Dream holiday and how to get there with reward points and credit cards

Ericburnard

Evening everyone.

Apologies if this is not in the correct forum but I am a little unsure of where it would live given the choice.

I am relatively new to points, cards, and rewards and currently have only a Business Platinum Amex Card to my name (Outside of 'bank accounts' and debit cards). It's always been my dream to holiday and stay at an overwater villa in either Bora Bora or the Maldives, but ideally the first. As I am at the beginning of my points and rewards journey I thought it would be best to roughly plan out the best route to get to my dream holiday.

I currently have a good credit rating so most cards should be ok for me to achieve and I have 70k points on the platinum card from a signup bonus and looking at grabbing a personal gold card when the next decent sign up bonus appears.

I am wondering if anyone could recommend the best 'path' for me to get to where I'd like to be, or even some advice on what to look out for, what kind of points I should try to build up (best ones that could transfer to other points?). I have seen certain points can be transferred to hotel chains for more points than if they are used directly on flights etc. Also that certain hotel brands won't allow you to use their points against those top tier hotels or you still have to pay £1,000's on top of the points.

I'm fully aware that it will take me a long time to get to my goal, but it's always good to know which direction I should set off in.

Thanks for all of your help

Eric

DullGreyGuy

For long haul travel from the UK taxes are a big part of the costs which you still have to pay. So either you need to fly a higher class or take the long haul from a different country. So in part it depends if your dream includes flying Business or you were planning turning up budget to arrive at your 6* hotel?

Obviously next step is deciding where you want to stay and what, if any, point scheme they operate. Hotel rooms always seem much poorer value for points than flights in a £ save per MR but occasionally you can get transfer bonuses etc. Never come across chains blocking certain hotels from schemes or wanting extra but the return rate varies massively and higher classes of rooms tend to be much poorer than the basic room. Reward bookings also tend to be room only (unless status makes it B&B). The issue with the likes of the Maldives is you are often on an island with nothing more than your hotel and so no option but to pay their £15 a beer. 

You already have an AmEx Platinum and so have access to their FHR programme etc (though this is better for short stays). They can at times have other good deals if you probe well enough... we got a great price on a particular hotel on an AI basis with AmEx benefits

bagand96

If you've not seen them already, two great resources:

Head for Points — Maximise your Avios points and frequent flyer miles
The Points Guy UK - Maximise your travel.

Ericburnard

DullGreyGuy said:

For long haul travel from the UK taxes are a big part of the costs which you still have to pay. So either you need to fly a higher class or take the long haul from a different country. So in part it depends if your dream includes flying Business or you were planning turning up budget to arrive at your 6* hotel?

Obviously next step is deciding where you want to stay and what, if any, point scheme they operate. Hotel rooms always seem much poorer value for points than flights in a £ save per MR but occasionally you can get transfer bonuses etc. Never come across chains blocking certain hotels from schemes or wanting extra but the return rate varies massively and higher classes of rooms tend to be much poorer than the basic room. Reward bookings also tend to be room only (unless status makes it B&B). The issue with the likes of the Maldives is you are often on an island with nothing more than your hotel and so no option but to pay their £15 a beer. 

You already have an AmEx Platinum and so have access to their FHR programme etc (though this is better for short stays). They can at times have other good deals if you probe well enough... we got a great price on a particular hotel on an AI basis with AmEx benefits

Thanks for the detailed response. I'd likely be hoping to upgrade for the whole package, really make it memorable even if it takes an extra few years of saving!

Flights from the UK always seem to be hugely expensive, but the whole trip from Heathrow to Bora Bora seems pretty reasonable (In the grand scheme of things), but, at the end of the day the holiday, location, and hotel are what I am going for so the flying economy isn't the end of the world by a long shot.

 I think I may have gotten mixed up with seeing rooms not available on points and flights not being able to book them all with Avios. Possibly? I'll have to look into that again. Although I am sure that I have seen some hotels not have pay with points option on some of their hotel/rooms. I'll have another check this weekend.

My mind has automatically thought of going through Hilton, Marriot, and Raddison due to the membership levels you get through the Platinum card, I had completely forgotten about the FHR program, which will give me another route to go through and maybe more beneficial to use. I think i'll have to sit and look through all the different cards out there and see where they allow you to transfer points too as well.

Thank you for your help, it's very much appreciated.

Ericburnard

bagand96 said:

If you've not seen them already, two great resources:

Head for Points — Maximise your Avios points and frequent flyer miles
The Points Guy UK - Maximise your travel.

Thank you for those, i'll pop them on my reading list for this afternoon!