Alex Jimenez

Hi everyone,

Getting married in early November. My fiance and I are looking at honeymoon options. What we keep coming back to is Australia, New Zealand and/or Fiji/Tahiti/Bora Bora/etc. I realize these islands are very different but we are considering somewhere extremely relaxing on a beach and have not been able to narrow it down. We are planning 15-20 days for the trip starting around the 5th of November.

My first thought is to spend 6-10 days in two different locations. We would be flying from LAX so flights are pretty readily available it appears.

300,000 United miles and 350,000 Chase Points at my disposal so business/first class would be a great option. We only fly economy unless upgraded for free, so this would maybe be the only time I would use miles/points.


I am looking for suggestions on both destinations and routes. Great food is a big priority. We are looking for something very relaxing, not the type of couple that will do outdoor activities to much extent. Again, can't stress the FOOD part, haha. We both love to eat and try everything.


Your thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

bensyd

Congrats on the nuptials.

When you say 6-10 days in two different locations, does Australia count as a location, or are you meaning staying in, eg, Sydney or Melbourne?

What sort of budget are you thinking?

Personally, I'd do 4-5 days in Sydney and/or Melbourne, then up to the GBR for 4-5 days, then over to the South Island of NZ. The pacific islands have never really done much for me, I like a beach, but I get bored after 2-3 days. In terms of food, you won't find better in this part of the world than in Sydney and Melbourne.

Mwenenzi

There are a lot of threads on trips in Aust & NZ in this forum.

Tuesday 6th Nov is Melbourne Cup day. And a public holiday for a 2 mile horse race. Hotels will be full, so do not go to Melbourne first.

You will not do much touring on the day of arrival and day of departure. Lost days in a way.
It will effectively take the best part of a day to go between your destinations (check out, to airport, check-in, flight etc).
Also be aware of the date change USA-Australia. You cross the date line.

konagirl2

I think you need to explain (or really nail down) what you are looking for. My idea of a perfect beach would be remote and quiet and not built up ... and in those kind of places you tend not to get Michelin star food. Aus, NZ and the Pacific islands all have amazing beaches but it sounds like you want somewhere with facilities. Are you really looking for resort or very high-end secluded hotel recommendations? Or do you want a secluded beach in an area with good seafood/foody/winery options, where you'll hire a car or book a tour to visit those places? What have you seen of the places you are considering that appeals to you?

Even the North Island of NZ won't be very warm in November, if all you want to do is relax and sit on a beach. It's certainly not bikini weather in November. The better foody areas in NZ (IMO) are the wine regions, and they don't really fit the beach bill. Similarly Melbourne and Sydney have amazing restaurants but the city beaches are not particularly relaxing (great if you live there, but not a typical honeymoon destination).

With the amount of time you are willing to stay at each location, it might be worth getting to the more remote / harder to get to places, either along the GBR or Ningaloo Reef or a remote spot on an island nation. Be aware November is the start of stinger season along the GBR, but if you only go out snorkelling a few times then you can hire a stinger suit. You could consider staying on a remote beach for a week and then a city for good food and a bit of touristy stuff?

Alex Jimenez

We are thinking $6-8k total. I figure the flights will be covered with miles/points. Also, and I guess I should have put this in the original post, my fiancé works for a major hotel chain and gets significant discounts. There are hotels in Sydney, Auckland, Fiji, Bora Bora all at less than $100 per night. (if you can find someone special in the hotel industry, do it haha).

We are not into Michelin restaurants, less upscale than that. Just good quality food, ambiance is less important. Spending half the time in Sydney or Melbourne or Auckland seeing the sights and then the other half on a more remote beach resort would probably be ideal. We would probably pick only one city to visit rather than try and make it to many.


Parking ourselves at a beach resort on one of the over the water bungalow looks terrific from the pictures and videos we have watched.

I’ve looked through the forums and checked holiday weather, but can’t get a clear answer as to the humidity that time of year. We have gone to Cancun twice, once in October and it was fantastic weather. The other was in July, which was very stupid on our part. Is it similar to The weather in Hawaii in October? We loved that too.

Mwenenzi

Getting the flights with ff miles is a very brave courageous assumption. Award flights start to become available 355/330 days out (depending in the ffp).

Fiji/Tahiti/Bora Bora is particularly hard to get to with ff miles of any ffp. Several FT threads on this

The only Star Alliance airlines in this region is Air New Zealand. And they are well know for not offering awards.

If you want award flights USA to Australia, New Zealand and/or Fiji/Tahiti/Bora Bora/etc. you needed to get these sorted out sooner rather than later.

Many people from USA find Australia, Tahiti/Bora Bora to be very expensive compared to USA.

CPMaverick

Just to add to your multitude of choices, one option would be to fly LAX-RAR, then RAR-AKL. Return to LAX (or see RAR on the return). Air NZ fly LAX-RAR, weekly I believe.

This would let you see The Cook Islands, which have some similarities to French Polynesia/Tahiti but much less developed. You won't find the ultra-lux resorts you find in Tahiti or Bora Bora but it is a much more authentic Polynesian experience, and less expensive. Having been to both, I prefer the Cooks, but for a honeymoon, maybe not (just depends on what you envision for the perfect honeymoon).

Once you get to RAR, the most popular island to fly to is Aitutaki, search for images of Aitutaki and you will see why.

If you are on a budget, then your primary focus is probably finding award space. As already stated, it is difficult in this region. Luckily, November is generally an easier month than others, as Australians and Kiwis are not traveling much in November, and Americans are getting ready to travel over Thanksgiving. It is not impossible as many say, just difficult! So keep your options open but let the awards guide you to maximize the budget.

calbear2005

Sorry for hijacking this thread, but do you mean in terms of food, transportation, hotels, or overall?

Thanks, and thanks for your help on my thread.

JamesBigglesworth

You're not doing it right then.

Personally, I'd suggest the Cook Islands. In November it will be very pleasant. Nice, quiet, relaxed beaches and a wide range of good food readily available. One of the most relaxing holidays I ever had was in the Cooks. Wake up, breakfast on the patio on the beach itself. Swim. Read and drink on the patio and beach. Ride into town for lunch. Wide range of price points and styles of food to choose from, or visit the supermarket for whatever I wanted. Rinse and repeat for a week.


Have you ever *been* to NZ?!

November is generally glorious spring weather across most of the country. Nelson is going to be in the ~15-20 C range, with warm winds. Great food and wine and some spectacular beaches available all along the way from Picton across to Nelson, past the Able Tasman Park area and through to Takaka. Finding a nice place that is close to beaches and within easy reach of good food and wine while matching the level of effort wanted - that shouldn't be hard.

bensyd

Tahiti is expensive because everything has to be shipped in. Australia is expensive because it's Australia. Given you live in SF, I doubt you will notice, you may even find it cheaper.

bensyd

Forget Auckland. It's not a plain sort of city, and if this is a once in a lifetime trip, I certainly wouldn't suggest spending half your time there. If you want to visit NZ then go to the south island. Natural beauty, great food and wine. I'm slightly biased, but if this is a once in a lifetime trip, I'd suggest Sydney over Melbourne *ducking*. Melbourne is an awesome city, but the wow factor of Sydney Harbour with the bridge and the opera house is hard to beat. You can tie in a trip to the Blue Mountains and maybe the Hunter Valley depending on how you're going for time.

number_6

Bora Bora is USD 2000 per day for a good time (not lavish but nice). Even if using awards for hotel, it is USD 1000 per day for food etc. Flights can cost more than LAX-PPT depending on the day. Australia is much cheaper & nicer than Tahiti (ymmv).

To OP Bali is maybe the perfect honeymoon destination as easy/cheap to get stunning private villa with pool (USD 200-300 per night) and food ranges from excellent cheap local food (USD 5 meals) up to Michelin 1-star quality (USD 200 meals -- so priced by US standards).

f foodie destination is your priority, than Melbourne is by far the best choice as it has multiple "best in the world" restaurants that are at better than 11 Madison level (and better than anything in SF today, surprisingly enough). There are dozens of great restaurants which don't require advance booking. Sydney is a close second, also beating the best in the US. November is maybe the best month to visit (Melbourne cup aside, which sells out all the hotels).

Eltham

CPMaverick

Sorry but the post you quoted said it wasn't beach bathing / bikini weather. And they were right.

I've seen it snow on the South Island in January. 15C is not beach weather, and the winds in NZ can be warm, or frigid, changing from one to the other quite quickly. November in the Nelson area can be glorious and touching 20C, or quite cold and in the single digits. The point was it isn't the best spot to plan a day lounging on the beach.

CPMaverick

Completely ridiculous numbers. 1000 per day for food? No, just no. Please stop. Your advice is embarrasingly wrong. Leave the resort and enter the real world. $50/day will get you by, $200/day will feed you like a king.

https://www.neverendingfootsteps.com...ra-on-a-budget

This is a very highly rated restaurant on Bora Bora where you can have a great 4-course meal for less than $70, including dessert!

http://www.maikaimarina.com/images/menu/Menu_MaiKai.pdf