Hi everyone,
I was able to get good flights to the Maldives from May 31 - June 5, and now I've moved onto figuring out the hotel situation.
I'm looking for tips & tricks on the best way to stay in the Maldives FlyerTalk-style ...awesome hotels for points or for big discounts.
Here's my mileage balances right now:
Marriott - 220K Points / Platinum Status
AA - 200K Miles / Platinum Status
Hilton - 45K Points (no status)
Hyatt - 32K Points (no status)
Priority Club - 5K Points (no status)
SPG - 0 points / no status
Unfortunately, Marriott has nothing to offer in the Maldives, so Platinum status is useless for this trip. It seems Starwood has the best offerings of the major hotel chains plus 1 Hyatt and 2 Hiltons.
We've always been open to staying at multiple hotels to leverage all of our points, but given how expensive the transportation / flights ($400-500 roundtrip per person) are between the hotels & airport, we're thinking that staying in 1 hotel is the best option.
We're leaning towards the SPG route, and asking for a platinum status match. I have 4 hotel nights scheduled this month that I could transfer over to SPG instead of Marriott.
Even if I get my SPG Platinum status, I need to get some points pretty quickly in there. Any ideas (credit card sign up bonuses, bank accounts etc.) to fill-up that account quickly?
The other option was the 2-night Hyatt Credit Card from Chase, although I have already signed up for the Marriott and Continental card last month
Would appreciate feedback / suggestions on the best hotel award method to stay in the Maldives without breaking the bank.