- Introduction
- Guam Review and Guam Marriott Resort vs Guam Hilton Resort
- Saipan and the Hyatt Regency Saipan
- Asiana Airlines Business Class and Lounge
- Singapore Airlines Business Class and Lounge
- Queenstown Crowne Plaza, Kawarua Queenstown and the Auckland Crowne Plaza
- New Zealand Review
- Air New Zealand Business Premier
- Rarotonga Review
- Thai Airways Business Class and Lounge
- Conclusion
I’ve referred to this booking in other posts like here (after I first booked it) and in the United stopover series. All the flights together, in business class, cost 40,000 United miles each. It started in Saipan, visited Singapore, stopped in New Zealand, stopped in the Cook Islands and finally I got off in Japan. It was a wonderful trip visiting many islands around the pacific in some of the world’s finest business classes. Each of these airlines are consistently ranked in top 10 list for best premium class experiences.
Most of these hotels were a bit of a rarity; they weren’t paid for by points. New Zealand in particular has such cheap hotels that it was hard to use points on a hotel that would earn a great deal of points and barely cost $100. This was definitely a trip of restocking up on points. Just in New Zealand I earned over 50,000 Priority Club points, enough for 10 nights during PointBreaks.
Although I must admit, my favorite hotel on this trip was actually the Radisson Blu in Sydney. Located in a colonial style building the hotel is stylish and luxurious, with tile floor bathrooms and large bedrooms. Our stay at the Radisson in Tokyo and Sydney didn’t merit their own post purely because of how little time we spent in the hotels. We arrived in Sydney at night and had to leave in the morning. Being our first time in Sydney we decided to see the lively town and did more sleeping on the plane. This completed the Radisson promotion giving us each about 60,000 points after the deduction of 15,000 points for the cash + points payment option.
Flying business class on these airlines is a luxurious treat. However the real treat is actually seeing the islands. Guam, Saipan, New Zealand, the Cook Islands, and Japan with layovers in Singapore, Sydney and Bangkok for 40,000 miles is unbelievable. This is the reason I’m a miles collector, seeing new places. What a trip! Something like 20,000+ of in airline miles and 50+ hours of flying. More than worth it.
