It's actually a topic which could easily be its own thread.

I'm sort of on the fence about it: I like both

But... would have to come down in favor of flights, as I can tolerate a mid-range hotel more readily than 'economy-plus' seating on a LH.

Quality of sleep is a major factor in both though.

Hong Kong and Tokyo are both places where hotel prices will set you back a lot. My wife and I stayed at the Conrad HKG back in September, and I have to admit, we were a bit underwhelmed. But that's what I like my AXON4 awards for -- big cities with expensive hotel rooms. HHonors points also have the "benefit" in that they can't be transferred to an airline program, so their only opportunity cost is some other Hilton that you could have stayed at instead.

Whether or not OP should blow UR points on hotels is a personal decision. I'm just short of 240,000 points, which is two J tix to Asia on UA. Dipping into those means no J tickets for the wife and I -- it's not like J can be had for cheap if I'm paying cash. OTOH, if I were sitting on 300k points, I'd blow some of them on hotels. (Already have -- Suite at the Bali Hyatt was a steal for 8,000 points per night.)

Airplane tickets come first for us. First, even Y tix over the pond aren't dirt cheap anymore. Figure $1000/pp ($2000 total) and that's 10 nights in many hotels. Then, figure in that it's generally cost prohibitive to pay for J out of pocket, and it's a no brainer.

Its your honeymoon, splurge away...pun intended

So that's 2 people who were underwhelmed by Conrad HK... you guys are making this hard for me! But seriously, thanks for the info. One thing I really like getting out of my points is value. Maybe I will use SPG points + cash for mid-tier hotels for HK and save the HH pts for something truly grand. I know Hilton has upgraded some hotels to higher tiers, but have they actually increased the points requirement for high end hotels in recent years?

Technically speaking, they can be transferred. It's just that the rate makes them even a lower value point than they already are, and they start pretty low.

FWIW, I don't think I've ever been wowed by a Hilton. The Grand Wailea has fun grounds, but the rooms are blah. That's probably the nicest I've stayed in. The Tokyo Hilton is OK, but not amazing.

It's a no brainer in my book. You can stay now at the very best on your honeymoon and pay for the cheaper stuff next couple of years, or pay cash now, and not be able to stay at the best because of points inflation.

If it means blowing out your UR points on hotels, do it. Plenty of earning opportunities.

Your worry about not qualifying for a mortgage (or other big loan) because you have taken out a lot of cards is unfounded, assuming you can be trusted with the limits and not carry a balance. You shouldn't take out cards while you are in the process of a loan, but having credit cards won't hurt and can enhance your credit score. Just pay it off every month.

PS When you say Tahiti, I assume you mean French Polynesia, such as Moorea or Bora Bora. Both are good places for HH point uses. If you mean Tahiti and only that island, rethink your itinerary.

The OP did say he is staying at IC Thalasso in Bora Bora.

I am actually going to Asia myself in December and just booked tickets this morning (Star Alliance just opened up New Year's day award availability).

4 nights Singapore (Conrad Centennial or Hilton Singapore, depending on whether Conrad has availability)

4 nights Le Meridien Khao Lak or Le Meridien Phuket

2 nights in Tokyo

I will have Hilton Diamond by then so I am thinking actually thinking Conrad Tokyo as I'll get free breakfast and lounge access... although it will be 100k points. But I value 50k HH points *a lot* less than 22k Hyatt points. The only thing I am concerned about is location of the Conrad... it's a bit far from Park Hyatt, which I assume is in the center of everything.

I am under the impression that Grand Hyatt is in the center of everything.

When you say Hilton, do you mean the Hilton brand specifically, or any hotel in the Hilton family?

TBH, I rather liked the Millenium Hilton BKK, although next time we will pop for the suite, methinks.

I'm just curious, have you stayed at hotels that have truly wowed you? Most hotels that I stay at on point I consider "nice" but haven't stayed at a place that I couldn't stop talking about.

I'm not sure that I've been truly wowed by any premium cabin travel experience (and I've done CX F), it's just that any J/F cabin I've been in beats 31" Y. I ain't doing that for 20+ hours.

CX F and KE F have been pretty nice. The salad trolly with two attendants was fun on KE A380 (777 on KE was nothing). I would actually say both CX and KE have wowed me.

Free hotels via points? Nope. Never been wowed. Yet. Still hoping.

But wowed by a paid hotel? Here and there, but generally because the room was amazing in regards to the price.

And, FWIW, I have yet to use points at a Hilton, although I do have the Waldorf London booked on points. But I'm not expecting to be wowed - just to save money.

Good luck in finding a SPG "mid-tier" property in HKG that have cash + point option.

The only SPG property ever has cash + point option available I have seen is Le Meridian. The W is now a Cat 6 if I remember it correctly.

And in case you do not know, SPG is upward revising the cash + point chart very soon.

Also Conrad HKG is considered higher level than ANY SPG property at HKG, including the W which is in a very undesirable industrial area - unless your fancy of HKG is to stay at the top of the airport express train Kowloon station.

The hotel points in realty are for saving out of pocket cash as hotels in places like Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Paris, Rome and you get the drift, are truly expensive. $300 a night is about right for things that are reasonably located and reasonably comfortable.

I also agree with another poster about ending your trip with a high note. I always try to stay the last couple nights of our trip in a nice hotel (the airport hotel before flight does not count) so the trip would end in a pleasant note. Our trips tend to be rather long, so we mix our hotel stays in a wide range, always compare the price versus points also. We currently have 2 European trips and 1 long weekend trip to BWI/DC committed this year between April and August with 49 hotel nights in total. About 3/4 of them are award stays spread among 5 programs - from lowly Holiday Inn Express / Courtyard to Hotel Kamp in Helsinki and Hotel Pulitzer in Amsterdam - both SPG properties that have made this year's Gold List from Conde Nest, and the IC Amsterdam. 2 driving trips enbedded in each European trips would have no chain hotels en-route of the itineraries therefore all cash stays.

As you can see, the award stays would save us a lot of cash in our trips. That is what your hotel points mainly for. If you really want a Wow factor for your hotel stays on points, you need to pick the exotic locations such as the islands in Thailand, Indian Ocean and South Pacific, for the general tastes. Even India can have some very upscale hotels that would take your breadth away but then is that what you really look for?

As for the J/F seats, I have not been wowed by any, including CX J and F, NZ J, and BA J & F, VS Upper Class, QF J & F, JL J... All of them are "necessities" because we aint going to do anything longer than 14 hours in coach. Quality sleep in flight is important to us so we are willing to pay for such, by miles.

We get our pampering fixing by going on cruises, especially long cruise but that of course is not for everyone.

Wrong. Park Hyatt Tokyo is close to the City Hall so to speak, but it is a fairly long walk to the heart of Shinjuku where all the big dept stores / restaurants / clubs are. It does have a shuttle to/from but the shuttle stop at Shinjuku is also hard to find especially if you have no clue of Japanese signage.

The office complex Park Hyatt is in, has some very reasonably priced eateries at the basement almost directly underneath the hotel which is part of the office building.

In the center of Roppangi which is a "westernized" district due to the expats used to favor that area. It has many lively restaurants and pubs/bars and the "new" office complex of which Grand Hyatt is part of it.

Roppangi and Shinjuku (where Park Hyatt is at the edge of it, so as Conrad Hilton) are 2 distinct districts in Tokyo - both are considered a "center" for unique characters. Shinjuku has more traditional factors while Roppangi is more westernized and hip. Both are great locations as for hotel stay goes but each has different flavors.

If you mean Papeete, that town should only used as a transit point, not a vacation spot. Period.

Most all other islands in the French Polynesia are good vacation spots if all you want is sun and sea in extraordinarily beautiful scenery. Papeete ... just the air pollution would make it enough to be avoided except for the necessity of transiting.

Save money for a rainy day. Use points like you are living paycheck to paycheck.