This is the nerdy Excel and Great Circle Mapper for the Tahiti Triumph Trip Report which covers the following cities:
- New York City
- Dubai, UAE
- Shanghai, China
- Papeete, Tahiti
- Bora Bora, Tahiti
- Moorea, Tahiti
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Hong Kong
- Tokyo, Japan
- Dallas, Texas
See the Picture Preview here.
Which part of the points hustle do you enjoy the most? Is it the MS and the feeling of shame and guilt as you buy one gift card after another? Is it the undeserved feeling of self-importance as you enter the first-class lounge? Or is it the thrill of executing a booking knowing you got in one more trip before the next devaluation?
For me, it’s creating my bus schedule Excel and tallying up how much the trip would have cost had I actually decided to burn a hole in my wallet and pay for it myself. Second to that is reflecting on just how far I traveled by looking at the Great Circle Mapper.
Analyzing the spreadsheet after the fact is a lot different from when I was piecing it together. Little did I know then that I would miss my flight from LAS to New York, that I would not be able to play golf in Dubai, and that I would be deported from China to Hong Kong. The last part was the worst experience because there was no Avios flight available to get me to HKG. Instead, I had to fly the worst airline in the world, Spring Airlines, for $325/pax. That put a black mark on the trip which is why I did not add it to the spreadsheet. Also, I kept the Vegas Freddies experience separate as that warrants its own trip report.
Let’s start with the GCM for some perspective on what TPOL has done.
Now, for my masterpiece, the colorful Excel. I’m terrible at making keys but it’s pretty self-explanatory. The trip retail was 差不多 $60,000 and required 800,000 points in total. But for that stupid Hong Kong getaway, it would have been $1999 out of pocket.
Which do you think is better, this trip or the $77,000 Trip Heard Round the World?
Who does it better than TPOL?
If you were doing it better than anyone else, you wouldn’t have been deported from China. But at least it makes a good story for the blog.
Ha!
Stupid comment. Clearly, you didn’t read what I said. In terms of planning who does it better than TPOL…Obviously, I’ve said over and over that I suck at visas but looks like I’m not the only one that overlooks details.
Thats a good trip man! How was the experience in Bora Bora alone? I mean isnt it more for couples or were you able to party and meet people? I’d love to visit there but im single and dont know how the experience would be
Definitely not a place for singles or for parties. It was me, Ms TPOL, and the cockroaches on my pillow.
C’mon, aren’t you supposed to say the “$60,000 trip I got for free!” No businessinsider for you! Seriously, nice job!
ahha thanks!
I hope you are not an accountant. Let me count the ways this is incorrect:
1) You did NOT do this trip for $1999. You did it for $1999 plus 800,000+ points that I’m assuming you did not earn completely for free (such as paid stays to take advantage of a promotion, things like the 1-800-Flowers stacking, credit card annual fees, etc.). You paid for that out of pocket at some point.
2) Points earned through a credit card should be considered a cost of 2 cents per dollar spent, as earning 2% cashback on a no annual fee card is possible.
3) The value of the Citi Prestige is subtracted in the $250 airfare credit, the round of golf, and I’m assuming at least some of the points here, yet I do not see a portion of the annual fee listed here.
4) You are taking the one-way retail of the exact flight that you were on, regardless of a similar flight on the route was available more cheaply on another airline or if the flight was available, or if you could price out portions of your route more cheaply than one segment at a time. Example: PVG-AKL looks to generally be available for about US$3k in business, but you price out the flights to be $6800 when booking each segment separately.
5) You somehow got from PPT to AKL without transportation, according to your Excel sheet.
I’m not saying this isn’t a good redemption, I’m just saying you did not do this trip for $1999.
What’s your point?
prince, god rest his soul, said it best :
“party ‘like’ it’s ($)1999…”
lol!
[…] the Picture Preview here and see how this $60,000 trip cost $1999 here. Be sure to check out TPOL’s Map, the best feature of the […]