How we traveled to Maldives and Dubai in LUXURY for cheap!
For those of you who really know us, you’ll know that we don’t like to spend our money on wasteful things. While travel is very important to us and is not a waste of money, it’s rare that we splurge on a 5 Star hotel or first class seats on an airplane. As a matter of fact, the way I have always convinced Enrique to go on vacation is by finding a good deal and making him feel as if we are getting the best bang for the buck. This is actually how I stumbled upon points and miles. I had been researching ways to travel for less and found some amazing Facebook groups, Instagram creators, and blog writers. While I had for years charged everything I possible could to my Capital One Venture card and erasing purchases, I learned that there were so many more opportunities, so I began the journey.
I started my travel hacking journey in December 2019 thinking that 2020 was going to be a year of travel for us. Of course, that didn’t happen. But it gave me the opportunity to dive into the points and miles community more and start racking up points. Over the course of a year, I had earned over one million points in various currencies. We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in December 2021 (I know, it looks impossible… were we only 12?). In early 2021, I started thinking about where we could go with these points and miles. Options were limited due to countries still not re-opening to the outside world, but there were certainly a few places we could visit and make this a trip of a lifetime! So, I started focusing on Maldives and Dubai.
If you have ever seen videos about Qatar QSuites, you’ll know that they are the cream of the crop when it comes to business class. Lay flat seats, closing door, pajamas, amenity kit, amazing food, and attentive service. From following Facebook groups, I learned that the Maldives was a great place to book QSuites on points! They are a partner of American Airlines so you can book through AA for 70,000 AAdvantage points each way. Enrique and I each signed up for a Citibank AAdvantage business card, which gave us just enough for one-way tickets from LAX to the Maldives! The cash price for this flight would have been $6,000 each. We only paid $19 in taxes each for the flight. We had a long layover in Doha Qatar, but that was by choice! I wanted to spend time checking out the Al Mourjan Business lounge. It is known as one of the if not the nicest business class lounges in the world! With two restaurants, sleeping area, showers, and several areas to hang in over 100,000 square feet, you can explore for hours!
Booking a hotel in the Maldives can most definitely be booked on points. Many people book Conrad Maldives using Hilton points. the Park Hyatt Maldives with Hyatt points, or one of a few hotels you can book with Marriott points including St. Regis, JW Marriott, or Ritz Carlton. What I learned, however, is that these hotels charge extraordinarily high prices for food, drinks, and activities. I had seen a few Travelzoo offers (if you’re not subscribed to their top 20 weekly email, it’s a must!) and ended up finding something else apart from Travelzoo for Veligandu Island Resort and Spa. They were running a special and I was able to secure us an overwater bungalow in an All Inclusive package and seaplane flights for $5,500. Now that may sound expensive, and it is! But for a week I may have paid just as much for food and drink at St. Regis and would have used a TON of points to get that. I feel like it was a decent price.
My initial thought was to pay cash for an economy flight from Maldives to Dubai since it’s just a 4 hour flight. However, cash prices were about $1,000. I ended up transferring 32,500 points plus $100 tax for each of us from my Chase Sapphire Preferred account to Emirates and booked direct. Emirates economy was very nice!
In Dubai, we split our time between the city and the desert. We arrived very late the first night and spent it at the Hotel Indigo Dubai Downtown. I had applied for an IHG card when I was status matching to get Caesars Diamond and had a free night certificate with that card. We had a lovely welcome gift and it was a really cute boutique hotel.
The next day, we went to Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa about an hour outside of Dubai. This was probably one of my all-time favorite properties. We paid 100,000 points a night to stay here, so we could only afford two nights based on our points balance. It was a gorgeous resort with amazing villas, each with a private pool. Meals were all included as well as two activities per day. We rode camels twice and did falconry once. We didn’t take advantage of the fourth activity as we also just wanted to spend time taking in the views from our pool. This was the ultimate relaxation resort. The cash price was $1,700 per night. t stand out
We spent the rest of our trip back at Indigo Hotel Dubai at 25,000 IHG points per night. This hotel normally runs about $150/ night. We were close to the Dubai Mall area, where you can find the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai fountains. We visited the Dubai Expo, Miracle Gardens, and the Dubai Marina. We booked a flight that left at 2 AM so it really gave us a whole extra day. We left our bags in the hotel and picked them up when ready to hit the airport.
Of course, when you are going home from an amazing vacation, it’s always a little sad. BUT, I was quite excited. Why? Well, that’s because I booked a flight back to the states in Emirates First Class on their incredible A380! First, we visited the first class lounge. We had incredible food made to order. I wanted a taste of sushi and got a huge sushi platter. When flying first class you also get a 15 minute FREE spa treatment. Enrique and I each had a quick massage. After being out all day in the heat, I took a shower to refresh and we relaxed a little. Then it was time to board!
We were quickly whisked to our seats and served Dom Perignon. We had the most incredible flight attendants who really made the flight just more special. Once we took off, we explored and went to the back of the plane to visit the bar! Since our flight left at 2 AM, everyone in First and Business classes who have access to the bar were fast asleep. We wanted to take full advantage. Sofia, our flight attendant, brought Dom from the front of the plane so we could continue. We also had a couple of cocktails. I regretted eating so much in the lounge because I was too full to eat before sleeping. We slept and then woke up to take our showers. Yep, a shower on the plane. There were two lavatories in first class, each equipped with a shower. There was someone who’s job it was to clean the bathroom after anyone used it! We had a wonderful breakfast and landed in DC. All this was 136,250 miles and about $200 in taxes each. I used a combination of points from Chase and American Express. Both transfer 1:1 to Emirates. Had I paid cash, it would have been $10,500 each ticket!
We visited the Air France/KLM lounge in DC as we waited for our flight home using the Priority Pass access we have with our American Express Platinum card.
From DC, we flew United economy home using money we had in Enrique’s United Travel Bank. Each year, you get $200 from American Express Platinum that is intended for incidentals like baggage fees. However, you can use your American Express card to purchase travel bank funds. Since we had gotten the card in late 2020, we had $200 for 2020 & $200 for 2021 for a total of $400. Flights to LAX were only about $100 so we still have funds left! Flying economy again was rough, but it was back to reality!
To Summarize:
Flights:
LAX - MLE: 70,000 AA miles + $19 tax to fly Qatar QSuites
MLE - DXB: 32,500 Emirates points (transfered from Chase) +~$100 tax
DXB - IAD: 136,250 Emirates points (transfered from Chase and Amex) +~$200 tax
IAD - LAX: $118.00 each paid via United Travel Bank
Hotels:
Veligandu Island Resort and Spa: 7 nights all inclusive $5,500 cash
Hotel Indigo Dubai Downtown: 1 Free night certificate, 3 nights @ 25,000 IHG points each
AL Maha Desert Resort and Spa: 2 nights at 100,000 Marriot points each night
Total Cost:
Points: 695,000
Travel Bank Funds: 236
Cash Spent: $6,138.00
Trip Value: $39,236
