November 10, 2020|Airfare, Bonvoy, Marriott, Turkish Airlines, United

By Eric Lipkind 

With Covid raging out of control and feeling a bit cooped up, we decided to book a vacation where Covid was low.    After much research, we found the St. Regis in Punta Mita, Mexico.   We had been there before and it is amazing.   With Covid cases very low there and the hotel implementing a ton of Covid protocols,  I booked a trip for my wife, son, and me (trip review to follow).    I was able to get AMAZING value out of my points.  In fact, I saved 97% of the cost of the hotel, air, and food.  I converted a $10,846 spend into only $339.   Here’s how it went:

I was able to book a fantastic vacation for three of us as follows:

Hotel and Food

5 nights at the St. Regis Punta Mita (a 5-Star Category 8 Bonvoy Property) – when I made the reservation, it was 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night and the standard 5th night free, so 400,000 points.   A few weeks ago, there was a Bonvoy award sale and all of a sudden, the points needed dropped to 280,000.   I also used my 5 Bonvoy Platinum award upgrade certificates and was upgraded to an amazing beachfront room.   Without the upgrade, based upon hotel rates, this is worth approximately $4,000.  The upgraded added another $1,000 in value.   My total cost was $0.

Because I have Platinum Bonvoy status, we were given free daily breakfast for two valued at $20 per person per day ($200 total).  

Additionally, as a Bonvoy member, the hotel was giving a 10% discount on food purchases (not beverage).

Air

Flights for 3 of us on United – this took some work.   I was able to find 3 First Class seats on United  from Newark to Puerto Vallarta by booking with Turkish Airways miles. Each seat was only 15,000 points for a one-way ticket. I easily created a Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles account.   I was able to transfer some of my wife’s Citi Thank you points to my Citi Thank you account.  I then transferred 45,000 points to Turkish Airlnies.   I booked the reservation on the phone and they held it without the points being there.  Two days later the points arrived and I ticketed the flight.   All I had to pay was $68.80 in taxes per ticket. 

For the return, no first class award seats were available using Turkish miles, and I only had 20,000 Thank you points left, so I booked 2 coach seats using 20,000 transferred Turkish points.   I then used 17,500 United miles by booking directly with United for the third seat.   All I had to pay was $31.48 in taxes per ticket. 

We had some of our $200 annual AMEX Platinum airline credits to use, so between my wife’s card and my card, we booked Economy Plus seats on the return for $226 ($77, $77, and $72).   These were all credited back to my card by AMEX.  I also used AMEX Platinum Airline credits to pay $49 for a monthly WIFI pass for the flights.   AMEX credited this back as well.

The total out of pocket for taxes for the three of us for the round-trip flights was $301, which was first class one-way, and economy plus coach on the return which had I paid cash and not had the AMEX credits, would have costed $4,885.

While flying, since we were flying International First Class (if you can call it that) on United, we were entitled to United Lounge Access on our departure.   I would value the food and drink we consumed at approximately $30.   On our return, there was a Priority Pass Lounge in the Puerto Vallarta airport.   Priority Pass comes free with several of our credit cards.   I would value the food and beverage we consumed there at $30.   Our return non-stop flight on United was canceled, so we were rebooked on a connection through Houston.   During out layover, we went to the American Express Centurion Club.   Given the extensive food and drink selection, I’d value what we consumed at approximately $100.

Additionally, since I have the Citi Rewards Plus card which is paired with my Citi Premier card, I received a 10% rebate of Thank You points, so I got 6,500 points refunded.  In the end, 13,500 points for a First Class ticket to Mexico is insane!   The Citi Rewards Plus rebates 10% of your first 100,000 points in redemptions per year.  Pairing it with the Citi Premier or Citi Prestige allows you to transfer the points to airlines. 

Food

For hotel meals and incidentals, I charged everything to the room charge and split the charges over several Amex cards that each had Amex offers for $75 off $250 spend, or 30% off.  This covered the hotel food and beverage charges.  Additionally, I saw that I was only at $200 spend on one card, so I asked the hotel to add $50 in gratuities for the staff.  Not only could I pay my tips this way, but then the $75 credit would kick in as well as I hit the $250 threshold for the offer. I was able to have the hotel charge each card a little more than $250 so the credit would kick in.   Additionally, my AMEX Bonvoy Brilliant card year just renewed, so my annual $300 Marriott Credit kicked in as well.   

Points spent

In summary, I spent the following points:

Marriott Bonvoy                                    280,000 (plus 5 Platinum suite upgrade awards)

United Mileage Plus                                17,500

Citi Thank-You                                        58,500

As far as value earned per points, I got 1.8 cents per point out of the Marriott points.  This is much better than the estimated value of .8 cents per point.  I got 3.8 cents per mile out of the United miles which is better than the estimated value of 1.2 cents per miles.  I got 6.8 cents per point out of the Citi Thank-You points which have an estimated value of 1.7 cents per point.

Points Earned

On top of all this, I should earn points for our spend as follows:

Marriott Bonvoy                                   13,220

                         Credit Card    5,393   (6 points per dollar on Bonvoy card plus 3 additional points per dollar due to a referral bonus)   

                          Hotel               7,827   (items charged to the room at 10 points per dollar plus another 5 points per dollar for the Bonvoy Platinum bonus)

AMEX Membership Rewards               1,504    (5X points as airfare taxes were charged to AMEX Platinum)

This is how it’s done! 

If you need help booking trips like this, contact me.