Planning a Honeymoon Using Points and Miles!

I posted on this trip back in January and it was my fourth blog post ever. At that time I had about 7 page views (6 of them probably being my mom)! I wanted to go back to this trip and re-post in greater detail. I absolutely LOVED Southeast Asia and want to share this amazing trip with you all. Overall, this was a 16 day vacation back in June of 2010 that included Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Siem Reap, Cambodia; and Bali, Indonesia.

Southeast Asia Trip Reports:

1. Planning a Southeast Asia Honeymoon
2. Park Hyatt Saigon Vietnam Hotel Review
3. Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon Activities
4. Le Méridien Angkor Hotel Review
5. Angkor Wat / Siem Reap Activities
6. Grand Hyatt Bali Hotel Review
7. Bali Beach Town Activities
8. Ubud (Bali) Hotels and Activities

While planning my wedding I was much more into the honeymoon piece. I waited to the week of the wedding to plan a rehearsal dinner,  put the wedding programs together, and get wedding bands from the jeweler. I was not stressed, did not care, it would all get done, right? I started planning the honeymoon before my husband even proposed! At that time I was traveling for 4 years every Monday thru Thursday and working hard to maximize my miles and points. I’d wake up every Monday at 4am, carry my suitcase down 5 flights of stairs from my walk-up apartment, grab a taxi in the dark, and head off to the airport. I became friends with people on my flight, knew the airport gate agents, and most importantly befriended the bar tenders at the same tiny airport I flew out of every Thursday evening. Most of my friends thought I had the worst job in the world. I on the other hand thought to myself: “I am going to go on a kick-ass honeymoon!”

So while my mom was asking my colors for the flowers, I was more concerned on maximizing my points and miles for my Thailand honeymoon. We knew it was going to be the start of the rainy season in June, but that did not bother us. We wanted luxury and adventure and thought Thailand was the perfect place for that. We did not want a location where you just go for the scenery and hardly leave the 5* hotel. We thought the southern beaches in Thailand mixed with great activity in Bangkok and Chiang Mai would provide the perfect mix. Everything was planned and we could not wait.

About 6 weeks prior to the honeymoon, Bangkok set a curfew in the city. The civil unrest had gotten worse and flights were getting cancelled left and right. While we were not concerned about being in Bangkok or any other part of Thailand for that matter, we were concerned about our flights getting cancelled and not seeing the various cities. All of this planning and we were cancelling our trip! Back to the drawing board. I called American Airlines as I had booked our tickets with their miles. Six weeks to go on a miles ticket to Asia in the Summer vacation months – good luck! We still wanted Asia and our mix of luxury and adventure. After MANY phone calls, the representative found us a flight into Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (old Saigon) and out of Bali, Indonesia.

At that time Hyatt was also having their Faster Free Nights promotion. This promotion meant that with every 2 Hyatt stays, you would earn 1 free night to be redeemed at any Hyatt hotel during a certain time period. At the time I was staying at a Hyatt hotel every week Monday thru Thursday, thus earning 3 free nights every 2 weeks (obviously I was hotel hoping to maximize my 1 night stays). Since we were back to square 1 with the honeymoon, the points obsession side of me needed to ensure that we utilized our Hyatt free nights. As you may or may not be aware, Hyatt does not have a huge presence internationally and especially in Asia. When the AA representative suggested Ho Chi Minh City, I put her on hold, saw that there was a Park Hyatt hotel in the city and was sold! We did not know anything about Ho Chi Minh City, had done zero research, but figured we’d give it a try. A free Hyatt stay and the only flight option, I was content! Ultimately, we pretty much picked our honeymoon location based on Hyatt hotels and flight availability from an AA representative!

Over the next few weeks I will share the details of this trip with many blog posts! Enjoy!