Febs
Established Member
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2006
- Posts
- 1,671
Hi guys,
I realise this probably sounds like a rookie post, but after having done 4 x RTW trips in the past 4 years, my wife and I find ourselves stuck for ideas for our next holiday - mainly due to a few limiting factors.
Firstly, having taken all those trips previously, I'm now on a ridiculously low leave balance (and not too keen to purchase a whole lot more) so the era of 5 week holidays (like we took in Jan-Feb this year for our honeymoon) is sadly over for now. We're looking at a ~2 week holiday, in early January when I have to take leave anyway (yeah, peak travel season for some areas
). We have plans for big trips to Africa, and some parts of Europe we haven't yet done (Amalfi coast, Santorini, more of Spain than just Barcelona/Madrid)...but those are longer trips we'll be looking to do in a year or two.
I'm also keen to maximise my current points and top-tier memberships (QFF WP, SPG Plat, Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond) in case I lose them next year...AND, I want to fit in at least one more visit to the F Lounge, just in case I drop down to SG!
Finally, we'd like to do as much of the trip on points as possible (not averse to paying for some flights, and we'll definitely need to pay for some accommodation - just prefer to maximise the points usage if possible). I currently have ~90,000 QFF points, ~25,000 SPG points and ~50,000 Hyatt GP points, as well as ~110,000 AMEX MR points which could be put towards QFF (1:1), SPG (0.5:1) or Hilton (1:1) as needed.
We're pretty open in terms of where we could visit (though we've recently done Vietnam, HK, Malaysia, Maldives and the US, so somewhere other than those places). We thought about Bangkok and broader Thailand (but flights are $$ and award availability is pretty rubbish at that time of year). Also thought about NZ, which could be an option (reasonable award availability, nice in Summer, and I haven't been to Queenstown for years), but there's zero Starwood presence there now (pity, the Westin Auckland was a great hotel). Somewhere with a W would be great! But that's probably pushing it...
Other places that my wife hasn't visited (but I have and would be happy to return to) - UAE, Bali/broader Indonesia, Japan...though some of those are a little tricky on award flights. We've done a fair bit of Australia over the years, so we're keen to head O/S for this trip.
Generally on holidays we look for nightlife, nice restaurants, culture and just general sight-seeing. Just as happy exploring a major city as we are off the beaten track. Pretty open really!
I realise the above is pretty specific, and I'm not asking for anyone to do research for me, but if anyone has any suggestions or has been in a similar situation, I'd love to hear your ideas! Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
- Febs.
I realise this probably sounds like a rookie post, but after having done 4 x RTW trips in the past 4 years, my wife and I find ourselves stuck for ideas for our next holiday - mainly due to a few limiting factors.
Firstly, having taken all those trips previously, I'm now on a ridiculously low leave balance (and not too keen to purchase a whole lot more) so the era of 5 week holidays (like we took in Jan-Feb this year for our honeymoon) is sadly over for now. We're looking at a ~2 week holiday, in early January when I have to take leave anyway (yeah, peak travel season for some areas
). We have plans for big trips to Africa, and some parts of Europe we haven't yet done (Amalfi coast, Santorini, more of Spain than just Barcelona/Madrid)...but those are longer trips we'll be looking to do in a year or two.I'm also keen to maximise my current points and top-tier memberships (QFF WP, SPG Plat, Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond) in case I lose them next year...AND, I want to fit in at least one more visit to the F Lounge, just in case I drop down to SG!
Finally, we'd like to do as much of the trip on points as possible (not averse to paying for some flights, and we'll definitely need to pay for some accommodation - just prefer to maximise the points usage if possible). I currently have ~90,000 QFF points, ~25,000 SPG points and ~50,000 Hyatt GP points, as well as ~110,000 AMEX MR points which could be put towards QFF (1:1), SPG (0.5:1) or Hilton (1:1) as needed.
We're pretty open in terms of where we could visit (though we've recently done Vietnam, HK, Malaysia, Maldives and the US, so somewhere other than those places). We thought about Bangkok and broader Thailand (but flights are $$ and award availability is pretty rubbish at that time of year). Also thought about NZ, which could be an option (reasonable award availability, nice in Summer, and I haven't been to Queenstown for years), but there's zero Starwood presence there now (pity, the Westin Auckland was a great hotel). Somewhere with a W would be great! But that's probably pushing it...
Other places that my wife hasn't visited (but I have and would be happy to return to) - UAE, Bali/broader Indonesia, Japan...though some of those are a little tricky on award flights. We've done a fair bit of Australia over the years, so we're keen to head O/S for this trip.
Generally on holidays we look for nightlife, nice restaurants, culture and just general sight-seeing. Just as happy exploring a major city as we are off the beaten track. Pretty open really!
I realise the above is pretty specific, and I'm not asking for anyone to do research for me, but if anyone has any suggestions or has been in a similar situation, I'd love to hear your ideas! Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
- Febs.
