Marriott Rewards (including Ritz-Carlton) - Help me plan my honeymoon :)

Hey all, long time lurker here. I have learned quite a bit from these forums, and would like to request some specific help from the experts. I have 250,000 points right now, and should have close to 400,000 by next May. I am getting married next July (2013) so I have quite a bit of time, but I'm trying to get everything figured out now while I am not so busy with work. We are located in Orlando, Florida, and are considering Hawaii for obvious reasons, but are open to pretty much any suggestion. I am hoping some of you expert travelers out there can suggest some nice locations, and the best way to take advantage of my points. Thanks in advance!

* First, Welcome to Flyertalk!

* Second, Congrats on your engagement/upcoming marriage!

* Third, you might want to do a search in this forum (upper right corner of this forum) using the search term honeymoon. Yes, it will bring up a lot of threads you'll have to peruse. But I know people in the last year asked for some ideas re: their honeymoons, including in Hawaii, and FTers responded, so those threads should give you some ideas.

Cheers.

Consensus here is that travel package of 7 days + miles is the best deal. At 400k points you should be in good shape to take advantage of it.

what are the expectations/interests to do on vacation?

What is your (expected during your stay) status with Marriott? That would also play a role in the suggestions.

Do you have a passport and want to travel abroad?

SkiAdcock - Thanks for the advice. I will try a search. I have read through several threads on the subject, but I guess I am more interested in the best/most efficient way to utilize my points, not just get suggestions on locale.

iztok - We are pretty adventurous, in the sense that we would be willing to try pretty much anything. I know my fiance is looking forward to just relaxing by a beach, but if I were able to find a good deal on a more exotic trip, she would be fine with that as well. We toyed with the idea of going somewhere abroad, but I think the prices of flights would hold us back. I will be Platinum in a couple months and therefore should be Platinum during our trip. I will be interested to hear your thoughts on how this might affect our decision. We don't currently have passports but that is not a factor in my decision at this point; if we decide to go somewhere out of the country we would gladly get passports.

Thanks for your quick replies, and I look forward to hearing more of yours (and others) thoughts.

Look at this to get the miles needed:

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/morepack.mi

Then look at *A mileage options: http://www.usairways.com/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_621C22DB9F3FADEF3B389748FB4BA280398F0000/filename/partnerawardtravel.pdf

As you can see you can get nice set of points to fly (in coach albeit) to pretty much everywhere you would like. US once a year offers double the miles transfer so that would be a great option.

Some resorts offer free breakfast (See this: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marriott-rewards/1078647-master-thread-domestic-international-executive-lounges-open-closed-weekends.html ) while some will make you pay everything.

I sent my daughter and her hubby to Hawaii on miles and points and they were happy with (they were staying on a Big Island) it.

What are the activities you wish to do besides pool? Scuba diving? Snorkeling? Bar hopping? Sun bathing? Discovering old cities in Europe? (Granted not so great as the beach but some Americans love plases like Prague, Paris, Venice, Munich etc...)

Ok so if I'm looking at the PDF correctly, to travel from the contiguous US to Hawaii, we would need 40k miles per person. Does it not matter where you fly from? Flying from say LA to Hawaii would require the same amount of miles as flying from Florida to Hawaii? That seems counter-intuitive.

Then looking at the Air and Hotel Packages, I would use package 1, because that includes US Airways, and would need the third column, 100,000 miles.

So I could stay at a Cat 7 for 310k, cat 8 for 340k, or tier 1-3 for 400k, if I am looking at everything correctly. So it looks like I should qualify for any of these options if I travel as much as I expect to this year.

As far as activities, I am Scuba certified but she is not, and I doubt she will have time to get certified before the wedding. We are a young couple, so snorkeling and bar-hopping would be fun. We love to fish, and I like to golf. So I guess it sounds like a tropical location would be best for us.

I have heard of people exchanging points for cash to use at Marriotts. Do you know the exchange rate for the cash? Do you think this is an option to consider?

Thanks for all your help so far!

BTW - if you don't have a Marriott Visa, consider getting one. You get a lot of points via the sign-up bonus, plus a Cat 1-5 cert, etc.

Cheers.

I gave you US just as an example as it is usually easiest to exchange miles for *A flights. (Make sure it is *A not US only as it will cost you more!)

It doesn't matter where from continental US you fly. Also check the Caribbean as the reward is only 35k miles.

Plus check how much will it cost for your breakfast and resort fees at various places. Check the thread which places offer free breakfast for Platinums.

As a Platinum you will be able to cash 135k points for $1000 in Marriott cheques (20 x $50) to be used at many properties, not sure if RC will accept them or not.

Does anyone else have any thoughts/advice for me?

Thanks!

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/curbr-renaissance-curacao-resort-and-casino/

:) You should have enough miles and points to enjoy it.

Hey all, long time lurker here. I have learned quite a bit from these forums, and would like to request some specific help from the experts. I have 250,000 points right now, and should have close to 400,000 by next May. I am getting married next July (2013) so I have quite a bit of time, but I'm trying to get everything figured out now while I am not so busy with work. We are located in Orlando, Florida, and are considering Hawaii for obvious reasons, but are open to pretty much any suggestion. I am hoping some of you expert travelers out there can suggest some nice locations, and the best way to take advantage of my points. Thanks in advance!

I'd look at Central America given your location....I've been to Hawaii a few times (have friends that go all the time) but I prefer Central America as it's less crouded with tourist and is just as beautiful and doesn't seem to have the cost premium Hawaii does (ok shorter recap - save Hawaii for another time, it is worth visiting....do Central America for the big trip)

You want beach? You want a memorable experience?
Look at a 7 night hotel + air package. And let's go category 8; it's still less than 400,000 points.

How about JW Marriott Cannes? Or Scrub Island Resort Spa and Marina in the British Virgn Islands?
Personally, I'd go for the JW Cannes.

For my honeymoon, we did one week in Florence Italy at the Westin Excelsior and The Grand Hotel (now the St Regis Florence) and a week at the Europa and Regina in Venice Italy. That was when I was a Starwood plat. Very memorable honeymoon.

[QUOTE=iflyjetz;18829584]How about JW Marriott Cannes? Or Scrub Island Resort Spa and Marina in the British Virgn Islands?
Personally, I'd go for the JW Cannes.
QUOTE]

That sounds really awesome. I just went to the JW Cannes website out of curiousity and tried to look at reservations for next June (latest date available) and there were no rooms available for check-in using points in June. The latest dates available to use points were in April. Is this just a matter of waiting a little while and the later dates will become available? Or should I not expect for those dates to ever open up?

Also, if you do the Hotel + Air Package, is the availability the same as if you look for a reservation using points, or is there more availability since you are using a certificate?

Thanks guys!

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

As many mentioned Central America is probably your best bet.

JW Guanacaste for example and plenty other options.

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sjojw-jw-marriott-guanacaste-resort-and-spa/

Just reading your initial post, it seems you have not done a lot of international travel (no passports comment).

While you're on a board with a lot of travellers, i think you need to have a discussion with your travel companion to determine what it is you guys want in a honeymoon.

For me - lying on a beach for 7 days would drive me crazy. My colleague at work refuses to go to any carribean resort "The food might make me ill". He stays in North America, or Hawaii.

I think that if this is you - then taking on an international trip to somewhere where you have never been might not be the best choice for a honeymoon.

If you wanted adventure, I would recommend going over the top at a european or asian beach resort, with a trip there in true First Class.

If you want some familiarity, I would recommend going to Hawaii or San Juan where it is slightly, err American, you can enjoy each other and the comforts of home, knowing that you're likely to get tanned and eat well without getting sick.