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Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
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TPG Reader Hall of Fame: First-class flights, overwater villas — and you can do it too
Carissa is freelance writer and points and miles expert.
October 4, 2019 • 7 min read
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Quick summary
A TPG reader shared how they used points and miles to book a luxury round-the-world honeymoon, including first-class flights and high-end hotel stays.
Their trip included flights on top international airlines and stays at renowned hotels, all booked using a mix of airline and hotel loyalty currencies.
Strategic use of rewards allowed them to minimize out-of-pocket costs for both flights and accommodations, including overwater villas and penthouse suites.
The article highlights how combining multiple points programs can unlock aspirational travel experiences at a fraction of the retail price.
What to consider
Some offers mentioned in the article are no longer available; always check for current promotions before planning similar redemptions.
Application restrictions and eligibility rules may limit how many welcome bonuses you can receive across different providers.
Award availability for premium flights and luxury hotels can be limited, so flexibility and advance planning are essential.
What you'll miss from the article
Step-by-step insights into combining airline and hotel points for a seamless, luxury multi-country itinerary.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
At TPG, we aim to make travel easier, more affordable and whenever possible, more luxurious. A few weeks ago, we asked members of our Facebook community, TPG Lounge, to submit their best uses of points and miles to a reader Hall of Fame thread. Stories ranged from fabulous round-the-world family trips to five-star multi-destination vacations. They all had one thing in common: Using points to make these bucket list trips a mere fraction of their retail price. Today, we're sharing the first of a now-weekly series celebrating our readers' accomplishments. Hopefully they'll help bring you closer to redeeming points for a dream trip of your own.
Today's TPG Reader Hall of Fame story comes to you from Patrick Gall, whose 2018 honeymoon took him and his new wife around the world on first-class flights and in luxury, thanks to the power of points and miles. They traveled to three different countries over the course of 10 days, maximizing rewards earned across multiple currencies to minimize their cost out of pocket.
They then saved their miles on the Hong Kong to Singapore leg, instead splashing out on an incredible Singapore (SIN)-Tokyo Haneda (HND)-New York-JFK flight on Japan Airlines in both businessand first class. These tickets also clocked in at 110,000 AA miles each, bringing their total flight cost to 440k AA miles + taxes and fees.
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®: 65,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening.
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® - Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® - Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,500 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
Barclaycard AAdvantage® Aviator™ Red World Elite Mastercard®- Earn 60,000 bonus miles after you make a purchase within the first 90 days of card opening and pay the card’s $99 annual fee.
Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard- Earn up to 60,000 miles: 50,000 miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening. Earn 10,000 miles when a purchase is made on an employee card.
The information for the CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum card, Citi AAdvantage Platinum, and Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Business card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Note that both Citi and Barclaycard have some pretty strict restrictions when it comes to card applications and welcome bonuses, so you're better off with you and your partner getting one from each provider.
Of course, first-class flights would mean nothing if at the end you landed in a shared dorm (sorry, hostels). Luckily, Pat found some awesome availability for world-class hotels, spending a whopping eight nights at some of the best properties in the world:
One night at the Conrad Singapore (at a rate of 57,000 Hilton Honors points per night)
Any one stay at these hotels could be the trip of a lifetime, but these two managed to swing stays at three separate locations, including an overwater villa in Malaysia.
(Photo courtesy of Patrick Gall.)
Now, Pat is a TPG reader, which means he knew some of the better ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points. As a holder of the Chase Sapphire Reserve, this meant that when he went to redeem via the Chase Travel Portal he received 1.5 cents of value per point. This allowed him and his wife to spend five nights at a St. Regis — which would ordinarily price out to over $1,000 a night — for free.
Chase Sapphire Reserve - Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months from account opening.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card - Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
Ink Business Preferred Credit Card - Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
Of course, they also spent three nights at the Conrad, and luckily for us, these luxurious hotels are very attainable, with a single welcome bonus via the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card nearly covering all three nights (150,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases on the card within your first three months of card membership). You can read our guide to find out which Hilton credit card is best for you.
The information for the Hilton Aspire Amex card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Points value aside, Pat also had this to say about the highlights from their trip: "For Cathay, the whole crew signed a nice card for us & gave us a $300 bottle of Krug as we deplaned. On the JL flight, they gave us a model 777-300ER and wrote our flight details on it. The St. Regis was incredible. An overwater villa with a private pool was so good. The breakfast spread was incredible. The service with our butler was top notch with her doing something special each day." Sounds like a honeymoon to me!
A huge thank you and congratulations to Pat and his wife for a job well done on their honeymoon. We love to hear about successes from our readers — and show you how to achieve the same vacations with your hard-earned rewards.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
