So I know I just finished a 72-day trip around the world… but I couldn’t help myself. I had to start planning the next one.
In about a month, I’ll be jetting off on yet another epic trip, booked completely on points.
It’ll take me to places like India, Tanzania, London, New York City, and more, and involve flying some of the world’s best business-class suites and some fancy-ass hotels.
So let me walk you through all the nitty-gritty tips, tricks, and redemptions I used.
Part One: India and London
The trip is kicking off from my home airport of Jakarta (CGK), where I’ll be flying Singapore Airlines business class to Kolkata, India.
I used 35,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points to book this flight.
As you can see, the normal price is 40,000 points, but holders of the Chase Sapphire Reserve® got a surprise 5,000-point voucher earlier this year, which I used for this flight for an instant discount.
I’ll be staying with friends in India (which is the best travel trick, by the way), so no need to burn any points on hotels (though I kind of wish I could check out some of those Category 1 Hyatts 😉).
From Kolkata, I’ll be flying in a seat I’ve been dreaming about for a while: Air India’s new A350 business-class suites.
Like the first flight, I used Aeroplan points to book this one.
A flight from Kolkata to London (with a layover in Delhi) costs just 60,000 Aeroplan points.
Now, you might be thinking, “Mike, shouldn’t you use Aeroplan’s 5,000-point stopover for the two redemptions you mentioned?”
And the answer is, actually… no.
You see, this is one of those “sour spots” where using the stopover would cost me MORE points than booking each leg individually.
Booking them separately costs 100,000 points, whereas booking the entire route with a stopover would run me 115,000 total points because of how the award chart works out.
But here’s what I did do:
I booked it as a multi-city flight. It’s not a stopover, but it is putting all flights on the same booking, which avoids having to pay Aeroplan’s $25-ish partner booking fee twice.
One other note: Air India has many flights from Delhi to London, but only one daily flight uses the new A350 with the tasty suites.
An easy way to confirm this is using Google Flights, where you’ll see clearly when a business-class flight is a normal lie-flat versus a fully enclosed suite. 👇
Now, we arrive in London. 🇬🇧
It’s been almost 10 years since I spent more than an overnight layover in London, so I’m actually really excited about this stop.
I’ll be there for six nights, and have some epic hotels planned…
First up, I’ll be staying at The Standard – It’s a World of Hyatt property, but I booked it through The Edit and used the $250 credit on the Sapphire Reserve.
It’s still quite expensive, but the $100 property credit helps – not to mention the Brand Explorer box I get to tick off, putting me even closer to yet another Free Night Award.
To be honest, I’ve had a really hard time putting this $250 credit to use this year, so I’m actually using this year’s credit, even though it’s for a stay next year.
Plus, as a “The Edit” hotel, I’ll earn Hyatt points and elite nights from this stay (yay).
But the most exciting part of my London adventure is a 3-night stay at the luxurious Park Hyatt London.
I’m using both of my Category 1-7 Free Night Awards to book a 2-night stay here, saving me 60,000 points or around $900 right off the bat.
Then, I’m using my $300 hotel credit from the American Express Platinum Card® to book another single-night stay at the same hotel.
I’ll have to pay $99 out of pocket, but since the hotel is part of Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts, I get a $100 property credit, which will basically cancel it out.
Finally, I have an IHG 40,000-point Free Night Award expiring in February, so this was the perfect place to tack on one last night in London.
I chose the Kimpton Fitzroy hotel.
Thanks to a current IHG award sale, I can apply my free night award and pay another 20,000 points out of pocket, saving me another $500+ in this expensive city.
From London, I’ll be heading to North America.
Part Two: Canada and America
I’m super excited about this next flight…
I’ll be flying British Airways’ gorgeous Club Suites from London (LHR) nonstop to Toronto (YYZ).
This flight normally runs almost $11,000 every day, so I was excited to book it for just 55,000 Atmos Rewards points.
The only bummer to flying BA with points is that the cash taxes and fees are… extreme. But in this case, I have almost $1,000 of funds in my Alaska wallet that are going to expire.
It’s been sitting there for over a year, and I had no other use for it – so I was happy to get to use it here and cancel out those nasty fees.
Pro Tip: When flying British Airways business and first class, check Cathay Pacific. In the above example, they charge 63,000 Asia Miles and $592 in taxes for the same flight. You can save hundreds of dollars while only shelling out a few thousand more points.
Plus, multiple banks transfer to Cathay Pacific while only Bilt Rewards transfers to Alaska Atmos points. Anyway, I’ll be bopping around Toronto, New Hampshire, and New York City, mooching off of my friends’ couches for about two weeks.
Then…
I found yet another fantastic award on Air France’s 777 business class. And yes - it’s also in a fully-enclosed suite with doors. 😎
Part Three: Back to Europe
I found tons of availability on Air France using Flying Blue miles, so I booked a flight from New York to Helsinki via Paris for just 60,000 miles.
The cash fees are also high here at about $260, but I’ll take that any day for such a comfy flight across the pond.
In Helsinki, I’m using one of the cooler points tricks I’ve found in a while. You might remember last year when I won a million SAS Eurobonus miles from the million-mile challenge.
I’ve been putting them to good use this year, but there’s one very underrated way to use them, and that’s transferring them to Scandic Hotels at a 1:2 ratio.
I did exactly this and transferred 25,000 SAS miles (which resulted in 50,000 Scandic points) to book this hotel in downtown Helsinki, which was a pretty good deal. 👇
From Helsinki, I’m popping over to Stockholm for a few nights. There are tons of cheap flight options, and the flight is only an hour long, so I’m going to fly Finnair.
Because of my Atmos Titanium status (which gives me oneworld Emerald status), I’ll get free bags, priority services, and business-class lounge access in Helsinki even when flying economy. In Stockholm, I’m burning even more of my Hyatt Free Night Awards at this Category 4 property right in the heart of the city.
I used two Category 1-4 awards, and I booked a third night for 15,000 points.
Plus, there’s availability to use one of my Suite Upgrade Awards and book directly into a suite with an actual freaking sauna in the room. 👇
From here, I’ll be heading back to one of my favorite places on earth – Tallinn, Estonia. 🇪🇪
I’m going to spend 10 nights there, and mix things up with an Accor Live Limitless property. Specifically, the Mövenpick Hotel Tallinn, which is just outside the old city.
Ten nights here cost just €772, including all taxes and fees. Better yet, I can use my Accor points to erase the crap out of that.
Applying 38,000 Accor points (transferred from Rove Miles) will take my entire cost down to just $12 out of pocket, which is another fantastic deal for a 10-night stay in Europe. From Tallinn, I’ll take the 2-hour ferry back to Helsinki and move on to the next continent.
Part Four: Tanzania and Home
From Helsinki, I found great availability on Finnair and Qatar Airways business class to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, where my best friend of 29 years lives with his family (including my new baby nephew, whom I have yet to meet).
For just 65,000 Avios and $240, I can fly Finnair business class to Doha, then Qatar Airways to Tanzania.
And, for the millionth time on this trip, this Qatar flight will be on a 787-9, which has their “Qsuites Lite” product.
It’s not as spacious as normal Qsuites, but it is a lie-flat business class with closing doors.
After spending a week or so with my Tanzanian family, it’s time to head home to Indonesia.
For this, I resorted to my stash of SAS miles once again and will fly Kenya Airways and Saudia business class back home for just 84,000 SAS miles and $177 in taxes and fees.
It’s a long journey, but Saudia’s business class is fantastic, and I’m excited to get to fly with them again after making this exact journey from Tanzania just a few months ago.
Adding It All Up
In the end, here’s what I had to shell out to make this 2-month trip a reality:
95,000 Aeroplan points (and 5,000-point voucher)
20,000 IHG points and an FNA
15,000 Hyatt points and four FNAs
55,000 Atmos points
60,000 Flying Blue miles
109,000 SAS miles (25,000 of which were transferred to Scandic)
65,000 Avios
38,000 Accor points
In the end, the total comes to 457,000 points and $1,343 cash (which includes all of those airline taxes and fees).
And honestly? I’m extremely happy with that.
I added up the cash value of everything, and it comes out to a whopping $29,402… and no, that’s not a typo and not an exaggeration.
That’s just the magic of points and miles, baby. 👶
