Last updated on January 17th, 2016 at 03:27 pm
Aloha again from Hawaii. We spent the past week on the big island of Hawaii, and it has been action packed. Our time in Maui was very relaxing, but our time on the big island has been intense. Lots of driving, flying (drones), photography and hiking.
Hotel Bookings
Miraculously 2 nights opened up at the Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort and Thalasso Spa during our stay, so I switched over from the Le Moana Bora Bora to the nicer Thalasso. For those keeping track at home, we now have 2 nights at Le Moana, 3 at the Thalasso and a nasty 1 night gap I need to close in between in the next 3 weeks. I’m sure it will happen, but cutting it close.
No new hotels booked this week. Still eyeing the same hotels I have discussed in previous weeks (Piedmont Italy, Moorea, North Island New Zealand), but have not pulled the trigger yet until schedules firm up.
Hotel Research
Until this week, I wasn’t aware of the Andaz Papagayo in Costa Rica. I saw it on Jetsetter.com of all places, and thought it might compliment our Costa Rica stay in December. Unfortunately, the hotel is very expensive in December and they don’t offer cash and points to ease the burden. Even after trying a few times to get the space opened up, it is still cash OR points.
On the bright side, it is only a category 4 property, so 15,000 Gold Passport points per night would be a good redemption over the $600+ night it is going for at certain times. Now I just need to figure out how to get to Costa Rica (will be discussed below)!
Hotel Stays
This week we spent 4 nights in a Yurt on the big island of Hawaii. We rented through VRBO and at $70/night (after cleaning/taxes) it ended up being a nice stay. The past 3 nights were at the Gluten Free House, which we will highly recommend in our review as well.
Destination Research
Trying to figure out how to do South America this winter. We have about 2 months to plan, and want to hit a laundry list of destinations. I would prefer to spend 2 weeks in a few places vs. hop from country to country every few days. But that means eliminating options. So many choices, so little time, so many cliches to describe this “problem” we face.
Points Earning
No significant points earned this week. After the 4 CC applications last week we will be in “burn” mode for most of August. The only significant activity will from reaching minimum spends.
In addition, I am waiting for my monthly Citi points bonus to post for July, because I think we earned enough points to finish my booking to New Caledonia.
Does anyone know what day of the month Citi ThankYou Premier category bonuses post? I don’t see it on August 1st. Should be there by Monday though.
Flight Research
I finally had a breakthrough in my plans to try and get to any combination of Belize, Aruba or Costa Rica in December. These are all destinations that Southwest services, so we wanted to use the companion pass to get down to Central America/Caribbean from the mainland. We have Hyatt gift cards to use up, and I wanted to use them in Aruba. We also want to go to Belize for Scuba diving. After that, we need to make it to Costa Rica for Christmas.
My searches between Belize and Liberia Costa Rica were fruitless. Same with Aruba to Liberia. Then I tried searching for flights to San Jose in Costa Rica (4 hours from our destination) and things looked much better. We can route through Panama City for only 10,000 United Miles and ~$50 in fees a person. Otherwise the flight would cost $600 each.
This solves the problem, and I will book the flight in the next week. That is, as long as there is cash and points space in Aruba.
Flight Bookings
One flight booked this week. From Milan Malpensa (MXP) to London Heathrow (LHR). We decided to skip RyanAir and EasyJet and use 4,000 Avios + $27.50 each to book on British Airways. This is nice, because we are each allowed 1 checked bag. Miles were transferred from Amex Membership Rewards. I have a speaking gig in London late October and this will get both of us there in once piece at a reasonable expense.
Flights Taken
We used 7,500 Hawaiian Miles + $5.60 each to pay for our flight to Kona Airport (KOA) from Maui (OGG). These points came from a transfer of 15,000 Membership Rewards points that I had in my Amex account. The retail cost of these flights was $167.00. Membership Rewards points received a value of $0.022 cents per point.
Not only was this a good value for our points, it also freed up cash to pay for a night Scuba diving excursion with Manta Rays!
We would much rather spend cash on experiences than flights, and having a cache of miles available, even for short island hopping flights, is an amazing way to make both happen.
As for a review of flying Hawaiian, I am planning on doing a single review of all domestic flights and then a review of long-haul business class from HNL-PPT when that happens.
Totals for our One-Way Neverending Trip
Map generated from Great Circle Map.
We have a budget of ~$100 night for accommodations, and less than that per day for meals, entertainment and flights combined. We freely admit that this budget is huge compared to a typical backpacker, but it does represent our current economic capabilities given that I am still working about 40 hours a week.
Total committed flight cost (2 people): $1,887.60 ($27,794.70 saved over retail)
Total flight cost in miles: 502,589
Average redemption value per mile: $.055 cents per mile (this number is propped up heavily by our two Etihad long-haul redemptions using American miles)
Total flight segments/person: 16 (3 first, 2 business, 11 economy)
Total flight distance/person: 24,579 (from Seattle to London the long way, then from MSP to Belize)
Total nights booked in hotels, home stays and vacation rentals: 88
Total committed per night for lodging: $94.18
Total hotel points/flexible points used: 163,000 + 6 free night certificates + 1 IHG Ambassador Weekend Certificate
Blog Posts
Hawaii Big Island Dining Guide From a Local Perspective
Amazing Aerial Photos of Hawaii from Above
Hello from a Yurt on the Big Island of Hawaii!
High Class Camping at the Vintages Trailer Resort – Willamette Valley Oregon
Please share more from Hawaii.
Will do. Back with a solid Internet connection now so I think it should be coming soon.
Jeff, I watched and enjoyed the video coverage of Lucky on ABC which was a follow-up to the Rolling Stone piece.
The most jarring part of the video was when the reporter asked Ben to list the places he’s been in the past 10 days. The response was an absolute deer-in-the-headlights moment.
I know this happens to politicians and performers often, but I’m sure you’ve spent some time thinking about it and would appreciate your reflections. Do you expect this to happen to you two on this adventure?
And thanks for the darker type.
Haven’t watched Lucky’s yet, but plan on doing it tonight now that I have solid Internet again. I don’t think I will start to forget destinations during our trip as long as we do slow travel. A week in a destination is enough for a memory, a day might not be. We prefer not to spend only one night at a time if we can avoid it. Plus, the pictures we take help solidify the memories!
Well-timed post! I am going to Oahu/Big Island next month. Booked the Sheraton Kona but looking at the Hilton also.
I have been thinking getting a drone. Which one do you have? The photos of the coast line are from the done? They looked great.
I am using the DJI Phantom 3 Professional. It is amazing! I owned the Phantom 1 and I had a lot of troubles making it functional (no gimbal, GoPro Mounting only, guessing what was on the screen). The Phantom 3 solved all of those problems and then some. Only problem I have right now is getting a carrying case shipped while we are permanently on the road. Don’t want merchandise to show up after we left!
The coast pics were shot with the drone when specifically mentioned in a post. I shoot in RAW mode and then put them through my process in Lightroom to create a picture that really stands out.
If you are interested in the phantom, I have a referral link that earns me credit if you go through it. Don’t have to use it, but it helps me out since this blog doesn’t make much money :).
Phantom 3 Pro Link
As for the Sheraton Kona, that place has the Manta Rays nearby, so that should be a great stay. Especially with all of the promotions SPG has right now for that brand.