Bart Lapers
Visiting Every Country In The World
King Executive room at Hilton Frankfurt Airport
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)
French Polynesia: Tahiti and Bora Bora Airfares
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
My Flight Itinerary: BRU-FRA-LHR-LAX-PPT-BOB-PPT-LAX-LHR-FRA-BRU
Map: Distance Tahiti -> Tokyo, Sydney, Auckland, Los Angeles, Santiago, Paris
Pic: Air New Zealand B777-300ER All Blacks Livery at LAX airport (Sep 2012)
Back in January (’12) I was fortunate to find a steeply discounted airfare to Papeete (PPT, Tahiti) at vielfliegertreff.de, a German frequent flyer forum. I paid €916 for FRA-LHR-LAX-PPT-LAX-LHR-FRA with Air New Zealand (LHR-LAX-LHR) and it’s codeshare partners Lufthansa (FRA-LHR-FRA) and Air Tahiti Nui (LAX-PPT-LAX). Regular airfares from Europe to French Polynesia rarely go below €1500, so this was a great deal. (e.g. 3 weeks before my departure the ticket was priced at €2456!) As I live in Brussels, I booked a second ticket BRU-FRA-BRU with Lufthansa for €106, resulting in a total airfare of €1022 for Brussels – Papeete return. The Air New Zealand airfare was deeply discounted so I wasn’t sure if I was going to earn any status miles with Lufthansa Miles & More. L’TUR, the German OTA (Online Travel Agency) selling the ticket, didn’t display the booking classes, so I couldn’t really check in advance. Much to my surprise, it earned me 13712 status miles! There was even an added bonus by Lufthansa. As they were having a strike on Sep 7, I had to rebook my FRA-LHR flight to a Lufthansa Regional flight at 6:55am (LH Regional was not affected by the strike). Not sure why, but I was also credited status miles for my cancelled FRA-LHR 1:40pm flight. I guess it was a compensation for the early wake-up call! 🙂
Map: French Polynesia – Tahiti (PPT), Moorea (MOZ) and Bora Bora (BOB)
With my flights booked to Papeete (PPT), the capital of French Polynesia on the island of Tahiti, I still wasn’t on my final destination, Bora Bora (BOB). Domestic Airline Air Tahiti (not to confuse with international airline Air Tahiti Nui) serves a network as wide as Europe. PPT-BOB return flights don’t come cheap at around XPF41,000 (€345), but thanks to a Belgian family living in Papeete, I managed to get hold of a ticket for local residents priced at XPF25,480 (€213) Checked luggage was limited to 10KG compared to 20KG for the more expensive ticket. Surprisingly, overweight luggage is really cheap with Air Tahiti. Passengers holding a diving license get 5KG extra for free, and for every additional KG, you only pay XPF210 (€1,75 or $2,3) ! In my case, I paid XPF3570 (€30) extra for overweight.
Pic: Air Tahiti ATR 72–500 at Bora Bora Motu Mute Airport (BOB) (Sep 2012)
My London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Weekend
Pic: Bart Lapers at Athens 2004 Olympic Games (Aug 2004)
Flashback to August 29, 2004. The picture above was shot a few hours before the Athens 2004 Closing Ceremony. I had been volunteering at the Olympic Aquatic Centre for two weeks which allowed me to witness the World’s Top Athletes in action joined by Kings, Queens, Celebrities and World Leaders. My first and most memorable Olympic Games.
Pic: Bart Lapers at Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bird’s Nest (Aug 2008)
In 2008, we were back at the Olympic Games, this time as spectator at Beijing 2008. Arrived in Beijing without a single ticket for any event at the Games, but thanks to the Belgian Embassy and the Belgian Olympic Committee I managed to buy a huge stack of tickets at face value. It even allowed me to invite some of my friends living in Beijing to attend the Games, as I had bought several pairs of tickets.
Pic: Olympic Torch Relay London 2012 arrives at City Hall (Jul 2012)
With the Rio2016 Games on my bucket list, I couldn’t skip the London 2012 Olympic Games. London being a less ‘exotic’ location for a Belgian, still I need to admit the Brits impressed me with their Games. Everyone was convinced the Opening Ceremony was not going to match the Beijing one, still Danny Boyle his team impressed the World with a very British London 2012 Opening Ceremony.
Pic: Olympic Torch Relay London 2012 at Tower Bridge (Jul 2012)
Also the Belgians impressed, not with their Olympic performances, but with the BOIC Belgium House located at the Middle Temple.
Pic: London 2012 Belgium House at The Temple (Jul 2012)
Pic: Welcome at Belgium House London 2012 Olympic Games (Jul 2012)
Pic: Wall of Fame at Belgium House – Fred Deburghgraeve (Jul 2012)
Pic: Wall of Fame at Belgium House London 2012 – Tia Hellebaut (Jul 2012)
Pic: London 2012 Belgium House ‘Zuipkaart’ Drinks Vouchers (Jul 2012)
As the only tickets left for the Opening Ceremony were around £2000 (!) the Belgium House had to be the best alternative to watch the ceremony. In 2008, I witnessed the Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony at the Belgian Embassy in Beijing, who had organized a nice event with Belgian beer & snacks. The London 2012 Belgium House website and twitter account mentioned “July 27: Open as of 4pm to the general public”. Different story at the entrance of the Belgian House, “Sorry Sir, tonight is invitation only, maybe you can try the Brazilian House”. WTF! I teamed up with four ‘Topsport’ students who had just graduated from VUB and who were also refused entrance to the venue. After a short brainstorming session and some text messages, we managed to get hold of the phone number of the Belgian Olympic Committee Marketing Director. After a friendly call, 200 extra ‘non’ invitees were allowed entrance to the Middle Temple! 🙂
Pic: The Inner Temple Belgium House London 2012 Opening Ceremony
Video: Atmosphere at Belgium House during London 2012 Opening Ceremony
Pic: London 2012 Men’s Road Cycling Race at The Mall (Jul 2012)
On the first day of the Games (Saturday, Jul 28) I was present at The Mall hoping a Belgian would finish first in the Men’s Road Cycling Race event. Unfortunately doping sinner Alexander Vinokourov ‘won’ the race.
Later that afternoon, I visited the London 2012 Olympic Park. A huge area with numerous friendly volunteers making sure everything ran smoothly in a relaxed and enthusiastic atmosphere. The park didn’t feel artificial as it had many grass fields, trees and colorful flowers along the paths connecting the different venues.
Pic: London 2012 Olympic Park – Olympic Stadium and Orbit (Jul 2012)
Pic: London 2012 Olympic Stadium (Jul 2012)
Pic: London 2012 Olympic Stadium Close-Up (Jul 2012)
Pic: Elite Hospitality – Prestige at the Olympic Park London 2012 (Jul 2012)
Pic: London 2012 Olympic Park Basketball Arena (Jul 2012)
Pic: London 2012 Olympic Park Info Sign and Zeppelin (Jul 2012)
Pic: Handball at Copper Box London 2012 Olympic Park (Jul 2012)
Pic: London 2012 Olympic Park Riverbank Arena Hockey (Jul 2012)
Pic: Me and Coca-Cola ‘Move to the Beat’ Olympic Park Promo Team (Jul 2012)
Pic: Sunset at London 2012 Olympic Stadium (Jul 2012)
My visit to the London 2012 Olympic Games was a short one (3 nights) but gave me a good impression of both infrastructure and atmosphere at the Games. The Brits did an excellent job and I have a tremendous amount of respect for all volunteers working day and night with such enthusiasm and persistence to make the London 2012 Olympic Games a success. See you in Rio de Janeiro for the next Summer Olympics Rio2016!
Pic: Casa Brasil at London 2012 Olympic Games (Jul 2012)
Pic: Bart Lapers at Casa Brasil Countdown Rio 2016 – London 2012 (Jul 2012)
Video: Bart Lapers Hang Gliding in Rio de Janeiro (Apr, 2009)
Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill
Pic: King Bed Superior room 506 at Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)
Last weekend, I attended the Opening of the London 2012 Olympics. Apart from my amazing experiences at the Olympic venues, I also had a fabulous hotel stay. Back in August last year, I wrote about the luxury hotels I had booked using PriorityClub points. A few weeks ago, I changed my mind about the length of my London 2012 stay and shortened it from 9 to 3 nights. If I would have booked my hotels in Aug 2011 on the best available prepaid rates (which were as high as £450 per night), it would have been impossible to shorten my stay without a penalty. This is a huge advantage of booking with points: You can cancel your reservations up to the day of arrival (before 6:00 PM local hotel time) without penalty. Note: Make sure to check the cancellation policy for each points booking you make. Some properties impose a more strict policy (e.g. the IHG French Polynesia resorts require to cancel a few days in advance to avoid a penalty). But in general, you can cancel point bookings and have the points returned in your account instantly without any penalty! Also make sure to have separate reservations for each night you book with PriorityClub points, even if it’s a seven night stay at the same hotel. This will allow you to cancel certain dates of your stay without cancelling the entire booking. It might be impossible to make a new reservation using points at the time you want to make changes. IHG hotels are required to release at least 5% of their room inventory for PriorityClub bookings, but once those are gone, it might be impossible to book on points. Also, canceling a room reservation booked on points doesn’t necessarily mean it’s being added back to the inventory of rooms bookable on points.
Pic: Work Desk Superior room 506 Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)
Finding my way from the Eurostar St. Pancras International station to the hotel was easy, as Aldgate tube station (Circle line) is on walking distance from the hotel (note: Aldgate East station also is nearby). To my surprise, enthusiastic front desk staff member Tamara spoke fluent Flemish, my first language. She had been living in Antwerp (Belgium) for 10 years where learned both Dutch and French. As PriorityClub Platinum member, I was offered a complimentary dessert or glass of wine at the hotels restaurant ‘Square Mile Kitchen & Lounge’. Internet access was complimentary for all guests, and so was the minibar!
Pic: Nespresso Essenza at Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)
Pic: Shower Bathroom Superior room 506 Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill
Pic: Bathroom Superior room 506 Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)
Pic: Aveda Bathroom Amenities Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)
Pic: Olympic Welcome Gift Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)
On my first two nights, I didn’t receive an upgrade and was assigned Superior room 506. It was one of the smallest rooms on the 5th floor (plan), still spacious enough to move around comfortably and it was a corner room. As I felt ‘home’ at Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill, I decided to cancel my reservation at Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street (booked on Club Carlson points) and to stay a third night at Hotel Indigo Tower Hill. For my first two nights, I had burned 25K points per night as they were booked back in Aug 2011. Unfortunately PriorityClub devaluated their points in Jan 2012 by increasing the number of points required for a free night at many of it’s prime properties, including Hotel Indigo Tower Hill (now 35K). At least those extra 10K points were rewarded with an upgrade to a King Executive room (406) on the 4th floor (plan). The Executive room was much more spacious than Superior room 506, still it had exactly the same size on the floor plan (4 vs 5). The bathroom at the Executive room also had nicer walk-in shower and the TV was placed on a drawer instead of being mounted on the wall.
Pic: Bed King Executive room 406 Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)
Pic: Bed and Work Desk King Executive room Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill
Pic: Overview King Executive room Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)
Conclusion: I had a fantastic stay at Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill during the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Weekend thanks to the well appointed cosy rooms and the outstanding staff. Even at 35,000 Priority Club points, I can highly recommend it!
Pic: TV and Work Desk King Executive room Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill
Pic: Bathroom King Executive room 406 Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill
Video: King Executive room 406 at Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)
Loyalty Programs: Account Statuses (July 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:
HOTEL LOYALTY PROGRAMS
1) PRIORITY CLUB
- Membership Level: Platinum Royal Ambassador
- Expiration date: Jan 2014 (Platinum) Feb 2013 (Royal Ambassador)
- Qualifying nights in 2012: 11
- Number of points: 117,574
- Points earned in 2012: 77,545
How did I earn these points?
Obviously by resting my head for 11 nights on qualifying rates at IHG properties in the first 6 months of 2012, but more importantly, by signing up for every possible Priority Club Promotion (check FrequentFlyerBonuses.com and FlyerTalk.com for more details) I also made some changes to my London 2012 Olympic Games reservations. I cancelled my 7 nights at Hotel Indigo London Paddington reimbursing me 175K points. I retained my two night booking at Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill for the opening weekend and added one extra night at Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street using Club Carlson points. This shortened my London 2012 Olympics trip to 3 nights instead of 9, but allowed me to use some of the points to book my upcoming French Polynesia trip.
Where did I spent points?
Past stays:
30K points for two nights at City Ocean View room at Holiday Inn Pattaya
25K points for one night at King Suite at Crowne Plaza Changi Singapore
5K points for one night at Crowne Plaza Venice East-Quarto d’Altino
Upcoming stays:
60K points for two nights at InterContintal Resort Tahiti
150K points for five nights at InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa
90K points for three nights at InterContinental Moorea Resort & Spa
Video: Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa
2) HYATT GOLD PASSPORT
- Membership Level: Diamond
- Expiration date: Feb 2013
- Suite Upgrade Award vouchers left: 4
- Qualifying nights in 2012: 0
- Number of points: 40,820
- Points earned in 2012: 452
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
3) HILTON HHONORS
- Membership Level: Gold
- Expiration date: Mar 2013
- Qualifying nights in 2012: 6
- Number of points: 3,066
- Points earned in 2012: 9,236
How did I earn these points?
Stays at Hilton Millennium Bangkok and Hilton London Tower Bridge. Interesting detail: I didn’t stay a single night at Hilton properties in 2011, still I managed to achieve Hilton HHonors Gold status for free. 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?
170K points for four nights at Ocean View Pool Villa at Conrad Koh Samui
Note: 153,435K points were bought for this stay, read the blog post for all details.
4) STARWOOD PREFERRED GUEST (SPG)
- Membership Level: Preferred Guest
- Expiration date: N/A
- Qualifying nights in 2012: 4
- Number of points: 2,524
- Points earned in 2012: 4,040
How did I earn these points?
Stays at Honeymoon Suite at Sheraton Seoul D Cube City and Caroline Astor Suite at St. Regis Bangkok
Where did I spent points?
3K points for one night at Four Points by Sheraton Barcelona Diagonal
5) Club CArlson
- Membership Level: Silver
- Expiration date: Feb 2013
- Qualifying nights in 2012: 3
- Number of points: 64,214*
- Points earned in 2012: 108,722*
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)
6) LE CLUB ACCOR
- Membership Level: Platinum
- Expiration date: Oct 2012
- Qualifying nights in 2012: 1
- Number of points: 1,676
- Points earned in 2012: 452
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.
AIRLINE LOYALTY PROGRAMS
1) MILES AND MORE (LUfthansa)
- Membership Level: Senator – Star Alliance Gold
- Expiration date: 02/14
- Number of Award miles: 346,564
- Number of Status miles earned in 2012: 59,093
- Number of eVouchers: 2
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
2) MILEAGEPLUS (UNITED)
- Membership Level: MileagePlus member
- Expiration date: N/A
- Number of Award miles: 521
- Number of Status miles earned in 2012: 0
- Number of Award miles earned in 2012: 61,200
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! 🙂
Bart Lapers 