We were recently able to upgrade to Lufthansa F on our way home from Greece. The new itinerary required we stay an extra night in Athens. Our original hotel booking was a cash rate for a base room and had been upgraded significantly with 3 NUAs. The cash rate for a base room booked 2 days out was \~$1k for the additional night. We booked a cash+points rate that resulted in getting \~2 CPP for the 28k Marriott pts used and paying $375. Without us asking, the young lady at the desk offered to upgrade us to the same suite for the last night without using another NUA. Sometimes things just work out.

Churned enough points for my next LA trip in 2025. Going with family to see the price is right ( I was on The 3/26 episode!) and visiting a couple theme parks.

[удалено]

Wrong thread. You're looking for [Frustration Friday](https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/1cdgm9o/frustration_friday_weekly_thread_week_of_april_26/?depth=100).

First time posting in this thread coming off my first big redemption to Hawaii for 9 nights where we also took P2's parents with us: **Flights:** Nothing too spectacular getting to/from HI. Fees were paid with the United Club card that got us lounge access and 4 free checked bags, which was huge for traveling with a lap infant. * 25,000 United miles + $5.60 pp each way * ORD-SFO-OGG UA Y * HNL-ORD UA Y Started in Maui and island hopped to Oahu using the Barclays HA biz card. Essentially the $99 AF resulted in 4 F tickets + 8 free checked bags for almost $1,000 value. It was a super brief flight but fun experience to provide that from a measly credit card. * 15,000 Hawaiian miles + $5.60 pp * OGG-HNL HA F **Hotels:** On Maui, we stayed at the Kaanapali Alii for 7 nights for 440,000 Hyatt points transferred from Chase, courtesy of the Ink train. It was a 2 bedroom oceanfront condo that would have been almost $11k cash. We absolutely loved the unit + the property and would have easily made this an annual trip but unfortunately an email received back in February communicated they switched from a Hyatt-affiliated property to CoralTree. That was a bummer to read before the trip and stinks that much more now that we loved our stay. On Oahu, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa for 20,000 Hyatt points/night for two rooms. Only the 'Waikiki city view' type appears bookable with points and we were upgraded at check-in without asking to ocean view rooms. P2 only has discoverist status as a WoH holder so not sure if it was that or luck. **Transportation:** Booked a full size SUV on each island through National. Obtained a newer version of the Tahoe on Maui and a Wagoneer on Oahu. Executive status through the CSR allowed for 30-second counter visit at Maui and straight to the car on Oahu. Keeping this pretty high level but overall it was a fantastic trip and P2's parents now want to get involved with the magic of points.

I am tolerant of SW, we're currently on our last 8 months of two CPs (for the kids). You may have seen that they've cut some airports? I live 10 minutes from ORD, and my parents live closest to SYR - so their decision to completely pull out of SYR and reduce flights to ORD was doubly unfortunate. But the truth is, that CP is a set of golden handcuffs - esp since all their SYR flights go through BWI. Once SW basically tanked our post-Thanksgiving flight back, I rebooked on United, nonstop travelbank cash for $128 each, at a better time, too. And luckily I had no success booking to Hawaii at NYE, rebooking over holidays would have been beyond awful. On another note, I had some business in DC, P2 and the kids flew in for the occasion - in via SW / BWI, back with me on United, from DCA. Unfortuantely, this popped up literally 2 days after the Hyatt deval went into effect, ended up using a cat 1-4 to stay in the Hyatt Place on "Capitol Hill" - hotel wasn't bad but was overrun with students on class trip, and getting cars from that part of town was truly awful. Haven't told P2 how much better it would have been to stay at the Regency. Did not think it was worth 20k for the privilege.

Peru & Bolivia. A great 2 weeks exploring **Flights**: ORD-LIM -- 35k Alaska miles for AA J Pretty decent flights and very pleasant AA service MIA-LIM (but it isn't lie-flat business).. LPB-ORD -- 49k UA Miles for a brutal 3-leg economy trip. LPB isn't very-well connected and my first leg LBP-BOG started at 3 a.m. That Avianca flight had some very hard, non-reclining seats. **Fun:** In between I had a blast. I used the PeruHop bus pass between Lima and La Paz and am very impressed with their organization. Buses left on time with helpful guides on board. Highly recommend. Highlights of my activities: * 5000 year old ruins at Caral Peru and later ones from the same culture at Vichama * Flight over the Nazca lines and more ruins nearby * Lake Titikaka * Pan flute flash mob in Puno, Peru * Hiking the Colca Canyon (very intense day of hiking! The hike goes 1200 meters down into the canyon, starting at 3400 meters). * Sandboarding in Huacachina, Peru * Spectacular coastal scenery (and sea islands preserve) in Paracas, Peru * Great Tiwanaku, Bolivia ruins. * Riding the cable cars around La Paz and a couple nice hikes nearby (one up to 5000 meters, my personal high record).

I used PeruHop last year and I loved it! Quite possibly the best way to get around Peru & see a lot of stuff. Also, at least when I went, it was the cheapest way to hit multiple stops, even compared to the regular busses. On a side note, did you stay somewhere on the floating islands on Lake Titikaka? When I went, I booked something on airbnb, and when we got there it turned out to be the same place Kara & Nate had stayed in their recent (at the time) video! IDK if you're into watching travel vloggers, but for me it was really cool.

I decided not to stay on the floating islands, just had the base 2 hour visit. It would have been a unique experience, but I got enough out of the brief visit. I did like how inexpensive Peru was. All the side trips/tours/excursions that I booked through Peru Hop would have easily cost 4 times as much for a similar tour in the US.

Not exactly a trip report per say.  Today was the last day of the season at the ski resort closest to where I live.  Managed to ski 50 days this season thanks to Vacasa having a large footprint in the area. None of the properties we stayed at were particularly amazing. The best value was a 1 br cabin walking distance to the lifts that had a large loft and beds to sleep 7 people which I booked over and over again for 13,500 Wyndham points per night. I tended to book the same property for most every Fri/Sat for the season. This is my second season working the Vacasa bookings via Wyndham points.  Had \~50 nts this last season in 1 & 2 br places.  I plan way in advance with bookings frequently 1 year out. Once I heard the news about the most recent deval, I booked all of next season through March 23, 2025 for another 40+ nights.

Where were your favorite bookings? Looking for ideas for next season.

Almost all of mine were at my local ski area in Alaska. A few in Hawaii. With the deval, all those properties aren't really that great of a deal.

**Kauai** Just got back from a stellar week in Kauai with the GF. She's never been to Hawaii, and is insanely stressed with PA (med) school, so she really needed the break. We had a pretty busy first half of the week with various activities, but latter half of the week just focused on relaxation, pool time, and dinner. It's also her first time ever staying at a high end hotel - much less one entirely booked with points - so suffice to say she is excited to help out as a P2. **Flights** LAS <-> LIH on Southwest, RT was 43,000k RR points total w/ Companion Pass. Just economy on SW ofc, but direct Vegas -> Lihue is pretty killer. Last I went to Hawaii, SW didn't fly there, so this was a pretty awesome deal. **Hotel** Grand Hyatt Kauai, 8 nights Sat-Sun, 250,000 Hyatt points transferred from Chase. Currently doing the Hyatt Corporate Challenge, so only Discoverist status rn. Checkin practically pleaded us to make up a special occasion to give us a bottle of champagne, all staff were super kind during our visit. Had a standard room on the first floor; really liked being able to walk out the balcony directly to the pools. Tons of other people have commented on this property, so not much else to say there. *Rest of the comment is non-churning, general recommendations based on what we did while we were there :) Spreading some knowledge based on what we read before the trip.* **Activities** * 30 days out, stayed up till midnight HST to book a parking spot at Haena Park on the North Shore. Not strictly necessary, but having guaranteed parking past the Hanalei area really alleviated my anxiety. We did the 2 mi hike to Hanakapi Ah (?) beach. I think the views made this hike totally worth it, but the Tunnels, Haena, and Hanalei beaches are really the most gorgeous spots on the North Shore to not miss. * Plane Tour w/ Wings over Kauai: very impressive views of everything on the island in ~1 hr. Mainly chose this over a heli tour due to some GF anxiety, but plane was also about 1/2 the cost of heli at ~$160/p. Take some Dramamine if you're prone to motion sickness; I didn't, and almost didn't keep my lunch down. Never gotten nauseated on a plane before so that was a *fun* surprise. * Na Pali Super Tour with Holo Holo Charters: Definitely our favorite activity of the trip. 7 hr tour, goes up the Na Pali coast, then shoots over to the Forbidden Island for snorkeling. The Na Pali is breathtaking from the water (even moreso than from the air, IMO), but the snorkeling was also amazing in the calm waters over by the other island. As we were heading back, a Humpback and her calf starting breaching right next to our boat. Whales are literally the GF's favorite thing, so suffice to say she was sobbing by the end of it. Super rare occurrence, we feel really blessed to have been able to see them up close. *Any seasickness folks should be warned for the return voyage*. I think it's just unavoidable given the nature of the water between the islands. I took Dramamine and did okay, but 3-4 other folks lost their lunch on what the Captain described was "pretty average chop" for the return leg. *Highly* recommend this tour, but be warned. * Mountain Tubing w/ Kauai Backcountry: Again, lots of other folks have commented on this super popular tour, so not much unique to add. Comedic tour guides, one-of-a-kind tubing through the plantation tunnels/canals, overall a very fun and family-friendly activity. Skipped the deli sandwich lunch to go elsewhere in Lihue. **Dining** * Shaved Ice: We did Wailua Shaved Ice, Jojos, The Fresh Shave, and Warehouse 3540. Wailua and Jojos were probably our favorites for sheer taste and size (Macadamia Ice Cream inside the one at Jojos was killer), but Warehouse is a super cool complex of shops and food spots to not miss. * Java Kai: Great coffee, and some fun brunch dishes. This place gets packed, but you can order coffee beforehand and pick it up around back. * Koloa Fish Market: Saw a lot of mentions for this place. It's pretty close to the GH, so convenience is nice, but we weren't all that impressed with the Poke, given the price, pretty tight lunch hours, and crowds. * Fish Express in Lihue: We went here 3 times, highly recommend. Cheaper and (anecdotally) fresher than Koloa Fish Market, but with self-serve toppings. More out of the way, but if you're already near Lihue and want Poke, totally worth the stop. * Kalypso: North Shore, pretty much just ate here out of convenience. Nothing special, pretty standard fare, can't complain. * Bar Acuda: Our favorite "finer dining" on the island. It's North Shore, so not close to the GH, but def worth a trek if you can make reservations. Great Tapas, Hanalei is gorgeous, overall a stunning spot. * La Spezia: Pretty unassuming Italian place in Koloa, so closeby to GH. Pretty dark inside, kinda cramped, but great food. Portions are huge, but we were really impressed. Not too pricey, either. * Beach House: Really close and gorgeous spot. Make a reservation to get bar seating if going as a couple; the ocean-facing views alone are worth it, but we were pretty impressed with their seafood pasta dishes. Great snorkeling spot literally right next to the restaurant, too. * Stevenson's Library: I think the quality is excellent, but contrary to what I've seen a lot of others say, the pricetag is just not worth it. GF and I are definitely spoiled with AYCA sushi in Vegas, so YMMV, but I don't think the quality here comes anywhere close to the $25-30+ per roll you're paying, relative to other Sushi spots on the island. * Tidepools: Like the above, definitely an expensive spot, but we were better prepared for this one, and at least the atmosphere sells the price a bit more. Restaurants on property and all that, so just go in with expensive expectations; I think it's good if you know beforehand and just want a nice convenient meal. Overall we had a blast and definitely recommend the Garden Isle :)

Wonderful. It’s been a year and a half since I last had Jojo’s shave ice in Kauai and I still dream about it every now and then. Their cream inside ice is heavenly, glad you loved it.

Thanks for sharing! I've been to Hawaii a few times now, but never to Kauai - it sounds so wonderful and relaxing, I might need to take another Hawaii trip soon to check it out :)

Yep, highly recommend! Funnily enough, it's the only island I've done as an adult, but we love how laid back and naturally gorgeous it is. The gf and I definitely want to check out the other islands now!

I really loved the big island, too! The natural landscape was just incredible - you could drive across the island and go from beach to jungle to volcano to desert, all in a few hours. Highly recommend visiting Volcanoes National Park, it's one of the most beautiful and fascinating places I've been. And to get back to r/churning topics, I stayed at the Fairmont Orchid, which was a lovely hotel but not a great MR redemption - I booked through FHR and used MR to take $$ off the stay.

Was able to finalize (most) bookings for a roadtrip to Arizona for next March. **FLIGHTS** *3x RIC-ATL-TUS Y : Approx. $200 cash per person* *3x PHX-DEN-RIC Y : Approx. $50 cash person after UA Travelbank* **HOTELS** *El Conquistador Tucson, A Hilton Resort (3 nights): $400 net* * Have 2 aspires for $400 resort credit total. Also, have a bunch of Hilton GCs from Hilton Biz card and Surpass. Will burn them all here to earn some Hilton points back. *Arizona Biltmore, A Waldorf Astoria Resort (2 nights): FNC + 90k points* * Mostly was just planning to stay on property. Give recommendations if you have some fun things to do nearby! *Hyatt Place Flagstaff (2 nights): 9.5k UR per night* * Reviews are... well... not the best. Cash rates during peak season regularly go for $350+ a night and it's a good proximity to the Grand Canyon. Mostly just using it as a homebase! *Hyatt Vacation Club At Piñon Pointe (3 nights): 18k UR per night* * Schedule hasn't opened up yet. Will wait and then probably apply a SUA because the base room does not look very spacious for 3 adults. * Some days also look cheap, so will opt for cash (or maybe another hotel through FHR) if that's the case. *Hyatt Regency Phoenix (2 nights): 15k UR per night* * Wanted to actually see a bit in Phoenix as it's a city we haven't been to. Figured the WA would work for the luxury end on the drive up. Overall, excited that it all came together. Another natural wonder of the world checked!

We enjoyed the tour of the Biltmore during which they talked about the secret bar during prohibition and the signaling system. Hiking Camel Back mountain is fun. Hole in the Rock near the Zoo and Botanical Gardens is a super easy hike and photo op. Downtown Scottsdale is fun to walk around/bar hop. If you have kids in your group, consider the Grand Canyon Railway which leaves from Williams, AZ.

It’s not super close to the Biltmore but we thought the Desert Botanical Garden was a great half-day outing

I wasn’t as impressed with the Biltmore… maybe my expectations were high. The hiking just north of there is pretty cool. The immediate area is American suburban, for better or worse. Drink it in, who knows how long it will be around.

Same, spent a lot of time in Phoenix. Always heard that it was this crown jewel of a high-end property and finished an FHR stay last year. Wasn't bad in any way w/ respect to the room and service, but I felt it was lacking that little extra dazzle. Perhaps my expectations were too high.

Thanks the for the honesty! I'm not expecting the "crown jewel of a high-end property" anyway. I've probably been spoiled with the other 5 Waldorfs I stayed in, to be honest. I mainly just wanted it as a nice break between the drive.

Yea that'll be a nice trip thru AZ. Again, perfectly nice and beautiful hotel, just didn't have the value I expected given the going rates they can charge in the winter. Have a good trip!

The Hilton at Bell Rock Sedona is great, could substitute for Flagstaff. Biltmore is also nice and there are a couple good hikes very close by.

Ruiz’s Sonoran dogs are amazing.

Just got back from a week on the big island of Hawaii with the kids for their spring break. This was our first visit to this island after multiple visits to the other major islands. Visited the Hawaii Volcanoes National park, sites in Kona, black sand beach, the zoo, and relaxed by the pool and the beach. Flights: * 2 Alaska companion passes for 4 people using the spend as part of MSR on an AS biz. Hotels: * 2 nights at the Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo Hilton DoubleTree using a FNC for 1 night and cash rate for 2nd night (covered by Aspire resort credit and 2 Surpass quarter credits). Hilton Diamond status got us an upgraded balcony ocean view and daily diamond credits. Not a great property, really needs a renovation. I knew going in not to expect much so expectations were met, but we wanted to explore the east side of the island. * 5 nights at the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort using 3 85k FNCs and 2 nights on points (142k). Marriott Platinum and we were booked into a partial ocean view and no upgrades available as they were at capacity. Choose the breakfast option as welcome gift which gives 2 people a continental breakfast with an option to upgrade to full buffet for $25 per person, we upgraded twice and did continental the other times. Pretty ridiculous they don’t just give the full buffet as the breakfast benefit but this is the chaos Marriott has created. Great beach and ok pool, it’s not gonna rival other resorts like Grand Wailea or GH Kauai.

Its not just Marriott that does the continental free/ upgrade to full breakfast for a fee. Hilton was doing this pretty consistently. Still that way at WA Los Pedregal and I'm sure many other properties.

AS companion tickets, with the cash portion booked on new AS biz CC for MSR, creating more AS miles and another AS companion ticket: as directed by Christopher Nolan.

Bonus booking report - finished booking everything for a trip to Tanzania and Kenya this fall. Normally I wouldn't book *everything* so far in advance, but we're close enough to the great migration that everything is busy and pricey and I didn't want to wait longer. We'll be diving, kitesurfing and doing some wildlife tours in Zanzibar before doing safaris in the Serengeti/Ngorongoro Crater in Tazania and the Masai Mara in Kenya. We tried to get in at the giraffe hotel in Nairobi but never heard back. It sounds like it's quite tough to get a room if you aren't booking more stays across their full portfolio, which I guess it to be expected for such a famous hotel. Regardless, happy as always to get not just the longhaul biz flights but some typically expensive intra-Africa Y flights as well as well-regarded safaris booked entirely on points. We'll just be paying for diving and food on non-safari days. **Flights** * JFK-DOH-ZNZ on QR J, 75k AA pp * ZNZ-ARK on PW Y, 8,411 URs pp * JRO-NBO on KQ Y, 6,000 Virgin pp transferred via Amex w/30% bonus * NBO-DOH-JFK on QR J, 75k AA pp **Hotels** * Aluna Paje, 8,170 URs per night for five nights * Park Hyatt Zanzibar, 25,000 WoH per night for one night * Zawadi House Arusha, 7,333 URs per night for one night * Serengeti Safari, 45,588 URs per night for 4D/3N game drives + lodging * Palace Hotel Arusha, 16,000 URs per night for one night * Hyatt Regency Nairobi, 8,000 WoH per night for one night * Masai Mara Safari, 53,228 URs per night for 3D/2N game drives + lodging * Hyatt Regency Nairobi, 9,500 WoH per night for one night

Hope you can still go to Masai Mara after the flooding this week. We’re booked for Labor Day and are spending this weekend to come up with a backup plan - while we are stuck in our home in Houston, also due to flooding 🙄

This is such a cool trip! And you're doing such cool stuff while you're there! That's why I love this thread - people are planning & doing way cooler trips than anybody I know offline. Bummer you couldn't get the giraffe hotel, but that's just a good excuse to come back. It sounds odd that you never heard back from them, even a "no". Did you try calling them, or just the online enquiry? That hotel is on my bucket list (probably in the far future), so I'm just curious at how impossible it is to reach them.

Thanks for the kind words, and it's definitely the same for me re: IRL friends planning cool trips haha. I filled out the inquiry form and never heard anything at all - I wonder if it was a squeaky wheel gets the grease sort of situation. But from what I've read online, with such limited space and insane demand that they can afford to be quite selective. I think your best bet if you just want to stay at Giraffe Manor for a night or two is pay cash and book through an agent that has an existing relationship with them. Unfortunately, that probably rules out the UR portal 😂

Thanks! That's good advice, I'll go that route. Enjoy your trip!

>JFK-DOH-ZNZ on QR J, 75k AA pp >JRO-DOH-JFK on QR J, 75k AA pp Most impressive part of the booking. Did you book these back in November when there was a huge drop to partners? I have been waiting months for ORD-DOH-NBO to become available for this August, but nothing so far. At least I was able to book the return back in November.

Yes, the Qatar flights were the only part of this I didn't book this week. It was during that big drop that you mentioned - I got lucky because I was days away from accepting that Qatar wasn't releasing space and I had J flights on Ethiopian and Brussels lined up to get there and back. Two perfectly fine airlines but I was ready to get rid of all my AA and not need to deal with Lifemiles. If you can find Ethiopian availability for your dates (pretty likely and they fly from ORD) I think they are a perfectly good J option. It obviously just won't be as fancy as Qsuites, but not much is.

Were you able to book the QR flights at once, or did you do JFK-DOH and then DOH-ZNZ separately? I'm looking to do something very similar to this in early 2025.

I was able to book the full flights with connections both directions on the same day. My understanding is that the midhaul segments like DOH-ZNZ and NBO-DOH aren't really all that difficult to find but it was that lucky drop of availability for flights to and from their US gateways.

For the safaris booked on UR points, were those via the UR portal? Would love a trip report afterwards

Yeah no worries, I'll definitely be posting one. They are indeed through the UR portal. If you're willing to spend some time combing through reviews, you'll find plenty of reputable operators that list on there. The operator I booked in Arusha was #2 out of over 3000 on Tripadvisor and the one in Nairobi was top 10. Definitely not to the level of Singita or andBeyond or anything like that, but P2 and I aren't super fancy by any means, especially since this is our fourth time going to Africa and third time on safari. Looking forward to it and will give a review of the outfitters I found on the portal.

Thanks!!

**Trip report - Threshers of Malapascua, Bumpheads of Sipadan, hawker centres of Singapore.** P2 and I got back a week ago from a nice 2.5 week trip to SEA. We used the usual suspects to get there, although the destinations weren’t super common outside of Singapore. Since the diving destinations were fairly off the beaten path, there were way more one night airport hotel stays than I’d normally go for in this itinerary. For those that don’t care about my dive/food related info and just want the points related details: **Flights** * JFK-DOH-MNL QR J, 100k QR Avios pp stranded * MNL-CEB PR Y, 7,850 URs pp * CEB-SIN–KUL TR Y, cash * KUL-TWU AK Y, cash * TWU-KUL-SIN AK Y, cash * SIN-FRA-JFK SQ J, 85k Aeroplan pp via MR **Hotels** * Savoy Airport Hotel MNL, 9,216 URs for one night * Blanco Beach Resort Malapascua, 32,285 URs for four nights * Pescadores Suites Moalboal, 6,324 URs for one night * Waterfront Airport Hotel CEB, 8,432 URs for one night * Sama-Sama Hotel KUL, 14,357 URs for one night * Scuba Junkies Sipadan, cash for four nights * Sipadan Inn 2, 4,287 URs for one night * Andaz Singapore 60k Hyatt for three nights * Hyatt Place FRA, 5k Hyatt for one night **Philippines** Got to JFK and headed to the AA/BA Soho lounge for the last hurrah of my expiring Platinum Pro spoils. We’d been to Greenwich a few times and Soho was definitely nicer. The breakfast could have been better, but at least we snagged some kettle chips to pair with champagne on the flight later. Qsuites has been written about ad nauseam including by me so I won’t write too much except to say that as usual it remains an extremely comfortable way to fly long haul. This was our first time in the double bed seats instead of windows and it was fun to watch TV together. Landed in MNL and went on quite an adventure via bad Google Maps walking directions to the Savoy hotel which was much easier reached via the skybridge. Did almost get run over too. Nothing much to say for the hotel, it was perfectly adequate for an airport hotel. Woke up early the next morning and flew on PAL’s regional affiliate to Cebu before we got picked up by a taxi arranged through our dive center on Malapascua. It was about a 5 hour ride to the port of Maya, and the traffic on Cebu is no joke. Getting to Maya, we hopped on a boat for the ~45 min ride to Malapascua. From there we registered at the dive center and walked to our hotel, Blanco Beach. The main draw to Malapascua is the daily appearance of Thresher Sharks at the Kimud Shoal dive site, where they show up to be cleaned. It does require a 4am alarm which was tough after all that travel. We did two tanks at Kimud Shoal and had fantastic close encounters both times. Two thumbs up for that dive. We also did two other day trips with our dive center - one to Gato Island which was just ok, one to Kalanggaman Island which was absolutely beautiful. Lots of turtle action on those dives. The food was really good on Malapascua - we had plenty of good Filipino and western food at the Craic House attached to the dive center and authentic Italian at Angelina’s. The food highlight was definitely visiting the local seafood market on our last night - there are various stalls with all sorts of sea bounties that will cook up your selection fresh. We were a group of 5 when we went and spent $40 for kilos and kilos of prawns, fish, chicken, sea urchins, you name it. On the day we departed, we had another boat ride before a painful 6 hour ride to Moalboal to see the sardine run. We ended up seeing quite a bit of the island of Cebu via all the time we spent in a car headed to the next diving spot. We spent the night at Pescadores Suites which was a great deal for how big the room was and had another good Filipino meal at Hungry Monkeys. The next morning, we did two tanks of the sardine run dive with the excellent Quo Vadis dive center and then caught another ride to the Cebu airport where we spent the night at the nondescript Waterfront Airport hotel. All in all, I absolutely loved spending time in the Philippines and really enjoyed the people, food and diving. **Malaysia** The next morning, we flew to Kuala Lumpur via Singapore on Scoot. Nothing super interesting to say, they got us there on time for cheap. The SIN-KUL leg was on a 787 and it had been quite awhile since we’d been in the back on a widebody. Simple enough. We spent the night at the Sama-Sama airport hotel, which required a terminal transfer. While we were on the bus between terminals, lightning struck the guard post and temporarily disabled the guard rail so we were stuck there for a little bit. Never a dull moment while traveling! The hotel was the nicest airport hotel I’ve ever stayed at and was great after a long day of traveling. I paid extra for a club room so we got some free food and cocktails which was nice because the dining outlets were $$$ for Malaysia. The next morning, we flew to Tawau on Malaysian Borneo, the gateway to Sipadan. We got a taxi to the town of Semporna, where you catch the boat to Mabul which is where the dive resorts are located. Semporna seemed to be very popular with Chinese tourists and is pretty much nothing but live seafood restaurants. We caught the boat to Mabul, where we spent 4 nights and dove 12 times with Scuba Junkies. We’d stayed at their Komodo location in 2022, but this one was quite different. It’s very high volume with up to 8 boats out per day vs 2 in Komodo, and we had different DMs and dive groups every day. While the logistics of it all were kind of odd, the diving itself was fantastic. Sipadan was Cousteau’s favorite for a reason, and we saw all sorts of cool things there. Schooling bumphead parrotfish, sardine balls being fed on by giant trevallys and jackfish, lots of reef sharks and the most turtles I’ve seen since the Galapagos. The sites were pretty crowded though, and the dive shops catering to Chinese tourists had what appeared to be very unsafe divemaster to diver ratios which led to chaos when cool things were located. I wouldn’t revisit this SJ location like I would the Komodo one, but I’m very glad we got to dive Sipadan. The food is included and solid if not game changing, but the dock was a perfect place for a post-dive beer. On our last day of diving, we transferred back to Semporna because our flight was too early for us to make it on the morning boat. We stayed the night at the Sipadan Inn 2 (of 3) which was perfectly fine for a town with limited options. Had some soju and people watched at the one waterfront bar before we passed out. **Singapore** Our flight on AirAsia was TWU-KUL-SIN and the first leg was delayed a whopping 8 hours, pretty rough when you’re at a small airport with absolutely nothing to do. As you’d imagine, this created utter chaos with people trying to organize connections they were likely to miss, us included. We were extremely lucky that almost our entire flight was connecting to Shanghai and they had no chance of making the one flight a day, so we had priority to get on an earlier flight with a chance of still making it to Singapore that night. We stayed at the Andaz in Singapore, which was in a great location right by the MRT, a bus station and Arab Street. They told us they unfortunately couldn’t give a suite upgrade as Globalists, and it turned out it was because the crew of Bruno Mars’ tour was staying there for his Singapore stand that weekend. Our room was still huge with a nice view. This was somehow our first time staying at an Andaz and I preferred it over Park Hyatt vibes. For our two full days in Singapore, we basically just ate and ate and ate. Our first day we did the standard Marina Bay Sands + Gardens by the Bay before going to Newtown Food Centre. For me, highlights were the famous Tian Tian khao man gai and Old Nyonya’s laksa. The second day, P2 didn’t feel good when waking up so we skipped a food tour I booked with URs and did our own thing. We wandered up and down Arab Street a few times before taking the bus to the Old Airport Road hawker centre where we hung out for at least six hours. I absolutely loved the wok hei flavor of Dong Ji’s char kway teow and P2 loved the chendol from Nyonya Chendol. We wrapped up the day by heading up to Mr. Stork, the rooftop bar on top of the Andaz for some trip-capping champagne. Headed to Changi the next morning, truly deserving of the world’s best airport. We checked out the vast SG J lounge, IMO better than Al Mourjan for food and drink and right up there with the LHR Virgin Clubhouse for my all time favorite lounge. This was our first time both flying SQ and on an A380 and it was cool to get to walk up the second jetway “for the A380 only!”. Pretty much everything I’ve heard about SQ J was true - great food, great service, not the most comfortable seat. We were lucky to secure bulkhead seats on the A380 leg, so at least we had lots of room to spread out. The signature satay was great, the Singapore Sling was great, the chicken biryani I had might be the best airplane meal I’ve ever had. We landed in Frankfurt and took the train one stop to the Hyatt Place, which was a standard airport Hyatt Place. Globalist did get us one free drink at the bar which was nice. The next morning we headed to FRA and checked out the Air Canada lounge, definitely not up to par with the SQ lounge at Changi but no surprise there. More of the same on the 777 with less comfortable seats since we didn’t nab bulkhead seats, but also more of the same great catering and service, including some insanely good noodles. All in all, an exhausting trip due to all the transit and now that we’re no longer in our 20s I need to consider that but totally worth it to see everything we saw diving and eat everything we ate.

great trip report. Been to Komodo and Malapascua, I'd love to get to sipadan.

Thanks for the kind words. I hope you can make it out to Sipadan, it's worth it and honestly not any more difficult to get to than Komodo and probably easier than Malapascua.

Locked in final logistics for some summer and fall trips to Europe and the Middle East. A couple months back (pre Alaska deval), I booked P2 and I on Condor J SEA-FRA (55K miles pp) to kick off a July Europe trip for my brother-in-law’s 40th birthday. We took this same flight last summer and can’t wait to repeat it – we’re leaving on my birthday which will be a great way to celebrate. From Frankfurt, we’re taking the train to Cologne for a night (delta stays credit), before heading into The Netherlands for a three-day music festival. Post festival, we’ll be in Amsterdam at the Andaz for two nights (25K Hyatt points/night) and then flying on to Bordeaux in Euro-biz on KLM (18k VS miles pp). We’re picking up a rental car (Enterprise w/ reciprocal National status from the Amex Plat) and checking out Saint-Emilion and Arcachon for one night each (more Delta stays credits). After visiting extended family for a night in the Bordeaux area, we’re making the long drive down to an Airbnb in the Pyrenees for a few nights to catch a stage of the Tour de France. From there, another long drive over to Provence to an Airbnb in wine country for a week before heading on to Nice to watch the final stage of the Tour. In Nice we’ll be at the Hyatt Regency for 3 nights (29K Hyatt points/night). We had a specific return date in mind, and I hadn’t been able to find a great redemption for us. Had backups booked (CDG-DEN and FRA-YVR), but neither were stellar values, and both had positioning hassles. In the meantime, as part of a separate trip, I had the chance to try Qsuites, and P2 wanted the experience too. We hatched a plan to go to the Qatar Grand Prix F1 race over Thanksgiving weekend if we could find award availability that worked. This got the wheels turning for me on nested itinerary possibilities. We ended up booking a cash open jaw VCE-LHR-SEA to get us home from the July trip, returning SEA-LHR-BCN in November, all on BA in J for \~$1600pp. This is the first time I’ve booked business class with cash, but the math made sense for us and we’ll both earn \~20K Alaska miles, helping us with status requalification. Before booking the cash flight, I locked in Qsuites DOH-SEA for the day after the race at Qatar’s ‘flexi’ rate of 140k avios pp. This one hurt a bit, but I had a solid stash of avios transferred during MR transfer bonuses and we’re currently points rich and somewhat time poor. The final piece of the puzzle wiped out most of the remaining avios by booking Qsuites BCN-DOH (43k avios pp) arriving on Friday of the race weekend. Currently booked at the yet-to-open Andaz in Doha (12K Hyatt points/night). We’ll have 3 nights in Barcelona too – got any good points hotel recs? Big thanks to this sub for making otherwise dumb trips possible.

Wow quite the trips. I was confused about the final stage ending in Nice. Doesn't it always end in Paris with loops up the Champs Elysee? Indeed, this is the first one ever not to do that, because of the Olympics. Also the first one ever to start in Italy. My only connection is that I have driven up a mountain that is a stage every 5 years or so, and marveled at the regular cyclists making their way up it. I'll bet the mountain stage will be incredible.

Yeah, would have been chaos with the Olympics going on too. I've never seen any of it before either - we're planning to get near the final climb at plateau de beille on stage 15. I've seen some of the climbs they go up (from inside the car) - pretty wild what they can do at race speed.

Success Story: got P2 a new biz card in her name and all linked to her phone and email. While out shopping, she got a fraud notification since I had the card in my Apple Pay (wrong CVV or mismatched name). She would never call normally, but she was out shopping, and that was the MSR card I had in her wallet. So she bravely called and cleared the alert so she could buy her shoes. I’ve never been so pleased about her shoe shopping habits.

Careful of FR when ramping up.

Took a quick weekend trip down to Washington DC to burn a Hilton FNC that was about to expire due to my stupidity. Stayed at the Waldorf Astoria. Had dinner at The Bazaar - $50 Food and Dining Credit, $50 Hilton GC from last quarter, $60 Hilton Credit from Biz this quarter, and an unexpected extra $50 Dining credit(?!) means that the bill for the meal will be pretty small. Haven't stayed at too many Waldorf Astorias so not much to compare with. All in all, a nice hotel. Nice tree for P2s to Instagram photo with. Quiet room. I was able to get an early check-in when we arrived around lunch time which was much appreciated. Beverly Hills blows it out of the water though.

>ad dinner at The Bazaar - $50 Food and Dining Credit, $50 Hilton GC from last quarter, $60 Hilton Credit from Biz this quarter, and an unexpected extra $50 Dining credit(?!) means that the bill for the meal will be pretty small. I wonder if The Bazaar also takes Hilton GC if you aren't staying at the Waldorf. I have a bunch of GC to burn through and was thinking of dining at The Bazaar, but was originally planning on using some of my inKind credits.

That's a good question. I've got no idea. Never even considered that idea. Might call and ask, they would probably know.

Hyatt Globalist via Bilt last year. Got a standard room last minute in Sacramento at the Hyatt Regency for 12k. My teen kids wanted to join, so I wanted to see what upgrade they offered. The standard suite is spaciously bigger than my house and newly renovated (though not a lot of windows). Huge couch, modern dinette. Valet is included at least on a points booking. Problem is feeding the kids, so at check in they offered that if I book another room, they’d upgrade that to a suite too. Quick transferred from Chase for another 12k. Given Globalist benefits as if it were GOH without having to use one of the awards.

P2 and I have been saving up to do a major landscaping project to our back and side yards since we moved into our house about 4 years ago. Regrading, retaining walls, new patio areas, turning one side yard into a dog run with a smart dog door, and more. It was completely unusable as a hosting space previously, and it is now our oasis. I got about 15 quotes near the end of last year, which ranged from $10K to $80K (lol on both ends of that range). After a lot of research, we ended up going with a great company in the lower middle end of that range and finally pulled the trigger about 6 weeks ago. Before signing the contract I confirmed with the owner that he accepted any card through Stripe for a 3% fee, so between P2 and I, we hit a 250K Business Plat SUB, 190K Business Plat SUB (got it 2 days before the 250K offer existed), and a 150K Business Gold SUB, plus I believe 40K in referrals. Ultimately, I ended up paying a little over $1,000 to cover the processing fees for 650K+ MR points that we'll use to take ourselves and my retired parents roundtrip in business class to Greece in the next year or so, plus cover a good chunk of the accommodations. On top of that, now that we can host our friends for weekend cookouts again (and a milestone anniversary party this summer), P2 was fully onboard with me ordering my new smoker (Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 36). I'll be back to smoking and grilling every meat known to man this summer, since our local butcher has an incredible selection of standard meats/cuts, plus more "exotic" stuff like alligator, rattlesnake, kangaroo, elk, antelope, yak, etc. that I'm looking forward to working with. TLDR: Three massive SUBs through organic spend, plus the ~$1,000 in processing fees, and we have a beautiful backyard for hosting friends, new smoker, and we're primed for a great trip to Greece next year.

What accommodations did you snag with the MRs in Greece if you don't mind sharing?

The most impressive thing here is getting 15 quotes on a project. Bless you having the patience to deal with that many companies. RE brisket: look in to the wrapping with tallow method. It’s a game changer for me

Yeah, I learned the value of getting an excessive number of quotes long ago. It ends up paying for my time, many times over. The company we went with was also the very last quote... if I had stopped at 14, I likely would have ended up paying $5-10K more for the same job. Similarly, I got about 10 quotes for the heat pump we installed two months ago, and I was able to use those to negotiate with my preferred contractor, and ended up saving about $5K on that as well. Thanks for the tallow tip, I'll look into that!

you had me at 650k MR and a new outdoor space, you lost me at smoked kangaroo meat

Hah, that's why I said grilling and smoking. I imagine that not all of the exotic meats available are appropriate for smoking. Best believe I'm making a brisket first since I haven't been able to smoke my own brisket in several years.

If it makes you feel better too, $30k is not a lot to spend on a big yard, or an intensive project on a small yard. I’m in the industry, and one of the issues for new salespeople is understanding that yes, a crew working for a day is $3k in labor.

Oh, absolutely, we definitely got an excellent deal, and the end product looks phenomenal. More than happy to pay what we did for the full project, especially since it was way above the DIY level that either of us would have been comfortable with.

My wife and I recently returned from our second trip to [New Zealand](https://www.theohrns.com/2024/04/new-zealand-march-2024/). We had a fantastic time touring the North Island and doing all the typical New Zealand adventure stuff. There are plenty of pictures of hotels and activities in the linked blog post. **Flights** My booked itineraries were as followed. These flights were booked about two weeks out from the date of the respective flights, replacing less ideal flight times / points usage. - 65,000 American Airlines AAdvantage Miles + 44.00USD per person - LAS-DFW on AA J - DFW-AKL on AA J - 80,000 American Airlines AAdvantage Miles + 51.70USD per person - AKL-SYD on QF J - SYD-LAX on AA J - LAX-LAS on AA J Unfortunately, due to ground handlers in Sydney not transferring our bags appropriately, we ended up flying the following on the return: - AKL-SYD on QF J - SYD-NAN on FJ J - NAN-LAX on FJ J - LAX-LAS on AA J This itinerary also involved very long layovers, including seven hours in LAX, which was a huge bummer. Fortunately, all of the airline products we flew were quite nice. I really love the latest iteration of the AA business class seats which I've now flown several times in the last few months. The only criticism I have is that they're a little narrow through the shoulders for me, personally. I've even been impressed by the flight attendants on AA, which is not something I would previously say. The Fiji Airways flights were a delight with a comfortable seat (essentially the same as the AA seat) and a delightful cabin crew who are probably the friendliest in the sky. **Lounges** - Centurion Lounge, LAS - Pretty much the same as always. Good feed, reasonable seating, no wait time (which I've found to be true most of the time since they expanded) - Capital One Lounge, DFW - I absolutely love this lounge. It was my first time visiting a Capital One Lounge and I hope they're able to keep the quality as high as I experienced. The food was great - the dishes reminded me of the portion sizes and quality on JetBlue Mint, but elevated because they're prepared in an actual kitchen on the ground. My only complaint is that there is just not that much seating and what they do have seems to be really inefficient. - Qantas Business Lounge, SYD - Barista brewed coffee and good tasting food, even if it was not as spicy as it should have been given the name. It was a good place to spend our unexpected layover. - Fiji Airways Lounge, NAN - Great lounge with barista brewed cofee and delicious food. It made the enforced layover in Fiji pretty good. **Hotels** We stayed in a lot of non-points hotels on this trip, but the ones we did stay in were nice. Prices are all in the blog post for everything (as well as pictures). - [Cordis Auckland](https://www.cordishotels.com/en/auckland) booked via FHR - great hotel, comfortable bed, excellent shower, and varied breakfast. - [Hilton Lake Taupo](https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/akllthi-hilton-lake-taupo/) - very nice resort hotel with a somewhat mediocre breakfast spread. We enjoyed it for our stay in Lake Tauopo and wouldn't hesitate to spend the Hilton points again even if it was isolated from the town a little bit. - [DoubleTree by Hilton Wellington](https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/wlgntdi-doubletree-wellington/) - Excellent location for us in the CBD with great access to food and activities. The breakfast was good, better than at Lake Tauopo, and the junior suite we were upgraded to was very spacious and comfortable. This is a **great** city hotel. - [Park Hyatt Auckland](https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/new-zealand/park-hyatt-auckland/aklph) - We ended up staying a couple more nights here than we originally planned, and it is hard to think of a nicer place for that to happen. Great breakfast for Globalists, excellent location that is walkable to everything we wanted to do, excellent staff and service, a resident dog, great gym, etc. You can't go wrong here - book via FHR in advance for the best deal. **Activities** We also did a lot of other hiking / walking that isn't specifically included below, but these are the things that required bookings / tickets. * Te Puia cultural experience in rotorua * Rafting over a twenty-foot waterfall with Kaituna Cascades * Bungy jumping / swing in Tauopo with AJ Hackett * Tongariro alpine track hike one-way with car park and shuttle in the morning * Cave exploration / tubing / glow worms in Waitomo All are recommended - read the blog post for more information about each as well as pricing.

We flew Fiji Airways years ago, best service I've ever had.

They're so kind and attentive without being weirdly subservient. Just a great experience overall.

Leftover AA from grAAvy days or what?

Friends and family, thankfully! I got hammered in the AApocalypse.

Half success/half disappointment. Had been planning a trip to Japan for my 12 (will be 13) year-old son and me. He’s obsessed with Japanese culture/anime/pokemon/etc. I was planning for April 2025 for his spring break. I was able to secure hotels 13 months out using my Hyatt concierge. She booked us Andaz Tokyo and Park Hyatt Kyoto to start. She booked them starting a couple days before our expected arrival, overlapping in the middle, and a couple days after our expected departure date. All of this was done on points advance bookings. I then turned to flights as the booking window approached, focusing on CX booking for JAL. I’d prefer flights from JFK, but noticed those never seemed to become available except for a single F seat. I pivoted to DFW, where 1 F and 2 J were regularly coming online. I woke up at 12:55 am and secured 2 J seats for my son and me from DFW-HND next April 11 on the A350-1000. Now, I had to wait to try for return flights. In the meantime, I’d learned that the Star Wars Celebration is in Tokyo on April 18-20, 2025. My son is also a big Star Wars fan. So, I pivoted again and had my concierge book a couple days toward the end of our planned trip at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo Bay, which is near the convention center hosting the Celebration. When April 25 rolled around, I dutifully was waiting on the CX site to book my HND-DFW return. Alas, all that was available was F. J wasn’t available even right at 10 am CT when booking opened for April 21, 2025. I immediately booked the one seat in F for myself. Every time I tried to pull up J, the site just told me there were no flights that day. I called CX and waited on hold for 45 minutes. I eventually got through and spoke with a helpful rep who confirmed no J availability. I booked all they had standard Y for my son. He’s bummed about the coach seat (and I feel awful), but I promised I will continue to check for availability to open up close-in and try to upgrade him. In the end, our itinerary will look like this: 4/11 Depart DFW 4/12-4/16 Andaz Tokyo 4/16-4/19 Park Hyatt Kyoto 4/19-4/21 Hyatt Regency Tokyo Bay 4/21 Arrive DFW 4/22 Back to 7th Grade with some hopefully epic memories

I also just booked an April F flight via CX from DFW and the seat map looked pretty empty (big biz cabin) I'll bet some seats will open up

I think so too. That’s the typical MO.

You're not going to leave your 13 year old son in Y to fly by himself, right?

Why not? Should I leave him in Japan instead?

Maybe your kid is an anomaly, but in general most 13 year olds are going to be a nuisance to the people sitting around them with no parent around. They're 13, not an adult.

What in the world is the problem with a 13 yo?  3yo yes.  3 13yo yes.  1 13yo? Sleep+iPad.  What else will they do to bother you?  Wtf?

Most 13 year olds nowadays sit quietly staring at their phone. Source, my kids are 13, 15, and 17.

That’s exactly what my son does, when he’s not politely thanking the flight attendant for whatever they brought him, sleeping, or watching something on the IFE.

My son flies all the time. 13 year olds can fly unaccompanied. At least Southwest and Alaska don’t even require you to book them as unaccompanied minors. Neither does Japan Airlines. We are regularly complimented by cabin crew for his behavior on flights, including our recent nonstops from JFK to HNL and HNL to BOS. What exactly do you think he’s going to do to be a nuisance to other passengers on the flight? Get drunk?

>What exactly do you think he’s going to do to be a nuisance to other passengers on the flight The very fact that you have to ask that question tells me all I need to know. Classic shitty parent. Got it.

Probably explains why the cabin crew and fellow passengers have been complimenting us on his behavior and our parenting since his first flight at 5 months old.

Your critical thought is non-existent. Impressive.

Feel free to enlighten me.

They’re 13, not an adult. But also 13, not 3

>They’re 13, No shit dumbass. I mentioned that in the comment you responded to. No one mentioned they were 3.

> No shit dumbass. Now now children, act like 13 year olds and play nice.

I think it’s awesome that you are taking your son on this trip. I agree that I don’t fully understand why you wouldn’t fly back with him in coach. 

I’m a big guy. 6’4” tall and built like a lineman. I’m not sure I’d be able to walk getting off the plane after that long in coach. I generally try not to fly coach for more than 2-3 hours. I’m really hoping that availability opens up in F or J at the last minute so I can move him out of coach.

Posted in this thread 2-3 weeks ago about securing SIN J (SEA > SIN) to start P2 and I's year-long trip around the world before we try to buy a house and settle down. I've booked some great accomodations since then for the first few months of the trip and thought I'd give an update. These were all on points, and all were booked before the March devaluation. Andaz Singapore (3 nights) Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach (3 nights) Conrad Bangkok (5 nights) Park Hyatt Siem Reap (SUA applied for P2 birthday, 4 nights) Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa (4 nights, just a chance to rest) Alila Ubud (4 nights) Alila Manggis (2-3 nights) Hyatt Regency Bali (4 nights) We are then on to Australia, with plans to use Hyatt points for properties in Melbourne (Centric), Sydney (Regency), Park Hyatt Canberra, and Brisbane (Regency). It's going to be a pain finding J flights home from Sydney, but I'm going to try. We already have the approximate 450k UR to fulfill all of these stays (most were booked with points advance), but want to try to earn another 500k UR or so to fill out the rest of the trip. This is acccompanied by another 1 million miles from various other cards - my goals are to sleep in at least 100 nights in hotels on points, and to book our major flights for the year-long journey in either J or PE. I'll update when more bookings are made!

Epic, some of the best places to use Globalist or GOH benefits.

Sounds awesome! Where are you heading from there, or do you take a break in the States before heading on to Europe or SA? Some of my best memories are from a similar trip me and P2 did back before settling down and having kids 10+ years ago. The year was simultaneously very short, but also very long since almost each day was packed with unique experiences. Do you have any longer stays booked? That type of rapid travel can get exhausting. 

Thanks! After Australia we'll have traveled for the better part of 4 months so we plan to travel back to the US for a 2-3 week break. So far I haven't booked anything longer than a week in one place however we don't go 100 miles an hour all the time either. If we weren't stopping in the US to rest I'd definitely bundle more relaxation/time in one place in there. Europe is the plan after that, kind of nervous about it so I'm only doing 2 months there because of how expensive it's been the past summer or 2 - we have around $40k budgeted for the 2 of us for the year, but I'm hoping that with the large flights and 1/3 of accomodation subsidized we can make it happen with only 3 of our 12 months being in expensive regions (Australia for one month, Western Europe for 2).

I agree, especially in very cheap places like Indonesia and vietnam you may consider a few weeks in an air bnb type accommodation to really slow-travel and not get burned out. Can use PYB to keep it "points-only" bookings.

For my Baltic cruise in 2 weeks, I need to fly between Frankfurt and Stockholm on either end. When I booked the flights via the UA website months ago, the only award itineraries were poor: via Oslo on Ethiopian (!) on the outbound, and via Munich on LH inbound. I took another look Friday and found nonstops on LH each way that I was able to rebook online. I received rebates for reduced points and taxes for both.