Originally Posted by Sarahlegge (Post 28903710)

Hi,
I am looking to book a holiday to the Maldives for this December 2017.

I am a member of nearly all the hotel and flight programs and have accrued miles with most, max being 160000 with BA. however when it comes to spending miles I am unsure which program to consolidate my miles into to get the best deal for the Maldives. We wish to fly business class and stay 5star.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your anticipated help :)

Originally Posted by UAPremExecflyer (Post 28903953)

I strongly suggest you reset your expectations!
You want to book a premium spot at premium holiday time ... and you are looking three months in advance.
Basically, you haven't a prayer!
Suggest you plan ahead for 2018.

Originally Posted by Yoshi212 (Post 28904116)

As UAPremExecFlyer said you're asking for a lot and rather far behind. Award ticket generally open up ~330 days before travel so you're rather late to the game. You also say "we" so I'm assuming you want to get more than 1 premium class ticket to a high demand area during peak time which only compounds the idea even further.

You don't state where you wish to start from but, assuming the US, your more realistic bet is to use the miles to get to a gateway to the Maldives and then buy a revenue ticket that is reasonable.

Originally Posted by UAPremExecflyer (Post 28903953)

I strongly suggest you reset your expectations!
You want to book a premium spot at premium holiday time ... and you are looking three months in advance.
Basically, you haven't a prayer!
Suggest you plan ahead for 2018.

Originally Posted by Yoshi212 (Post 28904248)

Even with the split cash-miles concept you're a bit behind. Award flights are all about availability. When dealing with trying to travel soon what you find today most likely won't be there tomorrow or even 5 hours from now.
At this point it's not about what's the best deal but rather about what is available. Be sure to search for two and also just one ticket for award redemption as getting one award would help keep costs down.
Hotels can work a bit differently as some have unlimited award rooms at higher rates and some have limited availability like airlines.
You could use an award booking service in hopes of them finding what fits your needs.

Originally Posted by JDiver (Post 28904654)

One problem of having a few points or miles in many programmes is by diluting the points you never reach levels required for buying two Business intercontinental travellers. 160,000 Avios doesn't sound like very many for me for your proposed trip to Maldives, frankly.

Originally Posted by QDDawg (Post 28904400)

As most above have noted your probably too late to find a great deal to the Maldives.

I booked my trip in February and we are going next month. I was able to book a business class ticket for all segments for 165K points pp. We are staying at the Conrad Maldives (Hilton) and were able to get a 5 night stay for about 75K pts per night. this is for the standard room, but you can upgrade after that for a reasonable price (depending on your definition of reasonable.

I had also looked at the Sheraton - which had good point redemption, but we want to go to the underwater restaurant - and only guests of the Conrad are permitted.

Best of luck in your efforts

Originally Posted by JDiver (Post 28904654)

One problem of having a few points or miles in many programmes is by diluting the points you never reach levels required for buying two Business intercontinental travelers. 160,000 Avios doesn't sound like very many for me for your proposed trip to Maldives, frankly.

One thing you want to be aware of is your BA Avios. If you use BA for awards, you'll have to pay onerous "carrier imposed surcharges" that on longhaul trips can add up to lots of miles and several hundred quid. See this thread in the BAEC forum: ][/U].

Others have already stated you're looking for high demand / low availability seats only 90 days out, when many airlines initially release award inventory 331 or more days out. Good luck.