Author Topic: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?  (Read 132593 times)

Offline ChikkyMonkey

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #340 on: June 04, 2012, 02:49:52 AM »
We didn't actually focus on the KSML because we took your suggestion of asking them to heat up the chinese food we brought. Was amazing.

What was the idea? Bringing take out Chinese? What did you do about double wrapping? Was it your own or do restaurants offer this? Your disposable cutlery?

Offline damaxer91

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #341 on: June 04, 2012, 07:55:14 AM »
What was the idea? Bringing take out Chinese? What did you do about double wrapping? Was it your own or do restaurants offer this? Your disposable cutlery?

Deep Freeze your favorite chinese meal and double wrap it.

Re-heats nicely in the airplane oven. You can use the cutlery that comes with your KSML

Offline moish

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #342 on: June 04, 2012, 08:35:37 AM »
]You can use the cutlery that comes with your KSML
when do you need a knife with chinese?

Offline AJK

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #343 on: June 04, 2012, 10:05:07 AM »
Deep Freeze your favorite chinese meal and double wrap it.

Re-heats nicely in the airplane oven. You can use the cutlery that comes with your KSML

Actually, we just picked up on our way to the airport, asking the restaurant to ensure that it could be put in the oven, and then once on the plane we double wrapped it with foil that the crew gave us.
2015: 116K bkd | 1.6M brnd | F: OZ,NH,AA,EK | J: UA,CA,TK,DL,TN,AF,VA | LIH,NRT,ROR,PEK,CNS,BOB,MEL,TLV & Pacific Hopper

Offline chuchem

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #344 on: June 04, 2012, 10:17:50 AM »
tripreport?

Offline AJK

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #345 on: June 04, 2012, 10:22:08 AM »
tripreport?

I started it, now I gotta just find time to finish it.

I'm actually thinking of hosting it elsewhere (and linking to it) so I can intersperse it with pictures with less headache than what would be required to do that here.
2015: 116K bkd | 1.6M brnd | F: OZ,NH,AA,EK | J: UA,CA,TK,DL,TN,AF,VA | LIH,NRT,ROR,PEK,CNS,BOB,MEL,TLV & Pacific Hopper

Offline Dan

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #346 on: June 04, 2012, 01:11:16 PM »
Just FYI: I have had F crews refuse to heat up our meals and other times when they have no foil.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline Dan

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #347 on: June 04, 2012, 01:12:09 PM »
I started it, now I gotta just find time to finish it.

I'm actually thinking of hosting it elsewhere (and linking to it) so I can intersperse it with pictures with less headache than what would be required to do that here.
Just upload all the pictures to any picture hosting site and use the IMG tag with the URL to post the full size pic in your TR here.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline AJK

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #348 on: June 04, 2012, 01:12:46 PM »
Just FYI: I have had F crews refuse to heat up our meals and other times when they have no foil.

Yeah, we took the risk, and then somewhat mitigated it by bringing our own foil just in case.
2015: 116K bkd | 1.6M brnd | F: OZ,NH,AA,EK | J: UA,CA,TK,DL,TN,AF,VA | LIH,NRT,ROR,PEK,CNS,BOB,MEL,TLV & Pacific Hopper

Offline chuchem

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #349 on: June 04, 2012, 01:21:57 PM »
Maybe with a us airline they would refuse it, as service is bad anyway and they dont know what it means. Most airlines treat the client as a king in f and do anything to please him. I would be surprised, if ba, lh, lx... would refuse such a request...

Offline Dan

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #350 on: June 04, 2012, 01:38:45 PM »
Maybe with a us airline they would refuse it, as service is bad anyway and they dont know what it means. Most airlines treat the client as a king in f and do anything to please him. I would be surprised, if ba, lh, lx... would refuse such a request...
Actually we were refused in CX F, HKG-YYZ.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline chuchem

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #351 on: June 04, 2012, 03:01:44 PM »
I especially didnt write the asian carriers, as I never flew them. They probably have a rule, that no outside food is allowed to be heated up and are scared to loose the jobs, while the european flight crew has more free room to deal with F clients. Like on my last flight FRA-TLV in F they said feel free to use Skype, even through official policy does not allow it...She said in F I can close a eye...

Offline damaxer91

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #352 on: June 04, 2012, 03:14:34 PM »
. Like on my last flight FRA-TLV in F they said feel free to use Skype, even through official policy does not allow it...She said in F I can close a eye...

I'm sure everyone else in F enjoyed

Offline chuchem

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #353 on: June 04, 2012, 06:06:16 PM »
If you talk in a normal voice, the aircraft noise drowns the noise... Thats why she said in f they dont mind, but business and economy were people sit closer to eachother, it will disturb.

Offline brytch

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #354 on: June 06, 2012, 01:15:56 PM »
Heading out on Sunday.. Any tips on things you wished you had brought along? or things I shouldn't forget?? Any good food ideas?

Any help greatly appreciated!

Offline AJK

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #355 on: June 06, 2012, 01:24:24 PM »
Suncreen and aloe. Definitely strongest sun we've experienced.
2015: 116K bkd | 1.6M brnd | F: OZ,NH,AA,EK | J: UA,CA,TK,DL,TN,AF,VA | LIH,NRT,ROR,PEK,CNS,BOB,MEL,TLV & Pacific Hopper

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #356 on: June 10, 2012, 03:27:59 PM »
Introduction:

Ever since I was a boy, I have been utterly amazed at the picturesque and breathtaking beauty of Bora Bora (BOB) and the Maldives (MLE). The crystal clear water, the blindingly white sand, and the deep blue skies, has made visiting one of these exotic locales a “bucket list” item for me for as long as I can remember. Even more than that, though, I didn’t want to fly 18+ hours only to be met on arrival with a regular ol’ hotel room. Call it spoiled, call it fulfillment of an adolescent dream, but what I desperately wanted was an over-water villa/bungalow (OWV/OWB)—what I am fully convinced is G-d’s oasis of paradise on earth. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that when an opportunity to visit the Maldives presented itself, my wife and I leapt at the chance.

Our itinerary:

May 14, Etihad Airways, EY 100, JFK-AUH, 22:40-19:50 +1 in First (Flight time of 13:10)
Connect time in Abu Dhabi of 13:30
May 16, Etihad Airways, EY 278, AUH-MLE, 09:20-14:40 in Business (Flight time of 4:20)

—Constance Halaveli Resort for six nights—

May 22, Qatar Airways, QR 383, MLE-DOH, 19:30-20:05 in Business (Flight time of 4:35)
Connect time in Doha, Qatar of 3:15
May 23, Qatar Airways, QR 61, DOH-ZRH, 01:05-06:30 in Business (Flight time of 6:25)
Connect time in Zurich, Switzerland of 3:20
May 23, Swiss Airlines, LX 16, ZRH-JFK, 09:50-12:35 in Business (Flight time of 8:45)

Cost for Flights:

For the flights there, we each used 90,000 American Airlines miles, for a total of 180K AA. Cash price would have been $30,067.00. Thus our redemption value was an incredible 16.7 cpm. (Actually, due to a recent benefit change to the Citi American Airlines card, I got a 10,000 mile rebate on the above redemption, so it only cost me a total of 170K AA, or 17.7 cpm.)

For the flights home, we each used 60,000 United Airlines miles, for a total of 120K UA. Cash price would have been $11,678.60. Thus our redemption value was a healthy 9.7 cpm.

Cost for Hotel:

Though we had more than enough Hyatt Gold Passport (HGP) points and HGP free night certificates to stay at the Park Hyatt Maldives (PHM), we opted instead to go out of pocket for this (once in a lifetime?) trip, and <gasp> stay at a non-points hotel. Why would do such a ridiculous thing? Well, it all comes back to “G-d’s oasis of paradise,” the OWB. Unfortunately, PHM does not allow guests to book directly into an OWB using points. Therefore, guests who want to stay in an OWB at the PHM have two options:

  • Book a regular room for 22,000 HGP per night. Then upon arrival, pending status and availability, ask beg the general manager for a complimentary upgrade. 
  • Book a regular room for 22,000 HGP per night. Then “buy-up” to an OWB for an additional $420 per night.

The (very big) problem with the former option is that it isn’t confirmed. Meaning, theoretically, we could spend 30+ hours in transit, constantly envisioning how wonderful it will be when we finally get to our OWB, only to be told by the general manager at check-in that, for one reason or another, he will not be able to upgrade us. It was just not something I was going to leave to chance on a trip like this.

The problem with the latter option, though it is confirmed, is that we’d have to pay an additional $420 a night for the privilege. Yes, at first blush $420 a night might seem relatively cheap to secure an OWB in the Maldives (especially considering the PHM and many other resorts charge $1,000+ per night). However, I was told about a resort—the Constance Halaveli—that (after special discounts) only charged $463 for an OWB with a private plunge pool (something the PHM does not offer). 

So, for an OWB at the PHM, we’d be shelling out 22K HGP + $420 per night, or for an OWB with a plunge pool at the Constance Halaveli we could simply pay $463/night outright. In other words, was it worth 22,000 HGP to save $43?

Well, considering that’s a redemption rate of 0.002 cpp (yes, that’s two one-thousandths of a penny), it would be borderline criminal. That’s so especially in light of the fact that last November I redeemed 22,000 HGP for a deluxe room at the Park Hyatt Paris that would have otherwise cost $972, a redemption rate of 4.4 cpp.)

So, to us it was an absolute no brainer and we booked the Constance Halaveli.
2015: 116K bkd | 1.6M brnd | F: OZ,NH,AA,EK | J: UA,CA,TK,DL,TN,AF,VA | LIH,NRT,ROR,PEK,CNS,BOB,MEL,TLV & Pacific Hopper

Offline AJK

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #357 on: June 10, 2012, 03:37:31 PM »
Forgot to mention:

The taxes for the outbound were $2.50 per ticket for a total of $5.00.

The taxes for the inbound were $56.10 per ticket for a total of $112.20.
2015: 116K bkd | 1.6M brnd | F: OZ,NH,AA,EK | J: UA,CA,TK,DL,TN,AF,VA | LIH,NRT,ROR,PEK,CNS,BOB,MEL,TLV & Pacific Hopper

Offline moish

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #358 on: June 10, 2012, 03:54:13 PM »
nice report

what was the special discount at the constance?

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Re: Honeymoon: BOB, MLE, Or LIH?
« Reply #359 on: June 10, 2012, 03:57:22 PM »
Stay 5 nights, get 6 + using a great TA.
2015: 116K bkd | 1.6M brnd | F: OZ,NH,AA,EK | J: UA,CA,TK,DL,TN,AF,VA | LIH,NRT,ROR,PEK,CNS,BOB,MEL,TLV & Pacific Hopper