Wifey and I stayed 30 nights, used 1.8 mil points and miles + $344 airlines taxes and fees + $3700 for 3 inter-island transfers + $900 for covid testing (1 at each hotel) UA 1st and bus, TK bus, AI bus. IHG, Westin and the Conrad in Aug n Sept. My tip to you guys is to not get the HB or FB, we just ordered ala cart and its cheaper at < $200/day. All prices are for 2 peeps. Total value $78k. Thank goodness for free breakfast!!!
@@drjsantos15able sign up bonus, transfer points from MR or chase thank you points, refer your spouse, spouse refers you rinse repeat like 2 times and you got it
I recently booked almost the same trip. Will be leaving in late April. We used 280k AA points plus $200 in taxes to fly QSuites round trip SFO-DOH-MLE. I had those points from opening 2 AA cards and my P2 did the same. And then we booked the Hilton Conrad for 7 nights. 570,000k HH points. (95k X 6 and then you get one night free when you book more than 5 nights with points! Hopefully we get upgraded too since we have the Aspire. And we got the HH points by getting 2 Hilton cards each.
I like these videos but as everyone is staying math was not good and a bit misleading. I'd like to see all in including food, including upgrades and show a breakdown so we can try to recreate it. Right now it looks nice but difficult to piece together ourselves, especially when math is way off
I have 6 days in a water villa at the Conrad Maldives booked all on points for my honeymoon👍🏼 475 Hilton points for the stay. Using 160k chase UR points to book Qatar Airways flight, hoping for decent upgrade offer to Q suites that I’ll gladly pay cash if under $1000/ticket. If not $550x2 for seaplane and $150+/day for food. Probably going to be $3000 in spend for a $12k trip
Great video! I'm doing virtually the same trip. Trying to book Qsuites by using AA miles, but it doesn't let you select the seats on the AA website. I assume I can select the seats on the Qatar website after I make the booking with AA?
yep once you book on aa website for a partner flight they will generate a confirmation number that you can put on qatar website and immediately pick seats.
I have 1 million points but I would like to know how to get the cheapest flights to Europe, UK, and Asia. Still waiting for the world to open up so we can use them. We’re going to book the hotels with cash as I am trying to plan a trip for 5 people.
World is open. I've been to 13 different countries since 2020. Not sure where you're looking but the only difference is you have to pay for some covid test here and there. The world is your oyster and it's pretty darn open.
I didn't know you could book a Delta flight with points and use the companion certificate. I thought you had to pay cash for one ticket to use the companion certificate. It sounded like he booked one ticket with points and was allowed to use a companion certificate even though there was only $11 or so in taxes he actually paid. Is this correct?
Big fan of the channel but you really should maintain some level of veracity in the titles. $550 is not accurate at all and only represents the cost of one seaplane. You should include all taxes and fees paid for the flights. The annual fees of the necessary cards should be included. That free night certificate was not free you have to pay a $450 annual fee and Delta platinum card is not free
Dont believe all the price tag in maldives. All marked up in nonsensical value. Instead use the “how much you are willing to pay” figure to calculate the value received
My biggest complaint with these kinds of videos is the fact that the minimum requirement to get the "$500 vacation" is to have millions of points in all these different programs which in turn requires an individual to spend crazy amounts of money.
@@maxwellstern776 yup add a player 2 and you are good to go! I'm doing a similar trip with one player but the same credit cards. I have 3 nights at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives and 3 nights at a local island (10x cheaper than resort island)
Other than here and at Ask Sebby, I’ve never heard of anyone else taking a vacation to the Maldives. And I’m not surprised. After spending a fortune it looks like all you get is swimming, diving, snorkeling, and maybe a little more swimming. Doesn’t seem like there is that much else to do. Looks like everything the Maldives has to offer could be had at a fraction of the cost in Florida or one of the islands south of the Florida coast.
He did spend money to get the points but hopefully if he did it right, it was spending he would have had to do anyway. So he got a $40k trip out of buying groceries, paying his rent, home repairs or business expenses, etc. Still a good deal
Calling him Shifu = 🤮. Shifu of clickbait and deceptive titles. I refer y’all to the other comments about all the fees, costs, and spend simply glossed over in the vid.
So the $500 is for what cost $40,000 in value, but after he upgraded to the villa, added in food, yes its more than $500. But to get $40k in value, it was just $500
@@TheCreditShifu yes Ben. I'm doing my math now and some of his calculations are not adding up but it is understandable in this points and miles battle sometimes we got lost in the matrix. This video is very inspirational and people can take this as a reference for their future travel trip. Keep up the good work
@UCOkJzHSecz38gdaXHUq0OtA Nowhere in the video you said that. You said, and I quote: "I got lucky" for booking 2 Qsuites for 140k MR points. You're only making up this excuse now because you're caught and feel embarrassed.
Check out Angelo’s channel: th-cam.com/channels/OkJzHSecz38gdaXHUq0OtA.html
Angelo’s Instagram: instagram.com/paidwithpoints?
I love these types of videos where people tell their best points and miles redemptions, great insights
Wifey and I stayed 30 nights, used 1.8 mil points and miles + $344 airlines taxes and fees + $3700 for 3 inter-island transfers + $900 for covid testing (1 at each hotel) UA 1st and bus, TK bus, AI bus. IHG, Westin and the Conrad in Aug n Sept. My tip to you guys is to not get the HB or FB, we just ordered ala cart and its cheaper at < $200/day. All prices are for 2 peeps. Total value $78k. Thank goodness for free breakfast!!!
Wow, 30 nights is a long time. That is awesome!
Awesome! How does one get to 1.8million points?
@@drjsantos15able sign up bonus, transfer points from MR or chase thank you points, refer your spouse, spouse refers you rinse repeat like 2 times and you got it
@@drjsantos15able currently sitting at about 650k between me and my player 2
I recently booked almost the same trip. Will be leaving in late April. We used 280k AA points plus $200 in taxes to fly QSuites round trip SFO-DOH-MLE. I had those points from opening 2 AA cards and my P2 did the same. And then we booked the Hilton Conrad for 7 nights. 570,000k HH points. (95k X 6 and then you get one night free when you book more than 5 nights with points! Hopefully we get upgraded too since we have the Aspire. And we got the HH points by getting 2 Hilton cards each.
Too bad that April is the start of rainy season in the Maldives
MAN WHAT A TIMING!! I am planning this exact same trip for early next year. I want basically the same thing.
This is the exact trip I’m planning on taking for my 20th anniversary in 3 years. I wonder what the values will be then.
I like these videos but as everyone is staying math was not good and a bit misleading. I'd like to see all in including food, including upgrades and show a breakdown so we can try to recreate it. Right now it looks nice but difficult to piece together ourselves, especially when math is way off
Great Video! I really like hearing real stories how how people reward all their points.
Nice video shifu. Liked this!
Was the seaplane roundtrip for 2 at $550 each or just one way for $550 each?
I have 6 days in a water villa at the Conrad Maldives booked all on points for my honeymoon👍🏼 475 Hilton points for the stay. Using 160k chase UR points to book Qatar Airways flight, hoping for decent upgrade offer to Q suites that I’ll gladly pay cash if under $1000/ticket. If not $550x2 for seaplane and $150+/day for food. Probably going to be $3000 in spend for a $12k trip
Perfect timing, I've been looking into flights and hotels for maldives next year. Thanks!
Great video! I'm doing virtually the same trip. Trying to book Qsuites by using AA miles, but it doesn't let you select the seats on the AA website. I assume I can select the seats on the Qatar website after I make the booking with AA?
I called Qatar and did it that way. If you want the “couple suites” check the flight seating chart and know exactly what you want. Very easy process
yep once you book on aa website for a partner flight they will generate a confirmation number that you can put on qatar website and immediately pick seats.
@@paidwithpoints5210 Thanks! I subbed to your channel!
@@maxwellstern776 Thank you!
How are you able to book a suite with sky miles? I didn't know you can do that
Hey Ben in the description you have "Makdives"; is that supposed to be Maldives?
Thanks, changed
Such a nice video, GREAT JOB YOU TWO!!
I have 1 million points but I would like to know how to get the cheapest flights to Europe, UK, and Asia. Still waiting for the world to open up so we can use them. We’re going to book the hotels with cash as I am trying to plan a trip for 5 people.
UK has been changing a lot of its regulations in a good way
World is open. I've been to 13 different countries since 2020. Not sure where you're looking but the only difference is you have to pay for some covid test here and there. The world is your oyster and it's pretty darn open.
Them: I used a million points+ also them: you can all do this..
Points newbie here. How does one even earn 1mm points?!
@@Wasabi9111learning the entire game of points .
This is really interesting! Thank you for sharing
I didn't know you could book a Delta flight with points and use the companion certificate. I thought you had to pay cash for one ticket to use the companion certificate. It sounded like he booked one ticket with points and was allowed to use a companion certificate even though there was only $11 or so in taxes he actually paid. Is this correct?
10:18 someone needs to check their math. That's not how the 40% promo works
Yes it is correct
@@carlosenriquezsoto no. If you need 190k points and you're getting a 40% bonus, you need to transfer 68k
He calls himself the point guy but can't even do basic math lol. 76k with a 40% bonus gets you to 190k? 😭😭😂😂
@@Q115115 yeah, if you have thousands watching you, put in a little effort to get it right
@@Tony36847 if you need 190k, and transfer 100k, youll have 140k points with a 40% bonus
Just a little over 3¢ per point no?
Big fan of the channel but you really should maintain some level of veracity in the titles. $550 is not accurate at all and only represents the cost of one seaplane. You should include all taxes and fees paid for the flights. The annual fees of the necessary cards should be included. That free night certificate was not free you have to pay a $450 annual fee and Delta platinum card is not free
Sounds more like 1.2M points, plus $5k+ cash, plus $1k+ annual fees
Dont believe all the price tag in maldives. All marked up in nonsensical value. Instead use the “how much you are willing to pay” figure to calculate the value received
I personally tried to book a round trip using my companion certificate along with skymiles and was not allowed. How was he able to do that?
Luara Gillin is a great person
\
How do you get 1.2 million points?!
I don't understand how you can get so many points without owning a business
you still believe everything from youtube guru ? :))
Your monthly spend needs to be over 10/k m on credit cards .. also de open and close credit cards every year.. they always chasing bonuses .
OneKey = devaluation. Can't do this crap anymore.
My biggest complaint with these kinds of videos is the fact that the minimum requirement to get the "$500 vacation" is to have millions of points in all these different programs which in turn requires an individual to spend crazy amounts of money.
V good
1.2 million points… GTFO
they Hilton points tho. if in a two-person system you could get that in a fricken month lol.
@@maxwellstern776 yup add a player 2 and you are good to go! I'm doing a similar trip with one player but the same credit cards. I have 3 nights at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives and 3 nights at a local island (10x cheaper than resort island)
Other than here and at Ask Sebby, I’ve never heard of anyone else taking a vacation to the Maldives. And I’m not surprised. After spending a fortune it looks like all you get is swimming, diving, snorkeling, and maybe a little more swimming. Doesn’t seem like there is that much else to do. Looks like everything the Maldives has to offer could be had at a fraction of the cost in Florida or one of the islands south of the Florida coast.
You must be fun at parties…
Most misleading title ever. Clearly spent thousands for those points.
Agreed. Earning the points are SUB which is like spend $3k in 3 mo…..etc. it’s spending you’re doing anyway though.
He did spend money to get the points but hopefully if he did it right, it was spending he would have had to do anyway. So he got a $40k trip out of buying groceries, paying his rent, home repairs or business expenses, etc. Still a good deal
Gees this is a bit overwhelming.
repoert this video for clickbaiting
Calling him Shifu = 🤮. Shifu of clickbait and deceptive titles. I refer y’all to the other comments about all the fees, costs, and spend simply glossed over in the vid.
I agree. Not to mention the math mistakes that would embarrass a 6th grader
Clickbait. Clearly spent more than $500
So the $500 is for what cost $40,000 in value, but after he upgraded to the villa, added in food, yes its more than $500. But to get $40k in value, it was just $500
@@TheCreditShifu how much did he spend to get these points. I’d love to hear the math to get all of these points
JFK-DOHA-MALE with only 140k MR points? even with 40% to marriott, 140k MRs = 196k Marriott = 65k AA (3:1). 65k AA for one way tickets for 2 people?
I am wondering too, I think he may have remembered wrong, and it was maybe 140k per person. You can send him a message on instagram and ask him
@@TheCreditShifu yes Ben. I'm doing my math now and some of his calculations are not adding up but it is understandable in this points and miles battle sometimes we got lost in the matrix. This video is very inspirational and people can take this as a reference for their future travel trip. Keep up the good work
@@TheCreditShifu you have to delete this video. His bad math is making you look bad. This video is kinda pointless if all the math is wrong...
@@paidwithpoints5210 Wtf? That's like saying I only need $1 for my vacation because I already have $3999 loaded on my debit card -.-
@UCOkJzHSecz38gdaXHUq0OtA Nowhere in the video you said that. You said, and I quote: "I got lucky" for booking 2 Qsuites for 140k MR points. You're only making up this excuse now because you're caught and feel embarrassed.