Originally Posted by
heathpack
Currently have 100,000 miles/points each with British Airways, American Airlines and Starwood Preferred Guest. Also have 15,000 Delta Skymiles. The SPG points can be transferred to many airlines to yield 125,000 miles. We can keep all the miles/points alive indef with credit card spending, but we were planning on cancelling the BA Visa at the end of this year. We generally earn about 40,000 Starpoints/year, but everything else is just CC bonuses.
We own a timeshare and will ideally trade the TS for another one somewhere, in which case we would not need to use the SPG points for lodging. Our best bets for timeshare trades will be: Thailand, UK/Ireland, Spain/Portugal, Mexico, Caribbean, Maui, Kauai.
We would like to go to the Galapagos sometime in the next 5 years,.....
The possibilities are indeed endless. You have enough miles to fly just about anywhere on this planet. I would first figure out where you want to go, in what class of service, and then figure out how many miles you need. Perhaps others can chime in with suggestions, but there are about as many suggestions as there are people on FlyerTalk. Maybe you'd be happy w/Thailand, etc. (your timeshare locations), or maybe you want something different. Your budget comes into play as well.
Here is what I suggest against: BA charges a hefty fuel surcharge if flying BA (think $400 for econ to Europe, more for biz/first class). If using BA miles, I would fly their partners (LAN to South America, Cathay Pacific to Asia, etc.). These are intricacies. First figure out a handful of choices for destinations and unless they're really remote, AA/BA or their partners will get you there. If not, you can look at converting your SPG to miles but you'll only have enough for Y.
Re: Galapagos, not many airlines fly there, so find who does and see if they partner with any of your airlines. You certainly won't find any SPG hotels there to spend your points.
I hope I've narrowed it down for your somewhat.