Tahiti (“it’s a magical place”) is a place that many people only dream of going to. To put it bluntly, going to Tahiti is not cheap – even if you use miles for the flights and points for your hotel, you’re still going to have to pay for inter-island flights (although fixed points cards like Barclays Arrival can help with that). And even if you’ve got all that covered, you can’t really use points for food. But you can save thousands of dollars by booking an award ticket and you can do it with AAdvantage miles. Here’s how.
Some reflections from 33 hours of travel
So, Jess and I have been flying (babyless!) for approximately 33 hours. It was quite a journey and not without its stresses. Still, though it’s only been two hours, the final destination, Bora Bora, seems worth it! Here are some things I’ve learned over the past 33 hours:
There’s a Burn Notice on my Points: American AAdvantage
Burn Notice: Delta Skymiles Part 1
Burn Notice: Delta Skymiles Part 2
Burn Notice: American AAdvantage
As I mentioned in my last post, we had to burn our Hilton points due to the impending devaluation. We redeemed our Hilton points for four nights in Bora Bora. So to finish off my burn notice, I had to figure out how to get us there. My wife insisted we go in business class (it’s a de facto five year anniversary trip), so I either needed 300,000 Delta Skymiles or 250,000 American AAdvantage miles. There is a LOT we could have done with 250,000 AA miles, and I tried to convince my wife to go in coach, but to no avail. But it’s okay – points are for burning, right? Here’s how we redeemed the miles for flights to Tahiti.