French Polynesia Trip Report Index Tahiti and Bora Bora – Flights & Airfares
Hilton Frankfurt Airport Lufthansa Senator Lounge Frankfurt Airport (Terminal 1, Departure Area B) InterContinental Resort Tahiti InterContinental Bora Bora Resort and Thalasso Spa The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort (site inspection) InterContinental Resort and Spa Moorea Pic: Hilton Frankfurt am Main Airport – Entrance (Sep 2012)
As I had two separate tickets for my trip to French Polynesia, I decided to play safe by booking my BRU-FRA flight one day in advance. I arrived at Frankfurt am Main Airport on Thursday night Sep 6th. This turned out to be a smart move, as Lufthansa was having a strike on Friday Sep 7th and my original 1.40pm FRA-LHR had been cancelled. Instead, I was rescheduled for a Lufthansa Regional flight at 6:55am not affected by the strike. Fortunately, I had also booked my overnight stay at the new Hilton Frankfurt Airport, avoiding a really early wake-up call. Pic: Hilton Frankfurt am Main Airport – Lobby (Sep 2012)
At €159 (advance purchase rate) it was an expensive airport hotel stay. I had been monitoring the hotel rate for a few weeks when it dropped from +€240 to €159. A few days after my booking, Hilton launched ‘The Great Getaway’ sale resulting in an even lower rate of €113. A painful experience for a ‘luxury traveller on a budget’ like me! But hey, you can’t always win! Pic: King Hilton Executive Bedroom – Hilton Frankfurt Airport (Sep 2012)
As Hilton HHonors Gold member, I was upgraded to a King Hilton Executive room on the 9th floor and provided with complimentary internet access. Executive rooms are basically the same as standard Hilton Guestrooms on the lower floors, they just come with access to the Executive Lounge. My Executive room was facing the lobby atrium and felt a bit cramped. The interior drowned in a sea of beige and didn’t really feel inviting. At check-in, I was told the Executive lounge was serving snacks and drinks until 9pm, but arriving there just after 8.30pm the complimentary drinks and food service was over. Bummer! Unfortunately, my high expectations for this new and expensive Hilton property were not met. My stay earned me 6153 Hilton HHonors points, including the “My Way” option of 1000 extra points for skipping the complimentary breakfast due to my early check-out time. I might try next door’s Hilton Garden Inn on the next overnight stay at Frankfurt Airport. For more pictures of Hilton Frankfurt Airport, check Damian’s review at upgrd.com Pic: King Hilton Executive room bed – Hilton Frankfurt Airport (Sep 2012) Pic: Hilton Frankfurt am Main Airport – King Executive Bathroom (Sep 2012)
Back in May 2011, I published an insight in my loyalty program statuses including the number of points and miles earned. More than a year has passed since then, so it’s time for an update:
How did I earn these points? I only stayed once at Hyatt this year and it was on points. During award stays you only earn points on food & beverage charges, in my case 452 points. Where did I spent points?
30K points for two nights at Club View King room at Grand Hyatt Seoul
How did I earn these points? Stays at Radisson Suites Bangkok Sukhumvit, Park Plaza Soi 18 Sukhumvit Bangkok and Park Inn Leuven. Check my Club Carlson post for more details.
* Points from my Park Inn Leuven still need to post (including 44K bonus) Where did I spent points? 50K points for one night at Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel (Opening weekend London 2012 Olympics)
How did I earn these points? One night stay at Novotel Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Interesting detail: I acquired free Le Club Accor Platinum status using a simple sign-up link. I posted this opportunity several times on my twitter feed, make sure you don’t miss it next time, follow me on twitter! Where did I spent points? No Le Club Accor points spent in 2012. Le Club points have a very low value, you need a minimum of 4K points to convert them to 2000 airline miles or 2K points for a €40 discount voucher (which can only be used to lower roomrates, not on F&B) In general, this loyalty program is really weak, with platinum benefits rarely honored. The only really positive experience I had as A Club Gold member was at Sofitel Paris La Defense back in 2010.
How did I earn these miles? I earned more than 280,000 miles in the past year.
150K miles were ‘butt-in-seat’ miles (by taking flights)
32K bonus miles for business flight to Rio de Janeiro
75K miles were earned using the Brussels Airlines American Express cards. 23K miles were earned from various sources like hotel stays, shopping, etc…
On what did I spent miles?
70K miles to upgrade GIG-FRA from Business Class to new Lufthansa First Class
How did I earn these miles? I bought 98,000 Wyndham Rewards points for $308 (€237,85) during the yearly U.S. Travel Association “Daily Getaways” campaign and converted them to 39,200 United Mileage Plus miles. I also bought 20,000 Mileage Plus miles for $451 (€347,86) via a facebook 40% discount sale.
Finally, during an award reservation, I was 1479 miles short, so I had to buy a set of 2000 Mileage Plus miles for $70 (€58,47).
Conclusion, in total I bought 61,200 United Mileage Plus miles for €644,18 On what did I spent miles?
70K miles on an itinerary including Singapore Airlines First Class & Business Class + Air New Zealand Business and Economy Class. More details to follow!
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui entrance on top of the hill (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Private Pool at Oceanview villa (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui One Bedroom Oceanview Pool Villa (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Breathtaking Sea View from Villa 311 (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Pool Villa 311 Oceanview (July 2012) Each year in the April/May time frame, the U.S. Travel Association organizes a five week sale of (mainly) hotel loyalty points called “Daily Getaways”. The aim of the Daily Getaways campaign is to encourage domestic US summer travel and thus intended for US citizens, nevertheless both in 2011 and 2012, I managed to buy several point packages. As these points are being sold at steep discounts, the sale has become incredibly popular and the better offers tend to sell-out in seconds. My best ‘catch’ in 2011 was a package of 24,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for $250 (€175,43) This year, I scored two great offers: I bought 98,000 Wyndham Rewards points for $308 (€237,85) and 150,000 Hilton HHonors points for $825 (€633,46) I had never heard of Wyndham hotels before and wasn’t planning to stay at any of their properties either. Still, buying those 98K points was an incredible deal as you could convert them to a lot of partner airline miles. In my case, I converted the 98K Wyndham Rewards points to a whopping 39,200 United MileagePlus miles. The icing on the cake came two weeks ago, when Singapore Airlines accidentally released all reward inventory to Star Alliance partners. An ideal opportunity to convert those cheap United miles into something very valuable… Yes, I booked a Singapore Airlines First Class flight for Jan 2013! More on that later.
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Villa Keycard (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Bedroom of Oceanview Pool Villa 311 (July 2012) Back to the subject of this post, Conrad Koh Samui in Thailand. A property with 66 villa’s located on a west facing hill in the Southern tip of the Koh Samui island. Opened in September 2011, with an average room rate well above THB20,000 (€500) per night, not particularly fitting the average travel budget. Except if you collected and/or bought Hilton HHonors points. The hotel is ranked Category 7 in the HHonors program, meaning 50K points are required for a free night. HHonors Elite Members (Silver, Gold and Diamond) get discounts on the number of points required for extended stays. As I obtained HHonors Gold status for free last year, I was eligible for a 15% points discount on a four night stay: 42500 points per night (4 nights = 170K) instead of 50,000 (4 nights = 200K). Before my 150K points purchase, I had 16,565 HHonors points in my account. The missing 3435 points to total the 170K were offered during the booking process for $34,35 (€28). That brought the total for 4 nights at Conrad Koh Samui to €661,46 (€633,46 (150K) + €28 (3K) +16K points which were in my account) A paid stay at my one bedroom Oceanview Pool Villa using the cheapest non-refundable rate would have cost me THB78,523 (€2020)! Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Bathroom Oceanview Pool Villa 311 (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Hilton HHonors Gold Welcome Amenity (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui HHonors Gold Welcome Amenity (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Zest Restaurant Entrance (July 2012) The downside of exclusive resorts like Conrad Koh Samui is their remote location. Without own transportation means, it’s quite hard to leave the resort and the nearest restaurants and shops are not at walking distance. This works in the advantage of the resorts who tend to charge much higher prices for food and drinks compared to the local market value. Fortunately, my free Hilton HHonors Gold status comes with complimentary breakfast for up to two room guests. This allowed us to take an extensive daily ‘brunch’ covering both breakfast and lunch. As HHonors Gold, we could order anything from the menu (except the Sparkling Breakfast option) and/or we could serve ourselves at the buffet.
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Zest Restaurant Interior (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Breakfast Meat Selection (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Breakfast Freshly Baked Pastries Selection (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Breakfast Fresh Honey (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Breakfast Fresh Juices (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Breakfast with a view at Zest (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Breakfast Freshly Baked Pastries (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Breakfast Egg Royal (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Breakfast French Toast (July 2012) For in depth reviews of the resort, I would like to refer to colleague bloggers Garry Leff (View From The Wing, part 1, part 2) John Ollila (LoyaltyLobby.com) and the thread on Flyertalk. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comment section below. Thanks! Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Main Pool (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Main Pool Infinity Edge (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Main Pool Underwater View (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Beach Hammock and Chairs (July 2012) Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Beach Lounge Chairs (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Azure Pool Bar and Gril Restaurant (July 2012)
Pic: Conrad Koh Samui Azure Delicious Pizza (July 2012)
Pic: Travel blogger Bart Lapers at Conrad Koh Samui (July 2012) Video: One Bedroom Ocean View Villa at Conrad Koh Samui
Pic: Welcome ad Heathrow Airport – Beefeater Tower of London (May 2012) Pic: Hilton HHonors ad at London Heathrow Airport (May 2012)
On my return from Thailand to Belgium, I made a stopover in London. I arrived on Sunday night (open-jaw Etihad ticket GVA-BKK-LHR) and had a Eurostar ticket to Brussels for Monday afternoon. It was another opportunity to use The Great Getaway Hilton promo. (valid till July 23 for stays until September 30, 2012) I paid £100 (€128 on Amex) for a Double Hilton Guest Room at Hilton London Tower Bridge which was upgraded to a Double Hilton Executive Room thanks to my free Hilton HHonors Gold status. This upgrade included access to the Executive lounge (free breakfast, evening cocktails & snacks, etc…) and HHonors Gold member, I also got free internet access. Pic: Sunset City Hall view from London Tower Bridge (May 2012)
The hotel is conveniently located near London Bridge station. I didn’t check the closest station in advance and ended up at Tower Hill station. Exhausted from the longhaul BKK-AUH-LHR flight, I dragged my luggage across Tower Bridge. In the process of doing so, I managed to make the sunset shot above. Continue reading →
Pic: King Executive room at Millennium Hilton Bangkok (May 2012) Pic: King Executive room at Millennium Hilton Bangkok (May 2012)
For my first night in Bangkok (Thailand trip May 17 – May 27) I used The Great Getaway Hilton promo (valid till July 23 for stays until September 30, 2012). Unlike some of the other ‘promotions’, this one really offers steep discounts on Hilton room rates. I paid THB3469 (EUR89) for a King Hilton Deluxe room which was upgraded to a King Executive room upon arrival. I enjoyed a free upgrade + free executive lounge access (breakfast, cocktails, dinner snacks, …) + free internet because of my HHonors Gold status. How I got this status? Normally you only get this status after staying 16 times or 36 nights at Hilton hotels during one calendar year… but myself (and many of my twitter followers) got it for free. In the past months several links were posted on my twitter account which allowed you to obtain HHonors Gold status for free. You just had to sign-up using the link and got instant HHonors Gold status! Make sure to follow me on twitter so you don’t miss future deals. I post several “Great Deal Alerts” a week. Pic: Executive Lounge Breakfast at Millennium Hilton Bangkok (May 2012)
Pic: Lounge chairs at The Beach – Millennium Hilton Bangkok (May 2012)
