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In 2022, I spent my honeymoon in the Maldives splitting time between the Six Senses Laamu and the St Regis Maldives. There had been absolutely incredible redemptions during the pandemic and Marriott still had an award chart. Since then, rates have increased quite a bit, and finding award space under 90k was very difficult. I was just perusing it again, and a ton of dates are at 70k with 5 night stays clocking in under 300k Marriott points. This is incredible value especially since Chase has a 40% transfer bonus to Marriott running until 6/15/24 ( meaning you could do this for just over 200k Chase Ultimate Rewards ).
Most of thisery attractive pricing is “off-peak” during May, June,July, August, September of this year. I spent 10 nights in the Maldives over August/Sept and had wonderful weather, but it could get rainy…keep that in mind.
*Note that there is a transfer fee of $780 per person
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@zacharyburrabel Surprise Honeymoon Part 3 ❤️ @elizabeth_henstridge #travel #travelhacks #stregismaldives #sixsenseslaamu #creditcards #honeymoon ♬ Paradise – Bazzi
St Regis Maldives Availability Summer 2024
Remember Marriott members get a 5th night free
Breaking down the price:
Marriott used to charge a premium for an overwater vs garden villa. That isn’t the case anymore
However, if you wanted to upgrade to a different room, the price now is a lot more than it used to be. My wife and I upgrade to a St Regis Suite for just $75 for 5 nights. That would be over $1000 now…which is still a pretty good deal, but wildly more than it used to be.
You also don’t avoid the transfer fee when booking with points…this is for 2 people or roughly $780 a person. Steep.
The entry level villa at St Regis Maldives
Don’t stay in the entry level villa…not much air flows through here and honestly it’s like you’re not even in the Maldives.
The Overwater Villa is what you want…
This is a St Regis villa…
Recap
These rates are outstanding, and if you don’t have a honeymoon booked, or simply want to whisk yourself away on a fabulous holiday, this is a great time to book. I would keep in mind that you may get some weather, but like I said, we luckd out with 10 great days.
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
75k Ultimate Rewards after $4k spend in 3 months
*you may find an elevated offer walking into a branch – see below
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 75k Ultimate Rewards after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $937.50 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- Some people have seen Chase branches offering the following:
- 75k Ultimate Rewards After $4k spend in 3 months + 10k Ultimate Rewards after $6k in 6 months
- 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, 2024
- $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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