Honeymoon planning help
 

hi guys, novice here. not sure if this is the correct place to post this.

I'm planning a honeymoon for sometime in 2020 using miles and points. I currently have close to 160,000 UR points and 80,000 IHG points.
I'm still in the beginning phases of planning but wanted to explore what options I would have.
Currently, I've been looking at Paris or the Maldives. (wife and I plan on going during the offseasons to capitalize on costs).
With the current points I have, it seems I would have to decide whether I want to use it for flights or for hotels.

If we did the Maldives, I could transfer all the points to Hyatt and get 5 nights there.
If we did Paris, I could use the points to fly one way business or transfer to Hyatt and use all the points for the hotel stay.

well most likely be traveling from san diego
What do you guys think?

There are plenty of more options available to you if your spending supports getting some additional credit cards and sign up bonuses. You wouldn't be limited to deciding on simply using it for either flights or hotels, you could have the entire honeymoon paid for using points. Are you limited to only UR and IHG for some reason?

Since the OP has pts in different schemes I'm moving this to the ID forum.

The Maldives are beautiful but are also not a budget friendly location. Flights & hotels rooms can be taken care of with points but there are additional costs of boat or plane transfers, food & drink and activities which all come at a premium since you're in a captive market. Europe is great. Paris is well known for attracting honeymooners and there is plenty to see & do there but don't overlook the rest of Europe & the Med or even Northern Africa. Mix in a bit of luxurious leisure with some historical culture by picking 2-4 cities to visit. Trains in Europe are great for getting around and there are some very nice overnight train options in nicer cabins which will replace the need for a hotel. Don't overlook using apartments instead of hotels in some locations and then splurge for 2-3 nights somewhere nice to be pampered.
With your points you could probably get Premium economy one way and Business the other using 1 way awards. Hotel redemptions tend to not be as great of a return as airline tickets with points transfers.

Upside is you have time to research, plan and earn points before then. I'd highly recommend reviewing the Chase forum in the Credit Cards section and the Amex section too. The Amex Hilton cards (First the standard no annual fee and then the ascend card) over two years could yield you a nice nest of points while keeping annual fees down. Those points can be used for hotels and if you do the Ascend card for while you'll be traveling you can take advantage of the 10 included Priority Pass lounge visits.

thanks for the responses!
[MENTION=765573]eccentricfusion[/MENTION] = no, not limited to UR and IHG only. I can definitely apply for other credit cards to continue to build up more points. [MENTION=581306]Yoshi212[/MENTION] = awesome suggestions, I'll definitely look into those. When I read about the Maldives, I saw how expensive all the additional costs can add up to be.

Yea, when I was looking into the Maldives, I saw how expensive all the additional costs can be. I'm not limited to only UR and IHG so I'll definitely apply for other credit cards to continue to build up more points.
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely look into exploring those other countries. The overnight train cabin would also be a nice touch.

When I was calculating points, it seemed hotel redemptions were the best way to go. For example, if I flew to Paris in economy and stayed at the Hyatt Vendome for 6 nights (during off season), the cash price total came out to $5,902. The brunt of the cost would be the hotel ($770/night). If I used my points to pay for the hotel (25,000 points/night), the cost would only be the flight $1282. This is obviously not including food/excursions. But you suggest I'm better off using the points to pay flights?

Unfortunately most airlines don't have calendars going out that far, so you'll have to wait some time before you can begin searching award availability, etc. The good thing is it gives you time to accumulate more miles.

From the hotel or flight perspective, I would estimate how much the hotel you're looking at would cost with/without points, etc. and also the flights. I would focus my points/mileage on the more costly of the two if you don't end up having enough points/mileage to cover everything.

You can not transfer Hotel points from IHG to Hyatt.

I am pretty sure the OP means Chase UR --> Hyatt if they're not used for airline transfer.

Welcome to FT!

You should be aware that neither hotels nor airlines will let you book more than a year in advance, so you have at least seven months before you need to do anything. You should be aware of a few things:

- it is probably that airlines and hotels will devalue points/miles going forward
- the Maldives are expensive
- the off-season in the Maldives could be rainy
- there is not much of an off-season in Paris in the way that, say, Cape Cod does.

Good luck!