MJJW1985

Hello,
I'm debating about applying for Hilton Surpass credit card since their 100K offer expires tomorrow on May 31st in US and I was hoping that maybe someone can answer couple of questions for me.
I'm planning to visit Conrad Maldives Rangali for my honeymoon between Aug-Nov 2018. If both of us apply for this credit card we would get 200K total and 2 free weekend nighs certificates for "standard" room.

Q1 - Is it possible to combine both certificates under 1 reservation or would we need to have 1 for 1 night and then 2nd one for the rest of the stay

Q2 - Since it's going to be our honeymoon for sure we would like to book overwater villa. Is it possible to upgrade from "standard" room certificate to the overwatter villa?

Q3 - Do we get 5th night free in this hotel as Gold member? I was checking the prices on Hilton app few times for 7 nights but I've never seen free night on their pricing calculation..?

Q4 - I believe that I found answer for this one alrady but just to confirm, since I'm Hilton Honors Gold Member for couple of years it's still not possible to book standardard room and get free status upgrade to overwater villa correct?

Any other recommendations for the best way to save some $ on the overwater villa for the trip in Q3 2018?

Thank You

hyperzulu

I haven't been able to find anywhere that states certificates are able to be pooled together, just points. Once you do book an award night, it no longer matters whether the award redemption was from points or a certificate - the certificate is actually converted into points for the redemption. This is done by an Honors rep when you call them to make the redemption. So the upgrade to an overwater villa as a cash upsell is done following the process in the wiki here.

As a Honors Gold member, you can take advantage of a fifth night free on award redemptions. Book five nights and you'll be charged for four. And free upgrades are not impossible, but unlikely and status wouldn't qualify you. It would be best to secure the upgrade you want early. When I checked a few weeks before my arrival, they only had deluxe water villas left to upgrade (low season).

It never hurts to ask for a discount on the upcharge to an overwater villa. I asked for one after the initial request for a quote and it was granted.

mnredfox

Looking to come here in early Sep for a honeymoon. Too bad I didn't get married before the insane HH devaluation but that's a different story.

Only staying here for 4 nights/4 days.

BV is 95K/night, WV is 224K/night. Would love a WV experience but don't want to blow that many points so I was thinking of booking 2 nights in BV and 2 nights in WV.

But am I thinking correctly in that it might be better for me to book a BV for 4 nights and then upgrade with cash? How does the upgrade work? Do you reach out to the hotel to see the rate? From the wiki seems like it's shoulder season so maybe $105/night? Can I only pay to upgrade 2 of the 4 nights?

If I am booking all at the BV rate (95K/night) then I'll probably stay an extra 5th night to get the free night Hilton offers. I assume folks would recommend a 5th night here vs a 3rd night in Koh Samui? (other planned destination on honeymoon).

MaldivesFreak

Yes, book BV and upgrade with cash. You will usually receive an email with upgrade prices shortly after your booking is made but if not, just send an email to their reservations department and ask. You can upgrade as many or as few nights as you wish. Chek out my 'Guidelines For Paid Upgrades' post linked in my sig.

Make sure you do use 5th Night Free and it's definitely worth it to use that extra night at Rangali. To maximize your time at the resort, try to get into MLE the previous night so you can get the first seaplane out. If you can't, then the earlier your flight gets into MLE the better. When departing, get a redeye so you'll stay at the resort until late afternoon (last seaplane flights usually leave around 6:30PM). You'll get a good half a day (of daylight that is) extra if you do it that way.

MaldivesFreak

Hi MJJW1985 and welcome to FT!

Debate no longer. Apply for the cards. You won't regret it!

Check out my 'Guidelines For Paid Upgrades' post for more info about upgrades and there are some tips to hopefully keep the price down. Click on the link in my signature, just below this text.

hyperzulu

I've stayed at the CKS. It's a nice resort, but the food was lacking. Either eat dinner at Jahn or leave the resort via cab for outside options. The restaurants were all pretty expensive for Thailand but the food at most of their restaurants failed me. And do not eat in your villa unless you want an ant infestation.

No doubt use the extra night at Rangali. Better food, nicer views, amazing beach you can actually swim in... But don't let my views discourage your stay in KS. Just that I was fine with just two nights in Koh Samui.

MJJW1985

Thank You for the advice. Really the biggest concern is regarding the use of the free night certificates. If they would allow us to use both of them during 1 stay and allow us to upgrade from "standard" to overwater bungalow then I would apply right away for sure! I suspect that I will not be able to get answer on it even if I call the resort since those certificates are new (they are different than the ones that come with Citi Reserve) and card members will get it after 1 year anniversary so in a year.
Also any recommendation when is the best time to book the resort? How many months prior the arrival or any recommendation for the month between August - November?

Once again thank you for your help

PS. So I just went through the last 50 pages of the topic and just to confirm that I understand it all correctly
- I should book 7 nights for standard room with my points (95K points/night)
- I will get 5th night free
- I should try to use 2 free weekend night certificates for standard room
- Once all applies I should try to upgrade it all with cash to overwater villa

My understanding is that this is all standard practice and if I email Conrad reservation representatives and present it to them that way they will not cause me any issues because I'm trying to "rip them off"?

brodielayne

You can each use a certificate, it will just be under different reservations, which the resort or HHonors can link so you do not have to move rooms.

MaldivesFreak

It's possible to use both certificates under 1 reservation but only if they are from one Hilton account. In your case there are two separate certificates which means you'll need separate accounts to use them, so you'd need to both be Hilton members. After opening Hilton accounts you'd have to make 2 separate bookings; one for each of those nights (one for yourself and one for your partner). Easy.

Have you looked at the T&C of the certificates? It may allow 'gifting' of the certificates to another person or Hilton member but that's not likely.

And regarding your last question. You are staying for a total of 7 nights, correct? In that case:
- I should book 7 nights for standard room with my points (95K points/night) - No. Only book 5 nights with points
- I will get 5th night free - Correct
- I should try to use 2 free weekend night certificates for standard room - Yes, for the 6th and 7th nights
- Once all applies I should try to upgrade it all with cash to overwater villa - Correct

Everything is legit and above board! Relax!

Sorry, forgot to answer your question
For the booking, do it 2, preferably 3 months out to avoid any disappointment. If you want upgrades, book as early as possible. Don't wait until it's only a month or two out, you could miss out on the WV you want.

MJJW1985

THANK YOU so much for all your help guys! I really appreciate it!

MaldivesFreak

Having stayed at both I'd have to agree although never tried the ant infestation trick. 3 nights was enough for us at CKS. Could probably do 4 sometime in the future due to the villas and views and yes, we would have to eat out, so to speak. Rangali blows it out of the water as far as F&B and service goes. There's just no comparison.

MaldivesFreak

Welcome! And when I said use the 2 free weekend night certificates for the 6th and 7th nights, you could use them for the first 2 nights, or the 1st and 7th nights. Whatever makes it easier (as there's no requirement to have the 2 weekend night certificates on consecutive nights). However you have to book 5 consecutive nights for the points booking. That's a requirement of 5th Night Free.

Any other questions feel free to ask. Lots of info in the wiki too. Hope you have a great stay, whenever it happens to be!


Added link to this post on wiki under Certificates

mnredfox

Thanks for the tips. I think we're going to rent a car on Koh Samui with National. Looks like no international drivers license is needed

Thanks, I like the tips and am going to go with this. Looked at your link earlier and good tips - just didn't know if you reach out or if they reach out.
Just booked 5 nights in BV with points. Unfortunately our arrival plane arrives at 1740, so we'll miss the Conrad lounge with refreshments/quick massage (not a huge loss to us though). Sounds like we'll have to take a domestic flight then boat ride - are you suggesting we stay in Male for the night and instead take the first plane to the Conrad instead?

We are going to take a redeye out so will have most of the last day. We were thinking since it is 5 nights we could leave say early afternoon from Conrad to Male, then take a boat and check out Male city for a little bit. Would you skip?

Lastly, as I'm booking a BV for 5 nights and want to upgrade for 2-3 for a honeymoon, is it worth to get the SWV vs WV (ie sunset vs sunrise)?

MaldivesFreak

With the upgrades, sometimes you don't get the email with offers so you have to be proactive.

Most definitely overnight in MLE, otherwise you're basically throwing away 76K. IIRC there's an 8PM flight out to Maamigili where you transfer to speedboat and then on to the resort. You'll arrive at Rangali somewhere around 9:30PM and by the time you've checked in it will be 11.....and you'll have lost the whole day.
Time flies in paradise and every second is precious. 5 nights will fly by, that I can assure you so if you overnight and get the first seaplane out and get to the resort at a reasonably late '10AM', you'll be far less tired and you'll have saved yourself a whole 9-10hours of daylight, plus have an extra evening!

Definitely skip MLE. Nothing really to see or do. Once you see it on the flight in and have experienced the resort you'll fully understand why I don't recommend it. I mean if you were going for 15 days then maybe see Male on the way back. Otherwise give it a miss.

My 2c.

And yeah, IMHO go for the SWV. Check out the 'Standard Water Villa vs. Superior Water Villa' post (also in the sig).

Cynicor

Edit- lost my quote... replying to the post about 8 above
Pretty much all right. Though not sure what deval you mean, hotel has been this price for many (5+?) years in points IIRC.

Do the 5 nights here, better than 4 which is way too quick considering the seaplane tf and the fact you want to switch rooms too.

Email for upgrade prices, it's basically done by everyone who books on points so it's a simple process.