Do You Believe in Miracles? Emirates Showers, Dreamliner Suites, Tahiti Triumph!

If you are not impressed by this award booking than you must be flying private jets. Not only are the flights absurd but the destinations covered are once in a lifetime for the second, third, and fourth time. Please allow me to explain how my Tahiti Triumph all went down.

Miracle #1: InterContinental : Bora Bora Resort Thalasso Spa ; Overwater Villa; 2 Nights; 100k ; $0 

This all started when I tried to find hotel  availability in Tahiti using 100k IHG points, 80 of which came from signing up for the Chase IHG card. I ended up booking 2 nights using what I called the IHG Reward Bora Bora Trick.

Miracle #2: Round trip to Tahiti from Shanghai with a stopover in New Zealand for 60,000 United Miles + $100

From there I was dead set on finding a flight from Shanghai to Tahiti for two reasons: 1) It was aboard Air New Zealand’s in business on a Dreamliner. 2) It was 60,000 miles round trip with a stopover in New Zealand. Not only will this be my second time there since my $77,000 Trip Heard Round the World, but also it is an incomparable bargain for only 60k United Miles.

Miracle #3: Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa; 5 Nights; 280k; $0

Though sleeping outside would’ve been comfortable in Moorea, I wanted to burn some HHonor points and got a ridiculous deal at the Hilton Moorea.

Miracle #4: InterContinental : Le Moana Bora Bora: Double Beach Bungalow; 1 Night; Stay Certificate; $0

I received my anniversary IHG certificate from Chase and found the perfect way to use it.

Miracle #5: Emirates Shower Class: New York to Dubai to Shanghai: 100k Alaska Miles + $19

I needed to get to Shanghai so I luckily found availability on Emirates A380 Shower Class using the 100k points that I had earned from my Alaska Airlines credit cards. The taxes were an acceptable $19. This is the second and third time (JFK-DXB & DXB-PVG) I’ll enjoy a shower in the sky and another opportunity to visit two of my favorite cities in the world, Shanghai and Dubai.

Miracle #6: JAL Dreamliner Business from Shanghai to Tokyo to DFW to New York: 55,000 AAdvantage + $50

So originally, I was going to fly Apartment Class from Abu Dhabi to JFK but that was 120k points which wasn’t worth it in comparison to a flight from Asia to the US which is either 67,500 in first or 55k in business.  With the American devaluation on the horizon, I was hoping to try a new product but nothing was coming up. Despondent, I thought I would settle for another first class flight on Cathay from Hong Kong, an excellent alternative but something that I had already flown.

Creativity came to me at 3AM as I started searching for my old friend, Japan Airlines which I had flown so long ago when the Dreamliner didn’t have lie-flat seating. Deep in the night, I found availability from Shanghai to Narita then to the US searching on British Air.

I pieced it together one by one: Japan to the US (checking Narita or Haneda to Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Dallas, and even Vancouver). NRT to DFW provided the longest flight on the Dreamliner so I noted the date and flight number. From there I added the segment of PVG to NRT and DFW-NYC. By doing it this way, I got one night in Tokyo to run around and gorge on food at the Tsukuji Fish Market, a must visit as part of the Tokyo Travel Guide.

I called the AAdvantage desk in Australia out of habit and confirmed the booking. All of this came out to 55,000 miles, a steal compared to the 70,ooo it will be post March 22nd.

Recap 

On this trip I will be going back to Dubai, back to Shanghai, then to Tahiti, then New Zealand for the second time, back back to Shanghai, then to Tokyo again, before dreaming my way to the US for next to nothing ($169 including hotels). To put it in pictures, here’s what I am doing:

And that’s only the flight picture preview. I haven’t booked hotels in Dubai, Shanghai, and New Zealand let alone offered my own pics of Tahiti paradise.

Do you believe in miracles? Yes!