of ours.  In total, we'll fly nearly 23,000 miles as we make our way around the world.

Round the World in 11 Days:  ~23,000 miles of flying

After an early morning flight from Denver to Dallas, we'll spend a few hours in the American Express Centurion lounge relaxing before the 14+ hour Emirates A380 flight to Dubai.  This will be our first time flying Emirates and we're both pretty excited for the onboard bar, shower, and overall experience.  We were in Dubai a couple of years ago and enjoyed our time in the city.  For this trip, we're headed to the Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa thanks to Starwood's generous 35% off promotion.  Al Maha is supposed to be an incredible resort and at nearly $2,000 a night would be completely unattainable without a large stash of SPG points.

After a four hour flight on Emirates first class to Male, we'll transfer via domestic prop plane and speed boat to the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa.  While there are dozens of reviews of the property online, we're both super excited to experience it for ourselves.  With just 50 villas (14 overwater and 36 on land) and a staff to guest ratio of nearly 2:1, it is supposed to be a very special place.  We'll spend three nights in the standard park villa and our last night in an overwater bungalow/villa.  Another bucket list item checked off.

We'll spend four nights at the Park Hyatt before transferring back to Male for a five hour redeye on Singapore Airlines.  Not looking forward to that but we'll be tired and use the flight to rest up for Thanksgiving in Singapore.

We've been to Singapore a couple of times and stayed at the same property (Conrad) during both trips.  We decided to check something new out and stay at the Grand Hyatt near Orchard Road.  It will be cool to stay in a different neighborhood and spend more time in a different part of the city.

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class

While I would have loved to fly Singapore Suites again, availability was challenging post Thanksgiving.  So I "settled" for Singapore's 777-300ER first class which isn't fully enclosed but still an excellent way to fly.  We'll be flying Singapore to Hong Kong to San Francisco and then overnighting at SFO before catching an early flight back to Denver.

This is the best itinerary I've put together thus far.  We were able to cover all of the flights (with the exception of the connecting flights to Dallas and from SFO) and hotels with miles and points.  The Maldives is expensive and the fact that we were able to do so leaves us with a bit more cash to splurge on activities.  I'll cover the booking specifics in costs more in the next installment. Stay tuned!

Review: Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Hong Kong

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Qantas First Class Lounge LAX
Cathay Pacific 777-300 ER First Class Los Angeles to Hong Kong
The Pier Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge
Le Meridien Bangkok
Thai Airways First Class Lounge & Spa
Thai Airways 747-400 First Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Conrad Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Hong Kong
Air India 787-8 Business Class Hong Kong to Seoul
Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul
Asiana A380 First Class Seoul to Los Angeles

After a great few days in Hong Kong, we woke up early to begin the long journey home.  It was a holiday in Hong Kong so it actually took 10 minutes to grab a taxi at 5AM.  We arrived at HKG around 5:45 and made our way to Air India check-in.  It was a little hard to find as the contract agents were still getting setup when we arrived.  But once open, we were both checked in and issued boarding passes in a couple of minutes.  The agents had no problem checking our bags all the way to Los Angeles where Jonathan would grab his car to drive to San Diego and I would pick up a United domestic flight to Denver.

Compared to our experience in The Pier, the lounge situation wasn't great.  But I figured this would be a good opportunity to check out a new lounge and then we could explore the terminal a bit.  There are several Star Alliance options when flying through HKG (Thai, United, Singapore) with the Singapore lounge being the newest.  

It took awhile to find the lounge given that it's located pretty close to security vs. the other lounges being further into the concourse.  Once inside, we were warmly welcomed into the lounge and checked in.  I found it ironic that we were in Hong Kong, flying Air India to South Korea, and entering a Singapore Airlines lounge.  While it's a big world, it certainly is a connected on.  And Airline alliances are pretty cool.

The space was deserted but quickly filled up once Singapore's service from San Francisco (continuing on to Singapore) arrived.

Too early for a cocktail

Review: Singapore Airlines Suites Class A380 Frankfurt to JFK

Introduction
Planning & Booking
British Airways 747-400 First Class Denver to London
British Airways Concorde Room LHR
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam
Andaz Amsterdam
Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome
Day Trip to Reims
Singapore Airlines A380 Suites Class Frankfurt to JFK

Wow I have really been neglecting the blog.  Between a busy work schedule and another week out of the country, I haven't been able to finish this series - my apologies.

After an overnight at the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport, we woke up around 5:30 AM and headed downstairs to the terminal.  We had scoped out the terminal the night before so we knew exactly where we were going.  Within five minutes we were checking in at the Singapore Airlines desk.

FRA Departure Board