FamilyMan2222

Hi everyone-

I'm trying to plan a 10 year anniversary trip for my wife and I this summer. I'm looking to do something for about 2 weeks. We have lots of SPG points and AA miles so would like to be able to do it with all points. As far as what I'm looking for, we want to do a 2 stop vacation with one stop slightly more active (could just be exploring a cool city) and one longer stop in an amazing, quiet beach location. I'm wanting to do something a bit different so no Mexico/Carrribean and have recently been to Rome, Paris, Barcelona and Athens/Greek islands so would avoid those cities. I'm Ambassador with SPG so hoping to get a nice upgrade but would plan to use SNA for most of the trip.

We've only been to NA and Europe, so SE Asia is tempting. Also looking at some of the island properties in Europe. We LOVE food so st least one stop must be a great food destination, both would be ideal. Will go anywhere, just need to figure out how to do it with miles and points. (Have about 300k AA and 375k SPG if helpful) Would be departing from DFW if that makes a difference.

Thanks for all of the help in advance!

dtwdoc

Here's an idea for two stops - Hong Kong + Bali, or Hong Kong + Thai islands. W Hong Kong is very nice and has a great view of the harbor. Also, HK offers great food. Both Bali and Thailand offer the beach atmosphere you're seeking, and both have great SPG properties (Bali - St. Regis, W, Thailand - numerous). Personally, I prefer Thai food lol. As for getting there, nothing beats FC in Cathay

margarita girl

Singapore and Langkawi, Malaysia. It's what I did in January. ^

dtwdoc

Actually, this sounds pretty awesome. Singapore is a fantastic food destination, and Langkawi is beautiful

bdemaria

Are you looking to book award flights as well? If so, start w/the flights. Summer award availability on long haul AA/OW flights can be tough to find - esp. for 2 pax who (presumably) want to fly business or first.

FamilyMan2222

Yes, want to use miles which is why I was hoping the forum could help me figure out how to use miles to hit up the two SPG destinations. HK and Koh Sumai was one I was thinking about. Singapore also would be pretty awesome.

FamilyMan2222

Also, for the "relaxing" stop, would like a resort with a phenomenal room/view. Some place where we'd want to lay around all day if we felt like it.

So options so far:

HK (W maybe?)
Koh Sumai (LM or W)

Singapore (St Regis)
Langkawi (Andaman)

Others options? Can also be outside of Asia. Something like Seville and Mallorca.

margarita girl

Do you have SPG status? I got a phenomenal suite upgrade with a private pool at the Andaman. The beach on the edge of the jungle was breathtaking too. Monkeys everywhere.

FamilyMan2222

Yes, I have Ambassador status.

dtwdoc

Well, since you brought up Spain...

Start off in north central Spain/Basque region. Spend a few nights in San Sebastian (Hotel Maria Cristina) and eat your way through the local tapas bars as well as some of the best known restaurants in the world (Mugaritz, Martin Berasategui, etc). Rent a car and make the short picturesque ~1.5 hr drive to La Rioja and enjoy the wine region. Stay at Marques de Riscal and spend a few days visiting the surrounding wine region and drinking your fair share of tempranillo (make trips to nearby tiny towns La Guardia, Villabuena, etc). Once you're ready for the beach, head east to either Le Meridien Ra Beach Resort or St Regis Mallorca.

DSI

Wish I had your point balance and congrats.

The best flight with easy availability will be the EY route out of DFW to AUH to XYZ. I doubt you'll be able to get to first class seats with CX and maybe two business seats. I'd never fly 20 hours in a crummy seat just to get a good value on redemptions nor would I just get fly somewhere on a nice seat because it's free. That F flight will be a great way to start off the trip--a glass of nice champagne!

My advice would be to pick what you want to do even if it costs a little money and then use your miles to make that happen. But if you don't have that budget then stick to SPG.

I'd either take EY on DFW > AUH > KAT (take that $250 air flight around Everest) to Bhutan (do COMO 5 day package) and then head to Thailand (south) and back. Sse the free nights in Thailand, pay elsewhere.

Or EY DFW > AUH > Maldives (don't do the SPG hotels there) to Thailand (Bkk > Chiang Mai > REP > [great wall if you can add two extra days] > HKG (W hotel, use SNA) with SPG hotels) or Malaysia (with a trip to Borneo to see Orangutans) and then back through CX.

Sure you'd pay for a few cheap flights and some nights (those Thai flights are like $50), but I think that the tendency to do every hotel night for free will make you feel like you've got to get a $400 hotel room rate for 6000 points and all that stuff.

What will you look back in 2 years with more happiness: the satisfaction of doing it for as cheaply as possible or doing your dream trip?

We're also in our mid-lower 30's and recently did a 10 year with option B.

Europe is awesome and I love wine and great food. But try somewhere otherworldly.

FamilyMan2222

This is extremely helpful, thank you! My one concern is being a bit too fragmented with the trip. With a house full of young kids and a career where I am constantly in planes, I think we'll want to use most of the 2 weeks to really relax and with 4-5 destinations I think we'll be bouncing around too much. My ideal would be a week in an exotic beach destination with a week for fun exploring in 1-2 more active destinations.

Also helpful to note that we're not history or architecture buffs. We'd prioritize food over everything (we travel to eat and will eat at 10-20 places in one day). So if I'm looking at a city where we can visit temples/museums or restaurants/markets, I'd pick the latter every time. (Ideal is both)

With that, any adjustments to your itinerary? Maybe DFW-->HKG->Malaysia-->Thailand islands? Or DFW-->Maldives (through AUH) --> Malaysia/HKG? Not sure how that works with flights, but you are right, we definitely want to do this in First or Business at the minimum. By the way, why no SPG in Maldives? Is the W not any good?

Thanks!

grandgourmand

I'm in a similar position planning a 10-year anniversary trip (for next year, though).

Maldives is on my list because it's on my wife's list. Otherwise I wouldn't go there.

If I were you, I'd do something like:
(1) Use AA points to fly EY all the way to KL or Sin (I assume you can connect)
(2) Explore those places a bit, but use them as a launching pad for 2 side trips
(3) Side trip #1: Penang. I've never been but from what I've read/seen on TV/heard on FT...it's a major food destination
(4) Side trip #2: Langkawi. Never been either, but other commenters seem to like it.
(5) To mix it up, fly back over the pacific on CX or JAL. They don't go to DFW, but you could connect I guess. Availability might be an issue.

Both of the side trip places are close to KL or SIN so you're minimizing time on planes and maximizing time in destinations.

Alternatives to Langkawi (that have piqued my interest) are Phu Quoc (Vietnam) and Sihankoukville (Cambodia).They are pretty close, but not sure about flights/connections.

Cheers and happy anniversary.

FamilyMan2222

Thanks for the reply. I like that idea, I'm just having an issue with flights.

I am looking in all of June and July and not having much luck. I found a EY DFW-AUH-SL that has business class availability (no first), but there are no return flights either with EY (AUH-DFW) or through CY (HKG-DFW) 2 weeks later. (Checked EY site and BA for CY flights)

Anything else I should be checking for flights?

illico

Japan Airlines, perhaps.