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Preview: Miles traces his Southeast Asian roots in luxury
Miles was talking with René de Lambert of RenésPoints.com while at BACON3 and now he’s convinced he may be from Southeast Asia. Personally, I think it’s just another excuse to travel, but who am I to complain?! Thank goodness we booked some pre-devaluation American Airlines First Class tickets from Hanoi to the States when it only cost 67,500 because now we are going! Miles is beyond excited, as he thinks he may be able to trace his roots, and if not, with his ever “glass is half full mentality,” he’ll still be able to get some great deals on custom made clothing! Here’s a preview of our trip to Southeast Asia that takes us to Taipei, Ho Chi Minh, Siem Reap, Hanoi, and Ha Long Bay. Follow along as Miles traces his Southeast Asian roots in Luxury.
First we will be flying from Los angeles to Taipei in China Airlines Business Class. It looks phenom!
Normally it would cost this much for a ticket
We booked it for 80k Delta Sky Miles and $5.60
- Last year we applied for both the Amex Delta Gold personal and business offers at 50k a pop.
While in Taipei we will use points and a free night certificate from the Chase Hyatt Visa card to stay 2 nights free at the Grand Hyatt Taipei
Rates per night are roughly $350 + tax. For us…free
From there we will fly from Taipei to Ho Chi Minh with EVA in Royal Laurel.
Excited to experience this product.
What it would normally cost
But I used 27,500 Singapore Krisflyer Miles the less than $25 to book it
In Ho Chi Minh we will stay at the 5 star Park Hyatt Saigon for just 7500+$100 per night
Since Miles and I challenged for Diamond status last year we will enjoy a bevy of benefits. I’m hoping for a great upgrade and definitely looking forward to the free breakfast! Remember you can always transfer Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt if you’re short
Rates while we are there are over $325 per night for an entry level room.
In Siem Reap we will stay at the 5 star Park Hyatt Siem Reap – paid entirely with points
Angkor Wat is the main attraction here, but I’m very stoked to see this hotel. I’ve read so many reviews and it sounds like it’s going to be incred.
Rates while we are there would normally cost over $400 per night….for us – free!
From there we are off to Hanoi where we will split our time between the Intercontinental Hanoi and the Hanoi Hilton Opera. We will pay for these nights out of pocket.
Since 4 of us will be on this part of the trip, it makes most sense to stay in a 2 bedroom residence at the Intercontinental and separate rooms a the Hanoi Hilton. The Intercontinental will set us back $75 per person and the Hilton will be roughly $50. They are in different parts of town and, when combined with a Ha Long Bay cruise, it will give us a great Hanoi experience.
And then to come back from Hanoi we will fly Cathay Pacific First Class for 67,500 AA and roughly $30
Overall : We’re talking over $15,000 per person retail and we’re paying about 2-3% of that. Not bad. Miles…I hope you’re happy bud 😉
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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