Hobokendoit

I've probably spent the better part of 3 days pouring through flyertalk threads, TPG, OMAAT, etc. trying to figure out the best way to crack this nut, but I haven't found any aha moments.

Hotels I have pretty much figured out, but the flights are perplexing. Not buying into a ONEWORLD program has bitten me in the butt.

I have a ton of miles spread across different programs, and haven't found a winning flight combination yet or best way to transfer.

200k United Points
120k AMEX MR
130k CHASE UR
51k Hawaiian Points
100k SPG Starpoints
100k Southwest RR Points

Here's the options I've looked at so far:
1. United to Hawaii round trip, then put a Hawaiian Airlines LAX-PPT round trip inside of it by transferring AMEX into Hawaiian. United's availability is not ideal for August 2016, so my only option there would be to push my honeymoon back by a couple weeks into September.

2. Transfer Amex and Chase into Korean Air (~250k miles) and take my chances with Korean Air booking NYC - LAX - PPT - HNL - NYC. LAX to PPT would be the Air France flight. Might need to pay for the PPT to HNL leg out of pocket, and I've heard Korean Air is notoriously difficult for booking reward flights that don't involve Korea.

3. Pay flights out of pocket for coach only and use Chase UR and Amex MR to cover nicer hotels in the region. My fiancee would have to trust me that we would get value out of the extra miles we would accrue throughout the rest of our married life.

4. Transfer Amex into Hawaiian and book the HNL-PPT flight round trip. Then, use Chase UR to buy round trip EWR-HNL and use United Miles for Upgrade. Has anyone ever successfully upgraded a flight bought through Chase's portal? I'm not sure this is even possible (Chase may book flights at certain United fare classes only)

Again, I'm exhausted looking so wondering if the field has any experience on any of this? Thanks so so so much.

-Ken

number_6

Have you considered Air NZ via AKL to PPT (viable if HNL is not mandatory? May have better availability for your dates. Otherwise buying coach for the shortest routing (presumably TN) and splurging on hotels is probably the wisest option. It's a short enough flight to PPT not to need J for comfort.

joejones

Any reason you really need to visit both Hawaii and Tahiti? You'd have far more options if you removed or changed one of those destinations. There is only one nonstop HNL-PPT flight and it only operates once a week.

CPMaverick

What about DL Skymiles? I don't know if it is a good value, but SPG and AMEX can convert to Skymiles.

Skymiles are good for Delta, Air France, and Air Tahiti Nui, which would seem to give you a lot of options for HNL and PPT.

You can look for AF availability on delta.com, but you will need to call for Air Tahiti Nui availability.

SanDiego1K

Ken, welcome to FlyerTalk.

I have flown LAX-PPT RT twice using airline miles. The two options are Air Tahiti Nui, using AA miles, and Air France, using Delta (or Air France) miles. I would attempt to fly one direction direct to Tahiti, and then the other via Hawaii as it appears your honeymoon is a mix of the two destinations. You can move Starwood points to AA or Delta. 100K Starwood points will yield 125K AA or Delta. Be aware that the max you can move in one day is 79,999. Thus, you'd want to only move 60K at a time to maximize the 5K on 20K bonus. You can move AMEX points to Delta. I'd look for availability before I moved points.

You mention moving AMEX Membership Reward points to Korean Airlines. That's not an option for US based members.

Hilton is strong in Tahiti. I like the Hilton Moorea, and it is easier/less expensive to go to Moorea than to Bora Bora. It's a matter of taste, and I happen to prefer Moorea. They are both beautiful islands. Moorea has people who live and work there; it isn't just an island for tourists.

CPMaverick

You can also book Air Tahiti Nui with Delta Skymiles

Hobokendoit

Hey guys, Thanks for all the insight!! Flights booked!!

LAX -> PPT on Air France, 30k miles transferred from AMEX per person, $180 fuel fee
PPT -> OGG on Hawaiian, 42k miles plus $50 per person
OGG -> EWR on United, 22k plus $5 per person

Original airfare would have been about $5-8k for two people depending on stops, etc. with fuel fees it comes out to about $400 instead. The only missing link is NYC to LAX to start the journey, but not worried about that in the least...I'll use either United or Southwest points to get us there.

Wouldn't have been able to do it all without your help! Thank you very very much!

As for places to stay during our two weeks in the FP, it looks like Moorea is a clear favorite. With my IHG Reward points do you think it's better to use them at Tahiti, Moorea or both? Otherwise I would stay at the Le Meridien in Tahiti or Hilton Moorea.

I should note that one of our favorite things to do is snorkel...

Thanks again!!
Ken

CPMaverick

You should have been able to get the NYC-LAX flights as part of the AF ticket- no extra charge. Could you not find availability?

I'll be staying at the Intercontinental Moorea and the Intercontinental Tahiti in January, I'll post up and let you know my experience. The only downside to using points is I am not sure how to get the overwater bungalow (but will try!). The points were considerably less there than at the Hilton Moorea.

SanDiego1K

I've stayed at IC Moorea and Hilton Moorea. It's a first world issue, and I'm not trying to make any comment about CPMaverick's choice. IC Moorea had deep water with no fish outside our bungalow. Motorized boats went by creating a wake. Our otw bungalow at Hilton Moorea had snorkeling in a calm cove where only kayaks and not motorized boats were allowed. It was magic to be able to snorkel right off our deck or to see fish under the glass bottom in our living room. We've sent two couples to Hilton Moorea on their honeymoons, as recently as this summer.

You'll wonder why you flew so far if you chose to stay at Le Meridien. I stayed there one night coming or going. I wouldn't recommend it for longer.

Hobokendoit

SanDiego that's very valuable input. Seems like the right thing to do is splurge for the Hilton in Moorea.

Would you recommend the IC in Tahiti? Or is there another mystery property I should be looking at? Fiancee had others turn her off from Bora Bora saying there's no real "beaches" per se and snorkeling is much better in Tahiti and Moorea.

CPMaverick

No offense taken at all. Thanks for your input. Maybe it isn't worth getting the bungalow after all... was the wake quite disruptive?

We can't afford the Hilton essentially, so the IC is the best choice for us. Currently booked in a regular room but will consider paying to upgrade to a bungalow if it isn't too expensive (hoping but not expecting a comp).

SanDiego1K

I love a water view and I'll take it however I can get it. And yes, during the day with the boats buzzing by, there was a lot of sound and quite a wake. But there are bungalows in other locations. We might have hit the opposite of a sweet spot. One thing of note at the Moorea IC is the boat ride to a close island where you can see stingray. Do it. It was great.

SanDiego1K

I haven't stayed there. The location looks interesting. Here is the property thread. If you rent a car, stop at the James Normal Hall Museum. He wrote Mutiny on the Bounty. His son, Conrad Hall, was a famous cinematographer who won acclaim for his work filming Annette Bening in American Beauty as well as other movies.

Hobokendoit

Thank you all for your help!!!

MissVacation

We stayed at IC Tahiti for two nights over this past Christmas, it's a nice property but not at the same spectacular level as Moorea or Bora Bora. There's no real beach in the IC Tahiti! Hilton Moorea has the beautiful private beach with the overwater bungalows as backdrop, postcard perfect! If you want to see pics of IC Tahiti, I posted pics in my blog:

https://missvacation.wordpress.com/2...part-1-tahiti/

Photos of other French Polynesia islands:

https://missvacation.wordpress.com/c...ynesia-travel/