September Buy Miles Promos

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Tara

As usual, each beginning of a month brings an assortment of “buy miles, get bonus” promos. If you live in the USA you probably won’t be interested as its cheaper to manufacture spend. If you live anywhere else, these promos may be a good idea to top up your miles accounts but ONLY if you plan to use them within the next few months. These promos aren’t good enough to buy miles on speculation. Whether it is worth it to buy miles vs just paying for a revenue ticket depends on where you are going and what class of service you would be booking in so you need to do the math for both before jumping in on these promos. Also be sure to click on the links and read all the T&Cs before buying.

US AIRWAYS

These will ultimately turn into AAdvantage miles when the programs combine next year. The tiered system is very annoying because if you just need a couple thousand to top up you don’t get the maximum bonus. You need to log into your account to actually see the tiers but most people seem to get this one. At top levels you would be buying miles for $18.80 per block of 1000 miles.

UNITED AIRLINES

This one is more unusual in that it is crowd-sourcing the actual bonus. Everyone gets a minimum of 35% extra but that could go up to 100% extra if over 4500 people buy the deal.

If the 4500 level is reached it would mean buying miles for $18.80 per block of 1000 miles.

AVIANCA-TACA LIFEMILES

Contrary to other bloggers out there, I use this program for bargain flights within Central and South America so no “tricks” needed for me! It’s a straightforward 100% promo (gotta love airlines who keep it simple) but it is also the last chance to buy miles for $15.00 per block of 1000 miles as the price increases 15 October to $16.00.

Hotel Review: Intercontinental Resort Tahiti

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Tara

Sadly our trip to French Polynesia was over. We had seen some amazing birds on Ua Huka and Rimatara and now we were heading home. Our flight left at 7:30am so we needed a hotel near the airport and preferably available on points. The Intercontinental Tahiti Resort fit the bill perfectly. Rooms cost 40,000 points which is a decent value and this is a pretty spectacular “airport hotel”!

It is easily reachable from downtown or the airport on any Outamaoro bus. They drop you right at the driveway and you just walk down to the entrance.

My platinum status (courtesy Chase IHG Mastercard) got us upgraded to an ocean view room!

Small turtle pond in the garden

Overwater bungalows. I didn’t seek an upgrade to these as it was only an overnight stay with check out at 4:30am.

Lagoon and overwater bungalows

Watching the sunset by the swimming pool

Happy hour!

Planes coming in to land

Cabana boy with conch shell

The next morning we were up at 4:00am and checked out around 4:30-ish. The one thing I don’t like about visiting French Polynesia is the uber-early morning flights! We walked out to the main road, prepared to walk with our backpacks to the airport. A bus came along and we flagged it down. No need to pay $25 for a taxi to go a couple kilometers! Check-in wasn’t too crowded so we quickly checked in and passed security.

We were in economy so no lounge for us, the main terminal is pretty comfortable anyway. Goodbye French Polynesia and keep looking after your birds!

Shopping In Papeete

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Tara

It was mostly “window shopping” as souvenirs in Tahiti are not cheap! We had a few XPF to spend before going home so we ended up with a couple pareos. The jewelry is amazing but costs a fortune!

Leaving the ferry terminal

Cool artwork on a cafe

Pirates greet you at this cafe

These stunning necklaces were out of reach for me

But these pareos were around $10 each!

Farewell Moorea, Ferry Back To Papeete

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Tara

I really wish we could have stayed in Moorea 2 nights (especially since we got upgraded at the Intercontinental) but the flight home departed at 07:30 so there was no way we could leave Moorea on time to make that flight. I do want to point out that we have been to Moorea before we got into the miles and points game and already done the touristy things like a snorkel trip and the Tiki Village which is lots of fun! So the main purpose was really to check out the IC Moorea.

This time we had reception book us a shuttle back to the ferry terminal at 1250 XPF each so we could just relax and enjoy the scenery.

Hitting rush hour traffic

in more ways than one!

Back to the ferry terminal

Terevau arrives on time.

Arriving in Papeete ferry terminal

Do You Know What Countries You Need A Visa For?

Posted on August 30, 2014 by Tara

It’s so much easier to visit countries when you either don’t need a visa or you can get one on arrival. Since I have a lot of trips coming up, I was checking around for Australian citizens and found that Wikipedia has some excellent maps. The less grey you see, the better!

Find out where YOU can go without a visa!

Where Australians can go without a visa

Hotel Review: Intercontinental Moorea Resort & Spa

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Tara

Since we had two days to kill before our flight home, I really wanted to check out the Intercontinental Moorea Resort & Spa. I had enough points to get us a freebie and booked the usual room offered for awards, a lanai room.

I was very pleased to see that my platinum status (courtesy of the Chase Mastercard) got us upgraded to a Garden Pool room! I’d say this was an excellent use of points!

Very quiet at reception when we checked in.

Boutique in the lobby

We were driven to our bungalow in a little buggy.

Our garden bungalow with private pool

And there it is, our own pool!

We had a few visitors, they were mostly interested in the leis we had on the chairs.

We took a stroll around the grounds to the main swimming pool to watch the sunset.

This is the main building where most award stays would be booked into.

The sunset did not disappoint!

Time for happy hour!

The next morning our feathered friends were back after the leis!

“Can I share your pool?” Of course!

Intro to scuba class

Around Moorea – Enroute To The Intercontinental

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Tara

After disembarking from the Terevau, we discovered that the local bus doesn’t meet this ferry (2pm sailing) as it is transporting kids home from school. We saw a couple buses go past but none would stop so apparently they aren’t allowed to mix tourists with kids. Taxis were taking full advantage and trying to charge around $50 for the 18 km ride. I hate being taken advantage of so stubbornly rebuffed the taxis and stayed on the road waiting for the bus.

A local couple spotted us as they drove past and offered us a lift as they were headed in the same direction. We chatted to them while admiring the beautiful scenery of Moorea, my husband speaking Tahitian and me getting by in French.

The lesson learned here is to make sure what land transport is available for your sailing! Another option would have been to get the Intercontinental to arrange a shuttle. We did this for the return trip back to the terminal and it was 1250 XPF per person.

Overnight In Moorea Via Ferry

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Tara

Even if your main interest in a visit to French Polynesia is birding the remote islands, there is nothing wrong with being a bit touristy. The way the airline schedules are set up and the availability of award tickets (or lack thereof) to Papeete can leave you with a few days to kill in Papeete. I highly recommend hopping over to Moorea which is a lot more scenic and relaxing than Papeete.

You can fly to Moorea from Papeete if you wish but I thought the flights were a bit pricy for us. Since we only had small backpacks for the trip, it was easy to catch a bus downtown, grab lunch at the Grande Marche and hop the next ferry. There are 2 ferry companies on this route – Aremiti and Terevau.

Fares on Aremiti 5 from Papeete to Moorea

Terevau doesn’t have a website but their one-way fares are 1160 XPF. Since they accepted credit cards, I bought round-trip tickets for us. The tickets are valid 6 months.

There really isn’t much to choose between the two ferries, just take whichever one is leaving next. You don’t need reservation unless you are bringing a car.

The ferry awaits.

Seating is comfortable enough for the 20 minute trip across to Moorea. You can see how I was “drowning in flowers” still from Rimatara!

The ferry has a small snack bar, prices aren’t bad but not a very good selection. We were glad we ate at the market. We were in Moorea pretty quickly, barely enough time to admire the topography from the sea!

Disembarking at Moorea.

Moorea ferry terminal.

Turnaround was pretty quick, we watched the Terevau take off back to Papeete while looking for the bus.

Conde Nast Has 9 Reasons To Visit Costa Rica In Green Season…….But I Have 3 Of My Own

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Tara

Conde Nast has a nice slide show depicting their top 9 reasons to visit Costa Rica in “green season”, the more enticing name for what is basically the wet season. I was there last year in August and got a fantastic deal on some wonderful eco-lodges. My Costa Rica posts can be found here. To see the CN slideshow, click on the butterfly.

And now for my reasons…………..

1. Fewer people makes it easier to see the birds. There is nothing worse than arriving at a beautiful nature reserve like Monteverde or Los Quetzales National Park and not seeing Resplendant Quetzals because they are hiding from all the noisy tourists!

2. You can have a world-class birding guide such as Alejandro Esquival from Selva Verde all to yourselves! Walk at your pace, target species that are most interesting to you, spend as much time as you like observing one species without being hurried along by other people!

3. Private boat cruise on the Tarcoles River! Luis Campos’ excursions are especially tailored for birders and he knows exactly where to find all the local species. In high season his boats are packed out. We had a boat all to ourselves so we could change seats at will depending what side the birds were on. Luis was an excellent spotter and made sure we got great views of all the birds.

ALERT – Iberia Devalues Avios Without Notice, Could BA Be Next? (False Alarm)

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Tara

UPDATE: Thankfully this has been proven a false alarm. Iberia’s award chart has always been the same since they converted to the Avios system, it just hadn’t been published in chart form before. British Airways has confirmed they don’t have plans to devalue Avios.

This is all over Feedly (various blogs) and Flyertalk but I’m hat-tipping Matt from Saverocity for alerting me first, a good reason to subscribe to his newsletter!

Avios are a favourite miles currency of mine for use in South America on LAN, and can save you a bundle on intra-Peru fares! I personally would also use them on Qantas for short-haul flights and on Comair (BA partner in South Africa) for my upcoming African adventure.

The current chart on British Airways (and Iberia up to today) was very attractive for short-haul, though once you get over 2000 miles into the 10k Avios zone you are probably better off with American AAdvantage miles.

Here is the new chart posted on Iberia’s website. The same rates apply to non OneWorld partners Avianca, Taca and a few others. Currently redemptions on Iberia and British Airways are the same as the old chart above.

Iberia only allows round-trip redemptions on partners so if British Airways follows suit, the rates below would be half that for a one-way since they do allow one-way redemptions on partners. Awards under 600 miles will cost 9750 Avios. 601-1000 miles will cost 12000 Avios. At this point, most redemptions with Avios cease to be a good deal and you are better off with American AAdvantage (providing THEY don’t devalue)! Bear in mind that BA charges YQ fuel surcharges on most partners and AA doesn’t.

If you have travel planned up to July 2015 requiring use of Avios, I recommend you book it asap!

New Iberia Chart

BEST AVIOS REDEMPTIONS FOR ECO-TRAVELERS

LAN flights under 2000 miles within South America, also routes that AA has across two zones such as LIM-VVI (Lima to Santa Cruz, Bolivia).

Qantas flights under 2000 miles (must be QF metal, no Jetstar or codeshares).

BA flights on Comair within South Africa, I also used them for JNB-MRU as the taxes are cheaper using Avios.

Miles To The Wild

Create unforgettable eco-tourism and birding adventures using miles & points!

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