Hawaiian Honeymoom

[big_RED]

Hi everyone,

I'm getting married in March 2016 in Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, and then spending 2 weeks in Hawaii for our honeymoon. Looking to head to two other islands for a week each.
I'm wondering if anyone has any advice/good tricks for how to potentially get upgrades for free, use points, or stay at good hotels (obviously without paying top dollar...).

I'm just a basic/bronze status member with HiltonHonours, Marriott & Qantas. I'll receive some points for having the wedding at an SPG Hotel, however they probably won't arrive in time to use for the honeymoon.
I do have 560k Qantas points, however from past experience when booking a hotel through Qantas, they book with Expedia and then you don't receive the hotel's points.
So just wondered if anyone had any advice, or if the best bet is to just book the hotels, say it's your honeymoon and hope for the best?

Cheers!

 

[Mattg]

How are you getting to Hawaii? If you're booked on Qantas in economy, make sure you request points upgrades! These are never guaranteed but you have to be in it to win it.

Also, do you currently have any points or status with any hotel programs? Or any credit card points (e.g. with Amex) that you could transfer to a hotel loyalty program?

 

[Dr Ralph]

Where's the marriage paper work being done. In Australia or the US?

You may want to check out https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2014C00340 to see if your marriage will be recognised in Australia. Many people are surprised by the legal position on this.

 

[blackcat20]

Where's the marriage paper work being done. In Australia or the US?

You may want to check out https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2014C00340 to see if your marriage will be recognised in Australia. Many people are surprised by the legal position on this.

My research suggests that marriages conducted in Hawaii are 100% legal in Australia.

 

[big_RED]

How are you getting to Hawaii? If you're booked on Qantas in economy, make sure you request points upgrades! These are never guaranteed but you have to be in it to win it.
Also, do you currently have any points or status with any hotel programs? Or any credit card points (e.g. with Amex) that you could transfer to a hotel loyalty program?

Booked with Hawaiian Air as they have a wedding program whereby if 20 guests book with them we get upgraded 1 way to 1st Class. Qantas and HA were actually pretty identical in price so thought I'd go with HA.
I don't have any points with any hotels at all, nor any status. No credit card points, they all go straight onto the Qantas FF program. Have 60k CitiBank points but was waiting for a Qantas 15% additional transfer offer before I move them over to Qantas.

Where's the marriage paper work being done. In Australia or the US?

Appreciate the concern and heads up. We've reviewed everything and it does seem like it will be valid and all legal which is good!

 

[Mattg]

Booked with Hawaiian Air as they have a wedding program whereby if 20 guests book with them we get upgraded 1 way to 1st Class. Qantas and HA were actually pretty identical in price so thought I'd go with HA.
I don't have any points with any hotels at all, nor any status. No credit card points, they all go straight onto the Qantas FF program. Have 60k CitiBank points but was waiting for a Qantas 15% additional transfer offer before I move them over to Qantas.

OK. Just one word of warning with Citibank - they tried pulling a swifty on everyone a few weeks ago by increasing the rate at which points could be transferred by up to 25%, without giving any warning. After a massive outcry from AFF members they reversed the decision within a week but IMHO they are still planning a devaluation and are unlikely to offer a bonus on Qantas transfers any time soon. So transferring now may be better, but it's ultimately up to you whether you want to take that risk.

(This is the thread for your reference: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....-transfer-rates-velocity-krisflyer-71803.html & http://www.australianfrequentflyer....n-transfer-rates-citibusiness-gold-71862.html)

Without hotel status you're unlikely to get any free room upgrades, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask when you check-in, or check online beforehand if any paid upgrades are available. If you happen to have Gold or Platinum status with Virgin you can get complimentary status with Hilton or IHG, but I'm guessing that probably doesn't apply to you.

 

[big_RED]

OK. Just one word of warning with Citibank - they tried pulling a swifty on everyone a few weeks ago by increasing the rate at which points could be transferred by up to 25%,

Without hotel status you're unlikely to get any free room upgrades, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask when you check-in, or check online beforehand if any paid upgrades are available. If you happen to have Gold or Platinum status with Virgin you can get complimentary status with Hilton or IHG, but I'm guessing that probably doesn't apply to you.

Yeh I read that thread last week with a fair bit of concern about them doing the same to the Qantas customers! It's normally Qantas who comes out and says "transfer points for 15% extra" etc... but a fair point about looking to transfer before anything does change for the worse.

I thought hotel status would be a big player in getting any upgrades so thanks for the confirmation. The only thing I have is the Westpac Black Amex which gives you Gold SPG membership, however you have to book the hotel on the MasterCard which gives you less points per $, and I don't think it works for the first purchase. However I'll look at that to see what options I have.

Appreciate the help guys. Looks like without a good status there isn't much I can do. Book a normal room, and on arrival/or call up and say we're on our honey moon what's the options of an upgrade etc.

 

[mooingchicken]

Appreciate the help guys. Looks like without a good status there isn't much I can do. Book a normal room, and on arrival/or call up and say we're on our honey moon what's the options of an upgrade etc.

It is america, you could try the 'vegas' trick unsure on how successful it would be there ...give the check-in person a nice tip and see if they can shake any upgrades from there system

 

[big_RED]

It is america, you could try the 'vegas' trick unsure on how successful it would be there ...give the check-in person a nice tip and see if they can shake any upgrades from there system

Haha haven't heard of that but will definitely see if it works!

 

[andye]

.... The only thing I have is the Westpac Black Amex which gives you Gold SPG membership, however you have to book the hotel on the MasterCard which gives you less points per $, and I don't think it works for the first purchase.....

I had a similar thing with another World MC. The first purchase was also restricted to Middle east, Asia, Pacific and the status upgrade took several weeks to come through

 

[AdMEL]

You mentioned you're looking to head to two other islands ... I flew HA between islands recently and was able to upgrade from economy to first class for US$50 each leg. Paid approx. AU$125 for each leg in economy ... Didn't actually check the first class price at time of booking. Only really gives you a nicer seat, but with Virgin, four times the status credits (40 instead of 10). Not sure if it works similarly with QF.

 

[Mattg]

You mentioned you're looking to head to two other islands ... I flew HA between islands recently and was able to upgrade from economy to first class for US$50 each leg. Paid approx. AU$125 for each leg in economy ... Didn't actually check the first class price at time of booking. Only really gives you a nicer seat, but with Virgin, four times the status credits (40 instead of 10). Not sure if it works similarly with QF.

I'm going to Hawaii next week and have booked First on HA for the inter-island flights. The price difference at the time of booking was only ~$50.

This will be a nice little earner in terms of VA status credits.

 

[big_RED]

I flew HA between islands recently and was able to upgrade from economy to first class for US$50 each leg. Paid approx. AU$125 for each leg in economy ... Didn't actually check the first class price at time of booking. Only really gives you a nicer seat, but with Virgin, four times the status credits (40 instead of 10).

I'm going to Hawaii next week and have booked First on HA for the inter-island flights. The price difference at the time of booking was only ~$50.
This will be a nice little earner in terms of VA status credits.

Thanks for the heads up guys. So when I booked the HA tickets Sydney - Honolulu I entered by HA miles number (as it asked for that), but should I change that to my Virgin Number? How does it get converted to the VA membership?

 

[Mattg]

Thanks for the heads up guys. So when I booked the HA tickets Sydney - Honolulu I entered by HA miles number (as it asked for that), but should I change that to my Virgin Number? How does it get converted to the VA membership?

Yes, you should credit these flights to Virgin. If you can't change the frequent flyer number online, show them your Velocity card at check-in and ask them to replace your Hawaiian details with your Velocity membership number. (Your Velocity number should then appear on the boarding pass, meaning the points will credit to your VA account.)

And if there's two of you travelling, make sure you set up family pooling. That way, you can pool the points and status credits into one account. One of you will miss out, but the other will earn twice as fast. (When travelling together, only one of you really needs to have status anyway. If one of you has Gold status, they can guest the other person into the lounge etc.)

 

[big_RED]

Yes, you should credit these flights to Virgin. If you can't change the frequent flyer number online, show them your Velocity card at check-in and ask them to replace your Hawaiian details with your Velocity membership number. (Your Velocity number should then appear on the boarding pass, meaning the points will credit to your VA account.)

And if there's two of you travelling, make sure you set up family pooling. That way, you can pool the points and status credits into one account. One of you will miss out, but the other will earn twice as fast. (When travelling together, only one of you really needs to have status anyway. If one of you has Gold status, they can guest the other person into the lounge etc.)

Thanks man - can easily do that! Will review this pooling thing as well.