MaldivesFreak

Sorry, I actually fell asleep at the PC last night and somehow read it wrong.

As others have now indirectly pointed out, yours was most definitely a mistake as they shouldn't have calculated your bonus points as base points.

Michael19887

metcon123

Guys, need some help here. I'm estimating roughly about USD 7K in spend at Conrad Maldives. Not sure if the new 100% bonus which was effective April 1 would cap my earning at 100K/stay (USD 5,000 x 20 points = 100K Hilton points) and if I should charge the remaining USD 2K to my wife's Hilton Honor's account to maximize earnings. Thoughts?

Thanks all in advance. Much appreciated.

Cynicor

Alp, from my last stay, under the new rules, nothing has changed. The base points are still the same, bonus doesn't count to requal. As most everyone expected. Would have been amazing if they cut the spend in half but extremely unlikely.

lhrhappy

Some questions for the group:

Who's planning their next stay right now?

Does anyone know where to find the music played at Atoll during breakfast?

Which airlines do you prefer? I think the ideal outbound flight would arrive in the late morning or early afternoon, and the ideal outbound flight would depart in the late afternoon. Any thoughts?

ukinny2000

I am planning my stay there now for February 17-23. We have flights from JFK-AUH-MLE, which gets us into MLE around 8am, and on the outbound we are doing MLE-HKG//JFK. My gf has never flown in F before, so I plan on surprising her with EY F and CX F , even though EY arrives a little early and the CX flight leaves very late. It will be my second time there, the first time having been a solo trip back in 2014. On my first trip I was unaware that there is a chance to see bioluminescence on the beaches, so I hope to experience it this time around ( BBC - Travel - Seas that glow like stars )

MaldivesFreak

There still seems to be some confusion, and this is in part due to Hilton's less-than-specific representation of points earned in the diagram posted earlier (which I believe they have done on purpose to make it sound better since they are giving away less points to members overall). It's pretty simple though;
MEMBERS earn the standard 10 (base) points per dollar (and get no bonus points whatsoever).
DIAMONDS earn double that, made up from 10 (base) points per dollar and 10 bonus points per dollar.
The two tiers in between earn the same amount of base points and have slightly less bonus points on top of the base points.

metcon123, the cap is on base points, not on bonus points. You still need to spend 10K pre taxes to max out on base points at most properties and that includes CMRI.

MaldivesFreak

For the music you'd need to contact the F&B department. Email the resort and if they have time they will reply to you but it's a very unusual request so I wouldn't expect a quick reply.

I'm planning on a 30-night stay at the end of this year. Don't know whether it's going to happen this year though but each time we visit our plans basically never change (see below).

SQ is our favourite and handy for us as we currently live in mainland China and we only need a short stopover in SIN on both legs and this is when the g/f does DFS. We could fly there almost directly via a Chinese carrier, but no thanks! Not willing to fly on some garbage carrier with a less-than-perfect safety record and subpar service just to cut 3hrs off the journey. Anyhow, SQ452 (A330-300) gets you into MLE at 2210. We always overnight in MLE so we can get the first seaplane out the next morning. Get a hotel on the airport island (Hulhule Island) so you don't have to cross over to Male on the ferry. You can get an extra half an hour or an hour sleep that way as well. SQ451 (also an A330-300) is my choice for departure as it leaves at 2325 and gives you the maximum amount of time at Rangali (you almost always get the very last seaplane flight out which usually leaves around 1830) and the longest time in the lounge so you can have a good meal and shower etc before the flight back. Those flights run daily BTW. But if you're in the States you may not have the chance to take SQ.

Basically you want to arrive at Rangali as early as possible and leave as late as possible. That way you maximise your time in paradise and who in their right mind wouldn't want to do that. Well, I did have an argument about this here on FT a couple of years ago with someone who couldn't care less if he arrived at 0100, checked in at 0130 and got to sleep at 0300 and basically wasted a whole night and the money / points that went with it.....not to mention taking an early flight out.....duh, but each to his own I suppose! If you get the first and last seaplanes as opposed to checking in extremely late like in the example above and checking out at say 0800 on your day of departure, you will have the best part of a whole day extra at the resort....and it's free!! Now what travel agent can give you that kind of deal?!

alp67

Sounds like a loooot of fun! Flying in/out on EY/CX is awesome. WELL DONE ^ ^ ^
I'm pretty sure you're aware, but EY 260 doesn't have F from AUH to MLE though. C is absolutely fine for this 4 hour flight (and you still get access to the, recently more and more downgraded, First lounge at AUH).

We arrived before 9 am, but didn't get a seaplane before noon. By the time we got to CR (1 hour ahead of MLE) it was almost 2 pm.
On the way out we had to be ready at the seaplane deck around 4 pm. So, even flying into MLE early morning and departing late night doesn't really mean, you get two extra days at CR
And theres nothing you can do about seaplane transfer timing, except asking politely and hoping to be lucky.

My experience with two late departures from MLE at 8:40 pm and 11:50 pm: I'd prefer the earlier one, as we've been put on the ~4:30 pm seaplane both times
You have 1) to be lucky to be put on the very last seaplane and 2) to pay $ 85++ pp for a rather underwhelming CR-lounge.
Three hours there is not only a waste of time but money as well, in my opinion. If you can get a late check-out, no shower is needed at CR Lounge and food wise, I'd take CX F over CR lounge any day

ukinny2000

Thanks for the heads-up on the seaplane timings. as I know the dates I will send an advance-heads-up to the CR and see if they can get me first & last seaplane

As for EY F, I agree on the underwhelming nature of the F lounge at AUH - I was there in Sept and I was like, where are the beds? and now I ca;t even get a free shave anymore :-(

alp67

Not sure where in mainland China you're departing from and what your budget is (flying SQ you obviously value quality over price), this might still be an interesting business class fare for your plans? Lie flat on the longhaul segments
Instead of MLE overnight and DFS at Changi airport again, you and your gf might wanna arrive early morning at MLE and do some DFS shopping after the overnight at CMB?

seacarl

The seaplanes only fly daylight hours and seem to be scheduled at the convenience of the seaplane company. When we had the late CX flight, they wanted to put us on the seaplane at 4pm (or maybe earlier) and it would have meant almost 8 hours at MLE (with the 1 hour time change.) We were able to instead book a speedboat to a nearby island which had and airport, followed by a domestic flight. I think we left more like 6:30pm and by the time we reach MLE, didn't bother with the Conrad Lounge. Not that the contract lounge at MLE airport is very good.

lhrhappy

We saw this on our last trip. It's faint - you won't notice it until at least an hour or two after sunset (which isn't that late, really). It seems to happen most right where the water meets the sand. So if you've in an OWV, maybe walk back to the beach to try to see it. It's worth it.

I am not the person who argued with you, but I did this on my last stay. Before I went to CMRI, I thought you were nuts. After, I understand completely. And if my flight lands any later than 2 or 3 in the afternoon, we'll probably overnight in Male.

If that 8:40 PM flight is the one to AUH, then I think I've flown it. You'd have to be nuts to spend any more time in the Leeli lounge or the departures hall than absolutely necessary, so I completely agree about trying to get an earlier (but not too early) flight. I really want to fly CX back to the US, but I have a hard time with the idea of 7+ hours waiting at that airport.

I've heard of taking domestic flights to the resort, but I've never heard of taking one on departure. Could you post more information about this?

seacarl

It was arranged by the Conrad, and the price was the same as the seaplane. It was a speedboat that went to the populated island with airport (I don't remember the name). Dock right by the airport, though I think there was a van to take us to the terminal. Regular commercial flight, ~70 seat propeller plane (either an ATR or Q400, don't recall), they front of the plane seemed to be foreigners and airline staff; further back locals. Short flight. Someone from the Conrad met us in MLE at the domestic terminal and walked with us to international check in, although we could have handled it ourselves.

Speedboat/domestic was not proactively offered until we clearly communicated we were dissatisfied with the early seaplane departure time.

lhrhappy

I think you are my hero. Spending my last day lazing around Rangali Bar and then hopping on a boat is vastly preferable to spending many hours at MLE airport.