New Zealand and Tahiti or Siem Reap, Myanmar, Bangkok

[Suzie]

Looking for any help and/or opinions, please. And, thank you in advance. Not married to either itinerary, so if you have been to either or both - would love your opinions on that too!

Looking to travel anytime between late October and mid December 2016. Can do about 2.5 weeks door to door.

Two people, preferably first. Business okay. Easiest to fly from PHL but JFK doable.

Available miles/points:

Me - Amex - 105,000
Thank you - 57,817
UR - 148,000
AA - 267,000
BA - 53,000
AS - 26,000

SO - Amex - 104,000
Thank you - 58,000
UR - 161,000
AA - 343,000

A bit of a mish mash of points and miles I believe.

Thank you for any insight!

 

[italdesign]

I just want to say something about the island of Tahiti (as opposed to other islands like Bora Bora and Moorea). You'll often hear from ppl who have been there that it's boring, go straight to Bora Bora/Moorea. Not true. There's plenty to do, just slightly off the beaten path. I did a 4x4 tour of the valley (pic below). There's also world famous surfing in Teahupoo and nature hikes on both the big island as well as Tahiti-iti. Just need to get out of Papeete.

That said, Bora Bora is the epitome of paradise.

 

[Suzie]

I just want to say something about the island of Tahiti (as opposed to other islands like Bora Bora and Moorea). You'll often hear from ppl who have been there that it's boring, go straight to Bora Bora/Moorea. Not true. There's plenty to do, just slightly off the beaten path. I did a 4x4 tour of the valley (pic below). There's also world famous surfing in Teahupoo and nature hikes on both the big island as well as Tahiti-iti. Just need to get out of Papeete.

That said, Bora Bora is the epitome of paradise.

Okay, that is just WOW. Beautiful. Thank you!

 

[Burgertm]

What is your goal on this trip? Is it to relax? Is it to go out and do things? Some of both?

I can only speak for Bora Bora and Moorea. My wife and I went there last year. Bora Bora is often called boring boring as there isn't a ton to do there, however, it is the perfect place to relax. If you have IHG points and can find availability, the overwater bungalows at the IC Thalasso are amazing (see my avatar). Moorea has much more to do and is quite beautiful. We did an awesome 4 wheeling excursion there.

New Zealand is on my bucket list of places to go and I will be trying to book a trip there in Jan/Feb of 2016 for my 40th.

 

[smittytabb]

Have spent time in Papeete, Bora Bora and Moorea. I liked Papeete and the island of Tahiti as well. It is where you can see how people really live. I also spent three months in New Zealand and have traveled all over most of the country. French Polynesia and New Zealand are two of my favorite places on the planet, bar none. I've been to Bangkok several times, as well as Siem Reap. Hitting Myanmar in 2016, but they are very different trips. Glad to help if you have questions about these destinations.

 

[Suzie]

What is your goal on this trip? Is it to relax? Is it to go out and do things? Some of both?

I can only speak for Bora Bora and Moorea. My wife and I went there last year. Bora Bora is often called boring boring as there isn't a ton to do there, however, it is the perfect place to relax. If you have IHG points and can find availability, the overwater bungalows at the IC Thalasso are amazing (see my avatar). Moorea has much more to do and is quite beautiful. We did an awesome 4 wheeling excursion there.

New Zealand is on my bucket list of places to go and I will be trying to book a trip there in Jan/Feb of 2016 for my 40th.

I don't "relax" well. When we get somewhere I immediately want to go see what there is to see. It takes me a few days, so I'm thinking New Zealand first part of the trip and French Polynesia second half of the trip. Once I do relax, I'm good. I'm open to any of the islands hoping from input from those of you who have been there. 4 wheeling sounds like something we would like, and it appears that there is good snorkeling?

Thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts.

 

[Suzie]

Have spent time in Papeete, Bora Bora and Moorea. I liked Papeete and the island of Tahiti as well. It is where you can see how people really live. I also spent three months in New Zealand and have traveled all over most of the country. French Polynesia and New Zealand are two of my favorite places on the planet, bar none. I've been to Bangkok several times, as well as Siem Reap. Hitting Myanmar in 2016, but they are very different trips. Glad to help if you have questions about these destinations.

We eventually want to see all these places. Planning used to be easier when all I thought about was how I could afford to go there - now it revolves around how can I get there for free? So best use of points/miles will have a vote.

Since we are looking at mid October to mid December, weather also a factor.

Sounds like you would pick New Zealand and FP?

 

[italdesign]

The time isn't great for FP, which has the best weather in June to August (after that it's more wet and cloudy). BKK's best weather are Jan and Feb, though the flanking months are decent and of course the more off season, the lower cost. NZ is in spring-summer at that time, should be a good time to visit.

Snorkeling in Bora Bora is one of the coolest things I've ever done. The marine life is beyond awesome. And if you are a good swimmer, the possibilities are endless.

 

[Voyaging Doc]

i will be in au/nz in october. maybe i'll see you on our trip! you have plenty of aa miles that would come in handy for pre-devaluation redemption. otherwise with UR i think your next bet is UA *A redemption, and if you use the stopover/open jaw tricks for round trip you can see more places and save miles, if you can get the availability. 80k one way from US to AU in biz. if you do the RT you can shave off 10k making it a 70k if you go through oceania (nz). AU<->NZ BA avios 10k. intra-AU BA Avios (4.5k between major cities). cheap one-way revenue air NZ intra-NZ in economy like $50-$60 bucks.

 

[smittytabb]

We eventually want to see all these places. Planning used to be easier when all I thought about was how I could afford to go there - now it revolves around how can I get there for free? So best use of points/miles will have a vote.

Since we are looking at mid October to mid December, weather also a factor.

Sounds like you would pick New Zealand and FP?

No, it would depend of course. I mean, I cannot wait to get back to NZ again and one of my best friends who I traveled with for a year is there. And when my daughter got married in October and she asked about where to honeymoon, I suggested French Polynesia. So, those places are special to me. But I would not preference them necessarily. There are a lot of factors. People always ask me how I decide where to go. It often depends on the deals I find and the award availability and hotel situation.

 

[Suzie]

No, it would depend of course. I mean, I cannot wait to get back to NZ again and one of my best friends who I traveled with for a year is there. And when my daughter got married in October and she asked about where to honeymoon, I suggested French Polynesia. So, those places are special to me. But I would not preference them necessarily. There are a lot of factors. People always ask me how I decide where to go. It often depends on the deals I find and the award availability and hotel situation.

How was the weather for your daughter's honeymoon? I assume she went in October?

And yes, trying for best use of miles. I'm a little lost as this stage.

 

[smittytabb]

How was the weather for your daughter's honeymoon? I assume she went in October?

And yes, trying for best use of miles. I'm a little lost as this stage.

They had some rain in Moorea for the first week, but excellent weather in Bora Bora for the second week.

 

[Burgertm]

If you go to FP during the wet season, it is can be pretty hit or miss. We got really lucky going in January. It hardly rained at all when we were in Bora Bora and when it did, it was quick. While that was happening, Moorea was getting pretty much tropical storm rain. Luckily, by the time we went to Moorea, that was past it. It did mean that the water was muddier in the bays from all the runoff, so the water wasn't as pretty, but didn't bother us.