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My wife and I have always wanted to go to Machu Picchu.  We are a little obsessed with ancient archaeology and love being able to see these places in person.  What made this trip even more memorable is that it was our first major trip with our son.  Once we had settled on Peru, we decided to add on another stop, mostly because we could.  We tacked on two more flights to get us to Iguazu Falls.  We ended up with a total of 11 flights and we paid only taxes on those.  We had 12 nights in hotels and only paid out of pocket for one.    We did have some big expenses as both Brazil and Argentina had very high visa fees ($160/person) and we hired a private guide for our time in Peru.  Outside of those costs and normal food, souvenirs and entrance fees, we basically did the whole trip on four credit cards, Chase Ink, Chase United and two of the Amex SPG (now Bonvoy).

We were able to fly out of our home airport of Colorado Springs.  Airline miles makes this much more affordable.  Previously, we had to drive up to Denver, pay more for parking, deal with bigger crowds and longer security lines.  Now when we use points we usually can fly out of our smaller airport (that even has a Priority Pass lounge!).  We used United miles for our flights to Peru and returning from Brazil.  50,000 miles each got us flights that would probably run around $2,000 each.  We earned these miles through a combination of Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card sign-ups and United MileagePlus card sign-ups.  You can get the required 150,000 miles from either two or three card sign-ups. 

To get to Cusco, Peru we took a combination of airlines.  We flew United from Colorado Springs to Houston and then on to Panama City.  We intentionally built in an overnight in Panama City to give ourselves and our son a break.  The next morning, we flew from Panama City to Lima on Copa before taking Avianca from Lima to Cusco.  Even once we landed, we still had an almost two-hour drive to the town of Urubamba where our hotel, Tambo del Inka was located. 

At the time we visited, Tambo del Inka was rated as the #4 hotel in the world by tripadvisor.com and was a member of Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG, now Bonvoy after combining with Marriott).  Due to recently completing a status challenge, we were Platinum members with SPG.  As such, we received free breakfast, late check-out if needed and possible room upgrades up to a suite.  We were not disappointed. 

When we checked-in, they confirmed our status and also confirmed that we received an upgrade to a junior suite.  At some hotels a junior suite is not really a suite at all, but just a slightly larger room.  A junior suite at Tambo del Inka was much more.  We did in fact have two separate areas, a living room and a bedroom.  We put our son up in the living area with his own portable crib, the Lotus Travel Crib (we highly recommend it), while we took over the main bedroom. The view of the Andes out of our windows was also breathtaking.

Each day the staff not only made up our bed, but they always made-up and organized his travel crib.  It was such a small gesture, but really showed attention to detail and their eagerness to go above and beyond.  The room we were given goes for around $500/night and we were only out points.  The hotel also has it’s own dedicated train station for the trip to Machu Picchu which is a nice perk. 

Once we finished seeing the sites around and within Cusco, we left for Iguazu Falls.  We used British Airways Avios (their mileage currency) to fly on LATAM.  These miles also transferred over from Chase Ultimate Rewards; their many partners are why they are my favorite points currency.  Flights on this itinerary normally go for over $700 per person, although you could do it for about $550 with an extra stop and 10 more hours (no thank you).  We had a quick connection in Lima again before our four-hour flight to Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil.

Our hotel in Brazil, Hotel Bella Italia (don’t ask, it was cheap), included an airport transfer and breakfast in their $68 fee.  They had a terrible Italian Buffet at the hotel that we settled on since we didn’t want to take our son out anymore.  However, getting non-native ethnic food when traveling abroad is usually a poor decision and this was no different.  Breakfast the next morning was fine, and then we were off once again.  We arranged again for a private driver to take us to the National Park and the surprisingly nice Parque das Aves (bird park) near the Brazilian entrance to the falls. 

After leaving the bird park we caught our first glimpse of the falls from the Brazilian side. The falls were breathtaking!  I’ve been to Niagara and these blew them away.  Our boy got a several hour stroller nap while we wandered around the park.  There are a few nice trails and you can even check out the Belmond Hotel (beautiful) for something a little different.  Our driver then took us across the border to Argentina.  We picked up some black-market Argentinian Pesos (new experience for me), before we got dropped off at the Sheraton Iguazu (now the
Gran Meliá Iguazú).

Due to our status, we were upgraded to a Falls View Terrace Suite.  The room was nice but nothing great. The terrace though, was nearly the same size as the room and had an amazing view of the falls.  Since the hotel was in the park and just steps away from all the trails, we usually retreated to our room for a mid-day nap.  Our son would snooze and my wife and I would sit on the terrace and enjoy the view, while fighting off the monkeys.  Breakfast was enjoyable and included with our status.  The rest of the food however, was a little rough.  Because of this, we ate lunch at the Subway restaurant that was inside the park each day and dinner was usually something quick from the lobby bar.  We spent three days exploring the park, which was the perfect amount of time.  Since the Sheraton Iguazu was re-branded as the Gran Meliá Iguazú, it has gotten some much needed updates.  Unfortunately, the prices for the hotel have also risen, and they are no longer a member of a major brand with which to redeem points.

After our three nights, we once again had a pre-arranged transport from the hotel across the border back into Brazil and to the airport.  Our flights home were interesting and a bit complicated.  We flew from Foz do Iguaçu to Viracopos (a small domestic airport that more closely resembled a bus-stop), to Rio de Janeiro, to Houston, to Denver and finally home to Colorado Springs.  Little man did well until the flight from Rio to Houston where he decided to lose his mind.  Once he cried himself to sleep, everyone on the plane was much happier.  It was a full 24 hours of travel, more if we count the transfer from Argentina, and by then we were all ready to be back in our own beds.

Amazingly, the flight redemptions are still exactly the same number of miles as it was in 2015. The Tambo del Inka is actually slightly cheaper on points, but as I mentioned before, the Sheraton Iguazu Falls has re-branded and is no longer available on hotel points (however, it still can be reserved with basic travel credit card points).

Since this time, we’ve taken many other trips on points, both with our son and as just a couple. You can use these same techniques to take your family anywhere in the world. There is almost no limit to where points and miles can take you and your loved ones. Contact us to get started on your next journey!

For most people the Maldives are little more than a dream. You let your mind wander there during your planning committee conference call every Thursday, but that’s about as close as you get.

With Peak Award Booking, not only can we help you get there (and back, if you really want to) but we can get you there in style. This plan includes arguably the best business class flat-bed seats in the world along with an over-water bungalow for six nights. This is probably the most expensive booking that we do that includes all accommodations and airfare. Having to take a seaplane to the resort is about half of the total expense. Out-of-pocket expense for this trip would be $1,645.46 whereas retail would be over $21,000. I’ll detail these as we go through the booking and I’ll show a breakdown at the end.

Getting you There

Qatar Airways’ Qsuites are consistently ranked as the best business class experience. Not only do you get lie flat seats (important for such long flights), but if you have an actual closing door on your suite and if you pick your seats correctly, you can have a double bed to share with your partner.

Meals are fantastic as well. Qatar business class offers Dine-on-Demand, meaning you can order whatever you’d like whenever you’d like. You can have a four-course meal served on a white linen table cloth by candlelight with champagne, or you can have each of the desserts four times with a diet Pepsi. You make the call!

If you google Qatar Qsuite reviews you’ll end up with a ton of reviews about how amazing your flights will be.

With this plan you will be able to fly business class on Qatar one-way, and with a little work both ways. We will assume you get enough points for both ways.

The total cost of these flights would be $7,582/person but by using points, they will be yours for 140k miles and $101.73/person! Ultimate luxury for the same price as a Frontier Airlines flight to Des Moines.

ACCOMMODATIONS

How does an over-water bungalow for six nights at a resort that was ranked by Time Magazine as one of the “World’s Top 100 Destinations in 2018” sound? The Conrad Maldives is one of the only resorts to offer over-water bungalows on standard award pricing. With Hilton’s fifth night free and using a free weekend award certificate you can get six nights for the same number of points as four.

Your private Water Villa will have either a sunrise or sunset view, a private sundeck with jetted plunge pool and steps that lead into the lagoon below. You can snorkel right off your deck each day.

With our plan you’ll also be visiting with the highest level of Hilton loyalty status, Diamond. While you most likely won’t be getting an upgrade to a better bungalow, it will grant you free breakfast, afternoon tea and daily happy hour. These benefits are especially valuable as food prices in the Maldives are ridiculously high. Many people have used the afternoon tea and happy hour in place of a meal in order to stay on budget.

The only downside is getting to the resort. The Conrad Maldives is on its own two islands. Unfortunately, you do have to take a seaplane to get there and there really isn’t a way to hack it. We will use our $250 resort credit obtained with the Hilton Aspire card to reduce this fee a little. The transfer runs $526/person, but you do get a cool 30-minute seaplane flight out of the fee, so there’s that.

Your total cost for the hotel stay itself is only the plane transfer, $1,052. Actual paid price for the same room and seaplane transfer would be about $6,029 (and that’s with taking advantage of a great limited time sale)!

the details

For the flights you will need 280,000 American Airlines miles. Luckily there are a few credit cards to earn these miles. For our example, we will focus on Citibank and Barclays. Both offer both a personal and business card, but we will assume you don’t have a business (although, most people can qualify for a business card).

From here on out I will refer to the two people traveling as P1 and P2. The order you apply for cards is somewhat important, and I can provide more details in a personalized plan, just send me a message through our “Contact Us” page.

Airline miles are the most important factor as dates are much more limited for good flights than the hotel awards. P1 will start off with the Citi AA Platinum card (not a referral link, I get nothing for this). Currently they are offering 60,000 miles with $3,000 spend in 3 months with the annual fee waived for the first year. It is possible to match this to 75,000 miles, but it does take a little work. P2 will apply for the Barclays AA Aviator Red Card (also not a referral link) at the same time. This card comes with 60,000 miles after only the first purchase (Twix bar?). Unfortunately, you do have to pay the $95 annual fee upfront, but it’s a small price to pay for so many miles.

Once P1 has met their spend requirements we will flip the script. P2 will then apply for the Citi AA Platinum card and P1 will apply for the AA Aviator Red card. Once you’ve completed the spend requirements on those you both should have at least 139,000 if you matched the Citi offer to 75,000 each. The last 1,000 miles can be obtained through more spend or simple tasks American occasionally offers (ie. dining plan, shopping through their portal, signing up for dog walking service…).

Now that our airline miles are taken care of, it’s time to get our over-water bungalow (yes I’m going to keep reminding you of the over-water bungalow). The Conrad Maldives is a member of the Hilton family and we will need 380,000 points for 5 nights and a weekend certificate for the 6th night. Luckily there are several cards that earn Hilton points.

P1 will first apply for the Hilton Aspire (this is a referral link, thank you for supporting the site by using it). This card currently offers 150,000 Hilton points after spending $4,000 in 3 months. It does come with a $450 annual fee, but it carries a number of great benefits including automatic Hilton Diamond status for as long as you hold the card. Hilton Diamond gives you free breakfast at all hotels, 5th night free on award bookings, space available upgrades up to a one-bedroom suite (most likely won’t happen in the Maldives, but great at other resorts) and executive lounge access. The Hilton Aspire also gives you a free weekend night certificate after approval and then an additional free night each year when you pay the annual fee. You will also get a $250 airline incidental fee credit each calendar year (we can show you how to best take advantage of this) and a $250 resort credit each card member year (which we will use at the Conrad Maldives for the seaplane transfer in this example.

Once P1 has met the spend on their Aspire they can refer P2 to the regular American Express Hilton Card (this is a referral link, thank you for supporting the site by using it). You will have to send them a referral link that you can generate through American Express. This card currently has an offer of 75,000 points, but if you use a referral link (such as ours here), you will receive an offer of 100,000 points with $1,000 spend in 3 months, also the member sending the referral will gain 20,000 points.

Lastly, P1 will refer themselves to the regular American Express Hilton Card (this is a referral link, thank you for supporting the site by using it). Yes you can refer yourself, we’ve done it ourselves. This will grant you an additional 100,000 points after spending $1,000 in 3 months as well as the 20,000 referral point bonus. Once P1 and P2 have gained all of these Hilton points, they will need to be pooled into P1’s account.  This should put you at over 408,000 Hilton points and a free night certificate.

Booking

Now the hard part… If you’d like you can leave this up to us here at PeakAwardBooking.com so that we can find you the best routing, with the best connections and the best service. Best of all, there is no fee unless we find you a routing you want. This can be especially important for flights like these since Qatar doesn’t fly their Qsuite equipped planes on all routes and flights.

Once you’ve gotten the points it is best to start with the flights. Award flights can be tricky, so it is best to nail down your flights and then work on hotel and activity reservations. It is best to be flexible and book out as far in advance as you can. We generally like to make our reservations as soon as the airline booking window opens. With American Airlines that is 331 days before the flight, or about 11 months. For this example I used a random number generator to pick one of the 50 largest cities in the US and we landed on Charlotte, NC. I was quickly able to find flights on my first look at about 6 months out from now. This was an extreme stroke of luck and usually doesn’t happen this easily.

The first flight will be on American Airlines domestic first class from Charlotte to Boston leaving on a Thursday. Then you will fly Boston to Doha in Qsuites and Doha to Male in the Maldives in Qatar business class where you will land on a Friday. You will use your free weekend night certificate for the first night at the Conrad Maldives and then follow that up with five award nights. You’ll depart from the Maldives on a Thursday and your return routing will be slightly different. Qatar business class from Male to Doha, Qsuites from Doha to Atlanta and then American domestic first from Atlanta to Charlotte landing on a Friday. WARNING: Once you’ve flown long-haul in a great business or first class product, coach becomes almost unbearable.

the final numbers

This package would cost over $21,000 to book without points and miles. Using miles your cost would be $203 for airline taxes on award flights, $640 in credit card annual fees and $1,052 for the seaplane flights. You’ll also get rebated $250 of your seaplane flights from your Hilton Aspire credit. Total out of pocket expense (before food, tours, souvenirs, etc.) would be $1,645 resulting in a savings of $19,548! You’ll also end up with $500 in airline gift cards to use for a future trip as well as some leftover Hilton points you can use while you still have diamond status.

This is an unusual booking.  Trips on points usually don’t require this much cash, but there is no way around those pesky seaplane flights.  It’s also a bit complicated and the numbers can make it confusing.  Airlines, hotels and credit card companies intentionally make it difficult to end up with these aspirational trips.  They don’t want you to redeem for the highest value, but that’s where Peak Award Booking comes in.  We can tailor this specific plan or any other trip you can dream up to your advantage.  We will do the number crunching and searching so you can get on your way, with champagne in hand!