Booked: The Far & Middle East

6 Comments
  1. jovin

    Al Safwa is pretty nice if a little sterile. I definitely enjoyed my time there but it is sparse.

  2. A

    In my opinion you should also include the costs of the points and miles… acquiring them carry the cost of annual fees or Plastiq fees, for example, unless 100% of the points come from actual swipes that translate into goods or services. Even MS has its costs…

    1. MM

      It’s minuscule at best. I’ve been churning for 5 years (probably 3-4 million airline miles redeemed). I’ve only spent $3000 on fees. I don’t use plastiq. My MS techniques have no cost (other than time 😉

    2. Ricky YVR

      This is a good point and while I do have records of all the fees somewhere, it would be a laborious exercise to match every redemption to the fees that were paid to earn those points, especially when you’re earning and burning consistently over time.

      I know some people prefer to go through the trouble and figure out exactly how many “real dollars” a trip has cost, but for me, I’m happy as long as I know I’m getting significantly outsized value compared to not using points.

      Good topic for a future discussion post, actually.

  3. gwplant

    Can you also post total redemption miles used to accompany $ spent? Tia

    1. Ricky YVR

      Quick maths:

      • 10,000 Aventura points
      • 80,000 Korean Air SKYPASS miles (60,000 Chase UR points + 60,000 Bonvoy)
      • 90,000 Asia Miles
      • 54,000 Avios
      • 25,000 Bonvoy for the hotel
      • 1 Hilton free night award

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