So I'm still in planning phases for a big surprise trip for wife and me (40th bdays and 10th anniversary). This is for summer 2020.
My latest idea is Hawaii for 5 nights, then Fiji for 5 nights
Hotel will be Marriott points, (booking 4 nights with points gets a 5th free), and I see these over the water bungalows in Fiji are surprisingly well in my budget (Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay), as compared to the ones in Tahiti.
Cash/point combo is 140k points and about $1500 for the presidential OTW bungalow or $1200 for standard otw bung., leaving me 180-200k points for the 4 nights in HI which is enough for 90% of what they have there.
I'm also looking at Qantas business class flights, one way from Nadi to LAX (I picked a random day in June) is only $1200 usd, is that right? This seems really cheap, so I'm thinking I'll use that for the long flight home. Overall itinerary is looking like:
Den-HI on SW (using points)
HI for 5 nights, probably arrive Tuesday, leave Sunday
HI to Fiji on whatever airline is cheapest (5-6 hour flight)
Fiji 5 nights, arrive Monday leave Friday
Qantas business class with the lie flat seats for nadi-lax, which is 10 hours, arrive in LAX on friday.
Then lax-den home on SW (points).
I think I have those days right, also I don't know if these airlines fly on all days, I'll figure that out later.
I could also switch it and do long flight over, then to HI, then home, but I think I'd rather have a nice relaxing sleep on the way home, after a gluttonous 10 days.
A few questions:
Does this seem like too much traveling for 10 days? It's ~26 hours of flying, but spread out over 4 flights.
What is there to do in Fiji for a couple who doesn't scuba dive? The resort, looks a bit isolated. We would a enjoy a hike, open jeep tour, some water activities, etc. I'm afraid we might get bored, but then I remind myself it's only 5 nights.
What is the low end of cost for a flight from HI to FIJI, and what city has non stop on what airlines?
Quick math gives me $1500 (otw bungalow) + $2400 (qantas) + HI-Nadi flights (~$1000?) + food/drink for 10 days, so all-in is ~$6500.
I have $1500 in reward cash on an old USAA card I haven't used in forever, so that puts me at $5k which is about my budget.
I'll burn through my Marriott points that I've been saving for 4 years, but this is worth splurging for. I'll have companion pass so the domestic flights won't drain too much of my SW bank. I figure Den to HI will be 15k-20k and lax to den will be 10k.
Any tips or ideas are welcome. I originally was just going to do HI for 10 days, but now I have this itch to get over to south pacific since it's not that far from HI, and I see this lie flat seat for only $1200, which is the one requirement wife would need to make that length of overnight flight.
My latest idea is Hawaii for 5 nights, then Fiji for 5 nights
Hotel will be Marriott points, (booking 4 nights with points gets a 5th free), and I see these over the water bungalows in Fiji are surprisingly well in my budget (Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay), as compared to the ones in Tahiti.
Cash/point combo is 140k points and about $1500 for the presidential OTW bungalow or $1200 for standard otw bung., leaving me 180-200k points for the 4 nights in HI which is enough for 90% of what they have there.
I'm also looking at Qantas business class flights, one way from Nadi to LAX (I picked a random day in June) is only $1200 usd, is that right? This seems really cheap, so I'm thinking I'll use that for the long flight home. Overall itinerary is looking like:
Den-HI on SW (using points)
HI for 5 nights, probably arrive Tuesday, leave Sunday
HI to Fiji on whatever airline is cheapest (5-6 hour flight)
Fiji 5 nights, arrive Monday leave Friday
Qantas business class with the lie flat seats for nadi-lax, which is 10 hours, arrive in LAX on friday.
Then lax-den home on SW (points).
I think I have those days right, also I don't know if these airlines fly on all days, I'll figure that out later.
I could also switch it and do long flight over, then to HI, then home, but I think I'd rather have a nice relaxing sleep on the way home, after a gluttonous 10 days.
A few questions:
Does this seem like too much traveling for 10 days? It's ~26 hours of flying, but spread out over 4 flights.
What is there to do in Fiji for a couple who doesn't scuba dive? The resort, looks a bit isolated. We would a enjoy a hike, open jeep tour, some water activities, etc. I'm afraid we might get bored, but then I remind myself it's only 5 nights.
What is the low end of cost for a flight from HI to FIJI, and what city has non stop on what airlines?
Quick math gives me $1500 (otw bungalow) + $2400 (qantas) + HI-Nadi flights (~$1000?) + food/drink for 10 days, so all-in is ~$6500.
I have $1500 in reward cash on an old USAA card I haven't used in forever, so that puts me at $5k which is about my budget.
I'll burn through my Marriott points that I've been saving for 4 years, but this is worth splurging for. I'll have companion pass so the domestic flights won't drain too much of my SW bank. I figure Den to HI will be 15k-20k and lax to den will be 10k.
Any tips or ideas are welcome. I originally was just going to do HI for 10 days, but now I have this itch to get over to south pacific since it's not that far from HI, and I see this lie flat seat for only $1200, which is the one requirement wife would need to make that length of overnight flight.