Nicki's Travel Newsletter #22
Hello Hello!
Can you believe we are already in the last 7 days of January? Where did the time go? Also - the weather has been weird around the USA, especially where I live. Historically we should have snow by now .. but alas, our weather looks more like a set of Powerball numbers… 65, 28, 41, 32, 20. haha
I am trying to keep my travel plans secret until I travel because so many things have changed, trips cancelled, etc - BUT I do want to tell you all that I made it my personal mission to travel on all the Federal Holidays this year to see how to best maximize PTO. I work for myself, so the time off aspect doesn’t really apply to me - however, I know many of you want to maximize your time off. I am hoping this will help you when planning future trips and how to get the most time away from work - because YOU DESERVE IT.
Scoring the Maldives flights in business class for $550.70
On Instagram and Twitter this week I shared how I was able to get two round trip flights to the Maldives, in business class on Qatar Airways for $550.70 cash. This was a travel hack. This is not a price that is randomly available.
I promised to go more in depth about this here in my newsletter - so let’s talk about it.
I utilized 370K American Airline miles to get these flights + $550.70.
How did I get the American Airline miles:
I am extremely loyal to American Airlines and their airline partners. I will not fly outside of the Oneworld Alliance unless I have to OR I am working with a brand to try their product. Reason being - I get miles for every flight I take and I want them all to go to the same place.
Every flight that I book - I earn miles on
I have Executive Platinum status with American Airlines, so I get bonus miles for every flight I take - this all circles back to brand loyalty
I purchase business class flights on longer flights and definitely on international flights - you get extra miles for this
You can accumulate more miles by having their credit card, using their shopping portal, booking hotels through them, etc.
When I talk about points and miles to utilize for trips - I am extremely loyal to American Airlines and their partners for flights, and to my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card for all purchases.
I am by no means a travel hacking expert. Not even close. I probably could have more points/miles and get better deals if I had time to learn more - but I am happy with my win here.
I also talked about how I got a $17,000 5 night luxury stay at the Ritz-Carlton in the Maldives. I use the Chase Sapphire Reserve card for pretty much every purchase I can, which in turn allows me to accumulate points, sometimes at a very fast rate.
With the CSR (and I talk about this credit card constantly) you earn 3 X points on all dining and travel. However, these are the ways I earn the most points:
10 x points on hotels when booked in the Chase portal
10 X points on car rentals when booked in the Chase portal
5 x points on flights when booked in the Chase portal
You can book travel with no blackout dates through the Chase portal using your points at any time. Sometimes the value is not there though. Chase does allow you to transfer points to certain airline and hotel programs. Marriott is one of them.
Last year I randomly saw a deal to transfer points from Chase to Marriott and 1.5 times the value. This is a big deal (or for me it was). If you had 200K points and moved them to Marriott at that time, you now would have 300K Marriott points.
All that to say - I moved when there was a transfer bonus. When you use Marriott points to book, for every 5 nights you stay, you get one night for free. I only needed enough points for 4 nights to make this 5 night stay happen.
The stay cost me 452K Marriott points and $1790 (taxes and fees).
Overall - I had to accumulate all these points on my own and be very strategic about staying loyal to the airline and their partners and using primarily just 1 credit card while maximizing the benefits.
I hope this is a better understanding of how this worked out.
Travel Deals:
Phuket Thailand - 5 star Resort for 5 nights for $99
Turks and Caicos - 5 night all-inclusive trip $2299
Bali - This deal is still available and amazing if you are looking for a “best of Bali” luxury trip! $3,999
5 nights on the beach
3 nights in Ubud
VIP Airport Transfers
VIP transfers between hotels
Daily breakfast
Club Access
Massage at each hotel
Other meals and benefits as well!
Maldives - these deals are so hard to find anymore and they keep getting higher! $4,999+
6 nights in an overwater bungalow with a private pool
all-inclusive
round trip seaplane transfers for 2 people
60 minute spa treatment
floating breakfast
New Articles:
Sorry I am so behind - but I did just write an article this morning about Antigua - where I went recently!
Popular on the blog right now:
Spring break destinations in the USA
Amazon Store Front – you can find all my favorite items here.
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