Nearly $7,000 of travel for $1,000 – Bahamas

October 7, 2021|Bonvoy, Caesars Rewards, Casino, Hyatt, Priority Pass

by Eric Lipkind

My wife, sons, and I recently went to Nassau and Paradise Island.   We broke the stay into two nights at the Atlantis and two nights at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar.   I’ll start off with how much we paid and then follow with a trip review.

Airfare

We flew non-stop from Newark to Nassau on United.  To get free airfare, I paid 142,753  points to pay for the airfare.   It was 219,620 points and then the 35% point rebate as I used my AMEX Business Platinum card on my preferred airline.  On the way there, we had Economy Plus, courtesy of my United Mileage Plus status.   On the return, all four of us were upgraded to First Class.   We used my friend’s Plus Points for the upgrade.  Initially, we were waitlisted for the Upgrades, but they cleared a few days before our return. Unfortunately, our waitlist on the way there never cleared, so we were in coach.

Additionally, we were required to purchase a $40 per person Bahamas Health Visa to enter the country.

Total cost: $160.00

Total value: $3,032.20

Amex Membership Rewards Point use:  142,753

Chase Ultimate Rewards points earned:  160

United Miles earned (4 tickets): 8,656

Hotel

Atlantis

For our first two nights, we stayed in two connecting rooms in the Royal Tower.   I have Diamond Plus status with Caesars and my wife had Diamond status with Caesars (courtesy of the Founders Card).

As a Diamond Plus member, you are given four free nights per year with no Resort Fees as well as $100 in free casino slot play.  As a Diamond member, you are given 4 free nights per year and $75 in free slot play. However, you are still responsible for resort fees and required gratuities.  Rooms were going for $247 per night plus tax, gratuity, and resort fees.

When claiming the slot credit, to my surprise, we both received $100 in free slot play, which we parlayed into wins.   Additionally, I had AMEX offers on three different cards for $50 off $250 spend at Marriott properties (the Atlantis is included).   At checkout, I had them put $250 on each of the three cards and the rest on my AMEX Bonvoy Brilliant Card.

I am Marriott Bonvoy Titanium, but Titanium benefits are not provided at Atlantis (and this was booked through Casino VIP services, so I doubt I would have received them even if they were offered at the hotel).

Here is how the charges broke out:

Here is what we would have had to pay had we not used awards and other offers:

I also found out that you do not earn Bonvoy points on Food and Beverage at Atlantis, nor do you get welcome points.

Total Value: $1,454.71

Net cost: $504.81

Marriott Bonvoy points earned: 629 (Bonvoy card earnings)

AMEX Membership Rewards Earned: 750

Grand Hyatt Baha Mar

At Baha Mar, we all stayed in one room.  We used two free night awards from the World of Hyatt program. I had 1,000 points in my Hyatt account.   I instantly transferred 39,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to my Hyatt account and made the reservation.   Each free night was 20,000 points.    Additionally, when using points, resort fees are waived.  As I have Hyatt Explorist status, we were upgraded to an excellent ocean-view room with a balcony.  These rooms were going for $669 per night plus tax and resort fees.

There was also an AMEX offer for 10% back on $750 spend (or so I thought).    I had the offer on two cards, so I put the first $750 on one card and the small balance on another card.   When I didn’t get the normal email from AMEX indicating an AMEX offer was redeemed, I called AMEX to fund that the offer was only good in the United States.   This was stated in the terms and conditions but not on the offer description on which I clicked.

Therefore, I wouldn’t be getting the expected 77.91.   I spoke to a supervisor who agreed to give me a goodwill credit of $75.   However, he informed me I may receive a 1099 from AMEX for this, which I found odd.

I also had Club awards in my Hyatt account.   However, the Club was closed and they were giving breakfast to Globalist members in the restaurant instead. So, I asked if I used a Club award if I could get breakfast in the restaurant.   They weren’t sure how to do this, so I sent a message to the Hyatt Twitter page.  They were extremely helpful and called the hotel to walk them through how to redeem the award when the Club was closed.

So, we ended up getting complimentary breakfast for the four of us both days.

Here’s how the charges broke out:

Here is what we would have had to pay had we not used awards and other offers:

As my World of Hyatt account is linked to my American AAdvantage account, I also earned AAdvantage miles for the charges.

Total value: $2,491

Net Cost: $704

Wolrd of Hyatt points earned: 11,680

American Airlines AAdvantage miles earned:  730 

American Express Membership Rewards Earned: 779

Other

Other charges we incurred, but what I’m not including in the calculations are taxis to/from the airport and hotels as well as parking at the airport (and not to forget the dog walker back home).  We also got a $28 benefit per person in the Priority Pass lounge in Nassau airport due to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card.

Totals:

Value: $6,978

Cost:  $1,369

Points used:  Chase/Hyatt — 11,680,  American Express — 142,753

Points earned:  Hyatt — 11,680, American Airlines — 730, American Express — 1,529, Chase — 160, Marriott — 629, United — 8,656

     These are valued at $360 in total.

Net Cost (cost less value of points earned):  $1,009

As far as the properties, here are my thoughts:

Atlantis

The Good

I really love the lazy river at the Atlantis.   There is a nice assortment of water slides in the water park.  The view from the room in the Royal Tower was also spectacular.  They gave a nice refillable water bottle to each of us upon arrival.  This replaced the two free bottles of water coupons they gave out in the past.   The casino is nice.  We got free Covid testing for the return to the US.  The process was organized and quick.  Everyone was wearing masks as directed.

The Bad

The food and drink prices are ridiculously expensive.  The casino only had about half of the tables open and it was tough to find an empty seat.  It was also hard to find a cocktail waitress.   Unfortunately, given COVID, off-property restaurants and certain on-property facilities had to close at 8pm due to the curfew.  It was weird that some on-property stores/restaurants had to close and others did not.

The Ugly

Despite Covid, the cruise ship crowd flooded the Atlantis on day passes.   This made the pool area quite crowded.  Some of the water slides were closed.  The employees told me it was due to staffing shortages.   If they are going to provide less than 100% of their product, their prices should reflect that, but they do not as full price (and then some) is charged everywhere.

Grand Hyatt Baha Mar

The Good

After 2 days at the Atlantis, it was a nice respite coming to the Hyatt.   It was peaceful and gorgeous.   There was a brand new waterpark with group slides.  There were no crowds, as day passes are not sold.   There are really comfortable floats docked in the ocean as well.  The casino is huge and modern.  The room was amazing with a fantastic ocean view.   Everyone was wearing masks as directed.

The Bad

The property lacks casual restaurants for dinner.  Most places are very formal and expensive.  Due to Covid, the club lounge was closed.  The only downside in the water park is the lazy river.  It is REALLY lazy.  In fact, it barely moves.   As opposed to the fun one at the Atlantis, this one is a bore.  You need to take and use a line of credit of $15,000 in the casino to be considered for any comps by the host.

The Ugly

On the property, there is a Sugar Factory restaurant.  We ate there for dinner one night. Upon receiving the bill, each item was priced $1-$2 more than the prices shown on the menu we scanned with the QR code.   I asked the manager who told me that these are ‘international prices’, whatever that means and that the menus are provided by corporate. As the charge already went through to the room charge, I was told it could not be credited. However, he said he would give us free candy. We were also told that if we wanted water, we had to buy it, due to COVID, despite being served water at every other restaurant we visited.   We were charged $19 for a bottle of water.  I escalated this to both the hotel management as well as Sugar Factory corporate management.  The hotel management was very nice and gave us some drink vouchers for the pool.  Sugar Factory Management was not happy to hear about this and offered us a credit at the restaurant near us in NYC.

All in all, it was a nice quick getaway for a relatively small price.

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