All miled up and nowhere to go...
 

HELP!

Looking for suggestions on somewhere to go. Me and Mrs MA celebrate out 10the anniversary this year in May and am looking to go somewhere nice on vacay for the two of us. Based in RDU and want to maximise mileage opportunities to fly premium class somewhere. Hoping to have nice quality premium class so thinking more BA Club World than AA's crappy biz product. I have in mind a luxurious beach vacation with possibility of diving. My first thought was Maldives but struggling to find availability. We'd either go in May at anniversary itself or some time Jun-Aug

Here's what I have to spend:

65k BA Miles plus an Amex 2-4-1 that can only be redeemed on flights leaving and returning to UK (so could fly RDU-LHR then use this to go on somewhere potentially)
50k Virgin FC miles
300k AA Miles
8 AA SWU's
50k SPG convertible into miles
100k Amex US Membership Rewards convertible in miles (BA or Virgin or others)
Would rather minimise cash but willing to spend as high as maybe $10k for the two of us
Willing to travel up to 4 hrs for departure airport so could depart RDU, CLT or IAD

Man anyone have any good suggestions? I've been looking around and struggling on every possible front.

Barbados?

cairns?.....would prob have to use aa mi's on qf.....good luck....

Palau is pretty awesome. Great beaches and outstanding diving.

The big resort there is Palau Pacific Resort

But I think Continental is the only major airline that flies there. I'm not sure if this works with your SPG or AMEX points. You might be able to figure some way to connect flights together. Just thought I would throw it out there.

Consider Malaysia. Stunning beaches, excellent diving (diving is really cheap too), spa resorts, delicious food and friendly people. And to top it all off it's really affordable. I have been to both Malaysia and Maldives and would rate Malaysia much higher. Maldives is very nice but I found it get's a bit boring and since you are stranded on a minute island everything is very expensive and you don't have choice of restaurants etc.

Langkawi has some really nice spa resorts at affordable prices and has fantastic reefs for diving.
SPG has the westin (10k a night), sheraton (7k a night) and the andaman (10k a night). So you could book a fair few nights with your SPG points (average paid night = $190ish).

Oneworld flys there from HKG so you could do a fairly easy trans-pacific with CX and then connect to KL. You have enough miles for their world renowned First class too. HKG would be a great stopover for a few days too for some shopping and sightseeing.

So overall:

Flights:
RDU-JFK(AA F)-HKG(CX F)-KUL(CX J)
270k AA miles for both of you.
If you want a stopover in HKG then you can add 30k AA and 40k BA for the extra leg to KUL.

KUL-LGK with MH
Y = $67 (each)
J = $316 (each)

Hotel:
e.g Westin Langkawi (10k a night or 4k + $60)
Assuming you are going for 2 weeks. Book 12 nights with points and cash for 48k + $720


You are left with lots and lots of spending money and it will go very far in Malaysia. You will be having daily diving sessions and spa treatments :D

Just a suggestion ^

pogo - phenomenal suggestion!

how can i check availability on the CX routes?

we'll probably only want to go one week, maybe 7 nights plus flying days

I stayed in KL last year, so if you want some tips, suggestions, feel free to email me ma91pmh!!....KL was amazing! you wont regret it!...In fact, we booked a package for Redang Beach Resort and Spa for $1200USD for 4 nights and 5 days, which included the flight to the Island from Subang Airport (Kuala Lumpur).

You can use the BA booking tool to search for the availability. Or if you want you can PM me your dates and I will check availability for you ^

Guarantee you won't be disappointed!

the BA booking tool sucks big time....It didnt work for me when I was looking for award availability for CX to KUL......I would send my dates to Pogonation! hehehe...

btw Pogonation, is your offer also open for me too? :p

BA is usually bang on to be honest. Just do each sector individually and the results correspond with CX. I'm happy to help any FTer so if you reall want help then let me know ;)

Agree. Have to do city pair search then piece them together.

you are willing to drive 4 hours ?
damm bro what kind of luxurious vacation are you looking at if you are going to spend 4 hours in the car, thats insane. Parking and gas will negate any savings you get, my 2c + tax : )

Convert some AA miles to HH and then go to the Conrad Maldives.
You will not regret it.
There is no better place for a second honeymoon.

How do you convert AA miles to HH??? I'd love to do something like that...

It's right on the AA web site. Pay $30, and get two HH points per mile. http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/pr...edeemMiles.jsp